The evolution of post-pairing male mate choice

An increasing number of empirical studies in animals have demonstrated male mate choice. However, little is known about the evolution of post-pairing male choice, specifically that which occurs by differential allocation of male parental care in response to female signals. We use a population genetic model to examine whether such post-pairing male mate choice can evolve when males face a trade-off between parental care and extra-pair copulations (EPCs). Specifically, we assume that males allocate more effort to providing parental care when mated to preferred (signaling) females, but they are then unable to allocate additional effort to seek EPCs. We find that both male preference and female signaling can evolve in this situation, under certain conditions. First, this evolution requires a relatively large difference in parental investment between males mated to preferred versus non-preferred females. Second, whether male choice and female signaling alleles become fixed in a population ve...