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Abstract
<p class="first" id="d5328748e59">For sexual selection to act on a given sex, there
must exist variation in the reproductive
success of that sex as a result of differential access to mates or fertilisations.
The mechanisms and consequences of sexual selection acting on male animals are well
documented, but research on sexual selection acting on females has only recently received
attention. Controversy still exists over whether sexual selection acts on females
in the traditional sense, and over whether to modify the existing definition of sexual
selection (to include resource competition) or to invoke alternative mechanisms (usually
social selection) to explain selection acting on females in connection with reproduction.
However, substantial evidence exists of females bearing characters or exhibiting behaviours
that result in differential reproductive success that are analogous to those attributed
to sexual selection in males. Here we summarise the literature and provide substantial
evidence of female intrasexual competition for access to mates, female intersexual
signalling to potential mates, and postcopulatory mechanisms such as competition between
eggs for access to sperm and cryptic male allocation. Our review makes clear that
sexual selection acts on females and males in similar ways but sometimes to differing
extents: the ceiling for the elaboration of costly traits may be lower in females
than in males. We predict that current and future research on female sexual selection
will provide increasing support for the parsimony and utility of the existing definition
of sexual selection.
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