Models for clutch size and sex ratio with sibling interaction (Q1081555)

General models are constructed to predict sex ratio and clutch size simultaneously for those organisms in which members of a clutch interact to affect each other's fitness. The same set of underlying factors can be shown to predict both optimal sex ratios and clutch sizes. The presence or absence of these factors enables different life histories or models to be classified. Previous sibling interaction sex ratio and clutch size models are special cases of the general model. The circumstances in which it is wrong to consider clutch size and sex ratio in isolation are identified. A distinction is made between those models that maximise sex ratio or clutch size with respect to a single clutch and those that consider either several clutches or lifetime fitness.