Comment on "Female toads engaging in adaptive hybridization prefer high-quality heterospecifics as mates"

Michael J Braun; Gerald S Wilkinson; Brian S Cade

doi:10.1126/science.abd3905

Comment on "Female toads engaging in adaptive hybridization prefer high-quality heterospecifics as mates"

Science. 2020 Oct 9;370(6513):eabd3905. doi: 10.1126/science.abd3905.

Authors

Michael J Braun^{1

2}, Gerald S Wilkinson³, Brian S Cade⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Vertebrate Zoology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20013, USA. braunm@si.edu wilkinso@umd.edu cadeb@usgs.gov.
² Department of Biology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA.
³ Department of Biology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA. braunm@si.edu wilkinso@umd.edu cadeb@usgs.gov.
⁴ U.S. Geological Survey, Fort Collins Science Center, Fort Collins, CO 80526, USA. braunm@si.edu wilkinso@umd.edu cadeb@usgs.gov.

PMID: 33033187
DOI: 10.1126/science.abd3905

Abstract

Chen and Pfennig (Reports, 20 March 2020, p. 1377) analyze the fitness consequences of hybridization in toads but do not account for differences in survival among progeny. Apparent fitness effects depend on families with anomalously low survival, yet survival is crucial to evolutionary fitness. This and other analytical shortcomings demonstrate that a conclusion of adaptive mate choice is not yet justified.

Publication types

Comment

MeSH terms

Animals
Biological Evolution
Female
Hybridization, Genetic*
Nucleic Acid Hybridization
Reproduction
Sexual Behavior, Animal*