Rare localized resources translate fighting success into reproductive success
Evidence
Harlequin beetles and pseudoscorpions each have something of critical importance to females that is rare and localized, and therefore economically defensible, though the specific resource in each case is different. Males of both species who are successful at guarding the resource are able to mate with many different females. That is, they translate their success in fighting into success in reproduction. And, in both cases, this blend of ecological circumstances has led to a history of strong sexual selection for large male weapons. — Emlen, Douglas J, Animal Weapons_ The Evolution of Battle, 217
Categorization
- XREF: The fighting-to-reproduction translation is the core driver of weapon arms races; ties directly to the book’s thesis about runaway sexual selection. — connects to: Evenly distributed food resources make territorial fighting economically wasteful; Clumped sparse resources make territorial fighting pay off reproductively; Scarcity of egg-laying sites made big beetle weapons enormously beneficial — Emlen, Douglas J, Animal Weapons_ The Evolution of Battle, 211 (+6 more)
Related
- Clumped sparse resources make territorial fighting pay off reproductively (similarity 0.93)
- Scarcity of egg-laying sites made big beetle weapons enormously beneficial (similarity 0.91)
- Competition for reproduction drives evolution of nature’s biggest weapons (similarity 0.86)
- Sexual selection can be far stronger than natural selection and drives weapon extremes (similarity 0.85)
- Reproductive success, not survival, drives the largest animal weapons (similarity 0.85)
- Weapon evolution needs both competition and economically defensible resources (similarity 0.84)
- Sexual selection drives weapons to extremes because payoffs for winners are enormous. (similarity 0.84)
- Male combat for mating access frequently causes serious wounds and sometimes death (similarity 0.84)
- Rare and defensible sap flows make male beetle territories worth fighting for (similarity 0.83)
- Extreme skew in mating success drives arms-race escalation in weaponry (similarity 0.83)
- Scarcity of suitable feeding sites drives weapon evolution in harlequin beetles (similarity 0.82)
- Economic logic explains weapon evolution across virtually all animal species (similarity 0.82)
- In nearly all weaponed species, males carry the weapons, not females. (similarity 0.82)
- Weapon size is favored when males defend resources females need (similarity 0.82)
- Sexual selection stays directionally constant while physical natural selection oscillates (similarity 0.82)
Broader Connections
- Competition for reproduction drives evolution of nature’s biggest weapons
#corroborates(0.65) — Emlen, Douglas J, Animal Weapons_ The Evolution of Battle, 136 - Extreme skew in mating success drives arms-race escalation in weaponry
#corroborates(0.60) - Reproductive success, not survival, drives the largest animal weapons
#corroborates(0.60) - Early survival advantages compound into huge adult differences in weapon resources
#expands(0.60) — Emlen, Douglas J, Animal Weapons_ The Evolution of Battle, 334 - Sexual selection can be far stronger than natural selection and drives weapon extremes
#corroborates(0.55) — 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