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Modelling the evolution and consequences of mate choice

Tazzyman, S.J.; (2010) Modelling the evolution and consequences of mate choice. Doctoral thesis , UCL (University College London). Green open access

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Abstract

This thesis considers the evolution and the consequences of mate choice across a variety of taxa, using game theoretic, population genetic, and quantitative genetic modelling techniques. Part I is about the evolution of mate choice. In chapter 2, a population genetic model shows that mate choice is even beneficial in self-fertilising species such as Saccharomyces yeast. In chapter 3, a game theoretic model shows that female choice will be strongly dependent upon whether the benefits are fixed, so that females receive the same fitness boost from a mating with a given male regardless of how many matings that male has, or dilutable, where the more females a male mates with, the lower the expected benefit to each. This leads to the prediction that mating skew should be higher in species in which the benefits of mate choice are hypothesised to be due to good genes. Part II is about the consequences of mate choice. The theoretical prediction from chapter 3 is borne out by a literature review of studies of wild populations of birds in chapter 4. In chapter 5, a quantitative genetic model about poison-dart frogs suggests that sexual selection can speed up the e�ffect of random genetic drift. This may be of more general importance, further widening the evolutionary impact of sexual selection. Finally, in chapter 6, a game theoretic model of sperm competition shows that pre-copulatory mate choice can also have evolutionary eff�ects upon post-copulatory behaviour, aff�ecting the optimal ejaculate expenditure of males. Overall, mate choice is shown to be an important evolutionary force, with wide-ranging ramifications across diverse taxa, and e�ects so varied as to include the evolution of sex, the genetic variation in species, speciation, and post-copulatory behaviour, amongst others. These e�ffects can be e�ffectively explored using mathematical modelling.

Type: Thesis (Doctoral)
Title: Modelling the evolution and consequences of mate choice
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
Language: English
UCL classification: UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Engineering Science > Dept of Computer Science > CoMPLEX: Mat&Phys in Life Sci and Exp Bio
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/814889
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