Male deer compete for mates by fighting with their antlers. The male deer with the largest antlers tend to secure the most mates. Why do we not see a large number of male deer with super large antlers?

Question

Male deer compete for mates by fighting with their antlers.  The male deer with the largest antlers tend to secure the most mates.  Why do we not see a large number of male deer with super large antlers?

BlackTom AI · Accepted Answer

The question asks why we don’t observe a large number of male deer with super large antlers despite the advantage large antlers confer in securing mates.
Option 1: 'There are also negative aspects to having large antlers, so stabilizing selection favors an average antler size.' This reasoning highlights a key evolutionary concept: trade-offs. While larger antlers can increase mating success (sexual selection), they also come with costs such as higher energy expenditure, greater vulnerability to injury, slower movement, and increased visibility to predators. These costs can reduce overall fitness for individuals with extreme antler sizes, so natural selection may favor individuals with intermediate sizes that balance mating benefits with survival costs. This aligns with stabilizing selection, which reduces variation around an optimum trait value rather than pushing the trait toward extremes.
Because there are no additional answer choices provided for analysis, there is no other option to evaluate in this question. In a standard multiple-choice scenario, incorrect options might claim that only sexual selection matters, or that there are no costs to large antlers, or that once a trait is advantageous it continues to increase indefinitely. Those statements would run into issues: they ignore survival trade-offs, ecological constraints, and the diminishing returns or increased risks associated with extreme trait values. The correct understanding rests on recognizing the balance between reproductive benefit and survival cost leading to an optimal, intermediate antler size. 
In summary, the explanation rests on stabilizing selection arising from trade-offs between mating advantages of large antlers and the ecological and physiological costs, which helps explain why extreme antler sizes are rare in the population.

BIOEE1610 Lecture 2: Post Lecture W24 Evolution

Male deer compete for mates by fighting with their antlers. The male deer with the largest antlers tend to secure the most mates. Why do we not see a large number of male deer with super large antlers?

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