Sperm Competition and Its Evolutionary Consequences in the Insects

Sexual conflict in humans: evolutionary consequences of asymmetric parental investment and paternity uncertainty

Animal Biology ◽

10.1163/157075509x12499949744342 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 59 (4) ◽

pp. 449-456 ◽

Cited By ~ 18

Author(s):

Todd Shackelford ◽

Aaron Goetz

Keyword(s):

Sex Differences ◽

Sperm Competition ◽

Sexual Conflict ◽

Parental Investment ◽

Sexual Coercion ◽

Evolutionary History ◽

Internal Fertilization ◽

Men And Women ◽

Paternity Uncertainty ◽

Evolutionary Consequences

AbstractWe argue that sexual conflict was a recurrent feature of human evolutionary history, just as it has been in every sexually reproducing species that does not practice life-long genetic monogamy. We suggest that the source of much of the conflict between men and women can be reduced to an asymmetry in reproductive biology. This asymmetry—fertilization and gestation occurring within women—produces (a) sex differences in minimum obligatory parental investment and (b) paternity uncertainty. We argue that these consequences of internal fertilization and gestation are responsible for many phenomena in humans, such as sexual coercion, commitment skepticism, sexual overperception, and a host of adaptations associated with sperm competition.

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Sperm Competition and Its Evolutionary Consequences in the Insects

Annals of the Entomological Society of America ◽

10.1603/0013-8746(2003)096[0170:scaiec]2.0.co;2 ◽

2003 ◽

Vol 96 (2) ◽

pp. 169-170

Author(s):

Frederic Tripet ◽

Simmons Leigh W. ◽

Krebs John R. ◽

Clutton-Brock Tim

Keyword(s):

Sperm Competition ◽

Evolutionary Consequences

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5. Sexual selection after mating

Sexual Selection: A Very Short Introduction ◽

10.1093/actrade/9780198778752.003.0005 ◽

2018 ◽

pp. 69-87

Author(s):

Leigh W. Simmons

Keyword(s):

Sexual Selection ◽

Sperm Competition ◽

Female Choice ◽

Reproductive Tract ◽

Multiple Mating ◽

Reproductive Traits ◽

Cryptic Female Choice ◽

Mate Acquisition ◽

Evolutionary Consequences

Darwin viewed sexual selection as a process that ended with mate acquisition, assuming that females are fundamentally monogamous, mating with just one male. ‘Sexual selection after mating’, however, shows this assumption to be false. Sexual selection continues long after the physical act of mating is over, as sperm compete inside a female’s reproductive tract and females bias the paternity of their young by selectively using sperm from particular males. Multiple mating by females has turned out to be ubiquitous across animal taxa. The far-reaching evolutionary consequences of sperm competition and cryptic female choice for the evolution of reproductive traits are examined, from the gametes themselves to the adult organisms producing them.

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