Operational sex ratio

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In the evolutionary biology of sexual reproduction, the operational sex ratio (OSR) is the ratio of sexually competing male to females that are ready to mate.[1] It is different from the physical sex ratio in that physical sex ratio also takes into account sexually inactive individual organisms, and sexually non-competitive individuals. This concept is especially useful in the study of sexual selection since it is a measure of how intense sexual competition is in a species, and also in the study of the relationship of sexual selection to sexual dimorphism.[2]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Kvarnemo, C.; Ahnesjo, I. (1996). "The dynamics of operational sex ratios and competition for mates". Trends in Ecology & Evolution 11 (10): 404-408. 
  2. ^ Mitani, J.C.; Gros-louis, J.; Richards, A.F. (1996). "Sexual Dimorphism, the Operational Sex Ratio, and the Intensity of Male Competition in Polygynous Primates". The American Naturalist 147 (6): 966-980. 
  • "Sexual selection in males and females", Tim Clutton-Brock, Science, 318, p. 1882, 21 Dec 2007
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