What is genetic quality?

Mate choice is favored by indirect selection if choosy females mate with males of high genetic quality. We believe, however, that testing hypotheses about indirect selection has been constrained by how we conceptualize and therefore empirically measure male genetic quality. Here, we argue that genet...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Trends in ecology & evolution (Amsterdam) Vol. 19; no. 6; pp. 329 - 333
Main Authors:	Hunt, John, Bussière, Luc F., Jennions, Michael D., Brooks, Robert
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	Oxford Elsevier Ltd 01-06-2004 Elsevier
Subjects:	Biological and medical sciences Biological evolution Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology Genetics of eukaryotes. Biological and molecular evolution Reproduction Sexual selection Genotype environment interaction Sexual behavior Mate selection Breeding value Fitness
Online Access:	Get full text
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Summary:	Mate choice is favored by indirect selection if choosy females mate with males of high genetic quality. We believe, however, that testing hypotheses about indirect selection has been constrained by how we conceptualize and therefore empirically measure male genetic quality. Here, we argue that genetic quality is the breeding value of an individual for total fitness. We can therefore learn little about genetic quality from measures of only a few fitness components. We explain breeding value for total fitness, drawing on concepts from life-history theory and quantitative genetics, and suggest how approaches incorporating these insights might result in empirical progress.
Bibliography:	ObjectType-Article-2 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-1 ObjectType-Review-3 content type line 23 ObjectType-Article-1 ObjectType-Feature-2
ISSN:	0169-5347 1872-8383
DOI:	10.1016/j.tree.2004.03.035