Predation drives complex eco-evolutionary dynamics in sexually selected traits.

ABSTRACT: Predation plays a role in preventing the evolution of ever more complicated sexual displays, because such displays often increase an individual's predation risk. Sexual selection theory, however, omits a key feature of predation in modeling costs to sexually selected traits: Predation is density dependent. As a result of this density dependence, predator-prey dynamics should feed back into the evolution of sexual displays, which, in turn, feeds back into predator-prey dynamics. Here, we develop both population and quantitative genetic models of sexual selection that explicitly link the evolution of sexual displays with predator-prey dynamics. Our primary result is that predation can drive eco-evolutionary cycles in sexually selected traits. We also show that mechanistically modeling the co

SUBMITTER: Lerch BA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10101644 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature