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Jumping Spider Dances: What is "Sexual Selection"?

Sexual selection is a form of natural selection. It shares certain similarities with "regular" natural selection:

  • for both, there must be variation in a trait or traits within a population
  • this variation must be at least partly heritable (genetically based)
  • selection operates when individuals with certain variations have more surviving offspring than other individuals with other variations.
  • selection operates between individuals of the same species.

Sexual selection is different from "regular" natural selection in some ways:

  • individuals differ in their ability to obtain matings, which means that individuals of the same sex affect each other's reproductive success.
  • members of one sex compete against other members of the same sex, instead of against all other individuals in the population.

Next: gamete size and reproductive allocation

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