Limited Female Choice and the Evolution of Secondary Sexual Characters

Abstract

This article studies the role that limits on female mate choice in polygynous species play in the evolution of preferred secondary sexual traits. Analysis of a diploid model of evolution by female choice sexual selection that incorporates limited female choice shows that the conditions under which an allele coding for a novel secondary sexual trait will increase in frequency when rare are more restrictive when female choice is more limited. This suggests the prediction that, all else being equal, species or populations whose females have limited mate choice are less likely to be sexually dimorphic in secondary sexual traits compared to species or populations whose females have relatively less limited choice.