Sexual coercion among animals

Sexual coercion among animals is the use of violence, threats, harassment, and other tactics to help them forcefully <a href="/facts/Copulation_(zoology)/rYcheMjL">copulate</a>. Such behavior has been compared to <a href="/facts/Sexual_assault/F3zvb27R">sexual assault</a>, including <a href="/facts/Rape/7RLDwHCN">rape</a>, among humans.
In nature, males and females usually differ in <a href="/facts/Reproductive_fitness/MYpAGGey">reproductive fitness</a> optima. Males generally prefer to maximize their number of offspring, and therefore their number of mates; females, on the other hand, tend to care more for their offspring and have fewer mates. Because of this, there are generally more males available to mate at a given time, making females a limited resource. This leads males to evolve aggressive mating behaviors which can help them acquire mates.
Sexual coercion has been observed in many <a href="/facts/Clades/XefyYmWn">clades</a>, including mammals, birds, insects, and fish. While sexual coercion does help increase male <a href="/facts/Fitness_(biology)/MYpAGGey">fitness</a>, it is very often costly to females. Sexual coercion has been observed to have consequences, such as intersexual coevolution, speciation, and <a href="/facts/Sexual_dimorphism/nx9wulFy">sexual dimorphism</a>.

Sexual coercion among animals open-in-new

Sexual coercion among animals