Exam 3: Sexual Selection Flashcards

1
Q

Sexual selection

A

A type of natural selection, where members of the sexes develop strategies reproductive success. It can result in the secession acquiring distinct traits and characteristics

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2
Q

Mate choice

A

members of one sex house mates with particular features that may indicate traits important for reproductive success

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3
Q

Mate competition

A

in the competition for mates among males or females, those with certain traits succeed in getting mating partners

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4
Q

Mate choices

A
  • When one individual chooses to mate with a partner who is compatible and who potentially carries good traits for survival of offspring
  • Need to determine
  • Need to be the same species so they use color and how they look to determine mating
  • Females tend to put a lot of work into making the choices
  • Males do still have some mate choice
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5
Q

Indicator traits

A

traits that are attractive are linked to “good genes” and thus may result in higher quality offspring

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6
Q

Sexual selection: secondary sexual traits

A
  • Features that distinguish the sexes but are not directly related to reproduction. We have seen this before with sexual dimorphism
  • Sexual swellings with females is an example
  • Indicate a very clear difference with male and females
  • This has been going on for a while when looking at the fossil record
  • likely the result of sexual selection
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7
Q

Female secondary sexual traits: signs of sexual state

A
  • If there is, then that means that males have some say as well
  • 14% of primate species advertise sexual reproductivity with sexual swellings or some other visual cue
  • Tend to mirror menstrual cycle
  • Sexual swellings become largest (or most brightly colored) just prior to ovulation—when conception is most likely
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8
Q

Female genitalia: external signs of sexual state

A
  • Take measurements of the butts
  • They are thus seen as “honest signals” about fertility
  • Males will mate with females at the max time of swelling
  • Adult males are most attracted when swelling is at its highest
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9
Q

Females are affecting each other

A
  • Female chimps will do a copulation call when mating towards the end and reduce it?
  • Chimps females adjusted their calling behavior in flexible ways, potentially to avoid aggression from other females
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10
Q

Function of sexual swellings?

A
  • Found primarily within multi-male social groups
  • Increase mate competition among males (best male is successful)?
  • May be fertility “cue” selected for by males
  • Attract many males to mate with to confuse paternity to avoid infanticide? Females won’t reproduce when they’re taking care of a baby so they try to kill the babies?
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11
Q

Primate sexual displays

A
  • Females and males both do it
  • A number of haplorrhine primates have faces with both naked skin and red facial color
  • Advertise their health status to females
  • Advertise hormone levels such as testosterone to other males
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12
Q

Primate sexual displays - rhinopithecus (sub nosed monkey)

A
  • The color of the mouth changes
  • Reproductive male: lips swell and reddens in the mating season
  • Subadult and juvenile bachelor males: the lips become paler
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13
Q

Sexual selection - mate competition can affect biology: sperm competition

A
  • Sperm competition is the physical competition between the sperm of two or more individual males to fertilize the eggs of a single female
  • The sperm itself can fight itself to fertilize
  • Correlates with the size of the testes
  • Part of the competition is becoming faster
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14
Q

There’s a difference in sperm speed depending on the primate

A
  • Gorillas are the slowest
  • -One male multiple female social organization
  • Chimps and macaques are the fastest
  • -Multi male multi female social organization
  • Humans are between
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15
Q

Sperm speed

A
  • the first ones to make it to the egg succeeds
  • Faster speed in multi-male, multi-female social groups. —More potential competition among males here
  • Sperm competition: tested/body weight
  • Correlates with the number of males a female mates with
  • Suggests that we came more from a monogamous
  • At any given body size, males have larger testes (more sperm) in species where females mate with multiple males
  • Human values link to smaller groups with fewer or only one male mating
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16
Q

Human secondary sexual traits?

A
  • Not very sexually dimorphic species
  • Gibbons are the closest
  • Humans have breasts that stay swollen
  • Male humans have beards
  • -Sexual trait
17
Q

Sexual selection may be affected by culture in humans

A
  • Changes in female body type has changed throughout time
  • Male physique has also changed throughout time
  • There were Fat Men’s Club’s existed since it was a sign of wealth
  • 1930s for becoming the hunks
  • Hollywood has always had a large influence on societies
  • Humans are affected by what we see on television
18
Q

Female Mating Strategies: Female mate choice?

