mating systems

Question 1

polygyandry vs promiscuity

Answer 1

Polygyandry: Both males and females mate with many partners, often with some level of cooperation or shared parental care.

Promiscuity: Both males and females mate with many partners, with no pair bonding or parental cooperation.

Question 2

queen honey bees are ___ while the drones are ___.

Answer 2

polyandrous; monogamous

Question 3

socio-ecological framework of mating systems

under typical asymmetries, ___ are the limited sex while ___ are the limiting sex.

if resources are monopolizable, ____ or ____ systems will emerge depending on which is the ___ sex.

If not, ___ or ____ will evolve as the resources drives living together.

If resources are unnecessary to breed, then _____ is more likely.

Answer 3

male; female

polygynous; polyandrous; limiting

monogamy; polygynandry

promiscuity

Question 4

there are 4 hypotheses of how monogamous systems evolve. what are they?

Answer 4

mate limitation hypothesis - potential mates dont form group, roam widely, too costly to locate and defend many

mating guarding hypothesis - restrict mating behavior of partner

mate assistance hypothesis - resources critical to reproduction and both parents necessary to raise young

infanticide hypothesis - high rate of infanticide, partner can help defend young

Question 5

multiple mating has fitness cost, and an example is increased ____ count showing higher infection rate.

Answer 5

white blood cell

Question 6

describe female mate guarding in burying beetle.

Answer 6

after female lays eggs, male will climb a perch and emits pheromones to call other females. sensing these pheromones, female partner will run and push male off his perch, ending the signal

Question 7

in european starlings, _____ improve success of offspring. having 2 parents at a nest offset high ___ and ___ of raising young. thus the monogamy.

Answer 7

parental care; cost; workload

Question 8

in prairie voles, males guard and pair with females. they defend offspring from mainly ____.

Answer 8

infanticide

Question 9

in white-handed gibbons, there is much ___ risk of infanticide in _____ pairs that ____.

Answer 9

lower; monogamous; polyandrous groups

Question 10

in rock-haunting ringtail possum, pattern of ___ distribution favors a ____ mate guarding system.

Answer 10

female; monogamous

Question 11

in red phalaropes (shorebirds), how can male monogamy to a polyandrous female function if the male is raising offspring of other males?

Answer 11

it is the cost the male has to take to have any offspring at all, thus male is taking a small net benefit in a compromised situation.

Question 12

why are spotted sand pipers polyandrous?

Answer 12

1. OSR is male-biased
2. nest around immense mayfly hatches (food)
3. single parent can do as well as pair

Question 13

there are 4 hypotheses supporting indirect benefits of polyandry. what are they?

Answer 13

1. good genes hypothesis - produce higher quality offspring
2. genetic compatibility hypothesis - increase odds of receiving geentically complimentary sperm (eg. pseudoscorpions)
3. genetic diversity hypothesis - increase genetic diversity
4. inbreeding avoidance hypothesis - avoid inbreeding

Question 14

sons of sexually successful males are more successful than sons of less sexually successful males.

what is this hypothesis

Answer 14

sexy son hypothesis

Question 15

in blue tits and bluethroats, offsping of ____ had stronger immune response.

Answer 15

EPC

Question 16

what is MHC?

Answer 16

major histocompatibility complex

MHC genes code for proteins in our immune system and play a role in binding foreign antigens

Question 17

compared to ___ hives, polyandrous bee hives has stronger ______ system, produced more ____, and some (__%) survived the winter, unlike ___ hives that do not survive winter.

Answer 17

monogamous; immune; honeycomb; 25%; monogamous

Question 18

in purple-crowned fairy wrens, females of ____ pairs are more likely to engage in EPC (__%) while in typical pairs only ___%.

this shows that polyandrous mating functions to lower the costs of _____.

Answer 18

incestuous; 46; 3

incest

Question 19

state the 3 hypotheses that support direct benefits of polyandry.

