The authors found that male beetles with the largest mandibles win more fights and mate with larger
However, having large lower jaws requiresa masculinized body (large head and neck) and a small abdomen, which for females limits the number of eggs they can lay. The masculine body is not suitable for females.
However, experimentally enhanced natural selection through predation targets the same males that successfully undergo sexual selection, and this leads to the evolution of less masculinized bodies.
In the course of the study, wide-horned meal beetles were exposed to the predator killer beetle, which ate males with the largest mandibles.
As the number of beetles with large mandibles decreased, so did advantages of sexual selection, which means that natural selection influences the life of beetles more strongly.
As a result of the experiment, eight generations of beetlesproduced approximately 20% more offspring throughout their lives, compared to a control group of beetles where large-horned males were not eaten.
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