The evolution of leks--clusters of small territories where males congregate and display in order to attract mates--is of central issue in behavioral ecology, because of the insights it offers into female mate choice, sexual selection, and the evolution of mating systems. In the first book on the subject, Jacob Hoglund and Rauno Alatalo draw together existing knowledge on two main aspects of lekking. Why do leks evolve in some species and not in others? Why do females of certain lekking species select their mates even though such behavior reaps few or no material benefits for them? In each...

The evolution of leks--clusters of small territories where males congregate and display in order to attract mates--is of central issue in behavioral ecology, because of the insights it offers into female mate choice, sexual selection, and the evolution of mating systems. In the first book on the subject, Jacob Hoglund and Rauno Alatalo draw together existing knowledge on two main aspects of lekking. Why do leks evolve in some species and not in others? Why do females of certain lekking species select their mates even though such behavior reaps few or no material benefits for them? In each...