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PubMed · 11967551

Postcopulatory sexual selection.

Timothy R Birkhead·Tommaso Pizzari
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Abstract

The female reproductive tract is where competition between the sperm of different males takes place, aided and abetted by the female herself. Intense postcopulatory sexual selection fosters inter-sexual conflict and drives rapid evolutionary change to generate a startling diversity of morphological, behavioural and physiological adaptations. We identify three main issues that should be resolved to advance our understanding of postcopulatory sexual selection. We need to determine the genetic basis of different male fertility traits and female traits that mediate sperm selection; identify the genes or genomic regions that control these traits; and establish the coevolutionary trajectory of sexes.

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AnimalsCopulationEvolution, MolecularFemaleGene PoolHumansMalePaternityReproductionSelection, GeneticJournal ArticleReview

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Timothy R Birkhead, Tommaso Pizzari. 2002. Postcopulatory sexual selection.. https://doi.org/10.1038/nrg774

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