In the three decades, since Birkhead and Møller published Sperm competition in birds (1992, Academic Press) more than 1000 papers have been published on this topic, about half of these being empirical studies focused on extrapair paternity. Both technological innovations and theory have moved the field forward by facilitating the study of both the mechanisms underlying sperm competition in both sexes, and the ensuing behavioural and morphological adaptations. The proliferation of studies has been driven partly by the diversity of both behaviours and morphologies in birds that have been influenced by sperm competition, but also by the richness of the theory developed by Geoff Parker over the past 50 years.

This article is part of the theme issue ‘Fifty years of sperm competition’.

在这三个十年中，自从 Birkhead 和 Møller 发表《鸟类精子竞争》（1992 年，学术出版社）以来，已经发表了 1000 多篇关于这个主题的论文，其中大约一半是专注于异同亲子关系的实证研究。技术创新和理论促进了两性精子竞争机制的研究，以及随之而来的行为和形态适应，从而推动了该领域的发展。研究激增的部分原因是受精子竞争影响的鸟类行为和形态的多样性，以及 Geoff Parker 在过去 50 年中发展的理论的丰富性。

本文是“精子竞赛五十年”主题刊的一部分。