PSYC 3100 Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: Parental Investment, Polygynandry, Maternal Sensitivity

• School: University of Guelph
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSYC 3100
• Professor: Don Dedrick

Document Summary

What problem did sexual selection solve in evolution (past tense) Let"s go back to the defining difference between sexually reproducing males and females. Males have many small sex cells and females have a few large ones. Males can increase the probability of their reproductive success by increasing their numbers of mates/copulations. Females cannot increase the probability of reproductive success by increasing the number of mates/copulations (except by a little bit) Males increase the probability their reproductive success with each additional partner. A male"s reproductive success is not limited by by his ability to produce sex cells, but by his ability to fertilize eggs (to successfully copulate) A female"s reproductive success is not limited by her ability to let her eggs be fertilized (to successfully copulate), but by her ability to produce eggs. So: sexual selection solved the problem of the limiting female resource: male-male competition, and female choice.