Sexual selection and its evolutionary consequences in female animals

Abstract

For sexual selection to act on a given sex, there must exist variation in the reproductive success of that sex as a result of differential access to mates or fertilisations. The mechanisms and consequences of sexual selection acting on male animals are well documented, but research on sexual selection acting on females has only recently received attention. Controversy still exists over whether sexual selection acts on females in the traditional sense, and over whether to modify the existing definition of sexual selection (to include resource competition) or to invoke alternative mechanisms (usually social selection) to explain selection acting on females in connection with reproduction. However, substantial evidence exists of females bearing characters or exhibiting behaviours that result in differential reproductive success that are analogous to those attributed to sexual selection in males. Here we summarise the literature and provide substantial evidence of female intrasexual competition for access to mates, female intersexual signalling to potential mates, and postcopulatory mechanisms such as competition between eggs for access to sperm and cryptic male allocation. Our review makes clear that sexual selection acts on females and males in similar ways but sometimes to differing extents: the ceiling for the elaboration of costly traits may be lower in females than in males. We predict that current and future research on female sexual selection will provide increasing support for the parsimony and utility of the existing definition of sexual selection.

The role of functional constraints in nonrandom mating patterns for a dance fly with female ornaments

“…are male-biased (Marden, 1989), whereas those of R. longicauda are consistently female-biased (Bussière et al, 2008;Funk & Tallamy, 2000;Gwynne, 1991;Murray et al, 2017). Given the variation in ornamentation and contrasting operational sex ratios, sexual selection and mate choice in the two species are expected to be quite different (Clutton-Brock, 2009;Emlen & Oring, 1977;Hare & Simmons, 2018;Herridge et al, 2016;Kokko, Klug, & Jennions, 2012). In R. longicauda, there is male mate choice and female ornamentation (Funk & Tallamy, 2000;Murray et al, 2018),…”

Experimental evidence for the role of sexual selection in the evolution of cuticular hydrocarbons in the dung beetle, Onthophagus taurus

“…First, our polygamous treatment may have imposed similar patterns of sexual selection to those acting on males in natural populations, but different patterns on females. Despite the general focus on sexual selection acting on males, research over recent decades has provided evidence for an association between female secondary sexual traits and mating success (Amundsen, ; Bonduriansky, ; Clutton‐Brock, , ; Edward & Chapman, ; Hare & Simmons, ; Kraaijeveld, Kraaijeveld‐Smit, & Komdeur, ), including female CHCs (Chenoweth & Blows, ; Thomas & Simmons, ). Although the mating system of O. taurus has been characterized by sexual selection on males (Kotiaho et al., ; Moczek & Emlen, ), females accrue benefits by mating with multiple mates (Garcia‐Gonzalez & Simmons, ; McCullough et al., ; Simmons & Garcia‐Gonzalez, ), particularly mates of high quality (Simmons & Holley, ).…”

“…First, our polygamous treatment may have imposed similar patterns of sexual selection to those acting on males in natural populations, but different patterns on females. Despite the general focus on sexual selection acting on males, research over recent decades has provided evidence for an association between female secondary sexual traits and mating success (Amundsen, 2000;Bonduriansky, 2001;Clutton-Brock, 2007Edward & Chapman, 2011;Hare & Simmons, 2019;Kraaijeveld, Kraaijeveld-Smit, & Komdeur, 2007), including female CHCs (Chenoweth & Blows, 2003;…”

Testosterone secretion varies in a sex- and stage-specific manner: insights on the regulation of competitive traits from a sex-role reversed species

“…These traits include aggressive behavior (Wingfield et al, 1990), weaponry (Malo et al, 2009), body size (Cox et al, 2009), ornamentation (McGlothlin et al, 2008, and testes size (Preston et al, 2012). Females also express many of these same traits, which likewise function in competition for mates and other breeding resources (Clutton-Brock, 2009;Hare and Simmons, 2018;Rosvall, 2013a;Tobias et al, 2012). Like males, females secrete T and have the physiological machinery to respond to T (Staub and De Beer, 1997).…”