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Related Concept Videos

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...
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.
What is Natural Selection?01:32

What is Natural Selection?

Natural selection is an evolutionary process in which individuals with survival-promoting traits reproduce at higher rates. These favorable traits become more common within a population or species. Naturally selected traits initially arise via random genetic mutations. In order for selection to occur, there must be variation within a population, the trait controlling the variation must be heritable, and there must be an evolutionary advantage for variation in the trait.The Theory of Natural...
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...
Genetics of Speciation02:16

Genetics of Speciation

Speciation is the evolutionary process resulting in the formation of new, distinct species—groups of reproductively isolated populations.The genetics of speciation involves the different traits or isolating mechanisms preventing gene exchange, leading to reproductive isolation. Reproductive isolation can be due to reproductive barriers that have effects either before or after the formation of a zygote. Pre-zygotic mechanisms prevent fertilization from occurring, and post-zygotic mechanisms...

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Related Experiment Video

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Assessing Differences in Sperm Competitive Ability in Drosophila
09:34

Assessing Differences in Sperm Competitive Ability in Drosophila

Published on: August 22, 2013

Sexual selection: Another Darwinian process.

Jean Gayon1

  • 1UMR CNRS/Paris 1/ENS, université Paris, institut d'histoire et de philosophie des sciences et des techniques, France. gayon@noos.fr

Comptes Rendus Biologies
|March 27, 2010
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Sexual selection was crucial for Darwin but sidelined by followers until the late 20th century. The Darwin-Wallace controversy over mate choice shaped evolutionary biology, influencing modern interpretations of natural and sexual selection.

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Area of Science:

  • Evolutionary biology
  • The study of sexual selection and its historical context within Darwinism.

Background:

  • Charles Darwin's early and evolving theory of sexual selection, developed over 30 years.
  • The distinction and overlap between sexual selection and natural selection, including Darwin's emphasis on mate choice and non-adaptive traits.

Discussion:

  • The controversy between Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace regarding sexual selection, particularly female choice.
  • Wallace's rejection of sexual selection and female choice, influenced by his spiritualism and environmentalist view of natural selection.

Key Insights:

  • The Darwin-Wallace controversy led to the marginalization of sexual selection in evolutionary biology for decades.
  • Modern evolutionary biology integrates both Darwin's and Wallace's perspectives, recognizing sexual selection as a key component of natural selection and emphasizing the role of mate choice.

Outlook:

  • Sexual selection serves as a critical case study for understanding the complexities of Darwinism as a scientific tradition.
  • Analyzing differing interpretations of natural selection, such as environmentalist versus competition-focused, through the lens of sexual selection.