Female–Female Competition

2021 ◽  
pp. 139-152
Author(s):  
Ingo Schlupp
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Selection ◽  
Female Competition

There is no disagreement that males compete over access to reproductive opportunities. This competition can be covert or take the form of physical fights, which are easily observed in many species. Males take considerable risks when they fight, presumably because the price—access to reproduction—is so high. But what about females? They also often compete for males, but in less risky ways. They also seem to compete less directly for individual males, but more indirectly for resources that males can provide. Nonetheless, female competition is more important in shaping sexual selection than previously thought.

Sexual selection, the division of labor, and the evolution of sex differences

1998 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 444-447 ◽  
Author(s):  
David C. Geary
Keyword(s):  
Sex Differences ◽  
Sexual Selection ◽  
Sex Ratio ◽  
Division Of Labor ◽  
Operational Sex Ratio ◽  
Female Competition ◽  
Human Populations ◽  
Human Sex Differences ◽  
Male Choice ◽  
Relative Contribution

Sexual selection traditionally involves male-male competition and female choice, but in some species, including humans, sexual selection can also involve female-female competition and male choice. The degree to which one aspect of sexual selection or another is manifest in human populations will be influenced by a host of social and ecological variables, including the operational sex ratio. These variables are discussed in connection with the relative contribution of sexual selection and the division of labor to the evolution of human sex differences.

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

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.

scholarly journals Sexual and social competition: broadening perspectives by defining female roles

2012 ◽  
Vol 367 (1600) ◽  
pp. 2248-2252 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dustin R. Rubenstein
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Selection ◽  
Female Choice ◽  
Experimental Tests ◽  
Female Competition ◽  
Secondary Importance ◽  
Trait Evolution ◽  
Sexual Selection Theory ◽  
Recent Debate ◽  
Selection Framework ◽  
Male Ornaments

Males figured more prominently than females in Darwin's view of sexual selection. He considered female choice of secondary importance to male–male competition as a mechanism to explain the evolution of male ornaments and armaments. Fisher later demonstrated the importance of female choice in driving male trait evolution, but his ideas were largely ignored for decades. As sexual selection came to embrace the notions of parent–offspring and sexual conflict, and experimental tests of female choice showed promise, females began to feature more prominently in the framework of sexual selection theory. Recent debate over this theory has centred around the role of females, not only over the question of choice, but also over female–female competition. Whereas some have called for expanding the sexual selection framework to encompass all forms of female–female competition, others have called for subsuming sexual selection within a broader framework of social selection, or replacing it altogether. Still others have argued for linking sexual selection more clearly to other evolutionary theories such as kin selection. Rather than simply debating terminology, we must take a broader view of the general processes that lead to trait evolution in both sexes by clearly defining the roles that females play in the process, and by focusing on intra- and inter-sexual interactions in males and females.

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