Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-cb9f654ff-mwwwr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-08-07T14:40:14.988Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

6 - Sperm competition and its evolutionary consequences in humans

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 January 2010

By
Aaron T. Goetz  and
Todd K. Shackelford
Edited by
Steven M. Platek  and
Todd K. Shackelford
Aaron T. Goetz
Affiliation:
Florida Atlantic University
Todd K. Shackelford
Affiliation:
Florida Atlantic University
Steven M. Platek
Affiliation:
Drexel University, Philadelphia
Todd K. Shackelford
Affiliation:
Florida Atlantic University
Get access

Summary

Identifying sperm competition

Sexual selection is the mechanism that favors an increase in the frequency of alleles associated with reproduction (Darwin, 1871). Darwin distinguished sexual selection from natural selection, but today most evolutionary scientists combine the two concepts under the name, natural selection. Sexual selection is composed of intrasexual competition (competition between members of the same sex for sexual access to members of the opposite sex) and intersexual selection (differential mate choice of members of the opposite sex). Focusing mainly on precopulatory adaptations associated with intrasexual competition and intersexual selection, postcopulatory sexual selection was largely ignored even a century after the presentation of sexual selection theory. Parker (1970) was the first to recognize that male–male competition may continue even after the initiation of copulation when males compete for fertilizations. More recently, Thornhill (1983) and others (e.g. Eberhard, 1996) recognized that intersexual selection may also continue after the initiation of copulation when a female biases paternity between two or more males' sperm. The competition between males for fertilization of a single female's ova is known as sperm competition (Parker, 1970), and the selection of sperm from two or more males by a single female is known as cryptic female choice (Eberhard, 1996; Thornhill, 1983). Although sperm competition and cryptic female choice together compose postcopulatory sexual selection (see Table 6.1), sperm competition is often used in reference to both processes (e.g. Baker & Bellis, 1995; Birkhead & Møller, 1998; Simmons, 2001; Shackelford, Pound, & Goetz, 2005).

Information

Type
Chapter
Information
Female Infidelity and Paternal Uncertainty
Evolutionary Perspectives on Male Anti-Cuckoldry Tactics
 , pp. 103 - 128
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2006

