ARTICLE
from the
Encyclopædia Britannica
good genes hypothesis, in biology, an explanation which suggests that the traits females choose when selecting a mate are honest indicators of the male’s ability to pass on genes that will increase the survival or reproductive success of her offspring. Although no completely unambiguous examples are known, evidence supporting the good genes hypothesis is accumulating, primarily through the discovery of male traits that are simultaneously preferred by females and correlated with increased offspring survival. For example, female North American house finches (Carpodacus mexicanus) prefer to mate with bright, colourful males. Such male finches also have high overwinter survivorship. This preference suggests that mating with such males will increase offspring survival. British evolutionary biologist W.D. Hamilton and American behavioral ecologist Marlene Zuk first proposed this hypothesis in the early 1980s.
Aspects of the topic good genes hypothesis are discussed in the following places at Britannica.
Assorted References
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animal social behaviour (in social behaviour, animal: Social interactions involving sex)
...they may be most elaborately developed in males that are otherwise of high genetic quality, in which case they fall into a third possibility, where female choice is due to what is called the “good genes hypothesis.” This hypothesis suggests that the traits females choose are honest indicators of the male’s ability to pass on copies of genes that will increase the survival or...
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inclusive fitness (in inclusive fitness (biology))
...later named and developed by British evolutionary biologist William Donald Hamilton, who used inclusive fitness to explain direct (reproductive) and indirect (aided by a relative or a colony member) inheritance of genetic traits associated with altruism. Hamilton presented his inclusive fitness theory in 1963; the following year British evolutionary biologist John Maynard Smith coined the term...
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The following is a selection of items (artistic styles or groups, constructions, events, fictional characters, organizations, publications) associated with "good genes hypothesis"
