Editing Sexual selection (section)

=== In amphibians and reptiles ===

{{Main|Sexual selection in amphibians|Sexual selection in scaled reptiles}}

Many amphibians have annual breeding seasons with male–male competition. Males arrive at the water's edge first in large numbers, and produce a wide range of vocalizations to attract mates. Among frogs, the fittest males have the deepest croaks and the best territories; females select their mates at least partly based on the depth of croaking. This has led to sexual dimorphism, with females larger than males in 90% of species, and male fighting to access females.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Phelps |first1=S. |last2=Rand |first2=A. |last3=Ryan |first3=M. |year=2006 |title=A cognitive framework for mate choice and species recognition |journal=The American Naturalist |volume=167 |issue=1 |pages=28–42 |doi=10.1086/498538 |pmid=16475097 |bibcode=2006ANat..167...28P |s2cid=15851718 }}</ref><ref name="Wells Schwartz 2007">{{cite book |last1=Wells |first1=Kentwood D. |last2=Schwartz |first2=Joshua J. |title=Hearing and Sound Communication in Amphibians |chapter=The Behavioral Ecology of Anuran Communication |series=Springer Handbook of Auditory Research |year=2006 |volume=28 |publisher=Springer |location=New York |url=http://hydrodictyon.eeb.uconn.edu/courses/herpetology/Readings/Wells%20and%20Schwartz%202007%20Beh.%20Ecol.%20anuran%20comm..pdf |isbn=978-0-387-32521-7 |doi=10.1007/978-0-387-47796-1_3 |pages=44–86|s2cid=160384362 }}</ref> [[Spikethumb frog]]s are suggested to engage in male-male competition with their elongated prepollex to maintain their mating site.<ref name="Gonzalez-Mollinedo-2020">{{Cite journal |last1=Gonzalez-Mollinedo |first1=S. |last2=Marmol-Kattan |first2=A. |date=2020 |title=The underground sex life of the Guatemalan Spike-thumb Frog (Plectrohyla guatemalensis) |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/347752233 |journal=Neotropical Biology and Conservation |volume=15 |issue=4 |pages=551–559|doi=10.3897/neotropical.15.e57142 |doi-access=free }}</ref> The prepollex, which serves as a rudimentary digit, contains a projecting spine that may be used during this combat, leaving scars on the heads and forelimbs of other males.<ref name="Duellman-1992">{{Cite journal |last1=Duellman |first1=W.E. |last2=Campbell |first2=J.A. |date=1992 |title=Hylid frogs of the genus Plectrohyla: systematics and phylogenetic relationships |url=https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/handle/2027.42/56425/MP181.pdf?sequence=1 |journal=Museum of Zoology, University of Michigan |issue=181}}</ref>

Many different tactics are used by snakes to acquire mates. Ritual combat between males for the females they want to [[mating|mate]] with includes topping, a behaviour exhibited by most [[Viperidae|viperids]], in which one male twists around the vertically elevated fore body of its opponent and forcing it downward. Neck biting is common while the snakes are entwined.<ref name="Shine Langkilde Mason 2004">{{cite journal |last1=Shine |first1=Richard |last2=Langkilde |first2=Tracy |last3=Mason |first3=Robert T. |title=Courtship tactics in garter snakes: How do a male's morphology and behaviour influence his mating success? |year=2004 |journal=Animal Behaviour |volume=67 |issue=3 |pages=477–483 |s2cid=4830666 |doi=10.1016/j.anbehav.2003.05.007 }}</ref><ref name="Blouin-Demers Gibbs Weatherhead 2005">{{cite journal |last1=Blouin-Demers |first1=Gabriel |last2=Gibbs |first2=H. Lisle |last3=Weatherhead |first3=Patrick J. |title=Genetic evidence for sexual selection in black ratsnakes, ''Elaphe obsoleta'' |year=2005 |journal=Animal Behaviour |volume=69 |issue=1 |pages=225–34 |s2cid=3907523 |doi=10.1016/j.anbehav.2004.03.012 }}</ref>