sexual selection

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noun Biology.

a special type of natural selection in which the sexes acquire distinct forms either because the members of one sex choose mates with particular features or because in the competition for mates among the members of one sex only those with certain traits succeed.

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Words nearby sexual selection

sexual predator, sexual relations, sexual reproduction, sexual revolution, sexual role-play, sexual selection, sex up, Sexwale, sex work, sex worker, sexy

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use sexual selection in a sentence

This was a very strong indication that sexual selection was not responsible for some of the hovering females’ unique coloring.
These female hummingbirds don flashy male feathers to avoid unwanted harassment|Grace Wade|August 26, 2021|Popular-Science
Social selection is a proposed alternative to Darwin’s theory of sexual selection.
These female hummingbirds don flashy male feathers to avoid unwanted harassment|Grace Wade|August 26, 2021|Popular-Science
In sexual selection, he discovered the origin of life’s most extravagant displays.
Why Do We Have to Die? - Issue 104: Harmony|Aaron Hirsh|August 4, 2021|Nautilus
For more than 150 years, dating back at least to Charles Darwin’s writings on sexual selection, scientists have generally considered bird song to be a male trait.
Few people knew female birds had unique songs—until women started studying them|By Omland, Rose & Odom/The Conversation|September 28, 2020|Popular-Science

Mate choice and competition through sexual selection should improve mitonuclear matching in two ways.
Sex Is Driven by the Impetus to Change - Issue 88: Love & Sex|Jill Neimark|August 12, 2020|Nautilus
The Ant and the Peacock is about two disagreements between Darwin and Wallace: altruism and sexual selection.
What Richard Dawkins Reads: Jerry Coyne, Helena Cronin and More|Josh Dzieza|September 27, 2012|DAILY BEAST
Darwin's view that it may have been a result of sexual selection seems the most probable explanation.
Man And His Ancestor|Charles Morris
In human society, as I shall presently show, sexual selection has been distorted, and partly suppressed.
The Book of Life: Vol. I Mind and Body; Vol. II Love and Society|Upton Sinclair
Having little brain, the average man can only act in line with sexual selection by undergoing the romantic love malady.
The Kempton-Wace Letters|Jack London
All these contingencies are highly favourable for sexual selection.
The Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex|Charles Darwin
The sexual selection you allude to will also, I think, have been equally uncertain in its results.
More Letters of Charles Darwin Volume II|Charles Darwin

British Dictionary definitions for sexual selection

sexual selection

noun

an evolutionary process in animals, in which selection by females of males with certain characters, such as large antlers or bright plumage, results in the preservation of these characters in the species

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Scientific definitions for sexual selection

sexual selection

The process by which certain organisms produce more offspring by mating more frequently than other organisms of the same sex and thereby ensure the survival of more of their genetic traits. Sexual selection is a form of natural selection in which organisms are competing not for food or other resources in the environment but for mates. The development of size difference between males and females in mammals and birds, in which the greater strength (and often aggressiveness) of larger males allows them to have greater success mating, is seen as a consequence of sexual selection. The development of secondary sex characteristics, such as colored feathers in male birds or large antlers in male deer, which are attractive to the opposite sex as signs of fitness but are not directly involved in reproduction is also attributed to sexual selection. These features are often disadvantageous to the organism's survival-the colored feathers make the male bird more visible to predators, for instance-but can provide the organism with a competitive advantage over rivals in mating. The theory of sexual selection was first proposed by Charles Darwin in The Origin of Species.

Cultural definitions for sexual selection

sexual selection

In evolution, the selection of a mate based on secondary sex characteristics. Sexual selection is thought to lead distinct differences in the appearance of the two sexes within a species. For example, the tail of the male peacock may be the result of sexual selection.