Journal ArticleDOI
The Functions of Antlers
TLDR
The absence of unequivocal support for the importance of antlers in defence against predators, in heat regulation, in assessment between rivals and in attracting mates leaves open the possibility that, despite their bizarre appearance, antlers evolved as weapons and are retained by selection because of their function in intra-specific combat.Abstract:
1. This paper reviews evidence for five functional explanations of the evolution of antlers in male cervids: that they are used as weapons in fights; that they allow individuals to defend themselves against predators; that they act as heat radiators during their period of growth; that they advertise an individual's fighting ability and allow males to assess each other without fighting; and that they increase the chances that a male will be selected as a mate by females. 2. There is extensive evidence that antlers are used in fights between competing males. Contrary to some suggestions in the literature, fights are regular during the breeding season and can be damaging. In species where fighting behaviour has been studied in detail, antlers have proved to be effective weapons of defence and offense, and there is no systematic evidence to support the suggestion that antler-less males (hummels) are more successful in competition for females than antlered stags. 3. Though male deer sometimes use their antlers in defence against predators, the absence of antlers in females of most species suggests that this is not their principal function. Nor does it seem likely that antlers evolved as heat-regulating mechanisms - in some species, they are grown during the winter months and there is no tendency for them to be larger in tropical species than in temperate ones. 4. Despite many suggestions, there is no conclusive evidence that males assess each other by their relative antler size and most measures of antler size and shape are not closely correlated with dominance or fighting ability. Nor is there firm evidence that females selectively mate with large-antlered males. 5. The absence of unequivocal support for the importance of antlers in defence against predators, in heat regulation, in assessment between rivals and in attracting mates leaves open the possibility that, despite their bizarre appearance, antlers evolved as weapons and are retained by selection because of their function in intra-specific combat.read more
Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI
Truth in advertising: the kinds of traits favored by sexual selection
TL;DR: The truth in advertising model describes a mechanism of sexual selection to account for the evolution of the kinds of traits used by males of polygynous species to compete for and attract mates and deemphasizes the traditional dichotomies between the effects ofsexual selection and natural selection.
Journal ArticleDOI
Evolution of condition-dependent sex ornaments and mating preferences: sexual selection based on viability differences.
TL;DR: The possibility that the evolution of mating preferences and secondary sex traits can be based on heritable differences in viability is examined with a three‐locus model, based on a monogamous mating system that precludes such a Fisherian mating advantage being required.
Journal ArticleDOI
Sexual selection in females
TL;DR: It is suggested that the mechanisms responsible for the evolution of secondary sexual characters in females are similar to those operating in males and include intrasexual competition between females for breeding opportunities, male mating preferences and female competition to attract mates.
Journal ArticleDOI
Biological materials: Functional adaptations and bioinspired designs
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors conduct an analysis connecting the structure (nano, micro, meso, and macro) to the mechanical properties important for a specific function, and address how biological systems respond and adapt to external mechanical stimuli.
Journal ArticleDOI
The Evolution of Animal Weapons
TL;DR: The potential for male competition to drive rapid divergence in weapon morphology remains one of the most exciting and understudied topics in sexual selection research today.
References
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Book
The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex
TL;DR: In this paper, secondary sexual characters of fishes, amphibians and reptiles are presented. But the authors focus on the secondary sexual characteristics of fishes and amphibians rather than the primary sexual characters.
Journal Article
The descent of man and selection in relation to sex: documento
TL;DR: Part I. Sexual Selection (continued): Secondary sexual characters of fishes, amphibians and reptiles, and secondarySexual characters of birds.
Book
Sociobiology: The New Synthesis
TL;DR: Ressenya de l'obra d'E. O. Wilson apareguda el 1975, Sociobiology. The New Synthesis.The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.
The spandrels of San Marco and the Panglossian paradigm: a critique of the adaptationist programme
TL;DR: The adaptationist programme is faulted for its failure to distinguish current utility from reasons for origin, and Darwin’s own pluralistic approach to identifying the agents of evolutionary change is supported.
Journal ArticleDOI
The spandrels of San Marco and the Panglossian paradigm: a critique of the adaptationist programme
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors criticise the adaptationist program for its inability to distinguish current utility from reasons for origin (male tyrannosaurs may have used their diminutive front legs to titillate female partners, but this will not explain why they got so small).