On the Opportunity for Sexual Selection, the Bateman Gradient and the Maximum Intensity of Sexual Selection

Jones, Adam G.

doi:10.1111/j.1558-5646.2009.00664.x

Cited by 221 publications

(422 citation statements)

References 70 publications

(136 reference statements)

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“…3). We quantified the influence of mating success on reproductive fitness with the Bateman gradient, measured here in its standardized version as the slope of the least-squares regression of the relative reproductive success on the relative mating success (β SS ) (9,18). To remove variation attributable to early death, we only included individuals surviving to reproductive age.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Finally, using our estimates of the opportunity for sexual selection and the Bateman gradients, we computed the maximal selection differential caused by sexual selection (S′ max ) (9) and found that sexual selection could have exerted important evolutionary changes in this population (Fig. S2).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It is therefore interesting to understand which genes or traits contribute to variation in fitness (5,6). To assess the limit to phenotypic selection, it is also important to quantify per se the amount of variation in fitness, which determines the overall opportunity for total selection at the level of the organism (7)(8)(9)(10). Because the methods of studying selection in natural populations are relatively well established, our understanding of selection in human populations is now limited mainly by the lack of suitable datasets (5,11).…”

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confidence: 99%

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Natural and sexual selection in a monogamous historical human population

Courtiol

Pettay

Jokela

et al. 2012

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

112

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Whether and how human populations exposed to the agricultural revolution are still affected by Darwinian selection remains controversial among social scientists, biologists, and the general public. Although methods of studying selection in natural populations are well established, our understanding of selection in humans has been limited by the availability of suitable datasets. Here, we present a study comparing the maximum strengths of natural and sexual selection in humans that includes the effects of sex and wealth on different episodes of selection. Our dataset was compiled from church records of preindustrial Finnish populations characterized by socially imposed monogamy, and it contains a complete distribution of survival, mating, and reproductive success for 5,923 individuals born 1760-1849. Individual differences in early survival and fertility (natural selection) were responsible for most variation in fitness, even among wealthier individuals. Variance in mating success explained most of the higher variance in reproductive success in males compared with females, but mating success also influenced reproductive success in females, allowing for sexual selection to operate in both sexes. The detected opportunity for selection is in line with measurements for other species but higher than most previous reports for human samples. This disparity results from biological, demographic, economic, and social differences across populations as well as from failures by most previous studies to account for variation in fitness introduced by nonreproductive individuals. Our results emphasize that the demographic, cultural, and technological changes of the last 10,000 y did not preclude the potential for natural and sexual selection in our species.Bateman gradient | Bateman principles | selection differential | human evolution | mating system D isagreement about the strength of selection affecting humans has influenced how the theory of natural and sexual selection has been perceived since Darwin (1). In particular, humans exhibit a pronounced ecological flexibility through social and cultural adaptations (2) that is often invoked to cast doubt on the continued relevance of Darwinian selection in our species. Even among those applying evolutionary theory in humans, some scientists consider recent selective pressures weak and therefore only study human adaptations in the demographic, social, and physical environments of the Pleistocene, whereas others view selection as an effective force also operating in societies affected by the agricultural revolution (3).Darwinian selection results from variation in fitness between individuals of the same population and the evolutionary response of traits to this selection depends on the genetic covariation between traits and fitness. Such evolutionary change is traditionally approximated by multiplying heritability (the proportion of phenotypic variance in the trait attributable to genetic differences among individuals) and phenotypic selection (the covariance between the trait and ...

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Natural and sexual selection in a monogamous historical human population

Courtiol

Pettay

Jokela

et al. 2012

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

112

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“…The I s is a standardized measure of variance in reproductive success (RS) calculated by dividing the variance in RS by the squared mean of mating success [66][67][68]. It represents the upper limit of the potential strength of sexual selection in a given population (importantly, not the actual strength of sexual selection on specific traits).…”

Section: Box 2 the Sex Ratio And Opportunity For Sexual Selection Acmentioning

confidence: 99%

Too many men: the violence problem?

Schacht

Rauch

Mulder

2014

Trends in Ecology & Evolution

111

100

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“…Although there is an ongoing debate on the validity of Bateman's original study and its implications (e.g. Sutherland 1985;Snyder & Gowaty 2007;Jones 2009), it nevertheless holds that in many animal species (including humans) males and females differ in the benefit they derive from an elevated mating success (e.g. Jones et al 2000Jones et al , 2002Brown et al 2009).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sex allocation predicts mating rate in a simultaneous hermaphrodite

Janicke

Schärer

2009

Proc. R. Soc. B.

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Sexual selection theory for separate-sexed animals predicts that the sexes differ in the benefit they can obtain from multiple mating. Conventional sex roles assume that the relationship between the number of mates and the fitness of an individual is steeper in males compared with females. Under these conditions, males are expected to be more eager to mate, whereas females are expected to be choosier. Here we hypothesize that the sex allocation, i.e. the reproductive investment devoted to the male versus female function, can be an important predictor of the mating strategy in simultaneous hermaphrodites. We argue that within-species variation in sex allocation can cause differences in the proportional fitness gain derived through each sex function. Individuals should therefore adjust their mating strategy in a way that is more beneficial to the sex function that is relatively more pronounced. To test this, we experimentally manipulated the sex allocation in a simultaneously hermaphroditic flatworm and investigated whether this affects the mating behaviour. The results demonstrate that individuals with a more malebiased sex allocation (i.e. relatively large testes and small ovaries) are more eager to mate compared with individuals with a more female-biased sex allocation (i.e. relatively small testes and large ovaries). We argue that this pattern is comparable to conventional gender roles in separate-sexed organisms.

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On the Opportunity for Sexual Selection, the Bateman Gradient and the Maximum Intensity of Sexual Selection

Cited by 221 publications

References 70 publications

Natural and sexual selection in a monogamous historical human population

Natural and sexual selection in a monogamous historical human population

Too many men: the violence problem?

Sex allocation predicts mating rate in a simultaneous hermaphrodite

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