Because sharks possess an unusual suite of reproductive characteristics, including internal fertilization, sperm storage, relatively low fecundity, and reproductive modes that range from oviparity to viviparity, they can provide important insight into the evolution of mating systems and sexual selection. Yet, to date, few studies have characterized behavioral and genetic mating systems in natur...

Mate selection influences individual fitness, is often based on complex cues and behaviours, and can be difficult to study in solitary species including carnivores. We used motion-triggered cameras at 29 community scrapes (i.e. scent marking locations used by multiple individuals) and home range data from 39 GPS-collared pumas (Puma concolor) to assess the relevance of communication behaviours ...

Abortion legalization in the early 1970s led to dramatic changes in fertility. Some research has suggested that it altered cohort outcomes, but this literature has been limited and controversial. In this paper, we provide a framework for understanding selection mechanisms and use that framework to both address inconsistent past methodological approaches and provide evidence on the long-run impa...

Cyberstalking is generally considered to be harassment that originates online; however it is also recognised that other forms of pre-existing stalking can transfer into online environments. Cellular phones are now owned by the vast majority of adults (91% in 2010/2011) in the United Kingdom. It is believed that this number will approach, and probably reach, 95% within the near future. The World...

Selection can facilitate diversification by inducing character displacement in mate choice traits that reduce the probability of maladaptive mating between lineages. Although reproductive character displacement (RCD) has been demonstrated in two-taxa case studies, the frequency of this process in nature is still debated. Moreover, studies have focused primarily on visual and acoustic traits, de...

Mate choice by males has been recognized at least since Darwin's time, but its phylogenetic distribution and effect on the evolution of female phenotypes remain poorly known. Moreover, the relative importance of factors thought to underlie the evolution of male mate choice (especially parental investment and mate quality variance) is still unresolved. Here I synthesize the empirical evidence an...

Several twin studies of multiple abilities and educational and socioeconomic variables suggest that a single common factor underlies the contribution of mate selection and cultural inheritance to the covariation of such measures. Theoretical analysis shows that this finding is consistent with a mechanism of mate selection in which specific abilities are merely components of a composite latent v...

We investigated male mate choice and mating competency in the common bed bug, Cimex lectularius L., using video tracking for 10 min per experiment. In the male mate choice experiment, when a male was placed with two females of different mating status, males preferred to initiate copulation with the virgin female more quickly than with the mated female, and the mean total copulation duration wit...