Weapon (biology)

In biology, weapons are traits that are used most often by males to fight one another off for access to mates.[1] A mate is won in battle either by a male chasing off a fellow competitor or killing it off, usually leaving the victor as the only option for the female to reproduce with.[2] However, because stronger organisms, whether mentally or physically, are usually favored in combat, this also leads to the evolution of stronger organisms in species that use combat as a way to secure mates, via intrasexual selection.[3] Examples of weapons include: antlers, horns, and ossicones.