The evolution of mate choice and the potential for conflict between species and mate–quality recognition
Year: 1998
Type: article
Abstract: Understanding how individuals select mates becomes complex when high–quality conspecifics resemble heterospecifics. Individuals facing such a situation may be unable to effectively identify both conspecifics (species recognition) and high–quality mates that can confer fitness benefits to the choosy individual or its offspring (mate–quality recognition). Here I suggest when a conflict may occur between species and mate–quality recognition, discuss the evolutionary consequences stemming from this conflict, and present a model of mate–preference evolution in response to heterospecifics. Determining how species and mate–quality recognition interact to shape mate–choice decisions is important for understanding the diversification of sexually selected traits among closely related taxonomic groups, the use of complex sensory systems for detecting mates, and seemingly inappropriate mate–choice decisions.
Author: Karin S. Pfennig
Institution: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Language: English
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2081186769