TY - JOUR
T1 - A long-term genetic model for the evolution of sexual preference
T2 - The theories of Fisher and Zahavi re-examined
AU - Eshel, Ilan
AU - Sansone, Emilia
AU - Jacobs, Frans
PY - 2002/7
Y1 - 2002/7
N2 - Long-term co-evolution of male's sexual extravagance and female's preference for it is studied. Fisher's "Sexy Son" principle is checked against Zahavi's Handicap Principle. It is shown that although both principles are equally likely to explain this sort of co-evolution in the short run, only the second one allows for a long-term evolutionarily stable females' preference for costly male's extravagance. It is shown, however, that Fisher's argument, although not sufficient on its own to explain long-term persistence of females' choice, may tacitly appear as an indispensable component for the application of Zahavi's theory to the important case of dense polygenous populations.
AB - Long-term co-evolution of male's sexual extravagance and female's preference for it is studied. Fisher's "Sexy Son" principle is checked against Zahavi's Handicap Principle. It is shown that although both principles are equally likely to explain this sort of co-evolution in the short run, only the second one allows for a long-term evolutionarily stable females' preference for costly male's extravagance. It is shown, however, that Fisher's argument, although not sufficient on its own to explain long-term persistence of females' choice, may tacitly appear as an indispensable component for the application of Zahavi's theory to the important case of dense polygenous populations.
KW - Handicap principle
KW - Long-term evolution
KW - Runaway process
KW - Sexual selection
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0036632098&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s002850200138
DO - 10.1007/s002850200138
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AN - SCOPUS:0036632098
SN - 0303-6812
VL - 45
SP - 1
EP - 21
JO - Journal of Mathematical Biology
JF - Journal of Mathematical Biology
IS - 1
ER -