Sexual selection driven by direct benefits leads to the erosion of direct benefits

Description

Most sexual selection models assume that the evolution of female choosiness is driven by indirect (genetic) benefits, such as the production of more viable offspring or more attractive sons. There is ample empirical evidence that female choosiness can also provide direct (non-genetic) benefits, including access to good territories or paternal care. Yet, theoretical models of direct-benefits sexual selection are scarce. Here, we explore such a model using individual-based evolutionary simulations. In the model, males differ in the amount of resources at their disposal. Males can allocate resources into parental care (a direct benefit) or into ornamentation. Females can choose mates based on their ornamentation. The simulations reveal that female choosiness for ornamented males readily evolves, which in turn drives males to allocate more resources to ornamentation. At the individual level, females benefit from choosiness, since ornamentation is positively related to the amount of paternal care received. However, at the population level, coevolution between male ornamentation and female preferences leads to (almost complete) erosion of direct benefits. We also discuss intricacies of the co-evolutionary dynamics, such as transient polymorphisms in both male and female strategies, reversals in the direction of evolution, and population extinction (‘evolutionary suicide’) driven by direct-benefit sexual selection.

Periode	7-mei-2024
Evenementstitel	Dutch Society for Theoretical Biology (NVTB) Annual Meeting 2024
Evenementstype	Conference
Locatie	Schoorl, NetherlandsToon op kaart
Mate van erkenning	National