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Related Concept Videos

Natural Selection and Mating Preferences01:06

Natural Selection and Mating Preferences

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, inherently...
Mate Choice01:20

Mate Choice

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.
Types of Selection01:46

Types of Selection

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...
Mutation, Gene Flow, and Genetic Drift01:09

Mutation, Gene Flow, and Genetic Drift

In a population that is not at Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, the frequency of alleles changes over time. Therefore, any deviations from the five conditions of Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium can alter the genetic variation of a given population. Conditions that change the genetic variability of a population include mutations, natural selection, non-random mating, gene flow, and genetic drift (small population size).Mechanisms of Genetic VariationThe original sources of genetic variation are mutations,...
Frequency-dependent Selection01:21

Frequency-dependent Selection

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.Positive Frequency-Dependent SelectionIn positive...
Inclusive Fitness00:57

Inclusive Fitness

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.

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Induction and Evaluation of Inbreeding Crosses Using the Ant, Vollenhovia Emeryi
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Published on: October 5, 2018

Variance-based selection may explain general mating patterns in social insects.

Olav Rueppell1, Nels Johnson, Jan Rychtár

  • 1Department of Biology, University of North Carolina, Greensboro, 312 Eberhart Building, Greensboro, NC 27403, USA. olav_rueppell@uncg.edu

Biology Letters
|March 28, 2008
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

This study presents a model for social insect evolution, showing that queens mating multiple times benefits colonies that succeed at tasks. Conversely, colonies failing at tasks benefit from single mating, regardless of genetic diversity mechanisms.

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Area of Science:

  • Evolutionary biology
  • Behavioral ecology
  • Social insect evolution

Background:

  • Female mating frequency is a key factor in social insect evolution.
  • Existing hypotheses and empirical data on multiple mating in social insects yield conflicting results.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To present a general model linking queen mating frequency to colony performance and fitness.
  • To predict conditions favoring single versus multiple mating in social insects.

Main Methods:

  • Developed a simple general model.
  • Linked the number of queen matings to variance in colony performance.
  • Connected variance in colony performance to average colony fitness.

Main Results:

  • The model predicts selection for multiple mating when average colony performance in a focal task is high.
  • The model predicts selection for single mating when average colony performance is low.
  • These predictions hold irrespective of the mechanism linking genetic diversity to colony fitness.

Conclusions:

  • The model provides a unifying framework for understanding mating strategies in social insects.
  • Empirical support exists from interspecific comparisons (e.g., bees, ants).
  • Further comprehensive empirical testing is necessary to validate the model's predictions across diverse species.