Sexual Selection and Sexual Conflict

1152 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Female reproductive system quizlet

Charles Darwin characterized sexual selection as “variance in the number of mates”. The purpose of sexual selection is to perfect the secondary sexual characteristics, which are the morphological differences between the two sexes. On the other hand the primary sexual characteristics are the differences between the reproductive genital systems of the two sexes. Sexual selection instead of adapting the individual to the environment, like natural selection, it does enhance traits involved in mate acquisition. Sexual conflict, on the other hand, occurs when males and females have different reproductive interests and deriving from the urge of sexual reproduction. This is boosted by promiscuity when males and females have several partners. (www1, www2, www4)

Futuyma (1998) defines sexual selection as “selection that arises from differences in the mating success (number of mates that bear offspring)”. Sexual struggle can be divided into two categories. The first category is the struggle between individuals of the same sex (generally males) in order to be victorious against their rival by killing it or make it retreat. In this category the females remain passive. The second category is the struggle between individuals of the same sex but this time this happens in order to attract individuals of the opposite sex. There are also some theories for the existence of sexually selected traits. There is the intrasexual selection, in which males compete aggressively with each other for access to the females. It includes weapons such as horns, antlers, tusks and spurs, which are examples of sexual dimorphism. Weapons are mainly male characteristics and some possible explanations for their existence are: protection against predators, used for co...

... middle of paper ...

...he same sex as they compete for mates and also between the sexes as individuals choose their partners. Sexual conflict arises because strategies that maximize the fitness of one sex can reduce the fitness of the other. To sum up, sexual conflict can lead to sexually antagonistic co-evolution, in which one sex evolves a favorable trait, which is countered by a countering trait in the other sex. (www5, www6)

Works Cited

• http://www.zoology.ubc.ca/~otto/PopGen500/Discussion3/Overheads.html

http://bio.research.ucsc.edu/~barrylab/classes/animal_behavior/SELECT.HTM#anchor460576

: http://aarongoetz.netfirms.com/My%20Articles/SexualConflict-bookreview-atg.pdf• http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/21967.php

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/9780470015902.a0003669.pub2/abstract

• http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1038/npg.els.0001718/abstract

Show More
Related

  • Wasserstrom's Arguments Relating to the Unimportance of Gender and Its Importance on Promoting Sex Roles

    1433 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...n necessary would be for the survival of its species, such as, the hunting and gathering societies where the female, having the ability to reproduce and lack of physical strength, was the gatherer and the male, having the advantage of physical strength, was the hunter.

    Read More

  • Science and The social Construction of the Sexed Body in Making Sex by Thomas Laqueu

    626 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Making Sex by Thomas Laqueur, the author analysis sexual differences throughout the 18th century reviewing physicians, scientist, biologist and how society understood the anatomy and physiology of the human body. Laqueur brig us two sex models; the one-sex model and the two-sex model. He explains who we transition from the one-sex model to the two-sex model. How this two models had impacted our society and created an impact in history had it to do with the fact that a lot of evidence was drawn from science. Laqueur also explains how society constructed sex. He takes this investigation in very detail as he explains and investigates sexual differences.

    Read More

  • Pros And Cons Of Sex Selection

    810 Words  | 2 Pages

    There is a lot of controversy regarding the use of technologies that allow sex selection. Modern science allows parents to choose the sex of their future child. Although this could be an effective way to determine genetic disorders, I do not support screening to be used solely for sex selection as this can lead to social inequality and gender bias.

    Read More

  • Essay On Lek Paradox

    800 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...or maintenance of traits that enhance the individuals overall fitness, as stated by ______. For males some of this fitness, which is influenced by the condition of the individual, goes into the expression of sexually selected traits, such as mating calls. This has a indirect result for other traits such as foraging behavior or increasing the risk of predation. This trait then becomes costly, resulting in the evolution of condition dependence, as shown by Price et al. 1993; Anderson 1994; and Johnstone 1995. Individuals in higher conditions have an advantage over others as they have a larger pool to allocate among their competing demands. This means that "condition dependence is expected to arise because individuals in higher condition are better able to pay higher marginal costs of further exaggeration than those in lower conditions”, as stated by Rowe and Houle.

    Read More

  • Darwin's General Summary and Conclusions of the Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex

    1268 Words  | 3 Pages

    Darwin's General Summary and Conclusions of the Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex In the "General Summary and Conclusions" of The Descent of Man, and

    Read More

  • The Process of Natural Selection

    1714 Words  | 4 Pages

    Darwin states that this struggle need not be competitive in nature and also entails a species’ efficiency at producing offspring. Natural selection works not as an active entity that seeks and exterminates species that are not suited for their environment; instead, it retains variations that heighten a species’ ability to dominate in the struggle for existence and discards those that are detrimental or useless to that species. Stephen J. Gould explains the case of r-selection in which a species’ chances of survival are most reliant on its ability to reproduce rapidly and not on its structure being ideally suited for its environment. Gould’s example shows the beneficial results of perceiving natural selection not as something that changes a species in accordance with its environment but as something that preserves characteristics beneficial in the s... ...

