Genetics of Mate Choice: From Sexual Selection to Sexual Isolation. Contemporary Issues in Genetics and Evolution, Volume 9. Edited by W J  Etges and, M A F  Noor. Dordrecht (The Netherlands) and Boston (Massachusetts): Kluwer Academic Publishers. $92.00. ix + pp 151–404; ill.; species and subject index. ISBN: 1–4020–1022–2. [Reprinted from Genetica, Volume 116 (Issues 2–3), 2002.] 2002.

2004 ◽  
Vol 79 (1) ◽  
pp. 70-70
Author(s):  
William Eberhard
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Selection ◽  
Mate Choice ◽  
The Netherlands ◽  
Sexual Isolation

scholarly journals A generalization of the informational view of non-random mating: Models with variable population frequencies

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Carvajal-Rodríguez
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Selection ◽  
Mate Choice ◽  
Breeding Season ◽  
Random Mating ◽  
Sexual Isolation ◽  
Total Change ◽  
Mixed Effect ◽  
Mating Patterns ◽  
Variable Population ◽  
Flow Of Information

AbstractMate choice may generate non-random mating patterns. It has been recently shown that the mating distribution caused by mate choice can be expressed as a gain in information with respect to random mating. In that model, the population phenotypic frequencies were assumed as constant during the breeding season. In the present work such restriction was relaxed to consider different encounter-mating processes in which the population frequencies of available individuals change over mating rounds. As with the constant case, here we describe the change in the mating phenotypes by the flow of information with respect to random mating. This information can be partitioned into sexual selection, sexual isolation and a mixed effect. Likewise, the pairwise statistics for total change, sexual selection and sexual isolation are generalized for variable population frequencies.The new tests had more power for the detection of the effects of non-random mating when the population frequencies vary during the breeding season. The differences in power were high for sexual selection but slight for sexual isolation scenarios. However, the application of the new formulas require the estimation of frequencies at each mating round. Therefore, choosing one or another type of statistics would depend on the biological scenario as well as in the availability and easiness to split the sampling in more than one mating round.

scholarly journals Non-random mating and information theory

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Carvajal-Rodríguez
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Selection ◽  
Mate Choice ◽  
Random Mating ◽  
Model Fitting ◽  
Selection Effect ◽  
Sexual Isolation ◽  
Price Equation ◽  
Detectable Effect ◽  
Mixed Effect ◽  
Mating Propensity

AbstractIn this work, mate choice is modeled by means of the abstract concept of mutual mating propensity. This only assumes that different type of couples can have different mating success. The model is adequate for any population where mating occurs among distinct types. There is no extra assumption about particular mating scheme or preference model. The concept of mutual mating propensity permits to express the observed change in the mating phenotypes as the gain in information with respect to random mating. The obtained expression is a form of the Price equation in which the mapping between ancestral and descendant population is substituted by a mapping between random mating and non random mating population.At the same time, this framework provides the connection between mate choice and the exact mathematical partition of the choice effects, namely sexual isolation, sexual selection and a mixed effect. The sexual selection component is the sum of the intra-sexual male and female selection.The proposed framework helps to unveil previously hidden invariants. For example, if the mutual preference between partner types is multiplicative there is no sexual isolation (inter-sexual selection) effect on the frequencies, i.e. the only possible effect of mate choice is intra-sexual selection. On the contrary, whatever the contribution of each partner to the mutual preference, if it comes as a non-multiplicative factor, there is at least an inter-sexual selection detectable effect.This new view over the mate choice problem, permits to develop general mating propensity models and to make predictions of the mate choice effects that may emerge from such models. This possibility opens up the way for setting a general theory of model fitting and multimodel inference for mate choice.Thus, it is suggested that the proposed framework, by describing mate choice as the flow of information due to non-random mating, provides a new important setting for exploring different mating models and their consequences.

scholarly journals Effect of Self-reported Height on Occupational Rank Among Police Officers: Especially for Women it Pays to be Tall

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abraham P. Buunk ◽  
Gert Stulp ◽  
Wilmar B. Schaufeli
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Selection ◽  
The Netherlands ◽  
Police Officers ◽  
Educational Level ◽  
Leadership Positions ◽  
Male And Female ◽  
Similar Percentage ◽  
Average Population ◽  
Female Police Officers

AbstractThis study among 725 male and 247 female police officers from The Netherlands examined the association between self-reported height and occupational rank from the perspective of sexual selection. Male and female police officers were taller than the average population. A larger percentage of women than of men was found in the lowest ranks, but in the leadership positions, there was a similar percentage of women as of men. Overall, but especially among women, height was linearly associated with occupational rank: the taller one was, the higher one’s rank. These effects were independent of educational level and age. The implications for evolutionary theorizing from the perspective of sexual selection on the effect of tallness on status and dominance among women are discussed.

scholarly journals Gamete-mediated mate choice: towards a more inclusive view of sexual selection

2018 ◽  
Vol 285 (1883) ◽  
pp. 20180836 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jukka Kekäläinen ◽  
Jonathan P. Evans
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Selection ◽  
Mate Choice ◽  
Sperm Competition ◽  
Female Choice ◽  
Mating Systems ◽  
Molecular Level ◽  
Evolutionary Significance ◽  
Random Interactions ◽  
Physiological Processes ◽  
The Everyday

