Highlights•Support exists for a male structure to serve as both a weapon and an
ornament.•Evidence to support this theory is lacking in male–male competition systems.•We …

Horns, antlers, and other horn‐like structures are products of sexual selection, confer
reproductive advantages, and are heritable and honest indicators of individual quality. In …

Intense selective harvest of large mammals who carry the largest weapons may lead to an
evolutionary shrinkage of those weapons. Currently, evidence suggesting evolutionary …

It is now broadly admitted that female reproductive senescence–a decline in reproductive
performance with increasing age–occurs in most species, at least among birds and …

While hormones such as testosterone are known to drive reproduction and sexually selected
traits in many species, research demonstrating a relationship between testosterone and …

Differentially harvesting individual animals with specific traits has led some to argue that
such selection can cause evolutionary change that may be detrimental to the species …

In temperate and northern ecosystems where there are pronounced seasonal patterns in
weather and available energy, there are corresponding patterns of body condition among …

Fundamental understanding of the factors influencing cervid antler size, development and
investment has been traditionally drawn from harvest data. However, depending on the …

Identifying the genes underlying fitness-related traits such as body size and male
ornamentation can provide tools for conservation and management and are often subject to …

Estimating heritability (h 2) is required to predict the response to selection and is useful in
species that are managed or farmed using trait information. Estimating h 2 in free-ranging …