Sexual selection

Sexual selection is the theory that competition for mates between individuals of the same sex (typically males) drives the evolution of certain traits. Within a species, one sex (typically females) acts as a limiting resource for the other (typically males). Competition over the limiting sex results in sexual selection. It is distinct from ecological selection which is the competition for other limiting resources within the species' ecological niche.

Proposed human examples

Charles Darwin conjectured that the male beard, as well as the relative hairlessness of humans compared to nearly all other mammals, are results of sexual selection. He reasoned that since, compared to males, the bodies of females are more nearly hairless, hairlessness is one of the atypical cases due to its selection by males at a remote prehistoric time, when males had overwhelming selective power, and that it nonetheless affected males due to genetic correlation between the sexes.

Related Topics:
Beard - Hair - Human - Mammal

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