‘Sperm competition’—where ejaculates from two or more males compete for fertilization—and ‘cryptic female choice’—where females bias this contest to suit their reproductive interests—are now part of the everyday lexicon of sexual selection. Yet the physiological processes that underlie these post-ejaculatory episodes of sexual selection remain largely enigmatic. In this review, we focus on a range of post-ejaculatory cellular- and molecular-level processes, known to be fundamental for fertilization across most (if not all) sexually reproducing species, and point to their putative role in facilitating sexual selection at the level of the cells and gametes, called ‘gamete-mediated mate choice’ (GMMC). In this way, we collate accumulated evidence for GMMC across different mating systems, and emphasize the evolutionary significance of such non-random interactions among gametes. Our overall aim in this review is to build a more inclusive view of sexual selection by showing that mate choice often acts in more nuanced ways than has traditionally been assumed. We also aim to bridge the conceptual divide between proximal mechanisms of reproduction, and adaptive explanations for patterns of non-random sperm–egg interactions that are emerging across an increasingly diverse array of taxa.

scholarly journals Mate Choice, Sex Roles and Sexual Cognition in Vertebrates: Mate Choice Turns Cognition or Cognition Turns Mate Choice?

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Theodora Fuss
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Selection ◽  
Mate Choice ◽  
Mating System ◽  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Cognitive Skills ◽  
Sex Roles ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Antipredator Behavior ◽  
Energy Levels ◽  
Problem Solver

The idea of “smart is sexy,” meaning superior cognition provides competitive benefits in mate choice and, therefore, evolutionary advantages in terms of reproductive fitness, is both exciting and captivating. Cognitively flexible individuals perceive and adapt more dynamically to (unpredictable) environmental changes. The sex roles that females and males adopt within their populations can vary greatly in response to the prevalent mating system. Based on how cognition determines these grossly divergent sex roles, different selection pressures could possibly shape the (progressive) evolution of cognitive abilities, suggesting the potential to induce sexual dimorphisms in superior cognitive abilities. Associations between an individual’s mating success, sexual traits and its cognitive abilities have been found consistently across vertebrate species and taxa, providing evidence that sexual selection may well shape the supporting cognitive prerequisites. Yet, while superior cognitive abilities provide benefits such as higher feeding success, improved antipredator behavior, or more favorable mate choice, they also claim costs such as higher energy levels and metabolic rates, which in turn may reduce fecundity, growth, or immune response. There is compelling evidence in a variety of vertebrate taxa that females appear to prefer skilled problem-solver males, i.e., they prefer those that appear to have better cognitive abilities. Consequently, cognition is also likely to have substantial effects on sexual selection processes. How the choosing sex assesses the cognitive abilities of potential mates has not been explored conclusively yet. Do cognitive skills guide an individual’s mate choice and does learning change an individual’s mate choice decisions? How and to which extent do individuals use their own cognitive skills to assess those of their conspecifics when choosing a mate? How does an individual’s role within a mating system influence the choice of the choosing sex in this context? Drawing on several examples from the vertebrate world, this review aims to elucidate various aspects associated with cognitive sex differences, the different roles of males and females in social and sexual interactions, and the potential influence of cognition on mate choice decisions. Finally, future perspectives aim to identify ways to answer the central question of how the triad of sex, cognition, and mate choice interacts.

4. Sex roles and stereotypes

2018 ◽  
pp. 52-68
Author(s):  
Leigh W. Simmons
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Selection ◽  
Mate Choice ◽  
Sexual Behaviour ◽  
Sex Roles ◽  
Animal Species ◽  
Male And Female ◽  
Mating Competition ◽  
Characteristic Behaviour ◽  
Males And Females ◽  
Female Roles

‘Sex roles and stereotypes’ examines the notion, implicit in many of the original ideas about sexual selection, that males and females have natural ‘roles’ with characteristic behaviour associated with each sex. It also explores further the reasons behind deviations from the ‘typical’ sex roles in mate choice and in mating competition. Are there ‘standard’ male and female roles in both humans and other animal species? One version of sex roles holds that males are generally dominant and females submissive, stemming from the way that sexual selection favours different behaviours in each sex. This could mean that sexual selection dictates particular behaviours in males and females. But in fact, sexual behaviour is extraordinarily varied in nature.

Synthesis and Outlook

2021 ◽  
pp. 153-161
Author(s):  
Ingo Schlupp
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Selection ◽  
Mate Choice ◽  
Sex Ratios ◽  
Empirical Work ◽  
Male Mate Choice ◽  
Female Ornamentation ◽  
Female Quality ◽  
Investment In Reproduction ◽  
Selection Research ◽  
Male Mate

In this final chapter I want to briefly recap what I presented in the previous chapters and provide a few ideas on what might be done in the future to move the field forward. All three factors I discussed as relevant in male mate choice—male investment in reproduction, sex ratios, and variability in partner quality—are still emerging fields in sexual selection research and need more theoretical and empirical work. I suggest that variability in female quality is more important and more complex than currently known. The same is true for sex ratios. On the other hand, I suggest that sheer investment in gametes may be a little less important than currently assumed. Most importantly we need to explore the interactions of these three pathways to male mate choice. Female competition and also female ornamentation are still somewhat enigmatic and both topics are likely to grow in importance for our understanding of sexual selection. I think considering male and female choice together, as well as female and male competition will ultimately provide a more complete picture of Darwinian sexual selection.

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