Behavioral Ecology Vol. 12 No. 3: 266-268
© 2001 International Society for Behavioral Ecology
Hamilton Symposium |
Wondering about sex: W. D. Hamilton's contribution to explaining nature's masterpiece
ETH Zürich, Experimental Ecology, ETH-Zentrum NW, CH-8092 Zürich, Switzerland
Address correspondence to P. Schmid-Hempel. E-mail: psh@eco.umnw.ethz.ch .
Sexual reproduction, or sex for short, is an extremely successful breeding
strategy. With some exceptions, metazoan organisms use sex, and even among
protozoans or bacteria, some forms of sex exist, defined by its consequence of
gene exchange (Bell, 1982
).
Yet, theory has so far failed to provide a universal and satisfactory
explanation for the adaptive advantages of sex in Darwinian terms. This
question captured William D. Hamilton's imagination for some 20 years,
starting in the mid-1970s. His answer traces back to Haldane
(1949) and was critically
stimulated by George C. Williams
(1975). In Hamilton's view,
short-term advantages resulting from antagonistic coevolution by parasites
favors sex, despite its inherent cost as compared to the asexual
(parthenogenetic) alternative.
An annoying consequence of sex is visible in a well-known myth. When Noah
loaded his ark, he took two individuals of each species—one male and one
female—on board. Given the limited
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
REFERENCES