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Simple Reason Helps Males Evolve More Quickly

by Staff Writers

Gainesville FL (SPX) Nov 16, 2007

The observation that males evolve more quickly than females has been around since 19th century biologist Charles Darwin noted the majesty of a peacock's tail feather in comparison with the plainness of the peahen's. No matter the species, males apparently ramp up flashier features and more melodious warbles in an eternal competition to win the best mates, a concept known as sexual selection.

Why males are in evolutionary overdrive even though they have essentially the same genes as females has been a mystery, but an explanation by University of Florida Genetics Institute researchers to appear online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences this week may shed light on the subject.

"It's because males are simpler," said Marta Wayne, an associate professor of zoology in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and director of UF's Graduate Program in Genetics and Genomics. "The mode of inheritance in males involves simpler genetic architecture that does not include as many interactions between genes as could be involved in female inheritance."

The finding may also be useful to scientists studying why diseases may present themselves or respond to treatment differently in men and women.

THe whole thing here:

http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Simple_Reason_Helps_Males_Evolve_More_Quickly_999.html

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