2.4 b) Sex and Behaviour - Reproductive Behaviours and Mating Systems in Animals

Question 1

Mating systems are based on how many ___ an individual has during one ___ ___.

Answer 1

mates, breeding season

Question 2

What is polygamy?

Answer 2

individuals of one sex have multiple partners

Question 3

What is polygyny?

Answer 3

one male mates exclusively with multiple females

Question 4

What is polyandry?

Answer 4

one female mates with many males within one breeding season

Question 5

What is monogamy?

Answer 5

the mating of a pair of animals to the exclusion of all others

Question 6

Many animals have ___-selection ___ rituals.

Answer 6

mate, courtship

Question 7

Successful courtship behaviour in birds and fish can be a result of… or …

Answer 7

species-specific sign stimuli or fixed action patters responses

Question 8

Successful courtship behaviour in birds and fish can be a result of ___ specific sign s___ or fixed ___ ___ responses.

Answer 8

species specific sign stimuli, action pattern

Question 9

What are fixed action pattern responses?

Answer 9

innate responses which are linked to a stimulus

Question 10

Sexual selection selects for characteristics which have little or no… but increase their chances of ___.

Answer 10

survival benefit, mating.

Question 11

Many species exhibit ___ ___ as a result of sexual selection.

Answer 11

Sexual dimorphism

Question 12

Sexual dimorphism often results in females which are ___, and males which have…

Answer 12

inconspicuous, conspicuous markings, structures and behaviours (colourful bird hehe)

Question 13

What is reversed sexual dimorphism?

Answer 13

when the female is larger or more conspicuous (than the males of that species)

Question 14

Why are females usually inconspicuous?

Answer 14

being camouflaged allows them to better protect their young

Question 15

Female choice involves females assessing honest ___ of the ___ of males

Answer 15

signals, fitness.

Question 16

Honest signals are a true ___ of an individual’s ___ ___.

Answer 16

indication, biological fitness

Question 17

Honest signals can indicate ___ alleles that increase the chances of…, or a low ___ burden, indicating a ___ individual.

Answer 17

favourable, survival of offspring, parasite, healthy

Question 18

In a number of ___ and ___ species, males display communally in a small area called a ___.

Answer 18

bird, insects, lek

Question 19

What is a lek?

Answer 19

a gathering of individuals where males display communally, and females assess the honesty of signals of fitness

Question 20

Describe the positioning of different types of males in a lek.

Answer 20

dominant males occupy the centre, whilst subordinates and juvenilles wait at the edges, as satellite males

Question 21

What occurs during the male display at a lek?

Answer 21

Female choice

Question 22

Females visit the lek, and choose among ___ males by assessing whether signals are ___, and are true sign of ___.

Answer 22

displaying, honest, fitness

Question 23

Success in male-male ___ increases access to ___ for mating.

Answer 23

rivalry, females

Question 24

Males will fight for ___ and access to ___, often utilising weapons such as ___, ___ or ___.

Answer 24

dominance, females, antlers, horns, tusks

Question 25

Explain what is meant by a lekking species. (2)

Answer 25

a species in which males gather and display communally
… and females choose (they assess the honesty of the males’ signals)

Question 26

‘Explain how treatment A could be used in a controlled trial to prove that it helps patients’ (2)

Answer 26

give patients treatment A,
compare results to control group (where patients are not given treatment) - if symptoms go away, treatment works

Question 27

2020 P1 Q16:
Backstory: there are some birds and;
When egg-laying is complete, the female may search for another male. Male birds breed with only one female in a breeding season.
Which of the following are features of the red-necked phalarope’s reproductive behaviour?
A. Polygamy and polygyny
B. Polygamy and polyandry
C. Monogamy and polygyny
D. Monogamy and polyandry

Answer 27

A - no (polygyny = one male, multiple females)
B - yes (polyandry = one female, multiple males)
C + D - no (monogamy is the ‘mating of a pair of animals to the exclusion of all others’, thus monogomay is not present, as the female is mating with multiple males). (I think)