Males typically invest in producing many low-cost sperm and competing for mates, while females invest in producing fewer, high-cost eggs and often provide more parental care.
Males often invest in producing many low-cost sperm and compete for mates, while females invest heavily in producing fewer, high-cost eggs and often provide more parental care.
Sexual selection is a form of natural selection where certain traits increase an individual's chances of mating and passing on their genes, impacting the evolution of species.
Sexual reproduction allows for genetic recombination, creating genetic diversity that can help populations adapt to changing environmental conditions.
The Red Queen Hypothesis suggests that organisms must constantly adapt and evolve to survive against ever-evolving opposing organisms and changing environments.
Deviations from the 1:1 sex ratio can occur due to factors like differential costs of producing males and females, environmental conditions, and genetic or parasitic influences.
Asexual reproduction allows for rapid and efficient reproduction without the need for a mate, producing genetically identical offspring that are well-adapted to the current environment.
Examples include sneaker males and female mimics in bluegill sunfish, where smaller or less dominant males use alternative tactics to fertilize eggs.
Mueller's Ratchet is the process by which genomes of an asexual population accumulate deleterious mutations in an irreversible manner, leading to genetic degradation over time.
Sexual dimorphism often arises from competition between males for access to females, leading to traits like larger size, elaborate displays, or combat abilities.
The origin of sex and genders is a key topic in evolutionary biology, explaining how phenotypes evolve under natural conditions.
The twofold cost of sex refers to the fact that sexual reproduction requires producing males, which do not directly bear offspring, effectively halving the reproductive output compared to asexual reproduction.
The 1:1 sex ratio is explained by Fisher's principle, where the rare sex has a reproductive advantage, leading to an equilibrium where both sexes are produced in equal numbers.
Sexual reproduction involves significant costs such as finding a mate, risk of injury, predation, sexually transmitted infections, and only passing on 50% of one's genes to offspring.
The entangled bank hypothesis suggests that genetic diversity from sexual reproduction allows offspring to exploit a variety of microhabitats, reducing competition and increasing survival chances.
