Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Concept Videos

Mate Choice01:20

Mate Choice

11.5K
Mate choice—the decision about whom to mate with—is a type of natural selection, since animals must reproduce to pass down their genes. Mate choice is also called intersexual selection because the behavior occurs between the sexes.
11.5K
Inclusive Fitness00:57

Inclusive Fitness

37.2K
Most altruistic behavior—in which one animal helps another at a cost to themselves—occurs between relatives. Scientists think these altruistic behaviors evolved because they increase the inclusive fitness of the animal providing help.
37.2K
Types of Selection01:46

Types of Selection

43.8K
Natural selection influences the frequencies of particular alleles and phenotypes within populations in several different ways. Primarily, natural selection can be directional, stabilizing, or disruptive. Directional selection favors one extreme trait and shifts the population towards that phenotype while selecting against individuals displaying alternate traits. Stabilizing selection favors an intermediate trait with a narrow range of variation. Deviation from the optimal phenotype towards an...
43.8K
Natural Selection and Mating Preferences01:06

Natural Selection and Mating Preferences

465
The principle of natural selection posits that organisms better adapted to their environment are more likely to survive and reproduce. This principle is closely intertwined with mating preferences, a key aspect of sexual selection, which evolutionary psychologists believe is driven by instincts to propagate one's genes. Such instincts significantly influence mating behaviors and preferences between genders.
Females, due to their biological roles in conception, pregnancy, and nursing,...
465
Criticisms of the Evolutionary Perspective01:23

Criticisms of the Evolutionary Perspective

329
In a study where individuals posing as strangers offered compliments and proposed casual sex to students, the responses differed significantly based on gender. Not a single woman accepted the proposal, while 70% of the men agreed. This outcome provides a useful scenario to explore through the lens of evolutionary psychology and social learning theory, highlighting the diverse perspectives on human sexual behaviors.
Evolutionary psychology provides one explanation for these findings, suggesting...
329
Frequency-dependent Selection01:21

Frequency-dependent Selection

23.0K
When the fitness of a trait is influenced by how common it is (i.e., its frequency) relative to different traits within a population, this is referred to as frequency-dependent selection. Frequency-dependent selection may occur between species or within a single species. This type of selection can either be positive—with more common phenotypes having higher fitness—or negative, with rarer phenotypes conferring increased fitness.
23.0K

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Childhood appendectomy is linked with higher digestive, respiratory, and genitourinary disease risk but lower inflammatory bowel disease risk.

Evolution, medicine, and public health·2026
Same author

Queen loss fails to elicit physiological and transcriptional responses in workers of the invasive garden ant Lasius neglectus.

Journal of evolutionary biology·2026
Same author

Comparative analysis of 163 ant genomes reveals recurrent horizontal gene transfer from bacteria to ants.

GigaScience·2026
Same author

High-throughput phenomics of global ant biodiversity.

Nature methods·2026
Same author

Nutritional specialization and social evolution in woodroaches and termites.

Science (New York, N.Y.)·2026
Same author

DNA Circles as Vehicles for Genes to Evade Chromosomal Discipline.

Genome biology and evolution·2025

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jan 13, 2026

Determination of the Mating Efficiency of Haploids in Saccharomyces cerevisiae
05:39

Determination of the Mating Efficiency of Haploids in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Published on: December 2, 2022

3.1K

Kin selection versus sexual selection: why the ends do not meet.

Jacobus J Boomsma1

  • 1Institute of Biology, University of Copenhagen, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark. JJBoomsma@bi.ku.dk

Current Biology : CB
|August 24, 2007
PubMed
Summary

Lifetime monogamy is crucial for the evolution of eusociality, enabling permanent non-reproductive castes. Later social complexity evolved without increased promiscuity, suggesting kin and sexual selection often conflict.

More Related Videos

Using the FishSim Animation Toolchain to Investigate Fish Behavior: A Case Study on Mate-Choice Copying In Sailfin Mollies
10:50

Using the FishSim Animation Toolchain to Investigate Fish Behavior: A Case Study on Mate-Choice Copying In Sailfin Mollies

Published on: November 8, 2018

11.5K
Assessing Differences in Sperm Competitive Ability in Drosophila
09:34

Assessing Differences in Sperm Competitive Ability in Drosophila

Published on: August 22, 2013

15.0K

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Jan 13, 2026

Determination of the Mating Efficiency of Haploids in Saccharomyces cerevisiae
05:39

Determination of the Mating Efficiency of Haploids in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Published on: December 2, 2022

3.1K
Using the FishSim Animation Toolchain to Investigate Fish Behavior: A Case Study on Mate-Choice Copying In Sailfin Mollies
10:50

Using the FishSim Animation Toolchain to Investigate Fish Behavior: A Case Study on Mate-Choice Copying In Sailfin Mollies

Published on: November 8, 2018

11.5K
Assessing Differences in Sperm Competitive Ability in Drosophila
09:34

Assessing Differences in Sperm Competitive Ability in Drosophila

Published on: August 22, 2013

15.0K

Area of Science:

  • Evolutionary biology
  • Behavioral ecology
  • Sociobiology

Background:

  • Eusociality, characterized by reproductive division of labor, is a major evolutionary transition.
  • The role of mating systems, particularly monogamy, in the evolution of eusociality remains debated.
  • Sexual selection and kin selection are key evolutionary forces that may interact or conflict.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To redevelop the hypothesis that lifetime monogamy is a fundamental prerequisite for the evolution of eusociality.
  • To investigate the relationship between mating systems, sexual selection, and kin selection in social evolution.
  • To examine how derived social systems evolved from simpler cooperative breeding systems.

Main Methods:

  • Theoretical re-evaluation of existing hypotheses on social evolution.
  • Comparative analysis of mating systems across different social structures (solitary, cooperative, eusocial).
  • Examination of the interplay between relatedness, benefits, and costs in Hamilton's rule.

Main Results:

  • Lifetime monogamy is proposed as essential for the initial evolution of eusociality with permanent castes.
  • Later elaborations in eusociality (e.g., multiple mates, multiple queens) did not require increased promiscuity.
  • A negative correlation between promiscuity and inclusive fitness benefits in cooperatively breeding vertebrates suggests kin and sexual selection are often mutually exclusive.
  • The 'monogamy window' for eusocial transitions implies specific, non-random combinations of relatedness and benefit-cost variables.

Conclusions:

  • Lifetime monogamy is a critical factor, not promiscuity, for the origin of eusociality.
  • Sexual selection is constrained in eusocial lineages due to the prevalence of monogamy.
  • Kin selection and sexual selection generally operate antagonistically, influencing the evolution of sociality.