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Does the handicap principle explain the evolution of dimorphic ornaments?
Szabolcs Számadó1, Dustin J Penn2
1RECENS 'Lendület' Research Group, MTA Centre for Social Science, Budapest, Hungary.
Animal Behaviour
|April 27, 2018
Summary
The handicap hypothesis does not explain male dimorphisms in a new model. Researchers found the
Area of Science:
- Evolutionary biology
- Sexual selection theory
Background:
- The handicap principle is a prominent theory explaining costly traits in sexual selection.
- Previous models have suggested its applicability to explaining male dimorphisms.
Purpose of the Study:
- To re-evaluate a novel model incorporating the handicap hypothesis.
- To critically assess the model's ability to explain observed male dimorphisms.
Main Methods:
- Reinvestigation of a theoretical model based on the handicap hypothesis.
- Analysis of the model's underlying assumptions, specifically the 'playing-the-field' concept.
Main Results:
- The handicap hypothesis, within this model, fails to account for male dimorphisms.
- The model's outcomes are driven by the 'playing-the-field' assumption, whose generality is questionable.
- The evolutionary stability of the model's proposed equilibrium is uncertain.
Conclusions:
- The 'playing-the-field' assumption requires further scrutiny for its broader applicability.
- The current model, reliant on this assumption, does not robustly support the handicap hypothesis for male dimorphisms.
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