Female Guppies

In an article by Lee Alan Dugatkin and Jean Guy J. Godin they discuss how women unknowingly select their mates based on what they believe to be their choices and personal preferences, but really their choices stem from their subconscious and biological pre-programing. One of the examples that are given in the article is how vibrant colors, although not evolutionarily smart in terms of camouflage, are effective when it comes to finding a mate. Like for instance guppies and peacocks, the males possess these vibrant, bright colors to attract females and innately that is what the females look for. The more colorful the male, the more likely the female will choose him to breed with because to them the brighter the males are the stronger their genes are and the more possible it is that their offspring will survive and continue passing on their genes (Dugatkin et Godin,

In his article, The Strategies of Finding a Mate, David M. Buss discusses the act of finding a mate and the characteristics that people are drawn to in a mate. He begins the article with a brief look at the history of mating and the theories that have previously been proposed. In particular he addressed Charles Darwin’s theory of sexual evolution and belief in preferential mate choice. Buss proposes that there are three components to human mating. He states that “human mating is inherently strategic… mating strategies are context-dependent… [and that] men and women have faced different mating problems over the course of human evolution and, as a consequence, have evolved different strategies” (Buss, 1994, p. 241). He uses this theory to propose nine different hypotheses to prove that despite humans being varied and different from each other, all humans look for similar characteristics when trying to find a mate (Buss, 1994).

In this chapter, Orr and Zuk explains the importance of ornaments of males and the mechanism behind sexual selection. The questions that they seek to answer involve the fact that why are the males fighting during mating season, and the ones with the colorful ornaments. In both human and animal relationship, there are many similarities, such as the fact that the male fights for the female such as their masculinity or traits that females look for whether an animal or a human. Darwin in The Origin explained that sexual selection involves competition, but for mating instead of fighting for survival, in The Descent went on to explain the relevance of the traits like the peacock tails.

However, this is contrary to some conclusions made by psychologist studying socio-biology that have found that most men of most cultures find the 'hour-glass' shape attractive as it is shows a woman to be fertile. One consistency has been found cross-culturally. David Buss (1994) found that men tend to value physical attractiveness and favour a younger partner, whereas women prefer status and favour an older partner. This is all consistent with the theory of socio-biology.

In “Men, Women, Sex, and Darwin,” an article that appeared in The New York Times Magazine 1999. Natalie Angier discusses and gives a brief understanding of evolutionary psychology’s ideas about men, women, and se. Angier compares and contrast women, and men mates’ preferences. But she also analyzes the various ways in which scientists have studied gender differences. Angier mentions that men want women who are virginal and who seem as though they’ll be faithful and not make cuckolds of them. While women in the other hand want a man who seems rich, stable and have a good status. This idea of the mate preferences is supported by David Buss. David Buss surveys are performed in 37 countries, on six continents. His surveys consistently find that men rate youth and beauty as important traits in a mate, while women care more about ambition

In the wild the Poecilia reticulata or the guppy brightly colored males are more likely to be eaten by a predator because they are visible. Although guppies that are more brightly colored are prayed upon more often than those guppies that are not their bright color is beneficial in attracting mates. Humans, plants, and animals compete amongst themselves not only for water, territory, and sunlight but also for the ability to reproduce. Sexual selection is necessary for a population to survive. In the case of the brightly colored guppy, it uses his phenotype in order to pass his genes to the next generation. The female guppy is known to choose bright males over those who are not for many particular reasons. They might indicate the presence of

Darwin's theory of sexual selection is an intriguing one because it offers an explanation of human striving and cultural value systems. The theory is that humans who are more sexually desirable will have more offspring and thus their traits will be passed on to future generations to a greater extent than those of less sexually desirable humans. As opposed to Darwin's other theory, natural selection, those who are the best adapted to their environment will be more likely to pass on their genes, or, "survival of the fittest", you might call sexual selection "survival of the sexiest." The theory is intended to in part explain why, when humans diverged from other primates, the human brain tripled in size

The first few chapters discuss in depth both the general rules for mate selection and the differences in mate selection and varying preferences for male and female genders. As explained in the intro the author theorizes that the current behavior of humans in relation to mating behavior can be linked to our evolutionary past. He references Charles Darwin 's theory of evolution and his idea of natural selection, which is the the process through which organisms adapt to their environment and in doing so tend to

