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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,...

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.

Hardy-Weinberg Principle

Hardy-Weinberg Principle

Diploid organisms have two alleles of each gene, one from each parent, in their somatic cells. Therefore, each individual contributes two alleles to the gene pool of the population. The gene pool of a population is the sum of every allele of all genes within that population and has some degree of variation. Genetic variation is typically expressed as a relative frequency, which is the percentage of the total population that has a given allele, genotype or phenotype.

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...

Genetics of Speciation

Genetics of Speciation

Speciation is the evolutionary process resulting in the formation of new, distinct species—groups of reproductively isolated populations.

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...

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Apr 26, 2026

Determination of the Mating Efficiency of Haploids in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

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Published on: December 2, 2022

The evolution of phenotypes and genetic parameters under preferential mating.

Derek A Roff¹, Daphne J Fairbairn¹

¹Department of Biology, University of California Riverside, California, 92521.

Ecology and Evolution

|August 1, 2014

Summary

Mate choice evolution is complex; simulations reveal that while rapid coevolution of preferences and traits is unlikely, specific mating systems may resolve the lek paradox.

Keywords:

Coevolution genetic correlation heritability mate choice preference quantitative genetics

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Area of Science:

Evolutionary Biology
Behavioral Ecology
Quantitative Genetics

Background:

Lande's analytical model provides a framework for understanding evolution under mate choice.
Realism in evolutionary models requires incorporating factors like finite mate sampling and evolving genetic architecture.

Purpose of the Study:

To extend Lande's model using individual-based simulations for greater realism.
To investigate how mating system parameters influence the evolution of mate preferences and preferred traits.

Main Methods:

Individual-based simulations were employed.
The genetic architecture of preference and preferred trait, including heritabilities and genetic correlation (r G), was evolved.
Mating system variables (preference function, mate choice mode, choosiness, sampled males) and natural selection were manipulated.

Main Results:

Equilibrium heritabilities and genetic correlation (r G) were critically dependent on mating system parameters and natural selection.
Preferential mating, under certain conditions, increased preferred trait heritability, potentially resolving the lek paradox.
Realized genetic correlations were generally low (<0.2), suggesting slow coevolution.

Conclusions:

Rapid coevolution of preferences and preferred traits is unlikely in most natural populations.
Lekking species may exhibit parameter combinations most conducive to rapid coevolution.
Lande's model predictions for runaway selection were generally accurate, with deviations under specific conditions of relative preferences and natural selection.