A note on the evolution of gamete dimorphism

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Abstract

Parker, Baker & Smith (1972) have demonstrated mathematically that given the evolution of sexual reproduction, disruptive selection for the production of either many small gametes or a few large gametes may occur, resulting in a stable polymorphism of “sperm” and “egg” producers. Their model for the evolution of anisogamy requires only that zygote fitness (F) increase steeply with increases in zygote volume (V) (for FocVx, x must be greater than 1·5) and that a sufficiently broad range of zygote productivity-size variants exist in the population (the higher the value of x, the broader the range needed). They suggest that anisogamy is almost universal in multicellular organisms but relatively rare in unicellular organisms because only for the former is an investment in extra gametic reserves at the expense of the number of gametes produced likely to be worthwhile in terms of increasing the survival probability of the zygote. In this note a graphical analysis and evidence from the anisogamous Protista will be presented concerning this hypothesis.

References (3)

  • G.A. Parker et al.

    J. theor. Biol

    (1972)
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