assortative mating Sexual reproduction in which the pairing of male and female is not random, but involves a tendency for males of a particular kind to breed with females of a particular kind or the converse. If the two partners in each pair tend to be more alike than is expected by chance, then it is referred to as positive assortative mating. Assortative mating for some traits is common: examples include positive assortative mating for skin colour and height in humans, for height in wind-pollinated plants, and for flower colour and time of development to sexual maturity in plants and in many insects with one generation per year; and negative assortative mating for different plumage colour phases in Arctic skuas. Compare panmixis.

assortative mating Sexual reproduction in which the pairing of male and female is not random, but involves a tendency for males of a particular kind to breed with females of a particular kind, or the converse. If the two partners in each pair tend to be more alike than is expected by chance, then it is referred to as positive assortative mating. Assortative mating for some traits is common: examples include positive assortative mating for skin colour and height in humans, and for time of development to sexual maturity in plants and in many insects with one generation per year; and negative assortative mating for different plumage colour-phases in arctic skuas. Compare PANMIXIS.

assortative mating A sexual reproduction in which the pairing of male and female is not random, but involves a tendency for males of a particular kind to breed with females of a particular kind, or the converse. If the two partners in each pair tend to be more alike than is expected by chance, then it is referred to as positive assortative mating. Examples include positive assortative mating for height in wind-pollinated plants and for flower colour and time of development to sexual maturity in plants and in many insects with one generation per year.

assortative mating A form of nonrandom mating in which individuals select mates with a similar phenotype to themselves (positive assortative mating) or with a dissimilar phenotype to themselves (negative assortative mating or disassortative mating). For example, humans tend to choose mates who are of a similar height to themselves.