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Book purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Arndt, W. B. Jr., Foehl, J. C., and Good, F. E. (1985). Specific sexual fantasy themes: a multidimensional study. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 48, 472–80.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baker, R. R. and Bellis, M. A. (1988). “Kamikaze” sperm in mammals?Animal Behaviour, 36, 936–9.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baker, R. R. and Bellis, M. A. (1989a). Number of sperm in human ejaculates varies in accordance with sperm competition theory. Animal Behaviour, 37, 867–9.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baker, R. R. and Bellis, M. A. (1989b). Elaboration of the kamikaze sperm hypothesis: a reply to Harcourt. Animal Behaviour, 37, 865–7.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baker, R. R. and Bellis, M. A. (1993). Human sperm competition: ejaculate adjustment by males and the function of masturbation. Animal Behaviour, 46, 861–85.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baker, R. R. and Bellis, M. A. (1995). Human Sperm Competition. London: Chapman & Hall.Google Scholar
Bellis, M. A. and Baker, R. R. (1990). Do females promote sperm competition: data for humans. Animal Behavior, 40, 197–9.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bellis, M. A., Baker, R. R., and Gage, M. J. G. (1990). Variation in rat ejaculates consistent with the Kamikaze Sperm Hypothesis. Journal of Mammalogy, 71, 479–80.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Birkhead, T. R. (2000). Promiscuity. London: Faber and Faber.Google Scholar
Birkhead, T. R. and Møller, A. P. (1992). Sperm Competition in Birds. London: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Birkhead, T. R. and Møller, A. P. (1998). Sperm Competition and Sexual Selection. New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Birkhead, T. R., Moore, H. D. M., and Bedford, J. M. (1997). Sex, science, and sensationalism. Trends in Ecology and Evolution, 12, 121–2.Google Scholar
Buss, D. M. (2004). The Evolution of Desire (2nd edn.). New York: Basic Books.Google Scholar
Buss, D. M. and Schmitt, D. P. (1993). Sexual strategies theory: an evolutionary perspective on human mating. Psychological Review, 100, 204–32.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Buss, D. M., Larsen, R. J., Westen, D., and Semmelroth, J. (1992). Sex differences in jealousy: evolution, physiology and psychology. Psychological Science, 3, 251–5.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chien, L. (2003). Does quality of marital sex decline with duration?Archives of Sexual Behavior, 32, 55–60.Google Scholar
Cohen, J. (1973). Cross-overs, sperm redundancy and their close association. Heredity, 31, 408–13.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cohen, J. (1977). Reproduction. London: Butterworth.Google Scholar
Cook, P. A. and Wedell, N. (1996). Ejaculate dynamics in butterflies: a strategy for maximizing fertilization success?Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B, 263, 1047–51.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Daly, M., Wilson, M., and Weghorst, J. (1982). Male sexual jealousy. Ethology and Sociobiology, 3, 11–27.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Darwin, C. (1871). The Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex. London: Murray.Google Scholar
Dixson, A. F. (1998). Primate Sexuality. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Eberhard, W. G. (1996). Female Control. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Ellis, B. J. and Symons, D. (1990). Sex differences in sexual fantasy: an evolutionary psychological approach. Journal of Sex Research, 27, 527–55.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fenton, M. B. (1984). The case of vepertilionid and rhinolophid bats. In Smith, R. L., ed., Sperm Competition and the Evolution of Animal Mating Systems. London: Academic Press, pp. 573–87.Google Scholar
Gage, A. R. and Barnard, C. J. (1996). Male crickets increase sperm number in relation to competition and female size. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 38, 349–53.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gage, M. J. G. (1994). Associations between body-size, mating pattern, testis size and sperm lengths across butterflies. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B, 258, 247–54.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gallup, G. G. and Burch, R. L. (2004). Semen displacement as a sperm competition strategy in humans. Evolutionary Psychology, 2, 12–23.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gallup, G. G., Burch, R. L., Zappieri, M. L., Parvez, R. A., Stockwell, M. L., and Davis, J. A. (2003). The human penis as a semen displacement device. Evolution and Human Behavior, 24, 277–89.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gangestad, S. W. and Simpson, J. A. (2000). The evolution of human mating: trade-offs and strategic pluralism. Behavior and Brain Sciences, 23, 573–87.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ginsberg, J. R. and Rubenstein, D. I. (1990). Sperm competition and variation in zebra mating behavior. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 26, 427–34.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Goetz, A. T., Shackelford, T. K., Weekes-Shackelford, V. A., et al. (2005). Mate retention, semen displacement, and human sperm competition: a preliminary investigation of tactics to prevent and correct female infidelity. Personality and Individual Differences, 38, 749–63.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gomendio, M. and Roldán, E. R. S. (1993). Mechanisms of sperm competition: linking physiology and behavioral ecology. Trends in Ecology and Evolution, 8, 95–100.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gomendio, M., Harcourt, A. H., and Roldán, E. R. S. (1998). Sperm competition in mammals. In Birkhead, T. R. and Møller, A. P., eds., Sperm Competition and Sexual Selection. New York: Academic Press, pp. 667–756.Google Scholar
Gould, T. (1999). The Lifestyle. New York: Firefly.Google Scholar
Greiling, H. and Buss, D. M. (2000). Women's sexual strategies: the hidden dimension of extra-pair mating. Personality and Individual Differences, 28, 929–63.
