Sexual conflict and genital evolution in vertebrates

Sexual conflict is expected to be widespread in nature as males and females do not fully share their evolutionary interests. Waterfowl provide a unique model system to study conflict because female choice and resistance are distinct. In waterfowl sexual conflict over forced copulations has led to the evolution of unique functional morphology of male genitalia and coevolution between males and females that result from an evolutionary arms race as males try to bypass female choice and females resist male coercion. Surprisingly, elaborate genital co-adaptations to conflict are widespread in other female vertebrates, and my lab has been studying snakes, cetaceans, and sharks to uncover some of the amazing variation in genitalia as a result of sexual conflict over mating interactions.

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