Digest: the role of sexual selection in the evolution of aposematism

Summary

Aposematism is an adaptation where individuals evolve conspicuous signals indicating the presence of anti-predator defenses. Maisonneuve and Aubier (2025. The ‘sexual selection hypothesis’ for the origin of aposematism. Evolution, qpaf030. doi:10.1093/evolut/qpaf030) explored the role of sexual selection in the evolution of aposematism using a mathematical model and found that some aposematic signals may have originated from sexually selected traits. Their findings suggest that these signals evolved through a combination of mate choice and predation pressure, highlighting the potential interaction between sexual selection and natural selection in shaping the evolution of aposematic signaling traits.