{"doi":"10.1101/2023.12.12.571300","title":"Sperm competition favours intermediate sperm size in a hermaphrodite","abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title>\n                <jats:p>\n                  Sperm competition is a potent mechanism of post-copulatory sexual selection that has been found to shape reproductive morphologies and behaviours in promiscuous animals. Especially sperm size has been argued to evolve in response to sperm competition through its effect on sperm longevity, sperm motility, the ability to displace competing sperm and ultimately fertilization success. Additionally, sperm size has been observed to co-evolve with female reproductive morphology. Theoretical work predicts that sperm competition may select for longer sperm but may also favour shorter sperm if sperm size trades off with number. In this study, we studied the relationship between sperm size and post-mating success in the free-living flatworm,\n                  <jats:italic>Macrostomum lignano</jats:italic>\n                  . Specifically, we used inbred isolines of\n                  <jats:italic>M. lignano</jats:italic>\n                  that varied in sperm size to investigate how sperm size translated into the ability of worms to transfer and deposit sperm in a mating partner. Our results revealed a hump-shaped relationship with individuals producing sperm of intermediate size having highest sperm competitiveness. This finding broadens our understanding of the evolution of sperm morphology by providing empirical support for stabilizing selection on sperm size under sperm competition.\n                </jats:p>","journal":null,"year":null,"id":13635,"datarank":0.0,"base_score":0.0,"endowment":0.0,"self_citation_contribution":0.0,"citation_network_contribution":0.0,"self_endowment_contribution":0.0,"citer_contribution":0.0,"corpus_percentile":null,"corpus_rank":null,"citation_count":0,"citer_count":0,"citers_with_citation_signal":0,"citers_with_endowment":0,"datacite_reuse_total":1,"is_dataset":false,"is_dataset_confidence":null,"is_oa":false,"file_count":0,"downloads":0,"has_version_chain":false,"published_date":null,"fair_score":null,"fair_percentile":null,"algorithm_id":"datarank_citation_only_1hop_v6","ranking_scope":"data_only","authors":[{"id":111064,"name":"Dieter Ebert","orcid":null,"position":1,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":111065,"name":"Tim Janicke","orcid":null,"position":2,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":111063,"name":"Santhosh Santhosh","orcid":null,"position":0,"is_corresponding":false}],"reference_count":0,"raw_metadata":{"has_enrichment":true,"base_score":0.0,"endowment":0.0,"datacite_reuse_total":1,"file_count":0,"downloads":0,"views":0,"has_version_chain":false,"is_dataset":false,"is_oa":false,"pmid":"38738700","pmcid":null,"openalex_id":"https://openalex.org/W4389686965","authors":[],"funders":[{"funder_name":"Swiss National Science Foundation","grant_id":"184916","title":"Sexual selection and sexual conflict in simultaneous hermaphrodites with divergent mating syndromes"}],"total_grants":1,"fwci":null,"citation_percentile":null,"influential_citations":1,"citation_trend":[],"oa_status":"green","license":"cc-by-nc-nd","oa_locations":[{"url":"https://www.biorxiv.org/content/biorxiv/early/2023/12/13/2023.12.12.571300.full.pdf","host_type":"repository"},{"url":"https://www.biorxiv.org/content/biorxiv/early/2023/12/13/2023.12.12.571300.full.pdf","host_type":"GREEN"},{"url":"https://www.biorxiv.org/content/biorxiv/early/2023/12/13/2023.12.12.571300.full.pdf","host_type":"repository"},{"url":"https://syndication.highwire.org/content/doi/10.1101/2023.12.12.571300","host_type":"publisher"},{"url":"https://doi.org/10.1101/2023.12.12.571300","host_type":"repository"},{"url":"https://europepmc.org/article/PPR/PPR773058","host_type":"Europe_PMC"},{"url":"https://europepmc.org/api/fulltextRepo?pprId=PPR773058&type=FILE&fileName=EMS192770-pdf.pdf&mimeType=application/pdf","host_type":"Europe_PMC"},{"url":"https://doi.org/10.1093/jeb/voae058","host_type":""},{"url":"https://hal.science/hal-04728207v1","host_type":""},{"url":"https://hal.science/hal-04728207v1/document","host_type":""},{"url":"https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1093/jeb/voae058","host_type":""}],"fields_of_study":["Insect and Arachnid Ecology and Behavior","Animal Behavior and Reproduction","Parasite Biology and Host Interactions","Medicine","Biology","0106 biological sciences","0301 basic medicine","03 medical and health sciences","01 natural sciences"],"mesh_terms":[],"keywords":["Sperm","Sperm competition","Biology","Human fertilization","Polyspermy","Female sperm storage","Mating","Sexual selection","Hermaphrodite","Zoology","Andrology","Ecology","Anatomy","In vitro fertilisation","Genetics","Embryo","[SDV] Life Sciences [q-bio]","570","hermaphrodites","stabilizing selection","[SDV]Life Sciences [q-bio]","sperm size"],"sdg_mappings":[],"linked_datasets":[{"doi":"10.5061/dryad.c866t1gdg","title":"Sperm competition favours intermediate sperm size in a hermaphrodite","publisher":"Dryad","resource_type":"Dataset"}],"clinical_trials":[],"software_tools":[],"database_accessions":[],"source":"live","citation_network_status":"fetched"},"created_at":"2026-05-31T06:50:18.152936Z","pmid":null,"pmcid":null,"fwci":null,"citation_percentile":null,"influential_citations":0,"oa_status":null,"license":null,"views":0,"total_file_size_bytes":0,"version_count":0,"fair_f":null,"fair_a":null,"fair_i":null,"fair_r":null,"fair_zscore":null,"fair_rationale":null,"fair_model":null,"fair_agent_version":null,"fair_fulltext_source":null,"fair_has_llm":null,"fair_computed_at":null,"clinical_trials":[],"software_tools":[],"db_accessions":[],"linked_datasets":[],"topics":[]}