Promiscuity: An Evolutionary History of Sperm Competition
by Tim Birkhead
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Males are promiscuous and ferociously competitive. Females--both human and of other species--are naturally monogamous. That at least is what the study of sexual behavior after Darwin assumed, perhaps because it was written by men. Only in recent years has this version of events been challenged. Females, it has become clear, are remarkably promiscuous and have evolved an astonishing array of strategies, employed both before and after copulation, to determine exactly who will father their show more offspring. Tim Birkhead reveals a wonderful world in which males and females vie with each other as they strive to maximize their reproductive success. Both sexes have evolved staggeringly sophisticated ways to get what they want--often at the expense of the other. He introduces us to fish whose first encounter locks them together for life in a perpetual sexual embrace; hermaphrodites who "joust" with their reproductive organs, each trying to inseminate the other without being inseminated; and tiny flies whose seminal fluid is so toxic that it not only destroys the sperm of rival males but eventually kills the female. He explores the long and tortuous road leading to our current state of knowledge, from Aristotle's observations on chickens, to the first successful artificial insemination in the seventeenth century, to today's ingenious molecular markers for assigning paternity. And he shows how much human behavior--from the wife-sharing habits of Inuit hunters to Charlie Chaplin's paternity case--is influenced by sperm competition. Lucidly written and lavishly illustrated, with a wealth of fascinating detail and vivid examples, "Promiscuity" is the ultimate guide to the battle of the sexes. show lessTags
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Member Reviews
Nicely organized and easy-to-read book on sexual selection and multiple mating in females. It was very useful to my research, but it would probably be interesting, informative, and understandable for the non-scientist reader as well. It also provided many instances of me shouting things across the room like "Ohmygod, did you know that male pigs produce a liter of ejaculate each time?!?"
"Los machos son promiscuos y ferozmente competitivos; las hembras son naturalmente monógamas". En los últimos años, esta idea ha quedado en entredicho. Ahora es evidente que las hembras son promiscuas y utilizan una gama asombrosa de estrategias, antes y después de la cópula, para determinar exactamente quién será el padre de sus hijos. Tal como revela Tim Birkhead, tanto machos como hembras han desarrollado métodos sorprendentes y refinados para maximizar su propio éxito reproductivo, a menudo a expensas del éxito reproductivo de la pareja. Escrito con brillantez y humor, lleno de detalles fascinantes y ejemplos clarificadores, Promiscuidad es una guía imprescindible para abrirse paso en la batalla entre los sexos. Tim show more Birkhead es profesor de Ecología del Comportamiento en la Universidad de Sheffield, Inglaterra, y autor, entre otros libros, de Sperm Competition in Birds (1992), Sperm Competition and Sexual Selection (1998) y The Red Canary (2003). Desde 2004 es miembro de la Royal Society. show less
Sep 8, 2016Spanish
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Author Information
37 Works 1,216 Members
Tim Birkhead teaches animal behaviour and the history of science at the University of Sheffield. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of London and the author of several books including The Wisdom of Birds, The Cambridge Encyclopaedia of Ornithology, which won the McColvin Medal, and The Red Canary, which won the Consul Cremer Prize. He lives in show more Sheffield, England. Katrina Van Grouw, illustrator, is a full-time artist and writer, and the creator of The Unfeathered Bird. show less
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title*
- Promiscuidad : una historia evolucionista de la competencia entre espermatozoides
- Original title
- Promiscuity: An Evolutionary History of Sperm Competition
- Original publication date
- 2000
*Some information comes from Common Knowledge in other languages. Click "Edit" for more information.
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- Reviews
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- Rating
- (3.85)
- Languages
- English, Italian, Spanish
- Media
- Paper
- ISBNs
- 5
