Male Investment and Male Choice

Male Choice, Female Competition, and Female Ornaments in Sexual Selection ◽

10.1093/oso/9780198818946.003.0005 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 97-108

Author(s):

Ingo Schlupp

Keyword(s):

Mate Choice ◽

Sex Roles ◽

Male Mate Choice ◽

Male Choice ◽

Male Investment ◽

Female Investment ◽

Male Mate

In this short chapter I revisit the role that male investment might play in the evolution of male mate choice. Simply put, one might expect with more male investment into reproduction, they may be more selective about with whom they mate. If the male investment is larger than the female investment sex roles are expected to flip. This is, however, not common. But even if males almost never invest as much or more than females, in many species they do invest somewhat, or even heavily. Should this lead to choosiness in males? I will provide a few examples where choosiness may be linked to investment in males.

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Examples of Male Mate Choice

Male Choice, Female Competition, and Female Ornaments in Sexual Selection ◽

10.1093/oso/9780198818946.003.0003 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 53-80

Author(s):

Ingo Schlupp

Keyword(s):

Mate Choice ◽

Underlying Mechanism ◽

Male Mate Choice ◽

Male Choice ◽

Female Fecundity ◽

Female Quality ◽

Male Mate ◽

Different Levels

In this chapter, what interests me most is how often male mate choice has already been documented, independent of the underlying mechanism. I am not concerned with the origin of the description: some authors express some degree of surprise that they found male preferences; other studies are motivated by theory. I also want to highlight that there is a continuum from no male contribution to the offspring to male contributions that are larger than the female contribution. Furthermore, there are differences in female quality at different levels, which can contribute to the evolution of male choice. There are many studies that infer differences in female fecundity as underlying male choice, but females can differ in many more aspects—just like males.

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Male mate choice contributes to behavioural isolation in sexually dimorphic fish with traditional sex roles

Animal Behaviour ◽

10.1016/j.anbehav.2017.06.005 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 130 ◽

pp. 1-7 ◽

Cited By ~ 17

Author(s):

Natalie S. Roberts ◽

Tamra C. Mendelson

Keyword(s):

Mate Choice ◽

Sex Roles ◽

Sexually Dimorphic ◽

Male Mate Choice ◽

Male Mate

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Male Choice, Female Competition, and Female Ornaments in Sexual Selection

10.1093/oso/9780198818946.001.0001 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Ingo Schlupp

Keyword(s):

Sexual Selection ◽

Mate Choice ◽

Sex Ratio ◽

Female Competition ◽

Male Mate Choice ◽

Male Choice ◽

Female Quality ◽

Female Ornaments ◽

Sexual Selection Theory ◽

Male Mate

When Darwin first proposed sexual selection theory he suggested two mechanisms: competition among males and choice by females. There is no doubt that these mechanisms are immensely important, but their mirror images have been largely underappreciated so far. In fact, males choose as well and females compete. Males choose based on female quality, often selecting mating partners that are more fecund. But male choice is also associated with changes in the sex ratio of a population and males can be choosy when they are rare. Furthermore, males sometimes invest heavily into reproduction and that too can be associated with male choice. That females compete with another, although less often with open aggression, is another understudied phenomenon. Finally, we now know that females are often ornamented, but are these ornaments under sexual selection by males? This book tries to review what we know and point to what we don’t know while pointing out the connections between male mate choice and female competition for a more complete view of sexual selection.

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Female and Male Mate Choice

Male Choice, Female Competition, and Female Ornaments in Sexual Selection ◽

10.1093/oso/9780198818946.003.0002 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 21-52

Author(s):

Ingo Schlupp

Keyword(s):

Sexual Selection ◽

Mate Choice ◽

Female Choice ◽

Complete Picture ◽

Male Mate Choice ◽

Indirect Benefits ◽

Short Overview ◽

Direct Benefits ◽

Male Mate

Females choose mating partners for three main reasons: direct benefits, indirect benefits, and compatibility, either genetic or social. In this chapter I am not trying to look at all angles of mate choice, but to give a short overview of female choice to provide a basis for a comparison with male choice. This will highlight what studies are needed to reach a more complete picture of sexual selection. I would summarize the chapter like this: it’s the ecology, stupid.

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