The evolution and the adaptive logic (if any) of female mate choice are subjects of lively debate. Whereas most researchers believe that females have evolved to recognize signs of male 'quality' (the ability to provide females or their offspring with direct or indirect genetic or material benefits), there is intriguing evidence that males can evolve to appeal to pre-existing female preferences....

Female choice for male ornamental traits is widely accepted as a mechanism by which females maximize their reproductive success and/or offspring quality. However, there is an increasing empirical literature that shows a fitness benefit of genetic diversity and a tendency for females to use genetic dissimilarity as a criterion for mate choice. This genetic compatibility hypothesis for female mat...

Most laboratory studies of mate choice use affiliation as a surrogate measure for actual choice of a partner for copulation. In a series of recent studies using affiliation as a dependent variable, we showed that the tendency of both male and female Japanese quail to affiliate with members of the opposite sex is profoundly affected by seeing them mate with others: female quails show an increase...