Talk:Sperm competition

message: I linked this article to Gryllus bimaculatus to provide an example. Emiliaromagna1 (talk) 22:35, 6 December 2015 (UTC)
thread_title: Untitled

message: The original article was utter bollocks.  So I rewrote it. Dunc_Harris|☺ 14:25, 14 Jul 2004 (UTC)
replies: text: First we need to establish the basic principles of sperm competition, which I think I have reasonably done by defining it and giving a bit of history.  Thanks for making me write the article :) I'm coming at it from a evolutionary biology point of view of course, but a straight biological one rather than a anthropogenic one.  If you can provide citation for that claim about heavier ejaculates, then that would be good. Dunc_Harris|☺ 19:28, 14 Jul 2004 (UTC)
thread_title: Rewriting

message: This article misses the point enunciated in the bookSperm Wars that not all sperm in the ejaculate are for inseminating the ovum, some are specialized to attack and impede sperm from other males, the corollary hypothesis being that gang rape eg in war has been a sgnificant contributor to human evolution.
Pajy 23:41, 26 July 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Article Misses the Point 

message: References should be inside tags rather than (Smith, 1977) then under the references heading there should be a  template. Jack (talk) 21:18, 4 April 2008 (UTC)
thread_title: References need updating

message: Is this theory new?  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 118.169.99.32 (talk) 04:29, 5 April 2009 (UTC)
replies: text: I believe the seminal paper is Parker (1970) – reference 1 in the current article. Qwfp (talk) 11:24, 6 February 2010 (UTC)
thread_title: I want to know who thought of this theory

message: The header of this article sounds a little un-encyclopedic to me.
"Sperm competition is often compared to having tickets in a raffle; a male has a better chance of winning (i.e. fathering offspring) the more tickets he has (i.e. the more sperm he inseminates a female with). However, sperm are not free to produce [2], and as such males are predicted to produce sperm of a size and number that maximizes their success in sperm competition. By making many sperm, males can buy more "raffle tickets", and it is thought that selection for numerous sperm has contributed greatly to the evolution of anisogamy (because of the energetic trade-off between sperm size and number)."
This example is a good way of explaining the concepts, but breaks away from the focus of the article. I propose it be moved to it's own section called "Example" or something of that nature. This'll help clean it up so that it sounds more like an encyclopedia and less like a text book. Warthomp (talk) 06:37, 10 December 2010 (UTC)
thread_title:  Bizarre 

message: This article is very odd. It needs to be completely re-written, or at least thoroughly revised.
First, the article talks about sperm adaptations, which seems straightforward enough, but then it talks about changed social behaviors ("harem-keeping", etc). So is sperm competition a biological, evolutionary concept concerning sperm, or a social one engaged in by males (and not just sperm), or both? This needs to be made very clear. 
Second, to who or what does this concept apply, exactly? Does it apply to humans, other animals, or both? The relevant references need to be kept separate as well. For example, in the second paragraph, a reference to "Competition and its Evolutionary Consequences in the Insects" is made in a paragraph that speaks generally to behaviors in animals (and humans?). This is confusing, to say the least. --Fang Aili talk 23:46, 2 May 2011 (UTC)
thread_title:  Needs a complete re-write 

message: This article hasn't mentioned anything about the evolved adaptions that both animal and human penises have to defend against sperm competition. For example, Gallup et al. (2003) found that phalluses without a coronal ridge displaced significantly less semen than phalluses that did have a coronal ridge. This therefore suggests that the coronal ridge is an evolved adaptation in humans to defend against sperm competition. Other animals also have evolved adaptions designed to displace the semen of other males, for example, male lake ducks have spiny penises with bristled tips. 2.30.150.25 (talk) 19:35, 29 January 2016 (UTC)
thread_title:  Penis adaptations against sperm competition 

message: I added a bit to 'offensive adaptations' making clear that offensive behavior is facilitated by certain traits which are called armaments. I also alluded to the possibility that these traits serve to communicate social status, which sometimes results in non-violent resolutions of competition. Please feel free to contact me in case there are any objections! Roja123 (talk) 22:39, 10 February 2016 (UTC)
thread_title:  Offensive behavior traits 

message: In the second paragraph of "Mate Choice" we find this sentence: "An adequate diet consisting of increased amounts of diet and sometimes more specific ratio in certain species will optimize sperm number and fertility."  Clearly this makes no sense and needs changing.Wordwright (talk) 17:45, 9 May 2016 (UTC)
thread_title:  Strange sentence 

message: There is no point to competing if you can't tell that you've won; how does any male know that a female's offspring is his?Wordwright (talk) 17:47, 9 May 2016 (UTC)
thread_title:  How does a male know he's won?