Definition
Where sex differences exist in relative investment in offspring, the sex that invests more is the limiting resource for the non-investing sex, resulting in differences in reproductive strategies and profound effects on morphology, physiology, and behavior between and within the sexes.
Introduction
Darwin’s theory of sexual selection recognized that selective pressures could act differently on the sexes in ways that allowed individuals to effectively compete and pass on their genes. Darwin identified two main types of sexual selection: (1) competition within one sex for access to the other (e.g., male-male competition – weapons, large body size, aggressive behavior) and (2) differential choice by members of one sex for the opposite sex (e.g., female choice – bright colors, elaborate plumage/pelage). What Darwin’s theory lacked was a general framework that could explain...
References
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Trivers, R. L. (1972). Parental investment and sexual selection. In B. Campbell (Ed.), Sexual selection and the Descent of Man, 1871–1971 (pp. 136–179). Chicago: Aldine-Atherton.
Trivers, R. L. (1983). The evolution of sex. Quarterly Review of Biology, 58, 62–67.
Trivers, R. L. (1985). Social evolution. Menlo Park: Benjamin Cummings.
Trivers, R. L. (2002). Natural selection and social theory: Selected papers of Robert Trivers. New York: Oxford University Press.
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Jacobson, A. (2016). Parental Investment and Sexual Selection (Trivers Foundational Theory). 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_3584-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_3584-1
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