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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.
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Mate Choice

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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.

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

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Related Experiment Video

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Visually Sexing Loggerhead Shrike (Lanius Ludovicianus) Using Plumage Coloration and Pattern

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Published on: March 8, 2020

Fluctuating asymmetry and sexual selection.

P J Watson¹, R Thornhill

¹Paul Watson and Randy Thornhill are at the Dept of Biology, Castetter Hall, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131-1091, USA.

Trends in Ecology & Evolution

|January 18, 2011

Summary

Behavioral ecologists are studying developmental stability by measuring subtle asymmetries in organisms. This research links individual stress susceptibility to developmental stability, potentially improving sexual selection studies.

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Area of Science:

Behavioral ecology
Developmental biology
Evolutionary biology

Background:

Within-individual morphological variability, or fluctuating asymmetry, is increasingly studied.
This variability can indicate stress susceptibility in developmental processes.
Fluctuating asymmetry may serve as a proxy for developmental stability.

Purpose of the Study:

To explore the utility of within-individual morphological variability in behavioral ecology.
To investigate the link between developmental stability and sexual selection.
To ascertain the stress susceptibility of developmental regulatory mechanisms.

Main Methods:

Measuring random deviations from bilateral symmetry (fluctuating asymmetry).
Incorporating symmetry measures into sexual-selection studies.
Analyzing the relationship between developmental stability and individual viability.

Main Results:

Early successes suggest fluctuating asymmetry is a valuable metric.
Symmetry measures show potential for linking sexual success to viability.
Developmental stability can be assessed through morphological variability.

Conclusions:

Within-individual morphological variability is a promising area in behavioral ecology.
Measures of symmetry can enhance the understanding of sexual selection.
Developmental stability, assessed via asymmetry, is a key component of viability.