Meeting Abstract
Uncovering the role of sexual selection far past speciation events on a macroevolutionary scale has proven difficult, and a major gap exists in the literature because of it. Population-level studies show a clear link between both sexual selection and diversity accumulation, and male sexual traits and associated female preferences. If population-level processes translate to the macroevolutionary level, we expect to find that male trait and female preference co-evolve. Assortative mating strengthens the match between trait and preference after diversification in either, creating reproductively isolated species. Our recent findings provide robust evidence for the end result of increased speciation at macroevolutionary levels, but predictions on male trait and female preference remain untested in this context. Here, we find divergence in male luminescence color in cypridinid ostracods that produce complex courtship signals to attract females. We estimate the absorbance spectra of photoreceptors in the female eye and compare the absorbance peak to the conspecific male emission spectra peak. We find that male color and female perception are not matched. We find a surprising amount of photoreceptor diversity within species of cypridinid ostracod. This comparative project documents signal and sensory ability, which underlies female preference.
