Pipefish- Module 10

     I do not know much about pipefish, but it does make sense why the females are more brightly colored. In most species, the males have to compete to catch the attention of the females. However, since the females are attracting the males in this situation, their physical features need to be more appealing. Pipefish are similar to seahorses in the sense that the males carry the eggs. As evolution occurs to help adapt to the most valuable trait,  it may just be that females do not have the best resources in comparison to the males.

    One possibility I can think of is that the rate of offspring birth is quicker in males than in females. If the babies are able to develop more quickly in males, more offspring will be produced which will contribute to fitness in general. Organisms usually look for and value efficiency, so this may be the most efficient way. Since organisms produce more offspring than can survive, it would allow for natural selection to play its part. I would say that the male carrying the babies provides more benefits for this particular species, so with evolution the females have had to develop bright noticeable features so that they can get chosen by males.

Comments

  1. Ally JensenApril 2, 2021 at 11:02 PM

    I saw the same pattern when I was researching this topic. The males invest more energy into the offspring, so they get to be choosier when selecting mates. Through this process of sexual selection, the females evolved to be more colorful. Great post!

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  2. Jillian NorrisApril 3, 2021 at 12:50 AM

    Hey,
    I really enjoy your analysis of how pipefish and seahorses have quite a bit of overlap and correlations. I like the analysis of how females could be unsuccessful due to resources when compared to the males. It was simple to see how sexual selection has led to more colorful females through the males being pickier within the population. Keep up the good work!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Tom McClainApril 8, 2021 at 1:58 PM

    Hi Prutha, I really like your post and think you do a good job connecting the big-picture evolutionary theory to the specific mating displays in pipefish. Do you know if pipefish and seahorses developed the male egg-carrying as a result of convergent evolution, or are they connected somehow?

    ReplyDelete

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