I am currently studying the Stickleback Fish which has a tendency to do a mating ritual. One of the steps requires the fish to dance in front of his partner (zig-zag back and forth). Sexual selection implies “By providing more chances to mate, it ensures that genes related to skillful execution of the dance are more represented in the next generation” (Russem et. al 2023).
If this has been occurring for multiple generations, how is it, not a normal standard, wouldn’t this part of the process of selection be redundant? Is their proof that it has changed over time for other animals?
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Because most of the mating displays involve traits that are also survival characteristics. A Stickleback fish who is stronger and more agile than another will put on a better display and be more likely to mate. A bird who is a great hunter will have a healthier and more vibrant plumage, making it more likely to mate. Ditto for a Buck, the better it forages the bigger the horns grow, giving it both a survival and sexual advantage.
As to why it never stops? Because we don’t know of any ideal forms yet. Sometimes nature will jump ahead and something will be zoologically stable for millennia, see things like alligators and sharks, but in time even they get overtaken (see us driving the prior into extinction).
And if you want to get really bonkers, consider the evolutionary race of things like bacteria that have generations measured in hours and not decades.
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