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Sexual selection is a mode of natural selection in which members of one biological sex choose mates of the other sex to mate with, and compete with members of the same sex for access to members of the opposite sex. These two forms of selection mean that some individuals have greater reproductive success than others within a population, for example because they are more attractive or prefer more attractive partners to produce offspring. Successful males benefit from frequent mating and monopolizing access to one or more fertile females. Females can maximise the return on the energy they invest in reproduction by selecting and mating with the best males.
The handicap principle is a hypothesis proposed by the Israeli biologist Amotz Zahavi to explain how evolution may lead to "honest" or reliable signalling between animals which have an obvious motivation to bluff or deceive each other.
The great reed warbler is a Eurasian in the passerine genus Acrocephalus.
Bird vocalization includes both bird calls and bird songs. In non-technical use, bird songs are the bird sounds that are melodious to the human ear. In ornithology and birding, songs are distinguished by function from calls.
Lordosis behavior, also known as mammalian lordosis or presenting, is the naturally occurring body posture for sexual receptivity to copulation present in females of most mammals including rodents, elephants, and cats. The primary characteristics of the behavior are a lowering of the forelimbs but with the rear limbs extended and hips raised, ventral arching of the spine and a raising, or sideward displacement, of the tail. During lordosis, the spine curves dorsoventrally so that its apex points towards the abdomen.
Photoperiodism is the physiological reaction of organisms to the length of night or a dark period. It occurs in plants and animals. Plant photoperiodism can also be defined as the developmental responses of plants to the relative lengths of light and dark periods. They are classified under three groups according to the photoperiods: short-day plants, long-day plants, and day-neutral plants.
Fluctuating asymmetry (FA), is a form of biological asymmetry, along with anti-symmetry and direction asymmetry. Fluctuating asymmetry refers to small, random deviations away from perfect bilateral symmetry. This deviation from perfection is thought to reflect the genetic and environmental pressures experienced throughout development, with greater pressures resulting in higher levels of asymmetry. Examples of FA in the human body include unequal sizes (asymmetry) of bilateral features in the face and body, such as left and right eyes, ears, wrists, breasts, testicles, and thighs.
Ecotoxicology is the study of the effects of toxic chemicals on biological organisms, especially at the population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere levels. Ecotoxicology is a multidisciplinary field, which integrates toxicology and ecology.
Phenotypic plasticity refers to some of the changes in an organism's behavior, morphology and physiology in response to a unique environment. Fundamental to the way in which organisms cope with environmental variation, phenotypic plasticity encompasses all types of environmentally induced changes that may or may not be permanent throughout an individual's lifespan.
Cannibalism is the act of consuming another individual of the same species as food. Cannibalism is a common ecological interaction in the animal kingdom and has been recorded in more than 1,500 species. Human cannibalism is well documented, both in ancient and in recent times.
Mate choice is one of the primary mechanisms under which evolution can occur. It is characterized by a "selective response by animals to particular stimuli" which can be observed as behavior. In other words, before an animal engages with a potential mate, they first evaluate various aspects of that mate which are indicative of quality—such as the resources or phenotypes they have—and evaluate whether or not those particular trait(s) are somehow beneficial to them. The evaluation will then incur a response of some sort.
A mating call is the auditory signal used by animals to attract mates. It can occur in males or females, but literature is abundantly favored toward researching mating calls in females. In addition, mating calls are often the subject of mate choice, in which the preferences of one gender for a certain type of mating call can drive sexual selection in a species. This can result in sympatric speciation of some animals, where two species diverge from each other while living in the same environment.
Mary Jane West-Eberhard is an American theoretical biologist noted for arguing that phenotypic and developmental plasticity played a key role in shaping animal evolution and speciation. She is also an entomologist notable for her work on the behavior and evolution of social wasps.
Ecoimmunology or Ecological Immunology is the study of the causes and consequences of variation in immunity. The field of ecoimmunology seeks to give an ultimate perspective for proximate mechanisms of immunology. This approach places immunology in evolutionary and ecological contexts across all levels of biological organization.
Sexual selection in birds concerns how birds have evolved a variety of mating behaviors, with the peacock tail being perhaps the most famous example of sexual selection and the Fisherian runaway. Commonly occurring sexual dimorphisms such as size and color differences are energetically costly attributes that signal competitive breeding situations. Many types of avian sexual selection have been identified; intersexual selection, also known as female choice; and intrasexual competition, where individuals of the more abundant sex compete with each other for the privilege to mate. Sexually selected traits often evolve to become more pronounced in competitive breeding situations until the trait begins to limit the individual's fitness. Conflicts between an individual fitness and signaling adaptations ensure that sexually selected ornaments such as plumage coloration and courtship behavior are “honest” traits. Signals must be costly to ensure that only good-quality individuals can present these exaggerated sexual ornaments and behaviors.
