Meeting Abstract
Nervous systems are a hallmark of animals, present in all but the most basal phyla and a few highly degenerate groups. Nervous and sensory systems greatly enhance modalities of communication and are important in mate choice, reproduction, species recognition, and in turn influence speciation. The type and nature of neurosensory communication in mate (and thus species) recognition varies substantially across the diversity of animals. In the simplest and likely most plesiomorphic condition, gametes are liberated into the water column, and mate choice is largely at the cellular level, mediated chemically, without nervous input, as in many anthozoans. Conversely, diverse sensory signaling modes can be associated with mating behaviors in highly-cephalized taxa with internal fertilization, as in many arthropods. This variation in reproductive communication leads to variation in the type of selective forces, and in turn influences the dynamics speciation. I review the diversity of reproductive strategies from this perspective, provide examples of potential correlates in speciation, and discuss the resulting variation in the dynamics of diversification.
