Workman Reader Ch. 3

Question 1

sexual selection

Answer 1

Sexual selection applies to those characteristics that provide
individuals with advantages in gaining access to mates.

Question 2

female choice

Answer 2

“intersexual choice”; when competition to be chosen by the female is the driving factor for mating

Question 3

parental investment

Answer 3

asymmetries between the sexes in

the amount of effort that each parent puts into raising the offspring

Question 4

handicap hypothesis

Answer 4

Male adornments are chosen
by females for their
conspicuous and costly nature

Females choose males which
show conspicuous and costly
adornments as a sign of
genetic quality

Male features signify
genetic superiority i.e.
‘healthy-offspring’

Question 5

parasite theory

Answer 5

male

adornments evolved to demonstrate to females that they are free from parasites

Question 6

Muller’s ratchet

Answer 6

states that each time a
harmful mutation arises in an individual in an asexual population it will be
passed on to all of its offspring

Question 7

tangled bank

Answer 7

The Tangled Bank Hypothesis proposes that sex evolved in order to prepare offspring for the world around them.

Question 8

the Red Queen

Answer 8

proposes that organisms must constantly adapt, evolve, and proliferate not merely to gain reproductive advantage, but also simply to survive while pitted against ever-evolving opposing organisms in an ever-changing environment.

Question 9

arms race

Answer 9

a continual evolutionary battle

Question 10

intrasexual selection

Answer 10

when same-sex competition is a primary driver for mating

Question 11

runaway feature

Answer 11

when one feature "runs away" from its original
function and becomes selected purely on the basis of its attractive qualities.