Definition
The effects of intrasexual competition and cryptic female choice on the evolution of genitalia.
Introduction
The genitalia of internally fertilizing animals are one of the most diverse characteristics within and across taxonomic groups. In many organisms, male genitalia exhibit extravagant spines, papilla, domes, hooks, and flaps and spines. The latter are generally made of keratin and can be found in a diverse array of animals including snakes and waterfowl; in domestic cats, penile spines scrape the female reproductive tract during copulation, which stimulates oviposition or egg-laying. Females too exhibit huge variation in genitalia; in the spotted hyena Crocuta crocutafemales display a pseudo-penis that closely resembles a male penis, but is formed by the clitoris and fused labia. In many organisms, particularly insects, male genitalia have other uses aside from reproduction, such as rubbing, grasping and stroking the female organs and sensory structures such as hairs...
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
References
Andersson, M. (1994). Sexual selection. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Arnqvist, G. (1997). The evolution of animal genitalia: Distinguishing between hypotheses by single species studies. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 60, 365–379.
Carayon, J. (1966). Traumatic insemination and the paragenital system. In R. L. Usinger (Ed.), Monograph of Cimicidae (Hemiptera-Heteroptera) (pp. 81–166). College Park: Entomological Society of America.
Dufour, L. (1844). Anatomie générale des Diptères. Annuaire de Science Naturelle, 1, 244–264.
Eberhard, W. G. (1985). Sexual selection and animal genitalia. Harvard: Harvard University Press.
Hosken, D. J., & Stockley, P. (2004). Sexual selection and genital evolution. Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 19, 87–93.
Langerhans, R. B., Anderson, C. M., & Heinen-Kay, J. L. (2016). Causes and consequences of genital evolution. Integrative and Comparative Biology, 56, 741–751.
Mayr, E. (1963). Animal species and evolution. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Simmons, L. W. (2001). Sperm competition and its evolutionary consequences in the insects. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Simmons, L. W. (2014). Sexual selection and genital evolution. Austral Entomology, 53, 1–17.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Section Editor information
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this entry
Cite this entry
Dewhurst, A., Lewis, Z. (2019). Genital Evolution and Sexual Selection. In: Shackelford, T., Weekes-Shackelford, V. (eds) Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_2054-1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_2054-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-16999-6
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