https://science.sciencemag.org/content/sci/197/4300/215.full.pdf

Ecology, sexual selection, and the evolution of mating systems

Just over one hundred and thirty years ago Charles Darwin, in The Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex (1871), developed remarkably accurate conclusions about man's ancestry, based on a review of general comparative anatomy and psychology in which he regarded sexual selection as a necessary part of the evolutionary process. But the attention of biologists turned to the more general concept of natural selection, in which sexual selection plays a complex role that has been little understood. This volume significantly broadens the scope of modern evolutionary biology by looking at this important and long neglected concept of great importance. In this book, which is the first full discussion of sexual selection since 1871, leading biologists bring modern genetic theory and behavior observation to bear on the subject. The distinguished authors consider many aspects of sexual selection in many species, including man, within the context of contemporary evolutionary theory and research. The result is a remarkably original and well-rounded view of the whole concept that will be invaluable especially to students of evolution and human sexual behavior. The lucid authority of the contributors and the importance of the topic will interest all who share in man's perennial fascination with his own history. The book will be of central importance to a wide variety of professionals, including biologists, anthropologists, and geneticists. It will be an invaluable supplementary text for courses in vertebrate biology, theory of evolution, genetics, and physical anthropology. It is especially important with the emergence of alternative explanations of human development, under the rubric of creationism and doctrines of intelligent design.

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Sexual selection and the descent of man, 1871-1971

Mating systems, philopatry and dispersal in birds and mammals

Natural history is replete with observations on feeding, yet only recently have investigators begun to treat feeding as a device whose performance­ as measured in net energy yield/feeding time or some other units assumed commensurate with fitness-may be maximized by natural selection (44, 1 13, 135, 156, 181) . The primary task of a theory of feeding strategies is to specify for a given animal that complex of behavior and morphology best suited to gather food energy in a particular environment. The task is one, therefore, of optimization, and like all optimization problems, it may be tri­ sected: 1. Choosing a currency: What is to be maximized or minimized? 2. Choosing the appropriate cost-benefit functions: What is the mathematical form of the set of expressions with the currency as the dependent variable? 3. Solving for the optimum: What computational technique best finds ex­ trema of the cost-benefit function? In this review, most of the following section is devoted to possible answers to the first problem. Then four key aspects of feeding strategies will be considered: (a) the optimal diet, (b) the optimal foraging space, (c) the optimal foraging period, and (d) the optimal foraging-group size. For each, possible cost-benefit formulations will be discussed and compared, and predictions derived from these will be matched with data from the literature on feeding. Because the third problem is an aspect of applied mathematics, it will be mostly ignored. Throughout, emphasis will be placed on strategic aspects of feeding rather than on what Holling (75) has called "tactics."

Herbert Friedmann

Papers

Ecological Adaptations for Breeding in Birds

Avian Biology. Volume III

Avian Biology. Vol. IV

Sociobiology: The New Synthesis