|
|
Article: Reports from State University of New York highlight recent research in evolution.
- Article from:
- Science Letter
- Article date:
- September 1, 2009
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2009 NewsRX. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
"Acorn barnacles are important model organisms for the study of sex allocation. They are sessile, nonselfing hermaphrodites that copulate with penises that have been suggested to be phenotypically plastic," scientists writing in the journal Evolution report (see also Evolution).
"On wave-exposed shores, Semibalanus balanoides develop penises with relatively greater diameter whereas in wave-protected sites they are thinner. A reciprocal transplant experiment between wave-exposed and protected sites tested whether these exposure-specific morphologies have adaptive value. Mating success was compared over a range of distances to compare the ability of barnacles to ...