Selection on Mate Choice and Mating Preferences

This chapter focuses on the proximate sources of selection on chooser preferences and mate-choice algorithms. It surveys the sources of selection on the outcome of choice, and then turns to the evolution of mate-searching strategies and choosiness. Next, it examines at what point in the process choosers make choices. Should choosers reject matings from all but the most attractive courters, or should they mate promiscuously and make decisions during or after mating? The rest of the chapter focuses on the evolution of environmental and social reaction norms in mate choice, before considering the structural and ecological constraints on preference evolution. Mate choice can have positive or negative effects on choosers, and the magnitude and sign of these effects can vary dramatically as a function of ecological and social context over space and time.