Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Related Concept Videos

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...

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.

Frequency-dependent Selection

Frequency-dependent Selection

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.

Mutation, Gene Flow, and Genetic Drift

Mutation, Gene Flow, and Genetic Drift

In a population that is not at Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, the frequency of alleles changes over time. Therefore, any deviations from the five conditions of Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium can alter the genetic variation of a given population. Conditions that change the genetic variability of a population include mutations, natural selection, non-random mating, gene flow, and genetic drift (small population size).

Genetics of Speciation

Genetics of Speciation

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

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

The effects of sexual selection on functional and molecular reproductive divergence during experimental evolution in seed beetles.

Evolution letters·2026

Same author

Spatial organization of stromal subtypes stratifies colorectal cancer patients and predicts clinical outcomes.

Cancer letters·2025

Same author

Sex-Biased Gene Expression Under Sexually Antagonistic and Sex-Limited Selection.

Molecular biology and evolution·2025

Same author

Pericoronary Adipose Tissue Attenuation in Patients with Future Acute Coronary Syndromes: The ICONIC Study.

Radiology. Cardiothoracic imaging·2025

Same author

Sex-Specific Dominance of Gene Expression in Seed Beetles.

Molecular biology and evolution·2024

Same author

A single-chain variable fragment-based bispecific T-cell activating antibody against CD117 enables T-cell mediated lysis of acute myeloid leukemia and hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells.

HemaSphere·2024

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Aug 6, 2025

Assessing Differences in Sperm Competitive Ability in Drosophila

Assessing Differences in Sperm Competitive Ability in Drosophila

Published on: August 22, 2013

Sexually antagonistic selection maintains genetic variance when sexual dimorphism evolves.

Philipp Kaufmann¹, James Malcolm Howie^1,2, Elina Immonen¹

¹Department of Ecology and Genetics (Evolutionary Biology program), Uppsala University, Norbyvägen 18D, 75234 Uppsala, Sweden.

Proceedings. Biological Sciences

|March 22, 2023

Summary

Sexually antagonistic selection maintains more genetic variance for body size than male-limited selection in seed beetles. This suggests sexual conflict can sustain genetic diversity and fuel sex-specific adaptations.

Keywords:

animal model artificial selection balancing selection body size dominance variation sexual conflict

More Related Videos

Determination of the Mating Efficiency of Haploids in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Determination of the Mating Efficiency of Haploids in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Published on: December 2, 2022

Author Spotlight: Whole-Mount Fluorescence In Situ Hybridization to Study Spermatogenesis in the Anopheles Mosquito

Author Spotlight: Whole-Mount Fluorescence In Situ Hybridization to Study Spermatogenesis in the Anopheles Mosquito

Published on: May 26, 2023

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Aug 6, 2025

Assessing Differences in Sperm Competitive Ability in Drosophila

Assessing Differences in Sperm Competitive Ability in Drosophila

Published on: August 22, 2013

Determination of the Mating Efficiency of Haploids in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Determination of the Mating Efficiency of Haploids in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Published on: December 2, 2022

Author Spotlight: Whole-Mount Fluorescence In Situ Hybridization to Study Spermatogenesis in the Anopheles Mosquito

Author Spotlight: Whole-Mount Fluorescence In Situ Hybridization to Study Spermatogenesis in the Anopheles Mosquito

Published on: May 26, 2023

Area of Science:

Evolutionary genetics
Sexual selection
Quantitative genetics

Background:

Genetic variance (V_G) in fitness traits is often high, posing a challenge to evolutionary theory.
Sexually antagonistic (SA) selection is hypothesized to maintain V_G, while directional selection erodes it.
The impact of SA versus sex-limited directional selection on V_G during sexual dimorphism evolution is experimentally untested.

Purpose of the Study:

To experimentally compare the effects of SA selection and male-limited (ML) selection on genetic variation.
To investigate how these selection regimes influence autosomal and sex-linked additive genetic variance, as well as female-specific dominance variance.
To assess the impact on the genetic correlation between sexes for body size.

Main Methods:

Utilized replicated artificial selection experiments on body size in the seed beetle *Callosobruchus maculatus*.
Applied two distinct selection regimes: sexually antagonistic (SA) selection and male-limited (ML) selection.
Quantified changes in genetic variance components (additive, dominance) and genetic correlations between sexes.

Main Results:

SA selection maintained significantly more ancestral autosomal additive genetic variance compared to ML selection.
Both SA and ML selection equally eroded sex-linked additive variation.
ML selection eliminated ancestral female-specific dominance variance, whereas SA selection sustained it.
Both selection regimes preserved a high genetic correlation between male and female body size (r_m,f).

Conclusions:

Sexual antagonism has a greater capacity than male-limited selection to maintain genetic variance in the face of selection.
SA selection can fuel sex-specific adaptation while preserving genetic diversity over short evolutionary timescales.
Sex-specific dominance may play a crucial role in reducing sexual conflict over alternative alleles, consistent with theoretical predictions.