What is mate choice? How did it evolve and why does it differ between sexes? To answer these questions, we first have to understand what it means to be female and what it means to be male under evolutionary standards and how the two sexes contribute to reproduction.
Under biological terms, a female is the sex that produces the ova or egg, which is the larger sex gamete. The egg is large because it contains nutrients and material needed for the development of offspring as well as the DNA of the mother(Gilbert 2000). Meanwhile, a male is defined as the sex that produces the sperm, which is the smaller gamete. The sperm is composed solely of a haploid nucleus (DNA) and a propulsion system that allows it to travel to the egg (Gilbert 2000). The …show more content…
But before we talk about the different strategies, we have to discuss how gamete differences affected the reproductive success of males and females. In general, females are limited in the investment capacity they can have each time they reproduce . While it varies by species, in apes and in humans, females typically can only have one offspring at a time, regardless of how many males she has mated with, because usually only one egg is release per cycle and the cost of gestation and lactation are high. Meanwhile, males can produce large quantities of sperms each time they mate, and thus can virtually have as many offspring as they want. The male reproductive limit comes from their accessibility to mates (Gaulin and McBurney 2004). As a result, in humans the reproductive success of women is limited by their large physiological investment in producing the egg and enduring gestation, and the resources needed to provision the offspring through lactation usually for the first year, and during the EEA probably for longer (between 3-4 years in some cases), and throughout the offspring´s development. Meanwhile, men are only limited by the access to fertile females in their society …show more content…
Parental investment is the total amount of energy or resources a parent exerts to produce and ensure the survival of a particular offspring. Because of the biological differences(gametes), the minimum cost of investment differs substantially between males and females. In women the minimum investment is 9 months of gestation and risks associated with childbirth, while for men it is only the production of sperm. However in human societies, men usually do invest by providing resources so both sexes are choosy when it comes to long-term mates or mates with which they hope to have offspring (Woodwark 2005; Geary 2004). As a result, women benefit or increase her and her offspring’s survival and reproductive fitness by choosing a mate that will provide resources such as food, protection, and wealth, which usually come with higher status in men. Meanwhile, a man, whose only means of investment is through sperms or resources, will increase his reproductive success by choosing a woman that shows qualities of high fertility and health, such as youth and a 0.7 hip-to-waist ratio ensuring that his resources are being invested in the best possible mate(s)(Gaulin & McBurney 2004; Geary
Under biological terms, a female is the sex that produces the ova or egg, which is the larger sex gamete. The egg is large because it contains nutrients and material needed for the development of offspring as well as the DNA of the mother(Gilbert 2000). Meanwhile, a male is defined as the sex that produces the sperm, which is the smaller gamete. The sperm is composed solely of a haploid nucleus (DNA) and a propulsion system that allows it to travel to the egg (Gilbert 2000). The …show more content…
But before we talk about the different strategies, we have to discuss how gamete differences affected the reproductive success of males and females. In general, females are limited in the investment capacity they can have each time they reproduce . While it varies by species, in apes and in humans, females typically can only have one offspring at a time, regardless of how many males she has mated with, because usually only one egg is release per cycle and the cost of gestation and lactation are high. Meanwhile, males can produce large quantities of sperms each time they mate, and thus can virtually have as many offspring as they want. The male reproductive limit comes from their accessibility to mates (Gaulin and McBurney 2004). As a result, in humans the reproductive success of women is limited by their large physiological investment in producing the egg and enduring gestation, and the resources needed to provision the offspring through lactation usually for the first year, and during the EEA probably for longer (between 3-4 years in some cases), and throughout the offspring´s development. Meanwhile, men are only limited by the access to fertile females in their society …show more content…
Parental investment is the total amount of energy or resources a parent exerts to produce and ensure the survival of a particular offspring. Because of the biological differences(gametes), the minimum cost of investment differs substantially between males and females. In women the minimum investment is 9 months of gestation and risks associated with childbirth, while for men it is only the production of sperm. However in human societies, men usually do invest by providing resources so both sexes are choosy when it comes to long-term mates or mates with which they hope to have offspring (Woodwark 2005; Geary 2004). As a result, women benefit or increase her and her offspring’s survival and reproductive fitness by choosing a mate that will provide resources such as food, protection, and wealth, which usually come with higher status in men. Meanwhile, a man, whose only means of investment is through sperms or resources, will increase his reproductive success by choosing a woman that shows qualities of high fertility and health, such as youth and a 0.7 hip-to-waist ratio ensuring that his resources are being invested in the best possible mate(s)(Gaulin & McBurney 2004; Geary