Female Reproductive Behavior Flashcards
female reproductive behaviors and cyclic or tonic
cyclic
females generally viewed as passive participants in sex behavior with…
lower sex drive than males
females will risk injury and death due to..
copulate in estrus
females often control _______ and _______ of sex behavior
pace and frequency
number of possible offspring produced in a given breeding season
potential rate of reproduction
females have higher or lower PRR than males
lower
time and energy invested in the production and care of offspring; subdivided into mating effort and parental care
parental investment
females (generally) invest more in ________ _______, males in ________ ________
parental care
mating effort (defending the young)
ratio of males to females available to mate at any given time
operational sex ratio
differences in OSR lead to females being _______ and males being _________
choosy
competitive
3 sex behavior in mammalian systems include
- courtship
- mating
- ovulation
3 parental care components in mammalian systems
- pregnancy
- parturition
- lactation
parturition means
giving birth
what regulates female reproductive physiology
H-P-G axis
hypothalamus produces what in females endocrinology
GnRH
the ant pit produces what in females endocriology
LH, FSH
ovaries produce what in females endocrinology
E and P
corpus luteum makes
progesterone
what are two types of follicular cells
theca and granulosa
what synthesizes andorgens from cholesterole; stimulated by LH
theca cells
what aromatizes androgens to estrogens; stimulated by FSH and E
granulosa cells
formation of the corpus luteum and release of progesterone regardless of whether or not fertilization occurs
pesudopregnancy
(heat) period of time when females are sexually receptive; derived from latin oestrus, meaning in a frenzy
estrus
what do estrous females seek out
males
estrous males prefer to stay close to what
males
estrous females are more attractive to who?
males
stimulus value of a female for a given male
attractivity
extent to which a female initiates copulation
proceptivity
female state of responsiveness to the sexual initiation of another individual
receptivity
what increases attractivity?
estrogen
what can attractivity be measured with
preference test
how can proceptivity measured?
by female presentation or solicitation
almost all contact between the sexes in nonhuman primates is iniated by who?
females
how long do regular estrous cycles last?
minutes to hours
what is considered solicitous behavior
hopping, darting, wiggling the ears, pheromone release
dervied from medical term for curvature of spine; position assumed by females to allow intromission
lordosis
what is lordosis quotient
number of times female shows lordosis/ number of mounts by male
what has a priming effect
E
how does the priming effect work
increasing P receptors in specific brain areas
what rodents do not demonstrate lordosis
PRKO
behavior including lordosis is mediated by what?
the cns
what are 3 brain regions involved in female sex behavior
ventromedial nucleus of the hypothalamus
medial preoptic area
medial anterior hypothalamus
where can true mating behavior be observed?
natural environments
female rats control rate of mating attempts by males when placed in semi-natural environment; allows male and female mating strategies to co-exist
pacing
in a group setting, what can influence mating behaviors
sex and number of individuals
what can female mating behaviors be mediated by?
olfaction
what happens in most mammals
the estrous cycles
in estrous cycles, what is reabsorbed by the uterus
endometrium
in estrous cycles sexual receptivity is limitd to what?
a “heat” period
what happens in humans and some primates
menstrual cycles
in menstrual cycles, what is shed from the uterus in a bleeding called menstruation
endometrium
in menstrual cycles sexual receptivity is not limited to what?
a time frame
