Synonyms
Definition
Aggregations of males which females visit for the purpose of mating (Höglund and Alatalo 1995).
Introduction
Lekking is a collective behavior: the tendency of males to aggregate during the mating season and perform a communal display at a site restricted in space. This site is called the lek. Males often perform stereotyped displays while attending the lek, and this constitutes the lekking behavior. Females visit these aggregated male displays principally to select and mate with one or several of the males. After, mating females leave the lek and do all the parental care without male assistance. Most lekking species behave in the way just described: males aggregate and display and females select among these males. In a few role-reversed species, females display and males choose. There have been two main reasons to study leks. The first relates to the issue of the evolution of this rare mating system. What factors drive the evolution of lekking...
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
References
Alatalo, R. V., Höglund, J., & Lundberg, A. (1991). Lekking in black grouse- a test of male viability. Nature, 352, 155–156.
Beehler, B. M., & Foster, M. S. (1988). Hotshots, hotspots and female preferences in the organization of lek mating systems. American Naturalist, 131, 203–219.
Borgia, G. (1979). Sexual selection and the evolution of mating systems. In M. S. Blum & N. A. Blum (Eds.), Sexual selection and the reproductive competition in insects (pp. 19–80). New York: Academic.
Bradbury, J. (1981). The evolution of leks. In R. D. Alexander & D. W. Tinkle (Eds.), Natural selection and social behavior (pp. 138–169). New York: Chiron Press.
Bradbury, J., Gibson, R. M., McCarthy, C. E., & Vehrencamp, S. L. (1989). Dispersion of displaying male sage grouse II. The role of female dispersion. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 24, 15–24.
Cornwallis, C. K., & Uller, T. (2012). Towards an evolutionary ecology of sexual traits. Trends in Ecology and Evolution, 25, 145–152.
Höglund, J., & Alatalo, R. V. (1995). Leks. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Höglund, J., & Robertson, J. G. M. (1990). Female preferences male decision rules and the evolution of leks in the great snipe Gallinago media. Animal Behaviour, 40, 15–22.
Radwan, J. (2008). Maintenance of genetic variation in sexual ornaments: A review of the mechanisms. Genetica, 134, 113–127.
Seather, S. A., Baglo, R., Fiske, P., Ekblom, R., Höglund, J., & Kålås, J. A. (2005). Direct and indirect mate choice on leks. American Naturalist, 166, 145–157.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2016 Springer International Publishing Switzerland
About this entry
Cite this entry
Höglund, J. (2016). Lekking. In: Weekes-Shackelford, V., Shackelford, T., Weekes-Shackelford, V. (eds) Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_80-1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_80-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-16999-6
eBook Packages: Springer Reference Behavioral Science and PsychologyReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences