Sperm length variation among Afrotropical songbirds reflects phylogeny rather than adaptations to the tropical environment

TY - JOUR

T1 - Sperm length variation among Afrotropical songbirds reflects phylogeny rather than adaptations to the tropical environment

AU - Omotoriogun, Taiwo C.

AU - Albrecht, Tomáš

AU - Gohli, Jostein

AU - Hořák, David

AU - Johannessen, Lars Erik

AU - Johnsen, Arild

AU - Kreisinger, Jakub

AU - Marki, Petter Z.

AU - Ottosson, Ulf

AU - Rowe, Melissah

AU - Sedláček, Ondřej

AU - Lifjeld, Jan T.

N1 - 7006, AnE; Data archiving: data archived in GBIF (not NIOO data), no NIOO project

PY - 2020

Y1 - 2020

N2 - Sperm cells vary tremendously in size and shape across the animal kingdom. In songbirds (Aves: Passeri), sperm have a characteristic helical form but vary considerably in size. Most of our knowledge about sperm morphology in this group stems from studies of species in the Northern temperate zone, while little is known about the numerous species in the tropics. Here we examined sperm size in 125 Afrotropical songbird species with emphasis on the length of the major structural components (head, midpiece, flagellum), and total sperm length measured using light microscopy. Mean total sperm length varied from 51 μm to 212 μm across species. Those belonging to the Corvoidea superfamily had relatively short sperm with a small midpiece, while those of the three major Passeridan superfamilies Passeroidea, Muscicapoidea and Sylvioidea showed large interspecific variation in total sperm length and associated variation in midpiece length. These patterns are consistent with previous findings for temperate species in the same major clades. A comparative analysis with songbird species from the Northern temperate zone (N = 139) showed large overlap in sperm length ranges although certain temperate families (e.g. Parulidae, Emberizidae) typically have long sperm and certain Afrotropical families (e.g. Cisticolidae, Estrildidae) have relatively short sperm. Afrotropical and temperate species belonging to the same families showed no consistent contrasts in sperm length. Sperm length variation among Afrotropical and Northern temperate songbirds exhibits a strong phylogenetic signal with little or no evidence for any directional latitudinal effect among closely related taxa.

AB - Sperm cells vary tremendously in size and shape across the animal kingdom. In songbirds (Aves: Passeri), sperm have a characteristic helical form but vary considerably in size. Most of our knowledge about sperm morphology in this group stems from studies of species in the Northern temperate zone, while little is known about the numerous species in the tropics. Here we examined sperm size in 125 Afrotropical songbird species with emphasis on the length of the major structural components (head, midpiece, flagellum), and total sperm length measured using light microscopy. Mean total sperm length varied from 51 μm to 212 μm across species. Those belonging to the Corvoidea superfamily had relatively short sperm with a small midpiece, while those of the three major Passeridan superfamilies Passeroidea, Muscicapoidea and Sylvioidea showed large interspecific variation in total sperm length and associated variation in midpiece length. These patterns are consistent with previous findings for temperate species in the same major clades. A comparative analysis with songbird species from the Northern temperate zone (N = 139) showed large overlap in sperm length ranges although certain temperate families (e.g. Parulidae, Emberizidae) typically have long sperm and certain Afrotropical families (e.g. Cisticolidae, Estrildidae) have relatively short sperm. Afrotropical and temperate species belonging to the same families showed no consistent contrasts in sperm length. Sperm length variation among Afrotropical and Northern temperate songbirds exhibits a strong phylogenetic signal with little or no evidence for any directional latitudinal effect among closely related taxa.

KW - Sperm

KW - size

KW - Passerides

KW - Phylogenetic effect

KW - Speciation

KW - Comparative analyses

KW - international

KW - Plan_S-Compliant-TA

UR - https://doi.org/10.15468/rw4lcz

U2 - 10.1016/j.zool.2020.125770

DO - 10.1016/j.zool.2020.125770

M3 - Article

SN - 0944-2006

VL - 140

JO - Zoology

JF - Zoology

ER -