    Read More

  • The Characteristics Of Intra-Sexual Selection And Inter-Sexual Selection

    901 Words  | 2 Pages

    Natural and sexual selection are not random processes. If there is no difference between the individuals within the species there would be no selection. Sexual selection is related to mating, it acts on individual’s ability to obtain or successfully copulate with a partner. The idea of sexual selection was introduced by Charles Darwin in 1871; he revealed that there are organisms with traits which are not explained by the concept natural selection, for example the tail of a male peacock. His found two main ways in which sexual selection works, these are intra-sexual competition and inter-sexual selection. Intra sexual competition happens within species, usually between males. They compete against each other to be chosen as a mate by a member of opposite sex. Inter-sexual selection is choosing a mate among the members of opposite sex, usually done by females.

    Read More

  • Exploring Sexual Dimorphism: Anthropological Perspectives

    1316 Words  | 3 Pages

    Social groups of primates closely relate to sexual dimorphism, because how each of their communities interact with one another plays a large role in sexual selection. Sexual selection, as Darwin stated, is a key factor and cause in the morphological dimorphism between sexes of a species. Additionally, sexual selection comes from male competition, which directly correlates to primate’s social structures. For example, genus gorilla is a part of a polygynous mating system, which consists of one male and multiple female. This creates an environment where males must compete with one another to reproduce and create offspring. Due to this competition, males must prove to be strong and attract themselves to females to ensure reproductive success. These strong male traits are favored in sexual selection, because the females are highly particular about the male they mate with, so there become specific male traits that are most desirable. Therefore, in polygynous groups, sexual dimorphism is the greatest (Frayer, Wolpoff, 1985). In comparison, a monogamous primate such as genus hylobate or gibbons has a social structure that consists of a more nuclear based family. There is a lot less male competition because males do not mate with multiple females. Therefore, primates are less dimorphic in monogamous social structures (Frayer, Wolpoff,

    Read More

  • Human Mate Choice Essay

    864 Words  | 2 Pages

    In order to understand the present lifestyles relating to different approaches and tactics applied by humans in mate choice preferences, there is the need to refer to Darwin (1859, 1871) evolutionary perspectives. Darwin (1871) sexual selection is the driving force for males and females reproductive quest for their genes survival. These driving forces have been classified into two categories as intra-sexual and intersexual mate selection.Intersexual selection is male sexual selection process whereby males compete with other males and the females choose the strongest as their ideal partner. Intra-sexual selection occurs when the male species fight among themselves and the strongest gain access to females for

    Read More

  • Sexual Dimorphism and Human Evolution

    2397 Words  | 5 Pages

    However, many of our questions still remain. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the physical aspect of gender differences in humans, otherwise known as sexual dimorphism, it’s evolutionary history in our species, and some behavioral and societal trends that are associated with it. To accomplish this, I will begin by outlining the anatomical structures that are commonly used in measuring sexual dimorphism in our species. After establishing these criteria, I will expand upon the evolutionary history of sexual dimorphism in humans beginning with the anthropoids in the Oligocene and ending with present day trends.

    Read More

  • The Evolution of Human Mating

    924 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...ionary history, both men and women have evolved mechanisms that have functioned to solve adaptive problems that they encounter in pursuing successful long-term and short-term mating. These mechanisms along with behavior constitute the evolved sexual strategies of men and women. "Strategies are defined as evolved solutions to adaptive problems, with no consciousness or awareness on the part of the strategist implied (Buss, Schmitt 206)."

    Read More

  • Precocious Puberty Case Study

    1485 Words  | 3 Pages

    Sexuality is a necessary means of survival. In order for a population to continue the species relies on sexual reproduction to produce offspring to continue to thrive. There is a natural, internal instinct for sex just like an instinct to seek out food and shelter. They are all drives that we experience in order to keep going. “In most species, females are unwilling to engage in sex except during estrus, a period when the female is ovulating, sex hormone levels are high, and the animal is said to be in heat.” (Garrett, pg. 200) This means that most species of animals only engage in sex when the possibility of reproduction is present. People, however, are interesting because we have a more developed sexual drive. Sexuality for humans is more than just a means of reproduction and continuing our species. Sexuality has become evolved because people experience a much deeper, and social connection through sex with another person. This is not known to be true for many animal species, which is why human sexuality is such a complex

    Read More

  • Freud Civilization And It's Discontents Essay

    1403 Words  | 3 Pages

    The natural consequence of this desire is society for two specific reasons. First is the permanent presence of sexual desire. In most animals, sexual desire only happens at specific times. The female’s sexual desire increases during her heat and her body produces pheromones that arouse a male’s sexual desire. The two fulfill their desires and typically go their separate ways.

    Read More

  • Homosexuality Homosexuality

    1969 Words  | 4 Pages

    Jacques Balthazart, in the book, Biology of Homosexuality, examines the historical and cultural context in which homosexuality is expressed and attempts to dissect homosexual behavior and cognition from a biological perspective. He explains that there are behaviors in human sexuality that exhibit greater diversity than the sexual behavior of other animals. This exertion may lead one to conclude that human sexuality, as a result of its biological and emotional components, is more complex than the sexuality of other species. (Balthazart, p.4)

    Read More

  • Persuasive Essay Men and Women are Equal

    582 Words  | 2 Pages

    There is constantly cessation why women and men cohabitate, nurture, desire, and endure. Many shrug the similarities and differences to the side due to the complex nature that is involved in understanding the progression. Since the beginning of time, according to the bible, man was placed as the dominant sex, fending for the families well being. The woman has tended to the important jobs around the homestead as situations arose. Often in society, one will find himself in a battle depending on the views of the receiving recipients. Following is a dialogue explaining a safe and metro sexual view as a general whole.

    Read More

More about Sexual Selection and Sexual Conflict

Open Document