A
  • To avoid inbreeding is the main one - not mate with someone closely related to them
  • Mating with someone close by themselves produce genetic defects
  • To mate with males with better traits, e.g. using high rank as a measure of “good or compatible genes”
19
Q

Female Mating Strategies: Direct female mate choice

A
  • Agree to mate with a male or not
  • Direct: choosing a mate or refusing to mate with a particular male
  • Females may use visual and even odor cues
  • Stone throwing as sexual display by female capuchin monkeys
20
Q

Female Mating Strategies: Direct female mate choice: Uakari

A
  • Important to use visual to show whether or not they’re healthy
  • Males are dichromatic but females are both dichromatic and trichromatic
  • Trichromatic females can see the red faces and may use it to determine the health of the male (whiter faces associated with malaria)
21
Q

Female Mating Strategies: Indirect female mate choice

A
  • Choosing which males gets to join females in one male groups e.g. mandrills, geladas, pastas or
  • Which male group to join, e.g. gorillas
22
Q

Female Mating Strategies: Female-female competition

A

In gorillas females use “post-conceptive mating” by already pregnant females to reduce other female’s successful reproduction

23
Q

Male Mating Strategies

A

In most cases males have to move out of the group they’re born in

24
Q

Male Mating Strategies: Transfer

A
  • Males have to move out of their natal group

- They look for another group

25
Q

Male Mating Strategies: Stay (chimps)

A
  • Rare and remain in the community and they still need to compete
  • Only one alpha male in the group
26
Q

Male Mating Strategies: Join bachelor group

A
  • It’s not safe to be alone so they gather together

- Doesn’t work very well in reproduction

27
Q

Male Mating Strategies: Become a lurker - hang out on the fringe

A

Stay away from the alpha male but stay close to the group

28
Q

Male Mating Strategies: Visit during mating season then leave

A
  • Males come in during estrous period and hangout to mate

- They leave afterwards mating

29
Q

Male Mating Strategies: Types of Competition

A
  • Direct competition
  • -Males fighting each other
  • Disrupting over male’s mating attempts (e.g. male coalitions)
  • -Short mating periods could mean disruption
  • Develop special relationships with females
  • -Getting to know each other before mating
  • Sperm competition
30
Q

Male mate choice: Why?

A

Distribute mating to ensure fertilization. They can do this by:

  1. Mating with females most likely to conceive and have a record of being able to raise offspring. To adulthood
    - -Older females and ability to become good mothers
  2. Mating with females who prefer them; e.g. developing friendships
    - -Forced mating is very rare
    - Because mating agonist can be intense and dangerous, males should “decide” when it’s worth it
31
Q

Same-sex specula behavior in primates

A
  • Originally thought to be abnormal result of captivity. . . But
  • Observed among 33% of all primate species
  • Appears to reflect a normal part of the sexual behavior of primates
  • It’s fluid especially among haplorrhine primates
  • It’s highly variable in frequency of expression
  • It’s observed among all age classes
  • It’s typically demonstrated by both sexes
  • The closer the social bond between two animals, the more intrusive and risky the greeting when they meet
32
Q

Same sex sexual behavior

A

genetical contact, genetically manipulation or both between same sex individuals

33
Q

Hypotheses for same-sex sexual behavior in primates

A
  • Tension-regulation, reduce agonist, maintain social order
  • Alliance formation and friendships
  • E.g. bonobos, macaques, and baboons
34
Q

Sexual behavior in haplorrhine primates is thus very fluid

A
  • Exclusive same-sex pair bonds have not been seen in non-human primates
  • Only two species have been observed showing a same-sexy preference for life, even when partners of the opposite sex are available: humans and male Ovis Aries domestic sheep
  • Appears to be part of the continuum of primate social relationships reflecting not just reproduction but also friendship