Assortative Mating: Encounter-Network Topology and the Evolution of Attractiveness
نویسندگان
چکیده
We model a social-encounter network where linked nodes match for reproduction in a manner depending probabilistically on each node's attractiveness. The developed model reveals that increasing either the network's mean degree or the "choosiness" exercised during pair formation increases the strength of positive assortative mating. That is, we note that attractiveness is correlated among mated nodes. Their total number also increases with mean degree and selectivity during pair formation. By iterating over the model's mapping of parents onto offspring across generations, we study the evolution of attractiveness. Selection mediated by exclusion from reproduction increases mean attractiveness, but is rapidly balanced by skew in the offspring distribution of highly attractive mated pairs.
منابع مشابه
Leveling the Playing Field: Longer Acquaintance Predicts Reduced Assortative Mating on Attractiveness.
Clear empirical demonstrations of the theoretical principles underlying assortative mating remain elusive. This article examines a moderator of assortative mating--how well couple members knew each other before dating--suggested by recent findings related to market-based (i.e., competition) theories. Specifically, competition is pervasive to the extent that people achieve consensus about who po...
متن کاملAssortative mating for fitness and the evolution of recombination.
To understand selection on recombination, we need to consider how linkage disequilibria develop and how recombination alters these disequilibria. Any factor that affects the development of disequilibria, including nonrandom mating, can potentially change selection on recombination. Assortative mating is known to affect linkage disequilibria but its effects on the evolution of recombination have...
متن کاملLimits to the evolution of assortative mating by female choice under restricted gene flow.
The evolution of assortative mating is a key component of the process of speciation with gene flow. Several recent theoretical studies have pointed out, however, that sexual selection which can result from assortative mating may cause it to plateau at an intermediate level; this is primarily owing to search costs of individuals with extreme phenotypes and to assortative preferences developed by...
متن کاملFrequency-dependent selection and the evolution of assortative mating.
A long-standing goal in evolutionary biology is to identify the conditions that promote the evolution of reproductive isolation and speciation. The factors promoting sympatric speciation have been of particular interest, both because it is notoriously difficult to prove empirically and because theoretical models have generated conflicting results, depending on the assumptions made. Here, we ana...
متن کاملAssortative mating by colored ornaments in blue tits: space and time matter
Assortative mating is a potential outcome of sexual selection, and estimating its level is important to better understand local adaptation and underlying trait evolution. However, assortative mating studies frequently base their conclusions on small numbers of individuals sampled over short periods of time and limited spatial scales even though spatiotemporal variation is common. Here, we chara...
متن کامل