Sexual selection in humans

Sexual selection in humans concerns the concept of sexual selection, introduced by Charles Darwin as an element of his theory of natural selection,^[1] as it affects humans. Sexual selection is a biological way one sex chooses a mate for the best reproductive success. Most compete with others of the same sex for the best mate to contribute their genome for future generations. This has shaped human evolution for many years, but reasons why humans choose their mates are not fully understood. Sexual selection is quite different in non-human animals than humans as they feel more of the evolutionary pressures to reproduce and can easily reject a mate.^[2] The role of sexual selection in human evolution has not been firmly established although neoteny has been cited as being caused by human sexual selection.^[3] It has been suggested that sexual selection played a part in the evolution of the anatomically modern human brain, i.e. the structures responsible for social intelligence underwent positive selection as a sexual ornamentation to be used in courtship rather than for survival itself,^[4] and that it has developed in ways outlined by Ronald Fisher in the Fisherian runaway model.^{[5][6][7][8][9]} Fisher also stated that the development of sexual selection was "more favourable" in humans.^[10]