Sexual Selection

Natural Selection

 Differential reproductive success due to variation among

individuals in survival and reproduction
 Sexual Selection

 It is a type of natural selection in which the sexes acquire

distinct forms either because the members of one sex choose
mate with particular features or because in competion for
mates among the member of one sex only those with certain
traits succeed
 Darwin 1871 define sexual selection as:
 Differential reproductive success due to variation among
individual in success at getting mates
 Reason of sexual selection
 Weaker genes are eliminated
 Weaker genes are not chosen to reproduce
 Better survival chance for offspring
 Produce offspring
 Sexual selection is non random
variance in reproductive success
 Types
 Intersexual selection (between sex)
 Intrasexual selection (within sex)
Intersexual selection (between sex)

 Occur in between two genders

 i.e. it can be male or female
 Differences in attractiveness to the opposite sex, usually
non random mate choice by female
 Intersexual selection

 Mate choice mate selection depend on the attractiveness of its

trait
 Trait related to resource holding potential and nobility
 Male and female prefer different
 Intrasexual selection

 Direct competition for mates between members of the

same sex usually male-male competition
 Mating system

 Monogamy: one mate exclusively with one female

 Polygamy: some male mate with more than one female
 Polyandry: some female mate with more than one male
 Mating system

 Mating system influence sexual selection

 Strength of sexual selection/variance in mating success
 Polyandry

 When is polyandry favor

 When males become limiting resource for the reproduction
 This often occur when low offspring survive requires male
parental care, so that male have the greater reproductive
effort and lower reproductive rate
 The form of Sexual Selection is directly
related to the relative investment in offspring
production
Bateman’s Principle
The sex that invests more in offspring production has fewer
reproductive opportunities.
Thus, the sex that has a higher investment
 Should be more discriminating (choosier)
 Become a limiting resource for the opposite sex
This is usually the female sex
 ANISOGAMY

FEMALES
 Sex that produces relatively few, large well-provisioned gametes
(eggs)
Theoretical work
 Proposes disruptive selection on gamete size from ancestral
isogamous condition. Initial favoring of more, smaller gametes
to increase fertilization chances. Subsequent disruptive favoring
of larger (but fewer) egg gametes to increase fertilization success
(viability, nutrition, etc.).
MALES
Sex that produces many, “cheap” gametes (sperm)
 Females are more invested

Females also often invest more than males in other forms

of care
Females bare the burden of pregnancy
Care for offspring
Only in fish is male care more common than female care
Males guard the eggs in their territory so they can also
secure multiple mates
 Why don’t males care for offspring
more often?
Females can sometimes mate multiply (polyandry)
Therefore, not all offspring may be sired by the male (paternity
sharing)
Opportunity costs
A male’s mating success is more driven by how many pairings he
can achieve
Especially because females are choosy
 Why do females invest more in
offspring care?

If females invest more prior to mating, there is

competition amongst males for female investment
This causes variability amongst male success
As long as females continue to provide care, it is less
likely males will contribute
Dominant males with great mating success are not inclined
to care after mating
 The form of Sexual Selection is directly
related to the relative investment in offspring
production.

Bateman’s principle: The sex that invests more in

offspring production has fewer reproductive opportunities.
Thus, the sex that has a higher investment
Should be more discriminating (choosier).
Become a limiting resource for the opposite sex.
Evolution of gender and sex resources
This is usually the female sex
 Selection for combat in males

Natural selection selects for male morphologies that make

them more competitive
Larger body size
Greater strength
 Selection in Males: Body Size

Larger male copepods can carry larger spermatophores

Mating with large males allows females to fertilize more
eggs and reduces the need for frequent mating's
 Are females really choosy?

Females can prefer elaborate ornaments

Long tailed widowbird
Elaborate ornaments are often costly
 Why are females choosy?

Two broad benefits:

Good resources Good genes
Competitive males often secure the best territories
Good genes
Body size and other competitive characteristics will be inherited by
the offspring
 GOOD GENES MODEL The
Handicap Principle (Zahavi 1975)

ELABORATED MALE TRAITS MAY BE INDICATORS OF

HERITABLE GENETIC QUALITY (I.E. FITNESS).
The Handicap Principle (Zahavi 1975)
Some males may have a heritable trait that reduces viability.
Only males with “Good Genes” can survive despite the handicap.
Females that mate with these males will have offspring with
higher fitness.
Female offspring particularly fit because they inherit good genes
GOOD GENES MODEL Hamilton
and Zuk added to this hypothesis:

ELABORATED MALE TRAITS MAY BE INDICATORS

OF HERITABLE GENETIC QUALITY (I.E. FITNESS).
Hamilton and Zuk added to this hypothesis:
Sexual displays are reliable indicators for genetic
resistance to disease or parasites
Advertisements of healthy animal
 Evidence of females choosing for
good genes

Reddish color is derived from carotenoids in a fish

diet
 Better color, better foraging,
 Even subordinate males express this color early
in the mating season, but only more fit males are
able to maintain it though the breeding season
Healthier male fish are more red

 Red coloration declines in males infected with parasites

 Genetic Benefits

Good genes as fitness indicators

Only good quality males that can afford elaborate ornaments
can survive
But then how is variation maintained in a population?
Mutations
Traits are quantitative (many genes are responsible)
 Sex Role Reversal

When males make large contributions to parental investment,

males may become the choosy ones
Seahorse mating in pipefish and seahorses males have a brood
pouch in which he holds and protects the fertilized eggs
Females can produce several clutches of eggs, so the limiting
resource becomes males
 Sexual Conflict Over Mating

If males need to maximize mating's and females need to

choose the best partner
Then females need to resist mating and males need to be
aggressive
Results in a sexual selection arms race
Males competing for a female sea turtle
The male guppy grows claws on its gonopodium (anal fin)
to counteract sexually-selective females