Mate Choice: The Evolution of Sexual Decision Making from Microbes to Humans

by Gil G Rosenthal

A major new look at the evolution of mating decisions in organisms from protozoans to humans The popular consensus on mate choice has long been that females select mates likely to pass good genes to offspring. In Mate Choice, Gil Rosenthal overturns much of this conventional wisdom. Providing the first synthesis of the topic in more than three decades, and drawing from a wide range of fields, including animal behavior, evolutionary biology, social psychology, neuroscience, and economics, Rosenthal argues that "good genes" play a relatively minor role in shaping mate choice decisions and demonstrates how mate choice is influenced by genetic factors, environmental effects, and social interactions.Looking at diverse organisms, from protozoans to humans, Rosenthal explores how factors beyond the hunt for good genes combine to produce an endless array of preferences among species and individuals. He explains how mating decisions originate from structural constraints on perception and from nonsexual functions, and how single organisms benefit or lose from their choices. Both the origin of species and their fusion through hybridization are strongly influenced by direct selection on preferences in sexual and nonsexual contexts. Rosenthal broadens the traditional scope of mate choice research to encompass not just animal behavior and behavioral ecology but also neurobiology, the social sciences, and other areas.Focusing on mate choice mechanisms, rather than the traits they target, Mate Choice offers a groundbreaking perspective on the proximate and ultimate forces determining the evolutionary fate of species and populations.

Genres: Evolution, Biology, Nonfiction, Science, Animals, Psychology

643 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 18, 2017

Reviews

[Thomas MacGillavry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Overall, an extremely comprehensive summary of the mate-choice literature and an excellent book for students or academics who wish to familiarize themselves with the subject matter. As someone preparing to begin a Ph.D. in the field, it has been an exceedingly useful resource. However, I would not recommend this book to those looking for a fast and easy read as it's effectively an academic manuscript.

Readers that are not too concerned with the scientific details of mate choice and wish to learn more about the basics may want to read Michael J. Ryan's A Taste for the Beautiful: The Evolution of Attraction instead.

[Jacob · Rating 1 out of 5]

The writing is hard to follow and the ideas are not presented in a logical way. The author took a bunch of other people's ideas and put his name on them. Each chapter is a sad attempt at paraphrasing already published review papers. Nothing original. No synthesis. What's the point?

A mediocre (at best) scientist created a confused and misleading mishmash of original ideas, resulting in a sloppy waste of time.

This is a great topic and I had high hopes for this book but this guy failed miserably. I wish I could return my copy because I don't want to sell or even give it to someone else. It is not fair to trick people into buying such a waste of paper and ink! Stick with Andersson's original classic.

[Benji · Rating 3 out of 5]

Every creature that came from sex is who they are because somebody made a mating decision. The regularities that emerge around mate choice are of the sobering kind, where the Dionysian exuberance of preferences and ornamentation is checked by Apollonian concerns of fecundity and survivorship. Each of us harbors ancient desires and desires never imagined, desires sensible and wild.

[The Inquisitive Biologist · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mate Choice is a new benchmark work in research on animal reproduction that will be a reference for years to come. See my full review at https://inquisitivebiologist.com/2018...

[Rafał Grochala · Rating 1 out of 5]

I skipped half of the chapters. Very disappointing book. Plenty of jargon stitched with poor English, trivial observations, and huge review-like descriptions of publications. Not much about evolution!