Harcourt, A. H. (1989). Deformed sperm are probably not adaptive. Animal Behaviour, 37, 863–5.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harcourt, A. H., Harvey, P. H., Larson, S. G., and Short, R. V. (1981). Testis weight, body weight, and breeding system in primates. Nature, 293, 55–7.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Harvey, P. H. and Harcourt, A. H. (1984). Sperm competition, testis size, and breeding systems in primates. In Smith, R. L., ed., Sperm Competition and the Evolution of Animal Mating Systems. San Diego: Academic Press, pp. 589–600.Google Scholar
Hosken, D. J. and Ward, P. I. (2001). Experimental evidence for testis size evolution via sperm competition. Ecology Letters, 4, 10–13.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hrdy, S. B. (1981). The Woman that Never Evolved. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Hunt, M. (1974). Sexual Behavior in the 70s. Chicago: Playboy Press.Google Scholar
Jennions, M. D. and Passmore, N. I. (1993). Sperm competition in frogs: testis size and a sterile male experiment on Chiromantis-xerampelina (Rhacophoridae). Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 50, 211–20.Google Scholar
Jennions, M. D. and Petrie, M. (2000). Why do females mate multiply? A review of the genetic benefits. Biological Reviews, 75, 21–64.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Johnson, A. M., Mercer, C. H., Erens, B., et al. (2001). Sexual behaviour in Britain: partnerships, practices, and HIV risk behaviours. Lancet, 358, 1835–42.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Klusmann, D. (2002). Sexual motivation and the duration of partnership. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 31, 275–87.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kura, T. and Nakashima, Y. (2000). Conditions for the evolution of soldier sperm classes. Evolution, 54, 72–80.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Laumann, E. O., Gagnon, J. H., Michael, R. T., and Michaels, S. (1994). The Social Organization of Sexuality. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Leitenberg, H. and Henning, K. (1995). Sexual fantasy. Psychological Bulletin, 117, 469–96.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Møller, A. P. (1985). Mixed reproductive strategy and mate guarding in a semi-colonial passerine, the swallow Hirundo rustica. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 17, 401–8.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Møller, A. P. (1987). Mate guarding in the swallow Hirundo rustica. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 21, 119–23.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Møller, A. P. (1988a). Testes size, ejaculate quality and sperm competition in birds. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 33, 273–83.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Møller, A. P. (1988b). Paternity and paternal care in the swallow, Hirundo rustica. Animal Behaviour, 36, 996–1005.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moore, H. D., Martin, M., and Birkhead, T. R. (1999). No evidence for killer sperm or other selective interactions between human spermatozoa in ejaculates of different males in vitro. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B, 266, 2343–50.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Moore, H. D., Dvorakova, K., Jenkins, N., and Breed, W. (2002). Exceptional sperm cooperation in the wood mouse. Nature, 418, 174–7.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Parker, G. A. (1970). Sperm competition and its evolutionary consequences in the insects. Biological Reviews, 45, 525–67.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Parker, G. A. (1982). Why are there so many tiny sperm? Sperm competition and the maintenance of two sexes. Journal of Theoretical Biology, 96, 281–94.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Parker, G. A. (1990a). Sperm competition games: raffles and roles. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B, 242, 120–6.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Parker, G. A. (1990b). Sperm competition games: sneaks and extra-pair copulations. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B, 242, 127–33.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Parker, G. A., Ball, M. A., Stockley, P., and Gage, M. J. G. (1997). Sperm competition games: a prospective analysis of risk assessment. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B, 264, 1793–802.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pelletier, L. A. and Herold, E. S. (1988). The relationship of age, sex guilt, and sexual experience with female sexual fantasies. Journal of Sex Research, 24, 250–6.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Person, E. S., Terestman, N., Myers, W. A., Goldberg, E. L., and Salvadori, C. (1989). Gender differences in sexual behaviors and fantasies in a college population. Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy, 15, 187–98.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Platek, S. M. (2003). Effects of paternal resemblance on paternal investment: an evolutionary model. Evolution and Cognition, 9, 189–97.Google Scholar
Pound, N. (2002). Male interest in visual cues of sperm competition risk. Evolution and Human Behavior, 23, 443–66.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pound, N. and Gage, M. J. G. (2004). Prudent sperm allocation in Rattus norvegicus: a mammalian model of adaptive ejaculate adjustment. Animal Behaviour, 68, 819–23.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pound, N., Javed, M. H., Ruberto, C., Shaikh, M. A., and Del Valle, A. P. (2002). Duration of sexual arousal predicts semen parameters for masturbatory ejaculates. Physiology and Behavior, 76, 685–9.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Price, J. H. and Miller, P. A. (1984). Sexual fantasies of Black and of White college students. Psychological Reports, 54, 1007–14.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rice, W. R. (1996). Sexually antagonistic male adaptation triggered by experimental arrest of female evolution. Nature, 381, 232–4.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rokach, A. (1990). Content analysis of sexual fantasies of males and females. Journal of Psychology, 124, 427–36.