Empirical studies of sexual selection typically focus on one of the two mechanisms of sexual
selection without integrating these into a description of total sexual selection, or study total …

Courtship displays are behaviours aimed to facilitate attraction and mating with the opposite
sex and are very common across the animal kingdom. Most courtship displays are …

There are many procedures, of varying complexity, for ranking the members of a social
group in a dominance hierarchy (reviewed by de Vries 1998; also Jameson et al. 1999; de …

Abstract Models of sexual selection generally assume that behavioural courtship displays
reflect intrinsic male qualities such as condition, and that males display with maximum …

Animals often need to signal to attract mates and behavioural signalling may impose
substantial energetic and fitness costs to signallers. Consequently, individuals often …

Females of many species preferentially mate with males that produce courtship displays at a
high intensity or rate; however, males do not always display at their maximum intensity …

I compared the role of ornate plumage, behavior, and body size during male—male
competition in two species of New World quail. Gambel's quail (Callipepla gambelii) is a …

The importance of socially imposed costs for the evolution and maintenance of honest
sexual signals has received less attention than other costs. Here I show that male-male …

Measurement of social status is an important component of many behavioural studies. A
variety of techniques have been developed and adopted, but while there have been some …

Females often base their mating preferences on male sexual secondary traits that are used
to settle contests among males. Such traits are likely to be honest indicators of male quality if …