Related Experiment Video
Updated: Mar 1, 2026

Using the FishSim Animation Toolchain to Investigate Fish Behavior: A Case Study on Mate-Choice Copying In Sailfin Mollies
Published on: November 8, 2018
THE EVOLUTION OF COSTLY MATE PREFERENCES II. THE "HANDICAP" PRINCIPLE
Yoh Iwasa1, Andrew Pomiankowski2, Sean Nee3
1Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Kyushu University, Fukuoka 812, JAPAN.
Abstract:
We use a general additive quantitative genetic model to study the evolution of costly female mate choice by the "handicap" principle. Two necessary conditions must be satisfied for costly preference to evolve. The conditions are (i) biased mutation pressure on viability and (ii) a direct relationship between the degree of expression of the male mating character and viability. These two conditions explain the success and failure of previous models of the "handicap" principle. Our model also applies to other sources of fitness variation like migration and host-parasite coevolution, which cause effects equivalent to biased mutation.
Related Concept Videos
Natural Selection and Mating Preferences
Females, due to their biological roles in conception, pregnancy, and nursing,...
Mate Choice
Evolutionary Psychology
Criticisms of the Evolutionary Perspective
Evolutionary psychology provides one explanation for these findings, suggesting...
Hardy-Weinberg Principle
Limits to Natural Selection

