7.1 Chapter Objectives
Learning Objectives
Our goal for this chapter is for you to appreciate that sexual reproduction is costly from an evolutionary perspective, and that there are hypotheses to explain why sexual reproduction exists in spite of these costs. Specifically, by the end of your reading and our in-class discussion, you will be able to:
- Define the following terms:
- asexual reproduction
- parthenogenesis
- Muller’s Ratchet
- The Red Queen
- major histocompatibility complex (MHC)
- polygenic
- polymorphic
- codominant
- Identify three hypotheses for the persistence of sexual reproduction.
- Where possible, list testable predictions associated with these hypotheses.
- Identify evidence in support of specific hypotheses for the existence of sex.
