Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 6, 2026

Imaging and Analysis of Tissue Orientation and Growth Dynamics in the Developing Drosophila Epithelia During Pupal Stages
Published on: June 2, 2020
Moving to mate: the evolution of separate and combined sexes in multicellular organisms
1Department of Biology, Portland State University, Portland, OR 97207-0751, USA. eppley@pdx.edu
Abstract:
Which conditions favour the evolution of hermaphroditism or separate sexes? One classical hypothesis states that an organism's mode of locomotion (if any) when searching for a mate should influence breeding system evolution. We used published phylogenies to reconstruct evolutionary changes in adult mate-search efficiency and breeding systems among multicellular organisms. Employing maximum-likelihood analyses, we found that changes in adult mate-search efficiency are significantly correlated with changes in breeding system, and this result is robust to uncertainties in the phylogenies. These data provide the first statistical support, across a broad range of taxa, for the hypothesis that breeding systems and mate-search efficiency did not evolve independently. We discuss our results in context with other causal factors, such as inbreeding avoidance and sexual specialization, likely to affect breeding system evolution.
Related Concept Videos
Zygotic Development And Stem Cell Formation
Development of the Sexual Organs in the Embryo and Fetus
Near the gonadal ridges, two duct systems are present: the mesonephric ducts (Wolffian ducts) and paramesonephric ducts (Müllerian ducts). These ducts form the basis for the male...
Gastrulation
Cleavage and Blastulation
Cellular Differentiation
A zygote is a...
Cell Diversity
Multicellular organisms...