Parasite-stress theory, illustrated by researchers Corey Fincher and Randy Thornhill, is a theory of human evolution proposing that parasites and diseases encountered by a species shape the development of species' values and qualities. The differences in how parasites and diseases stress people's development is what leads to differences in their biological mate value and mate preferences, as well as differences across culture. Parasites causing diseases pose potential ecological hazards and, subsequently, selection pressures can alter psychological and social behaviours of humans, as well as have an influence on their immune systems.
Advertising in biology means the use of displays by organisms such as animals and plants to signal their presence for some evolutionary reason.
Behavioural responses to stress are evoked from underlying complex physiological changes that arise consequently from stress.
Deborah M. Capaldi is a developmental psychologist known for her research on at-risk male youth and the intergenerational transmission of substance use, antisocial behavior, intimate partner violence, and child abuse. She is a senior scientist at the Oregon Social Learning Center. Her current projects focus on child exposure to family violence and parenting practices of at-risk parents.
Kent L. Thornburg is an American scientist, researcher and professor. He lives in Portland, Oregon and works at Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU), in the School of Medicine. He is the director for both the OHSU Center for Developmental Health and the Moore Institute for Nutrition & Wellness
References
- ↑ Katherine L. Buchanan (1997) Song and sexual selection in the sedge warbler (Acrocephalus schoenobaenus) PhD thesis, Royal Holloway, University of London.
- ↑ "AsPr Kate Buchanan". Staff profile. Deakin University. Retrieved 12 December 2015.
- ↑ "About". Centre for Integrative Ecology. Deakin University. Retrieved 12 December 2015.
- ↑ "Assoc Prof Kate Buchanan has been awarded an ARC Future Fellowship Award". Centre for Integrative Ecology. Deakin University. 23 July 2014. Retrieved 12 December 2015.
- ↑ "Associate Professor Kate Buchanan". About the Editorial Team. CSIRO Publishing . Retrieved 12 December 2015.
- ↑ Buchanan, Katherine L.; Leitner, Stefan; Spencer, Karen A.; Goldsmith, Arthur R.; Catchpole, Clive K. (2004). "Developmental Stress Selectively Affects the Song Control Nucleus HVC in the Zebra Finch". Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. 271 (1555): 2381–2386. doi:10.1098/rspb.2004.2874. JSTOR 4142813. PMC 1691866 . PMID 15556891.
- ↑ Woodgate, Joseph L.; Buchanan, Katherine L.; Bennett, Andrew T.D.; Catchpole, Clive K.; Brighton, Roswitha; Leitner, Stefan (2013). "Environmental and genetic control of brain and song structure in the zebra finch". Evolution. 68 (1): 230–240. doi: 10.1111/evo.12261 . PMID 24102614.
- ↑ Careau, Vincent; Buttemer, William A.; Buchanan, Katherine L. (2014). "Developmental stress can uncouple relationships between physiology and behaviour". Biology Letters. 10 (12): 20140834. doi:10.1098/rsbl.2014.0834. PMC 4298193 . PMID 25519754.
- ↑ Robers, M. L.; Buchanan, K. L.; Evans, M. R. (2004). "Testing the immunocompetence handicap hypothesis: a review of the evidence". Animal Behaviour. 68 (2): 227–239. doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2004.05.001. S2CID 9549459.
- ↑ Markman, Shai; Guschina, Irina; Barnsley, Sara; Buchanan, Katherine; Pascoe, David; Müller, Carsten (2007). "Endocrine disrupting chemicals accumulate in earthworms exposed to sewage effluent". Chemosphere. 70 (1): 119–125. Bibcode:2007Chmsp..70..119M. doi:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2007.06.045. PMID 17675209.
- ↑ Markman, Shai; Leitner, Stefan; Catchpole, Clive; Barnsley, Sara; Müller, Carsten; Pascoe, David; Buchanan, Katherine (27 February 2008). "Pollutants Increase Song Complexity and the Volume of the Brain Area HVC in a Songbird". PLOS ONE. 3 (2): e1674. Bibcode:2008PLoSO...3.1674M. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0001674 . PMC 2244705 . PMID 18301751.