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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.
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Mate Choice01:20

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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.
Evolution of New Traits in Microbes01:24

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Microorganisms evolve rapidly due to their large population sizes and short generation times, often exhibiting measurable changes within days under laboratory conditions. Natural selection acts on standing genetic variation, enabling the retention and amplification of beneficial traits that confer fitness advantages in changing environments.Adaptive Pigment Regulation in RhodobacterIn Rhodobacter, a genus of purple non-sulfur bacteria, light-harvesting pigments such as bacteriochlorophyll and...
Limits to Natural Selection01:38

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Organisms that are well-adapted to their environment are more likely to survive and reproduce. However, natural selection does not lead to perfectly adapted organisms. Several factors constrain natural selection.
Evolutionary Psychology01:20

Evolutionary Psychology

Evolutionary psychology explores the origins of human behavior and mental processes by framing them within the context of natural selection, a theory famously propounded by Charles Darwin. This field asserts that many behaviors common across human societies — ranging from instinctive fear reactions to complex social interactions — arose as evolutionary adaptations. These adaptations enhanced the survival and reproductive success of our ancestors, thereby becoming embedded in the human psyche...
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Evolutionary psychology provides one explanation for these findings, suggesting...

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Related Experiment Video

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Inoculating Anopheles gambiae Mosquitoes with Beads to Induce and Measure the Melanization Immune Response
08:24

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Experimental evolution reveals trade-offs between mating and immunity.

Kathryn B McNamara1, Nina Wedell, Leigh W Simmons

  • 1Centre for Evolutionary Biology, The University of Western Australia, Crawley 6009, Australia. kathryn.mcnamara@uwa.edu.au

Biology Letters
|May 31, 2013
PubMed
Summary

Sexual selection can impact immune function. In Indian meal moths, males in female-biased populations showed reduced phenoloxidase (PO) activity, suggesting mating demands trade-off with immunity.

Keywords:
immune functionsexual selectionsperm competition

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Area of Science:

  • Evolutionary biology
  • Immunology
  • Animal behavior

Background:

  • Immune system maintenance is energetically costly.
  • Sexual selection intensifies male reproductive investment, potentially creating trade-offs with immunity.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the relationship between sexual selection intensity and immune function in Indian meal moths (Plodia interpunctella).
  • To determine if increased male investment in reproductive traits, driven by sexual selection, compromises immune defense.

Main Methods:

  • Assayed phenoloxidase (PO) activity and anti-bacterial lytic activity in Indian meal moth populations.
  • Compared immune function across populations evolving under varying intensities of sexual selection (female-biased, balanced, male-biased sex ratios).

Main Results:

  • Significant divergence in phenoloxidase (PO) activity was observed among populations.
  • Males from female-biased populations exhibited lower PO activity compared to males from balanced or male-biased populations.
  • No significant divergence in anti-bacterial lytic activity was found across populations.

Conclusions:

  • Increased male mating demands in female-biased populations likely trade-off with immune function (PO activity).
  • The costs associated with increased sperm transfer per mating in male-biased populations do not appear to trade-off with immunity.