La préférence homosexuelle masculine (PHM) est considérée comme un paradoxe darwinien car c'est un trait partiellement héritable, induisant une baisse de succès reproducteur, ayant une fréquence (en Occident) entre 2 et 6 % et qui semble propre à l'espèce humaine (en excluant les espèces domestiquées). La sélection de parentèle, ou bien un facteur pléiotrope antagoniste sont classiquement proposés, bien que l'essentiel des données proviennent de sociétés occidentales. Nous avons proposé une nouvelle hypothèse, basée sur la stratification sociale et permettant d'expliquer la spécificité humaine, dans laquelle la migration sexe-dépendante de type hypergyne amplifie la sélection d'un gène antagoniste. La plausibilité de cette hypothèse est confirmée par des modèles théoriques d'ESS et des modélisations individu-centrés. De plus, une analyse comparative basée sur données anthropologiques a permis de montrer un lien entre le niveau de stratification d'une société et la probabilité que la PHM soit connue dans cette société. La sélection de parentèle, mesurée dans une société non-occidentale (Indonésie), semble participer à la compensation du coût reproductif de la PHM, mais insuffisamment pour en expliquer le maintien. Les principales caractéristiques familiales associées à la PHM, l'excès de grands frères, et la fécondité accrue dans certaines classe d'apparentés, se retrouvent également en Indonésie. Toutefois, en Indonésie, les classes d'apparentés concernées différent en partie des résultats obtenus en occident et ne correspondent pas aux attendues de l'hypothèse de sélection sexuellement antagoniste portée par le chromosome X. La prise en compte de l'interaction entre facteurs sociaux et biologiques ainsi que l'acquisition de données hors des sociétés occidentales ouvrent de nouvelles perspectives de compréhension de ce paradoxe darwinien. / Male homosexual preference (MHP) is considered as a Darwinian paradox, as it is partially heritable, induces a reproductive cost, has a prevalence estimated (in western countries) between 2 and 6%, and seems to be specific to humans (excluding domesticated species). Kin selection or sexually antagonistic factors have been proposed as possible explanations, although most data come from western countries. Here, we proposed a new hypothesis, based on social stratification, able to explain the specificity of human MHP, in which hypergyny (up-migration of the women) enhances the selection of a sexually antagonistic gene. This hypothesis is supported by theoretical models (ESS) and individual-based modelling. Furthermore, a comparative analysis based on anthropological data showed that the level of social stratification predicts the probability for MHP to be known in a society. Kin selection was tested in a non-western society (Indonesia), and seems to contribute to the compensation of the reproductive costs associated with MHP, although this effect alone was insufficient to explain the maintenance of MHP. The main biodemographic features associated with MHP, an excess of older brother and an increased fecundity of some classes of relatives, were also found in Indonesia. However, the classes of relatives affected by this increased fecundity differ from the classes affected in western populations, and differ from the predictions of the sexually antagonistic genetic factor hypothesis displayed on an X chromosome. Taking into account the interaction between social and biological factors, together with the acquisition of new data in non-western populations, open new perspectives in our understanding of this Darwinian paradox.

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The Kin Selection Hypothesis proposes that the genes associated with male androphilia (i.e., sexual attraction/arousal to adult males) may be maintained over evolutionary time if the fitness costs of not reproducing directly are offset by increasing one’s indirect fitness. Theoretically, this could be accomplished by allocating altruism toward kin which would increase the recipient’s ability to survive and reproduce. Evidence for this hypothesis has been garnered through research conducted in Samoa however, no support has been garnered from research conducted in more industrialized cultures (i.e., USA, UK, Japan). In this thesis, I use a Canadian population to examine: (1) the role geographic proximity plays in the expression of androphilic male avuncularity and (2) whether androphilic males direct altruism toward the children of friends who might represent proxies for nieces and nephews in more industrialized cultures. Other sociocultural factors that potentially influence the expression of androphilic male avuncularity are also discussed. / ix, 81 leaves ; 29 cm

Black grouse (Tetrao tetrix) is a bird species with a lek mating system found in the Palearctic boreal taiga. It is assumed that it has a continuous distribution along Scandinavia and Siberia, whereas in Central Europe it has declined during the last decades. The primary objective of this thesis was to obtain a deeper understanding of the history, systematic classification and the genetic structure of black grouse on different geographical scales using microsatellites and control region mtDNA sequences (CR). I determined how much the mating system, habitat fragmentation and historical population processes have influenced the partitioning of genetic diversity in this species. Phylogeographical results are consistent with a demographic population expansion, and the patterns of postglacial dispersal suggest that a glacial refugium was located somewhere in central Asia, and from there black grouse spread out to Europe following the retreat of glacial ice sheets. I suggest that the two European black grouse subspecies, T. t. Tetrix and T. t. britannicus correspond to only one subspecies: T. t. tetrix, and that this lineage has diverged from T.t. viridanus, a subspecies found in Kazakhstan. The British population is significantly divergent from the remaining Eurasian samples for microsatellites but it is not for mtDNA. Therefore, they should regard as a separate Management Unit and not as a subspecies. Furthermore, British black grouse occur in three independent genetic units, corresponding to Wales, northern England/southern Scotland and northern Scotland. There was also genetic structure within Sweden. Habitat fragmentation is the main cause of population genetic structure in southern Swedish black grouse. In contrast, low levels of genetic differentiation and high connectivity were found in northern Sweden due to female-biased dispersal. On a finer geographical scale, I found genetic differences between leks due to a mixture of related and unrelated individuals within leks. However, mean relatedness values hardly differed from zero. Some leks were similar to one another and I interpret this as a result of variation in local reproductive success and philopatry. These factors would cause genetic structuring but this by itself would not reveal that kin selection is operating within black grouse leks.