Does the existence of males in nature have a specific scientific cause? That’s how it is. In the latest study developed by a team of scientists from the University of East Anglia (United Kingdom) and the Higher Council for Scientific Research (CSIC), it is established that sexual selection by females and manifest competitiveness between males causes an improvement in the genetic health of the species (eliminating toxic genetic mutations), thus balancing the fact that males are unable to procreate. The study has been published in the journal Nature .
” We wanted to understand why evolutionary selection allows males to exist, when a system in which all individuals produce sexless offspring, as occurs in asexual female populations, would be much more effective in producing more offspring,” he explains. Brent Emerson, co-author of the study.
The scientists investigated the evolution of two groups of Tribolium beetles or chestnut flour beetle over a period of 10 years . The only difference between the two groups was the intensity of sexual selection (in the first group there were 90 males and only 10 females; in the second group, the numbers of both sexes were balanced).
The results revealed that the group with the highest sexual selection, that is, in which there were fewer females, had better resistance to extinction and thus better evolutionary aptitudes. In the other group of beetles, the presence of health problems due to the lack of males to choose from and the consequent inbreeding was palpable very quickly.
“The study also supports the idea that sex persists as the predominant method of reproduction because it allows sexual selection to act. In cases where there is no sexual reproduction, populations accumulate harmful mutations, which with the passing of generations bring them closer and closer to extinction, ”Emerson clarifies.
