據(jù)5月30日的《科學(xué)》（Science）雜志報(bào)道說(shuō)，許多蜜蜂,、螞蟻和黃蜂以高度合作的群落方式生活在一起,，其目的主要是這種生活方式提供了一種遺傳家族基因的良好方式，而不是這樣做能夠使它們的生活變得更為方便,。存在于這種“真社群性”社群中的利他主義長(zhǎng)久以來(lái)一直是一個(gè)進(jìn)化方面的謎團(tuán),。在這種社群中，許多不育的工蜂會(huì)照看群體中的少數(shù)有繁殖能力的蜂后所生的幼蜂,。
英國(guó)和澳大利亞的William O. H. Hughes及其同事對(duì)267種真社群性蜜蜂,、黃蜂和螞蟻的交配行為進(jìn)行了比較。研究人員報(bào)告說(shuō),，在較老的種系中,，雌性個(gè)體總是單配偶的。在少數(shù)的雌性與多個(gè)雄性交配的例子中,，這些種系是較近時(shí)才進(jìn)化成的,。這一發(fā)現(xiàn)支持單配偶性的理念是真社群性進(jìn)化的關(guān)鍵。因此,，正如“親族選擇理論”所預(yù)測(cè),，這類(lèi)合作類(lèi)型可能是作為相關(guān)個(gè)體幫助確保它們所共有的某些基因被遺傳到未來(lái)世代中的一種方法而進(jìn)化成的,。（來(lái)源：EurekAlert!中文版）
生物谷推薦原始出處：
Science 30 May 2008:
Vol. 320. no. 5880, pp. 1213 - 1216
DOI: 10.1126/science.1156108
Ancestral Monogamy Shows Kin Selection Is Key to the Evolution of Eusociality
William O. H. Hughes,1* Benjamin P. Oldroyd,2 Madeleine Beekman,2 Francis L. W. Ratnieks3
Close relatedness has long been considered crucial to the evolution of eusociality. However, it has recently been suggested that close relatedness may be a consequence, rather than a cause, of eusociality. We tested this idea with a comparative analysis of female mating frequencies in 267 species of eusocial bees, wasps, and ants. We found that mating with a single male, which maximizes relatedness, is ancestral for all eight independent eusocial lineages that we investigated. Mating with multiple males is always derived. Furthermore, we found that high polyandry (>2 effective mates) occurs only in lineages whose workers have lost reproductive totipotency. These results provide the first evidence that monogamy was critical in the evolution of eusociality, strongly supporting the prediction of inclusive fitness theory.
1 Institute of Integrative and Comparative Biology, University of Leeds, Leeds, LS2 9JT, UK.
2 School of Biological Sciences, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales 2006, Australia.
3 Department of Biological and Environmental Science, University of Sussex, Falmer, Brighton, BN1 9QG, UK.
* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: [email protected]
