The goal of this one-day symposium is to bring together a diverse and multidisciplinary group of scientists, all of whom are actively investigating the role of parasite infection as a driving force in sexual selection. 'Sexual selection' is the term used by biologists to refer to changes in gene frequencies resulting from competition among members of one sex for mates. Specifically, research to be presented in this symposium is aimed at assessing the extent to which variation among individual traits evaluated during mate choice accurately reflects variation among those same individuals in resistance to parasite infection and disease. Sexual selection is known to have been of great importance in shaping the physiology, morphology and behavior of a wide range of vertebrate species, including humans; hence this very basic genetic process is of considerable interest in its own right. However, the research to be presented in this symposium is also likely to contribute to our understanding of other equally important genetic and behavioral process, most especially processes affecting the transmission (and control) of parasites and disease among both humans and animals. Hence, from the standpoint of human welfare the value of the proposed symposium may lie in its contribution to the emerging synthesis of epidemiology with the closely-related disciplines of population genetics and behavioral ecology. The proposed symposium will be held in conjunction with the 1988 meetings of the American Society of Zoologists (ASZ) and will provide the first opportunity for behavioral ecologists involved in research on sexual selection to interact with parasitologists and other scientists knowledgeable about host- parasite coevolution. It is anticipated that papers presented in the symposium will be published in the American Zoologist or other appropriate outlet, thereby making results of the symposium accessible to a larger audience than simply those individuals attending the 1988 ASZ meetings.
