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Related Concept Videos

Hybrid Zones02:29

Hybrid Zones

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Hybrid zones are narrow regions where two closely related species interact, mate, and produce hybrids. Relative to either parent species, hybrids may possess distinct phenotypic or genetic differences that impact their survival and reproductive success. The genetic variances introduced by hybridization influence species diversity and speciation processes within the hybrid zone.
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Fixed Action Patterns01:06

Fixed Action Patterns

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A fixed action pattern (FAP) is a specific, hard-wired sequence of behaviors that occurs in response to an external stimulus, called a sign stimulus. The behavior is “fixed” because it is essentially unchangeable—proceeding similarly across individuals of a species every time it occurs.
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Natural Selection and Mating Preferences01:06

Natural Selection and Mating Preferences

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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,...
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Mate Choice01:20

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.
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Predator-Prey Interactions02:39

Predator-Prey Interactions

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Predators consume prey for energy. Predators that acquire prey and prey that avoid predation both increase their chances of survival and reproduction (i.e., fitness). Routine predator-prey interactions elicit mutual adaptations that improve predator offenses, such as claws, teeth, and speed, as well as prey defenses, including crypsis, aposematism, and mimicry. Thus, predator-prey interactions resemble an evolutionary arms race.
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Frequency-dependent Selection01:21

Frequency-dependent Selection

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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.
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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Dec 18, 2025

Observation and Quantification of Mating Behavior in the Pinewood Nematode, Bursaphelenchus xylophilus
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Mating patterns influence vulnerability to the extinction vortex.

Joanne L Godwin1, Alyson J Lumley1, Łukasz Michalczyk2

  • 1School of Biological Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK.

Global Change Biology
|June 20, 2020
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Sexual selection, driven by mating patterns, significantly impacts species survival. Polyandrous mating, offering more sexual selection opportunities, protected insect populations from extinction, unlike monogamous patterns.

Keywords:
Triboliumenvironmental stressgenic captureinbreedingmonogamypolyandrysexual conflict

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Area of Science:

  • Evolutionary Biology
  • Conservation Biology
  • Ecology

Background:

  • Biodiversity faces mass extinction from compounding environmental, demographic, and genetic stresses.
  • These stresses can create an 'extinction vortex,' a feedback loop reducing population viability.
  • Sexual selection's role in population survival and the extinction vortex is debated.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate whether sexual selection aids or hinders populations facing extinction.
  • To test opposing theories on sexual selection's impact on population viability.

Main Methods:

  • Experimental evolution of the insect Tribolium castaneum over 10 years under monogamous vs. polyandrous mating.
  • Subjecting these populations to an experimental extinction vortex (15 generations) with nutritional, thermal, and genetic stresses.
  • Comparing fitness and extinction rates between mating system groups.

Main Results:

  • Monogamous lineages (limited sexual selection) showed rapid fitness decline and complete extinction.
  • Polyandrous lineages (stronger sexual selection) exhibited slower fitness decline, with 60% survival.
  • Nutritional deprivation, thermal stress, and genetic bottlenecking similarly impacted fitness and extinction risk.

Conclusions:

  • Sexual selection is a crucial factor influencing extinction risk.
  • Natural mating patterns, specifically polyandry, can enhance population resilience and are relevant for conservation efforts.