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Schmitt, D. P., Shackelford, T. K., and Buss, D. M. (2001). Are men really more oriented toward short-term mating than women? A critical review of theory and research. Psychology, Evolution, and Gender, 3, 211–39.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schmitt, D. P., Shackelford, T. K., Duntley, J., Tooke, W., and Buss, D. M. (2001). The desire for sexual variety as a tool for understanding basic human mating strategies. Personal Relationships, 8, 425–55.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schmitt, D. P., Alcalay, L., Allik, J., et al. (2003). Universal sex differences in the desire for sexual variety: tests from 52 nations, 6 continents, and 13 islands. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 85, 85–104.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Shackelford, T. K. (2003). Preventing, correcting, and anticipating female infidelity: three adaptive problems of sperm competition. Evolution and Cognition, 9, 90–6.Google Scholar
Shackelford, T. K. and LeBlanc, G. J. (2001). Sperm competition in insects, birds, and humans: insights from a comparative evolutionary perspective. Evolution and Cognition, 7, 194–202.Google Scholar
Shackelford, T. K., Weekes-Shackelford, V. A., LeBlanc, G. J., et al. (2000). Female coital orgasm and male attractiveness. Human Nature, 11, 299–306.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Shackelford, T. K., LeBlanc, G. J., Weekes-Shackelford, V. A., et al. (2002). Psychological adaptation to human sperm competition. Evolution and Human Behavior, 23, 123–38.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shackelford, T. K., Goetz, A. T., LaMunyon, C. W., Quintus, B. J., and Weekes-Shackelford, V. A. (2004). Sex differences in sexual psychology produce sex similar preferences for a short-term mate. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 33, 405–12.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Shackelford, T. K., Pound, N., and Goetz, A. T. (2005). Psychological and physiological adaptation to human sperm competition. Review of General Psychology, 9, 228–48.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Short, R. V. (1979). Sexual selection and its component parts, somatic and genital selection as illustrated by man and the great apes. Advances in the Study of Behavior, 9, 131–58.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Short, R. V. (1981). Sexual selection in man and the great apes. In Graham, C. E., ed., Reproductive Biology of the Great Apes. New York: Academic Press, pp. 319–41.Google Scholar
Short, R. V. (1998). Review of Human Sperm Competition: Copulation, Masturbation and Infidelity, by R. R. Baker and M. A. Bellis. European Sociobiology Society Newsletter, 47, 20–3.Google Scholar
Simmons, L. W. (2001). Sperm Competition and its Evolutionary Consequences in the Insects. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Smith, R. L. (1984). Human sperm competition. In Smith, R. L., ed., Sperm Competition and the Evolution of Animal Mating Systems. New York: Academic Press, pp. 601–60.Google Scholar
Symons, D. (1979). The Evolution of Human Sexuality. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Talese, G. (1981). Thy Neighbor's Wife. New York: Ballantine.Google Scholar
Thornhill, R. (1983). Cryptic female choice and its implications in the scorpionfly Harpobittacus nigriceps. American Naturalist, 122, 765–88.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Trivers, R. L. (1972). Parental investment and sexual selection. In Campbell, B., ed., Sexual Selection and the Descent of Man. London: Aldine, pp. 139–79.Google Scholar
Wedell, N., Gage, M. J. G., and Parker, G. A. (2002). Sperm competition, male prudence and sperm-limited females. Trends in Ecology and Evolution, 17, 313–20.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wildt, D. E., Bush, M., Goodrowe, K. L., et al. (1987). Reproductive and genetic consequences of founding isolated lion populations. Nature, 329, 328–31.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wilson, G. D. (1987). Male-female differences in sexual activity, enjoyment and fantasies. Personality and Individual Differences, 8, 125–7.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wilson, G. D. (1997). Gender differences in sexual fantasy: an evolutionary analysis. Personality and Individual Differences, 22, 27–31.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wilson, G. D. and Lang, R. J. (1981). Sex differences in sexual fantasy patterns. Personality and Individual Differences, 2, 343–6.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wilson, M. and Daly, M. (1992). The man who mistook his wife for a chattel. In Barkow, J. H., Cosmides, L., and Tooby, J., eds., The Adapted Mind. New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 19–136.Google Scholar
Wyckoff, G. J., Wang, W., and Wu, C. (2000). Rapid evolution of male reproductive genes in the descent of man. Nature, 403, 304–8.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zavos, P. M. (1985). Seminal parameters of ejaculates collected from oligospermic and normospermic patients via masturbation and at intercourse with the use of a Silastic seminal fluid collection device. Fertility and Sterility, 44, 517–20.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Zavos, P. M. (1988). Seminal parameters of ejaculates collected at intercourse with the use of a seminal collection device with different levels of precoital stimulation. Journal of Andrology, 9, P-36.Google Scholar
Zavos, P. M. and Goodpasture, J. C. (1989). Clinical improvements of specific seminal deficiencies via intercourse with a seminal collection device versus masturbation. Fertility and Sterility, 51, 190–3.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Zavos, P. M.Kofinas, G. D., Sofikitis, N. V., Zarmakoupis, P. N., and Miyagawa, I. (1994). Differences in seminal parameters in specimens collected via intercourse and incomplete intercourse (coitus interruptus). Fertility and Sterility, 61, 1174–6.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

Accessibility standard: Unknown

Accessibility compliance for the PDF of this book is currently unknown and may be updated in the future.

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure no-reply@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×