Sexual Selection In Humans

There are existing evidence proposing that sexual selection among humans has been relatively weak. The canine tooth dimorphism that is characteristic of many primates that exhibit extreme male competition for mates is absent in humans. Also, the biparental care and social monogamy that humans display is the same of species that exhibit very little male competition for mates, and the ability of men to monopolize woman while they are fertile is deterred by concealed ovulation. However, the presence of sexually dimorphic ornamentation, weaponry, courtship displays, and intrasexual competition does indicate some level of sexual selection. The body mass of men is about 15-20% greater than that of the female, this is comparable to certain primate species where the males express a modest degree of competition for mates.

When we look at other human traits that is considered to have occurred as a result of sexual selection, like facial shape, facial and body hair, and vocal characteristics such as pitch, then it appears that humans are in fact also highly sexually dimorphic. Even though humans lack big canine teeth, we make use of fists and handheld weapons in combat.

However, it is the variance and not the modal mating outcome that determines the strength of sexual selection. Sexual selection is likely to be the strongest where reproductive differences is most strongly reliant on mating success, and where the reproductive variance is greater. The reproductive variance of a man in most traditional societies is 2-4 times greater than that of a woman. Taking into account that these values fluctuate over time and across societies, we can assume that sex differences in the strength of sexual selection are also variable. The transformation into arranged state-level societies notably pushes harem sizes and male reproductive divergence to extremes which exceeds that of gorillas and in some cases, even elephant