The most important of factors in this practice are the preferences of those selecting mates. Mate preferences have a scientific importance for several reasons. Mate preferences for instance determine whoever is chosen or excluded. This therefore influences the current direction of sexual selection. Mate preferences also determine which members of the opposite sex are high or low in value. In turn, this influences various variables ranging from social status and desirability of the selected mate. The mate preferences of one sex also conversely influence retention techniques effective on members of the other gender. Such tactics substantiate the wants of the person, one is attempting to retain or attract. Another importance of mate preferences is the fact that some of them might be adaptations that might have psychologically developed over time. Such preferences represent crucial solutions to fundamental mating challenges such as selecting a fertile mate or one able and willing to invest in an offspring. The preferences of one’s mate might also reveal crucial cultural values that when interrogated over a certain period of time document the evolution of various cultural values (Chang, 2010). As such, mate preference is the first step in the process of mate selection which aptly determines one’s choice of a mate. As such, it is impossible to understand mate selection in a certain population without understanding patterns in mate preferences. Mate preferences are especially important in Asian cultures where they are traditionally passed on from one generation to the other. As one grows older, the preferred mates by parents are passed on. As such, one eventually chooses a mate who is more or less agreeable to the entire family. As such, it is imperative to approach and understand the process of mate selection as an interactive process that is subject to disparate factors and circumstances (Chang,

Mate choice is a product of mate preferences form in the environment of evolutionary adaptiveness (EEA). Sexual selection suggests that females prefer males who they can gain benefits from such as gifts. This is shown in male birds who make nests for females in order to mate with them and also in insects who give nuptial gifts.

Mate choice involves a variety of behaviors and tasks. Female choice of mates is a key part of traditional sexual selection. Some individuals choose mates based upon things such as size and age(Leonard, 2006). There is evidence that suggests that individual organisms and species may choose their mates depending upon the amount of sperm that is released from the male. Male individuals produce more sperm with other individuals who were previously abandoned(Leonard, 2006). This suggests that some individuals prefer low sperm competition during sexual selection. It has been said that females choose mates on the basis of their mates being compatible with their own genotype. On the contrary, some male individuals don’t choose mates according to age and size. They would rather mate with females who are closer to reproduction(Galipaud et al.,2015). This could be beneficial for male organisms because regardless of the age and size of the individual that they mate with, it is an increased probability that they will have successful offspring. Mate choice may also be dependent upon direct and indirect social information(Kavaliers et al.,

Have you ever noticed that most animals of the same species look completely different in that some are more beautiful than others? Some fish have vibrant colored ornate tails while others do not. Some birds have an array of radiant colors while others are dull and drab; their feathers usually consisting of one monotone color. Science has discovered that gender plays a key role in the selection of physical qualities. It has been identified that animals of male gender have more dynamic physical characteristics than the female gender. Female animals are usually one drab color, without any significant physical qualities. This concept is called sexual selection. What exactly is the concept of sexual selection, and what is its purpose in the animal kingdom?

The primary evolutionary reason behind mating and sex is to have successful offspring. For this reason, women are meticulous in their mate selection. Height is one of the many traits women view as having a high mate value. Women often choose taller men as their partners because of the many benefits there are with being tall. Taller men are commonly seen as being more attractive to women, and both men and women desire relationships where the man is taller. Tall men rather than shorter men indicate better genes and health overall. Tall men are perceived as more dominate and assertive than shorter men. Being tall is associated with socioeconomic status and better access to resources. Height qualities in men also yields the result of greater lifetime

Another evolutionary explanation of gender development is mate choice, which suggests that gender role behaviours are related to reproductive strategies. It is thought that men will look for women who are young whereas women are usually more interested in the resources of a mate. This can be explained from an evolutionary perspective as mating with a physically attractive woman

Eventually, as technology advances, researchers are able to gather data to distinguish the more in-depth characteristics of Sexual Selection. They found out that Sexual Selection is more complex than just males developing traits to attract females in hope of reproduction. Dr. Emily Brown of Cambridge University claims that “it is the selection for traits that are solely concerned with increasing the mating success of an individual”. Modern biologists have concluded that Sexual Selection is not limited by sex. Both females and males of a species can develop traits to help their chances of reproduction. Dr. Robert Trivers from Harvard University claims that the involvement in parenthood has an influence on selection. He explains that females