Monopolized reproduction drives males of many species to cheat
Evidence
When only a few dominant males monopolize access to reproduction, there’s strong incentive for the rest of the males to break the rules. If you can’t win the game the normal way, cheat. Sneaky males are everywhere, lurking in populations of nearly every animal species. — Emlen, Douglas J, Animal Weapons_ The Evolution of Battle, 407
Categorization
- XREF: Parallels to human social cheating and asymmetric conflict where direct competition fails; relevant to the reader’s human-war analogy. — connects to: Mating competition kills off most males before they ever reproduce. — Emlen, Douglas J, Animal Weapons_ The Evolution of Battle, 314; Cheating males erode the reproductive payoff of weapons, capping their evolution — Emlen, Douglas J, Animal Weapons_ The Evolution of Battle, 851; Extreme skew in mating success drives arms-race escalation in weaponry (+3 more)
Related
- Mating competition kills off most males before they ever reproduce. (similarity 0.90)
- Cheating males erode the reproductive payoff of weapons, capping their evolution (similarity 0.89)
- Extreme skew in mating success drives arms-race escalation in weaponry (similarity 0.88)
- Male combat for mating access frequently causes serious wounds and sometimes death (similarity 0.86)
- Sexual selection drives weapons to extremes because payoffs for winners are enormous. (similarity 0.85)
- Successful cheaters can reverse selection so big weapons collapse (similarity 0.85)
- Excess rival males over scarce fertile females drove knightly combat in medieval Europe (similarity 0.85)
- Sexual selection can be far stronger than natural selection and drives weapon extremes (similarity 0.84)
- Weapon escalation ends when costs outweigh benefits and cheaters invade (similarity 0.83)
- Weapon costliness keeps signals honest by excluding weaker males (similarity 0.83)
- Social competition environments evolve in tandem with weapons, unlike fluctuating physical environments (similarity 0.83)
- Competition for reproduction drives evolution of nature’s biggest weapons (similarity 0.83)
- Reproductive success, not survival, drives the largest animal weapons (similarity 0.82)
- Weapons evolved as signals so males could predict fight outcomes before risking battle (similarity 0.81)
- Balancing selection normally curbs weapon size until some lineages escape into runaway arms races (similarity 0.81)
Broader Connections
- Competition for reproduction drives evolution of nature’s biggest weapons
#expands(0.80) — Emlen, Douglas J, Animal Weapons_ The Evolution of Battle, 136 - Cheating males erode the reproductive payoff of weapons, capping their evolution
#expands(0.70) — Emlen, Douglas J, Animal Weapons_ The Evolution of Battle, 851 - Extreme skew in mating success drives arms-race escalation in weaponry
#expands(0.65) - Sexual selection can be far stronger than natural selection and drives weapon extremes
#expands(0.60) — Emlen, Douglas J, Animal Weapons_ The Evolution of Battle, 177 - Excess rival males over scarce fertile females drove knightly combat in medieval Europe
#exemplifies(0.50) — Emlen, Douglas J, Animal Weapons_ The Evolution of Battle, 169