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Types of Selection

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...

Natural Selection and Mating Preferences

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 Choice

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.

Background and Environment Affect Phenotype

Background and Environment Affect Phenotype

Although the genetic makeup of an organism plays a major role in determining the phenotype, there are also several environmental factors, such as temperature, oxygen availability, presence of mutagens, that can alter an organism’s phenotype.
An example of how genetic background affects phenotype can be seen in horses. The Extension gene in horses is responsible for their coat color. A wild-type gene (EE) produces black pigment in the coat, while a mutant gene (ee) produces red pigment. A...

Frequency-dependent Selection

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...

Criticisms of the Evolutionary Perspective

Criticisms of the Evolutionary Perspective

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...

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 28, 2026

Rearing and Long-Term Maintenance of Eristalis tenax Hoverflies for Research Studies

Rearing and Long-Term Maintenance of Eristalis tenax Hoverflies for Research Studies

Published on: May 19, 2018

Dynamic feedback between phenotype and physiology in sexually selected traits.

Dustin R Rubenstein¹, Mark E Hauber

¹Department of Integrative Biology and Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of California, Berkeley, 3060 Valley Life Sciences Building, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA. drubenstein@berkeley.edu

Trends in Ecology & Evolution

|October 28, 2008

Summary

Sexual ornaments in barn swallows are not static. Manipulating plumage ornaments changed hormone levels, revealing dynamic feedback between physiology, morphology, and behavior in sexual selection.

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Area of Science:

Evolutionary biology
Animal behavior
Physiology

Background:

Sexual selection theory posits that physiological costs ensure honest signaling of male quality through elaborate phenotypes.
Physiological processes are typically assumed to drive the evolution of sexually selected displays.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the relationship between plumage ornaments and androgen levels in barn swallows.
To test the assumption of a unidirectional relationship between physiology and sexual displays.

Main Methods:

Experimental manipulation of barn swallow plumage ornaments.
Measurement of circulating androgen levels over time.

Main Results:

Manipulation of plumage ornaments altered the temporal dynamics of circulating androgens.
This challenges the view of a static, unidirectional influence of physiology on sexual displays.

Conclusions:

The development and maintenance of sexually selected ornaments involve dynamic feedback loops.
Interactions between physiological, morphological, and behavioral factors shape honest signaling in sexual selection.