Abstract
A variant of the 'handicap' model of sexual selection is described which predicts that the evolution of ornate male traits occurs more easily in species where females are the heterogametic sex. The process occurs even when the alleles conferring high paternal 'fitness' remain advantageous for only a short time due to a rapidly changing physical or biotic environment: the timescale of this advantage may approach the gestation time of the organism. This provides an explanation as to why sexual selection in species where females are heterogametic (such as birds) occurs mainly by the elaboration of ornate male secondary sexual characteristics, whereas in species where females are homogametic (such as mammals) sexual selection results predominantly in inter-male rivalry and the evolution of traits such as horns, antlers and large body size. An analogy between the evolution of elaborate male traits and the evolution of warning coloration is noted.
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