Inter-sexual selection

• Inter-sexual selection= selection of mates between sexes (e.g. females selecting males or males selecting females)
• Female strategy= quality over quantity
• Females make a greater investment of time, commitment and other resources before, during and after birth. They need to be choosier than males so seek a male who will provide healthy offspring and support them with resources
• Preferences of both sexes determine attributes that are passed on
• Example of preferences:

  If height is a genuine marker of fitness in males, the females who choose the tallest mates will have greater reproductive success and innate preferences are passed on. Over time this leads to taller and taller men being selected (runaway process)