Mate Choice

Patrick Bateson (Edited by)

9780521272070, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 28 April 1983

480 pages
22.8 x 15.2 x 3 cm, 0.79 kg

"...an exciting addition to the field and will be a point of departure for a great deal of future research." Evolution

Animals may be careful in their choice of mates for a variety of reasons. The ideal mate may have to hold valuable resources as well as being highly fertile or fecund. As likely as not, it should be neither too closely related nor too distantly related, and it should be maximally attractive. All these aspects of a member of the opposite sex may influence how many descendants the pair could produce, but the importance of each will usually depend on the sex and the species of the individual making the choice. This book brings together modern thinking on the various functions of mate choice and its role in evolution. The ways in which finely tuned preferences for a particular member of the opposite sex develop are described, as is the importance of compatibility between mates in long-lived species. Finally, the book deals with the underlying mechanisms and the decision rules involved in choosing a mate. The different approaches of the authors combine to make an excellent overview of an attractive and fascinating topic. The book is particularly directed at students, teachers, and research workers, who are interested in evolution and behaviour, but the surveys it contains will be of considerable use to others whose main field of interest is in the social sciences.

List of contributors
Preface Patrick Bateson
Part I. Introduction: 1. The study of mate choice T. R. Halliday
2. Monogamy: an ambiguous concept Wolfgang Wickler and Uta Seibt
Part II. Characteristics of Sexual Selection: 3. Sexual selection by female choice Peter O'Donald
4. Sexual selection: the interface of theory and empiricism Stevan J. Arnold
5. Leks and mate choice Jack W. Bradbury and Robert M. Gibson
Part III. Sex Differences in Chosiness: 6. Mate quality and mating decisions G. A. Parker
7. Mate choice in role-reversed species Marion Petrie
8. Male-mate competition and mate choice in anuran amphibians Anthony Arak
9. Mate choice in the European Rabbit Diana J. Bell
Part IV. Non-Random Mating: 10. Non-random mating and offspring fitness Linda Partridge
11. Optimal outbreeding Patrick Bateson
12. Assortative mating, mate choice and reproductive fitness in Snow Geese F. Cooke and J. C. Davies
13. Mate choice in the Mallard Diane M. Williams
14. Early experience and sexual preferences in rodents Bruno D'udine and Enrico Alleva
Part V. Compatibility of Mates: 15. Re-mating in birds Ian Rowley
16. Mate choice in the Kittiwake Gull J. C. Coulson and C. S. Thomas
17. Mate choice in humans as an interpersonal process Steve Duck and Dorothy Miell
Part VI. Hormonal Mechanisms: 18. Hormonal mechanisms of mate choice in birds J. B. Hutchison and R. E. Hutchison
19. Endocrine determinants and constraints on sexual behaviour in monkeys Eric B. Keverne
Part VII. Decision Rules: 20. Life history tactics and alternative strategies of reproduction R. I. M. Dunbar
21. Tactics of mate choice James F. Wittenberger
Index.

Subject Areas: Animal behaviour [PSVP]