Do sexual ornaments demonstrate heightened condition-dependent expression as predicted by the handicap hypothesis?
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The handicap hypothesis of sexual selection predicts that sexual ornaments have evolved heightened condition-dependent expression. The prediction has only recently been subject to experimental investigation. Many of the experiments are of limited value as they: (i) fail to compare condition dependence in sexual ornaments with suitable non-sexual trait controls; (ii) do not adequately account for body size variation; and (iii) typically consider no stress and extreme stress manipulations rather than a range of stresses similar to those experienced in nature. There is also a dearth of experimental studies investigating the genetic basis of condition dependence. Despite the common claim that sexual ornaments are condition-dependent, the unexpected conclusion from our literature review is that there is little support from well-designed experiments.
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Most previous studies focused on early environmental conditions without taking genetic factors into account.
“most previous studies have solely focused on the effects of early environmental conditions on ornament expression and/or mate choice, without taking genetic factors into account [4].”
From ‘Out of tune’: consequences of inbreeding on bird song (2016) · cites this paper as [4]
The Abstract says there is a dearth of experimental studies on the genetic basis of condition dependence, supporting the claim that genetic factors have often been neglected. It does not say that most previous studies focused solely on early environmental conditions, or establish the same pattern for mate choice. The indexed copy provides no substantive body text beyond the Abstract and references. (LLM, conf=0.83)
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- Authors
- Cotton, S., Fowler, K., & Pomiankowski, A.
- Affiliations
- University College London (GB)
- Collegium Budapest (HU)
- Venue
- Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences
- Publisher
- The Royal Society
- Published
- 2004-04-22
- Volume
- 271
- Issue
- 1541
- Pages
- 771-783
- ISSN
- 0080-4649 (ISSN-L)
- 0962-8452
- 1471-2954
- PMC
- PMC1691662
- OpenAlex
- W2037339481
- Cited by
- 625
- References
- 2
- Citations by year
- 2026: 9 · 2025: 16 · 2024: 15 · 2023: 19 · 2022: 12 · 2021: 29 · 2020: 22 · 2019: 30 · 2018: 32 · 2017: 30 · 2016: 37 · 2015: 36 · 2014: 43 · 2013: 28 · 2012: 27
- FWCI
- 4.17
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Proceedings of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- UCL Discovery (University College London) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics › Animal Behavior and Reproduction
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Evolutionary Psychology and Human Behavior
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Evolution and Genetic Dynamics
- Keywords
- sexual ornaments, handicap hypothesis, sexual selection, body size variation
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Body Constitution, Biological Evolution, Female, Male, Selection, Genetic, Sexual Behavior, Animal, Sex Characteristics
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