The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex
West-Eberhard was among the first scientists to reexamine Charles Darwin's ideas in "The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex" about sexual selection and identify the key importance he gave to the "social competition for mates" as a factor in evolution and speciation. She has noted how sexual selection can trap animals into sexual dimorphisms, to maintain separate sexes in sexual reproduction.