The Red Queen hypothesis comes from the character in Lewis Carrol's Through the Looking Glass who is always running in order to keep in the same place. Sexual selection must be used as part of the mechanism to continually evolve and adapt in order to stave off extinction. The book starts by asking "why sex?" It seems a very inefficient way to pass on genes. After all, why not just clone oneself to pass on all genes? There are many theories. The "change" is a key benefit. There are chances to clean up "mistakes" or introduce "new mistakes". It also encourages social behaviors. Different animals have adapted in various ways due to their mating patterns. Sex selection also happens in various manners (sometimes based on things such as temperature.) Humans are rather unique in not knowing the precise time of fertility and not producing off-spring that are "done" yet. (The "big brains" need to fit through the small birth canal.) People seem to have an in-built incest restriction against mating with people we have grown up with. Other mating rules have differed across cultures. Monogamy has become a common way to ensure the child has two parents to help with raising. Polygamy may benefit a few men at the top of the hierarchy, but in general it benefits women who now have greater access to the alphas. Men seek traits in women that allow for the production of more offspring (such as youth.)
There are many interesting theories put out and discarded in the book. The book even ends admitting that much of what is written will be proven wrong. Humans have adapted quite well to dominate the current world. Will we continue to do so?
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