Courtship Behaviour Flashcards
1
Q
Why is coursthip behaviour important?
A
- Important for succesful mating/ reproduction, species recognition and ensuring the survival of the offspring.
2
Q
How do you know if two organisms belong to the same species?
A
- If the two organisms are able to breed to make fertile offspring, they are of the same species.
3
Q
What is courtship behvaiour/ rituals?
A
- Sequence of actions unique to each species. This is how animals identify members of their own species to reproduce with.
4
Q
True or False
Most courtship rituals are performed by females.
A
- False.
- Most performed by females.
- Females will observe the courtship ritual/ decide if they want to mate with the male.
5
Q
How does courtship ensure succesful reproduction (ie. production of fertile offspring?)
A
- Enables organisms within species to recognise other members of same species/ opposite sex.
- Synchronises mating behaviour: indicates male = sexually mature and female = releasing fertile eggs (ie. ensuring the organisms don’t just mate - but that offspring are actually produced.)
() - extra info for clarification.
6
Q
How does courtship ensure the survival of offspring?
A
- Forms a pair bond (between the mating organisms- so they will look after the offspring.)
- Allows for offspring to chose a strong and healthy mate (less worried trying to survive from help of parents!!)
() - extra info for clarification.
7
Q
If two organisms (from different species) have a similar courtship sequence, what does this say about the two organisms?
A
- This tells us that the two species are closely related.
- This is because courthship rituals are genetically determined, the more similar the species’ courtship sequence is, the more similar each of their DNA base sequences are to each other.
