精子競爭

精子競爭是指在有性生殖過程中，兩個或兩個以上不同雄性的精子為了能讓自己與同一卵子結合（卵子受精）而進行競爭的過程^[1]。當雌性有多個潛在的交配夥伴時，就會發生精子競爭。然而，當出現一個雌性有多個配偶情況時意味着每個雄性個體繁衍自身的後代的機會就會減少，因而精子競爭常常被比作抽獎，如果雄性購買的抽獎券越多（即他/它給雌性授精的精子越多），中獎的機會就越大（即繁衍後代）^[2]。此外雄性為了應對精子競爭，有時會釋放有毒的精液物質，以減少雌性的再交配傾向^[3]，或者在與雌性交配前想盡辦法取出另一個雄性的精子 ^[4]^[5]。

參考文獻

^ Parker, Geoffrey A. Sperm competition and its evolutionary consequences in the insects. Biological Reviews. 1970, 45 (4): 525–567. doi:10.1111/j.1469-185x.1970.tb01176.x.
^ Olsson et al., 1997; Wedell et al., 2002
^ Simmons, L.W. Competition and its Evolutionary Consequences in the Insects. Princeton University Press. 2001. ISBN 978-0691059884.
^ Birkhead, T.R; Pizzari, Tommaso. Postcopulatory sexual selection. Nat. Rev. Genet. 2002, 3 (4): 262–273. PMID 11967551. doi:10.1038/nrg774.
^ Baker, Robin. Sperm Wars: The Science of Sex. 1996. ISBN 0-7881-6004-4. OCLC 37369431.

[1] Parker, Geoffrey A. Sperm competition and its evolutionary consequences in the insects. Biological Reviews. 1970, 45 (4): 525–567. doi:10.1111/j.1469-185x.1970.tb01176.x.

[2] Olsson et al., 1997; Wedell et al., 2002

[Simmons-3] Simmons, L.W. Competition and its Evolutionary Consequences in the Insects. Princeton University Press. 2001. ISBN 978-0691059884.

[birkhead-4] Birkhead, T.R; Pizzari, Tommaso. Postcopulatory sexual selection. Nat. Rev. Genet. 2002, 3 (4): 262–273. PMID 11967551. doi:10.1038/nrg774.

[baker-5] Baker, Robin. Sperm Wars: The Science of Sex. 1996. ISBN 0-7881-6004-4. OCLC 37369431.

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