Ref ID : 771
John J. Gilbert; Female polymorphism and sexual reproduction in the rotifer Asplanchna: Evolution of their relationship and control by dietary tocopherol. The American Naturalist 116(3):409-431, 1980
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The purpose of the present paper is to consider the Asplanchna response to tocopherol. Why is it adaptive for the occurrence of sexual reproduction in these rotifers to be associated with female polymorphism, and why is it adaptive for female polymorphism to be controlled by dietary tocopherol? In this paper, I review the major aspects of these interrelated responses, propose a theory for the adaptive significance of tocopherol as a trigger for these responses, and suggest a sequence of events by which these responses may have evolved in the genus. The more general question of the adaptive significance of the occurrence of sexuality in the life cycle is not considered.