Sex with the lights on: Sexual selection increases the number of species and impacts global diversity

Thursday, June 23, 2016 - 12:21 in Biology & Nature

When you're a firefly, finding "the one" can change the world. Literally. A new study by UCSB evolutionary biologists Todd Oakley and Emily Ellis demonstrates that for fireflies, octopuses and other animals that choose mates via bioluminescent courtship, sexual selection increases the number of species—thereby impacting global diversity. Their results appear in the journal Current Biology.

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