Although sperm competition is a pervasive selective force shaping the reproductive tactics of males, the mechanisms underlying different patterns of sperm precedence remain obscure. Parker et al. (1990) developed a series of linear models designed to identify two of the more basic mechanisms: sperm lotteries and sperm displacement; the models can be tested experimentally by manipulating the relative numbers of sperm transferred by rival males and determining the paternity of offspring. Here we show that tests of the model derived for sperm lotteries can result in misleading inferences about the underlying mechanism of sperm precedence because the required inverse transformations may lead to a violation of fundamental assumptions of linear regression. We show that this problem can be remedied by reformulating the model using the actual numbers of offspring sired by each male, and log-transforming both sides of the resultant equation. Reassessment of data from a previous study (Sakaluk and Eggert 1996) using the corrected version of the model revealed that we should not have excluded a simple sperm lottery as a possible mechanism of sperm competition in decorated crickets, Gryllodes sigillatus.
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1 January 2003
LINEAR MODELS FOR ASSESSING MECHANISMS OF SPERM COMPETITION: THE TROUBLE WITH TRANSFORMATIONS
Anne-Katrin Eggert,
Klaus Reinhardt,
Scott K. Sakaluk
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Evolution
Vol. 57 • No. 1
January 2003
Vol. 57 • No. 1
January 2003
Crickets
Gryllodes sigillatus
ideal lottery
sperm competition
sperm displacement
spermatophore