Animal Reproduction

Environmental variation can wreak havoc on animals that use auditory signals to find mates. Ever tried to carry on a conversation with a potential mate in a noisy nightclub? Have you had much success in […]

Externally fertilizing fish provide several fascinating examples of cryptic female choice at work. In these systems, females lay their eggs in nests on the floor of their aquatic habitat, and males fertilize them externally. Congeneric […]

In some of the more simplistic cases of cryptic female choice, females prove unable to discern a good mate from a bad one during pre-coital activities. In many insects it’s extremely difficult to tell a […]

If the scene for heterospecific copulation was that of a horror film, the scene for hybridization is more like that of science fiction. In nature when we see successful hybridization, this means that species are […]

Evolution should select for individuals that employ ways of discerning members of their own species from any others. Reproductive success of those engaing in sex with organisms of another species should therefore be drastically reduced. […]