Sexual Selection And Sensory Theories

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,

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.

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).

This essay aims to show a comparison between the differences between both female short-term mating strategies and female long-term mating strategies. It will explore the evolution of psychology that has shown reasons for human mating and how these reasons go above and beyond the general idea of physical attractiveness and love. This essay will identify how mate preferences have evolved and further identify psychological mechanisms that women have used to select their mates over the past. This essay will compare and critically discuss the differences and outline them between female short-term mating strategies and female long-term mating

During the evolutionary adaptation time period, between 10-40 thousand years ago, our ancestors were hunter-gatherers. This created a division between men and women. The men would hunt for food and the women would be in charge of the domestic duties such as cleaning and cooking. Doing the domestic chores would have kept women more protected, as it is less strenuous and would have guarded the camp whilst the men were out hunting therefore increasing the chances of reproductive success. This division of labour would have made them less likely to sustain injuries and so the evolutionary approach would suggest that the groups who divided the labour were been more likely to

Heterozygotes, which have the wild type phenotype, have normal sight which gives them the advantage of finding a mate and have a better success with attracting a mate with their courtship song (Kyriacou et al, 1978). The male heterozygous Drosophila had a better advantage at mating than the homozygotes, which were the ebony, and therefore we predict there will be more wild type by the end of the experiment.

AH4: That male brightness is determined by a combination of predation, geographical isolation and/or sexual selection, predicting that two of the previous hypotheses are supported.

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.

This journal describes the growth over the past couple of years in terms of research on sexual selection. It articulates the influence sexual selection play on pre- and post-copulatory selection mechanisms, such as sperm storage/utilization, courtship, mate choice aggressive competition between male species and sexual conflict. In this journal, genetic mechanisms are highlighted to address some of the recently questioned areas of pre- and post-copulatory sexual selection. Although all the genetic mechanisms for sexual selection are not yet known, many of the identified genes show evidence of positive selection. It showed that sexual selection leads to the rapid coevolution of male and female reproductive organs. They identified how new techniques

Males and females differ considerably in how much they each invest in order to make offspring and a result of this, they approach mating with different methods. Researchers and scientists learn and examine these varying mating systems to explain how males and females pair up. A mating system explains the techniques males and females use to pair up when selecting a mate. It is important to begin by reviewing and understanding the reproductive strategies among primates. The major types of mating systems found in primates are monogamy and polygamy. Monogamy is a practice of mating in which one male pairs with one female. Polygamy also known as bisexual, is a pattern of mating in which a male mates with more than one female and a female mates with more than one male (Wong , 2010). Polygamy is then clarified into polygyny and polyandry. Polygyny is when one male mates with multiple females. Polyandry is when one female mates with multiple males. Recognizing the diversity of mating systems will help in understanding the interactive relationship of sexual size dimorphism and behavior in primates.

Red Tailed Catfish mating systems are diverse and sexual selection is expected to be stronger in some lineages than others. In particular, polygynous mating systems and female-only parental care set the stage for potentially strong sexual selection by female choice. But does such intraspecific choosiness target the same coloration traits that also determine assortative mating.

Sexual selection can best be described by the definition given by Darwin himself. Sexual selection is “the advantage which certain individuals have over other individuals of the same species solely in respect of reproduction” (Hosken et al, 2011). Sexual selection occurs throughout the animal kingdom, where male frogs dominate through the depth of their croak, and certain peacocks reign superior based on the colour and intricate detail on their tails. They remain superior to their lesser counterparts as they bear more admirable characteristics, from which they are chosen by females of the same species.

Darwin’s theory on sexual selection, conceptualized throughout the course of The Descent of Man, examines how inherent factors shape the structures and mental capabilities of males and females through nature and the influence of humanity’s ancestors. Darwin purports that it is biology that dictates human traits. According to Darwin, whose work was influenced by the Victorian period, the hierarchy of the natural realm, in which mankind is placed at the summit, is further stratified between the two sexes. As an underlying theme of his work, Darwin emphasizes his claim that, under the rationale of sexual selection, “[…] man has ultimately become superior to woman” (Darwin 565). In what respects, in Chapter 19, Darwin produces the following statement:

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

This article focuses on the evolution of sexual differences in insects. Intense sexual selection due to competition for mates is the main driving force behind the evolution of such variations. Males produce smaller and more numerous gametes than females and often competition between males is greater than that between females. It is suggested by the authors that the material contribution by each of sexes to the next generation is what determines the reproductive rate of the population. In an instances where one sex contributes more to the reproduction and survival of the offspring than the other this sex will become the limiting factor for sexual selection, and will be subject to greater loss of fitness if an importer mate choice is made. In terms of contribution to offspring both male and female can provide care in various ways. The relative investment of each sex will determine the degree to which the one sex competes for the opposite one. The observed sexual differences proved a clue about the intensity of sexual selection in particular species. Usually females contribute more to the offspring care and are the limiting factor for sexual selection, as a result males exhibit more variations in secondary sexual characteristics in terms of morphology and behavior. In species that male provide more care the roles are reversed. Though direct care is not common in insects the males might contribute indirectly by protecting the female after mating as observed in several