Sexual Selection: Perspectives and Models from the Neotropics

Sexual Selection: Perspectives and Models from the Neotropics presents new sexual selection research based upon neotropical species. As neotropical regions are destroyed at an alarming rate, with an estimated 140 species of rainforest plants and animals going extinct every day, it is important to bring neotropical research to the fore now.

Sexual selection occurs when the male or female of a species is attracted by certain characteristics such as form, color or behavior. When those features lead to a greater probability of successful mating, they become more prominent in the species. Although most theoretical concepts concerning sexual selection and reproductive strategies are based upon North American and European fauna, the Neotropical region encompasses much more biodiversity, with as many as 15,000 plant and animal species in a single acre of rain forest.

This book illustrates concepts in sexual selection through themes ranging from female cryptic choice in insects, sexual conflict in fish, interaction between sexual selection and the immune system, nuptial gifts, visual and acoustic sexual signaling, parental investment, to alternative mating strategies, among others. These approaches distinguish Sexual Selection from current publications in sexual selection, mainly because of the latitudinal and taxonomic focus, so that readers will be introduced to systems mostly unknown outside the tropics, several of which bring into question some well-established patterns for temperate regions.

Synthesizes sexual selection research on species from the NeotropicsCombines different perspectives and levels of analysis using a broad taxonomic basis, introducing readers to systems mostly unknown outside the tropics and bringing into question well-established patterns for temperate regionsIncludes contributions exploring concepts and theory as well as discussions on a variety of Neotropical vertebrates and invertebrates, such as insects, fish, arthropods and birds

1. Macroecology of sexual selection: large-scale influence of climate on sexually selected traits Rogelio Macías-Ordóñez, Glauco Machado and Regina H. Macedo
2. Sexual selection in Neotropical species: rules and exceptions Alfredo V. Peretti
3. Secondary sexual traits, immune response, parasites and pathogens: the importance of studying Neotropical insects Jorge Contreras-Garduño and Jorge Canales Lazcano

4. Territorial mating systems in butterflies: what we know and what Neotropical species can show

Paulo Enrique Cardoso Peixoto and Luis Mendoza-Cuenca

5. Macroecology of harvestman mating systems

Bruno A. Buzatto, Rogelio Macías-Ordóñez, and Glauco Machado

6. Adventurous females and demanding males: sex role reversal in a Neotropical spider

Anita Aisenberg

7. Ecology and evolution of nuptial gifts in spiders

Maria J. Albo, Søren Toft, and Trine Bilde

8. Paternal care and sexual selection in arthropods

Gustavo S. Requena, Roberto Munguía-Steyer, and Glauco Machado

9. Underestimating the role of female preference and sexual conflict in the evolution of ARTs in fishes: Insights from a clade of Neotropical fishes

Molly R. Morris and Oscar Rios-Cárdenas

10. Mode of reproduction, mate choice and species richness in Goodeid fish

Constantino Macías Garcia

11. Ecology, parental care and mating systems in Neotropical poison frogs

James Tumulty and Kyle Summers

12. Testosterone, territoriality and social interactions in Neotropical birds

John C. Wingfield, Rodrigo A. Vasquez, and Ignacio T. Moore

13. Sexual selection and the evolution of vocal mating signals: lessons from Neotropical songbirds

Jeffrey Podos

14. Impacts of mating behavior on plant-animal seed dispersal mutualisms: a case study from a Neotropical lek-breeding bird

Jordan Karubian and Renata Durães

15. Flights of fancy: mating behavior and ornamentation in a Neotropical bird

Lilian Manica, Jefferson Graves, Jeffrey Podos and Regina Macedo

16. Sexual selection in Neotropical bats

Christian C. Voigt