The Evolution of Anisogamy
A Fundamental Phenomenon Underlying Sexual Selection

The first book on the evolution of anisogamy: top theorists explore why gamete dimorphism characterizes nearly all plants and animals.

Tatsuya Togashi (Edited by), Paul Alan Cox (Edited by)

9780521880954, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 14 April 2011

262 pages, 74 b/w illus. 2 tables
23.5 x 15.7 x 1.8 cm, 0.54 kg

'… not only a must have for those interested in the specific topic but also comes highly recommended for anyone interested in sexual selection … both informative and provocative … it is likely that readers will leave with a firm understanding of the topic as well as several hypotheses of their own stemming from the reading. It is my hope that this volume will find itself in the hands of many evolutionary biologists and psychologists and that this impactful and pertinent idea will further shape our understanding of sexual selection.' American Journal of Human Biology

Darwin identified the existence of separate male and female gametes as one of the central mysteries of evolutionary biology. 150 years later, the question of why male gametes exist remains an intriguing puzzle. In this, the first book solely devoted to the evolution of anisogamy, top theorists in the field explore why gamete dimorphism characterizes nearly all plants and animals. Did separate male and female gametes evolve as a result of competition, or does anisogamy instead represent selection for cooperation? If disruptive selection drove the evolution of anisogamy, with male gametes focused on search and fusion, and female gametes provisioning the new zygote, why do some algal species continue to produce gametes of a single size? Does sperm limitation, or escape from infection, better explain the need for extremely small, highly mobile sperm? Written by leaders in the field, this volume offers an authoritative and cutting-edge overview of evolutionary theory.

Introduction Paul Alan Cox
1. The origin and maintenance of two sexes (anisogamy), and their gamete sizes by gamete competition Geoff A. Parker
2. The evolutionary instability of isogamy Hiroyuki Matsuda and Peter A. Abrams
3. Contact, not conflict, causes the evolution of anisogamy Joan Roughgarden and Priya Iyer
4. Nucleo-cytoplasmic conflict and the evolution of gamete dimorphism Rolf F. Hoekstra
5. Adaptive significance of egg size variation of aquatic organisms in relation to mesoscale features of aquatic environments Kinya Nishimura and Noboru Hoshino
6. Gamete encounters David B. Dusenbery
7. Evolution of anisogamy and related phenomena in marine green algae Tatsuya Togashi and John L. Bartelt
Index.

Subject Areas: Evolution [PSAJ], Biology, life sciences [PS]