mate preferences

The black fur allele has fitness costs but also confers higher immunity against canine distemper virus, making mix-and-match mating key to population survival.

Many species of birds and other vertebrates form pair bonds and mate with just one other individual for much of their lives. But the unions don’t always work out. Scientists want to know the underlying factors.

Avoiding inbreeding appears to be the exception rather than the norm for animals, according to a new meta-analysis of experimental studies.

Some of the longevity that appears to run in families can instead be attributed to people choosing life partners with similar characteristics.

The brown tree snake has wreaked havoc on the island of Guam, but one solution to the problem could lie in the serpent’s own physiology.

Male fruit flies use a sensory system in their legs to help determine whether a potential mate is from a different species.

Inspired by Darwin, Mohamed Noor has uncovered the molecular dance by which a single species becomes two.