Answer 19

1. additional resources hypothesis
   gain more resources
   eg. red-winged black bird, bee, butterflies
2. additional care hypothesis
   gain more caregivers
   eg. dunnocks
3. infanticide reduction hypothesis
   create greater uncertainty about paternity of offspring to reduce infanticide
   eg. hanuman langurs - males that have mated with females unlikely to commit infanticide

Question 20

what are the 4 hypotheses supporting functions of polygynous systems?

Answer 20

1. female defense hypothesis
   female forms groups to better access resources/reduce predation risks, and males will follow and guard them
2. resource defense polygyny hypothesis
   when resources are clumped, males defend territories against multiple females
3. lek polygyny hypothesis
   females widespread, don’t form groups, males wait for them at leks where the resources are
4. scramble competition polygyny hypothesis
   females widespread, don’t form groups, males find females

Question 21

female defense hypothesis

resource defense polygyny hypothesis

lek polygyny hypothesis

scramble competition polygyny hypothesis

match the above to the below:

1. resources are evenly distributed
2. resource distribution is clumped
3. resources are distributed heterogeneously/unevenly

Answer 21

1. resources are evenly distributed
   - female defense hypothesis
2. resource distribution is clumped
   - resource defense polygyny hypothesis
3. resources are distributed heterogeneously/unevenly
   - lek polygyny hypothesis
   - scramble competition polygyny hypothesis

Question 22

female gorillas group together ro defend from predators. males form ______ to compete for and control access to these groups.

Answer 22

harems aka dominant male groups

Question 23

the below demonstrates the _________ hypothesis in __________ systems.

amphipods construct ______made of pebbles and shells, and ____ them to their _____ to transport them around.

males capture females by gluing its house to its own, so male can ____ female against rival males.

this behaviour results in _________ of up to ___ female houses per male.

Answer 23

female defense; polygymous

houses; glue; bodies

defend

apartment complexes; 3

Question 24

male bats that can guard a female harem can sire as many as ___ offspring per year.

Answer 24

50

Question 25

the hypothesis supporting plain zebras’ polygynous system is _____ while that of grey zebras’ is _____.

Answer 25

female defense hypothesis; resource defense polygyny hypothesis

Question 26

in resource defense polygyny, what is the resource defended by the males of the below species?

1) african cichlid fish

2) antlered flies

Answer 26

1) shell midden (up to 86 shells, 14 females)

2) rot spot on decaying logs

Question 27

mating system in dunnocks predicted by _____ distribution.

Answer 27

female

Question 28

what are leks?

Answer 28

small areas that males defend, used as display arena to court and mate females

Question 29

what is a hidden lek?

Answer 29

leks with a single male, not a group of them

eg. satin bowerbirds

Question 30

center of leks are occupied by what kind of manakin, and what kind of topi?

Answer 30

preferred male manakin with higher aggression

older male topis

Question 31

3 hypotheses supporting why leks are formed?

Answer 31

1. hotspot hypothesis - males cluster in places intersecting with routes frequently travelled by females
2. hotshot hypothesis - subordinate males cluster around highly attractive males to have a chance with females drawn to the hotshot
3. female preference hypothesis - males cluster in leks because females prefer sites with large groups of males (safer, quicker)

Question 32

field expt on little bustards showed that leks are formed due to which 2 hypotheses?

Answer 32

female preference hypothesis

hotshot hypothesis

Question 33

field expt on great snipes manipulating the presence of central dominant males showed what?

Answer 33

hotshot hypothesis

Question 34

in black grouse, top lek territories change yearly, meaning it is due to ___ hypothesis.

Answer 34

hotshot

Question 35

in greater sage grouses, leks form around areas where females prefer to nest on borders of sagebush and meadows. this is the ____ hypothesis in forming leks.

Answer 35

hotspot

Question 36

in kobs, number of females present at lek was proportional to number of males at the site. more males doesnt mean more females. this result does not support the ___ hypothesis in forming leks.

Answer 36

female preference hypothesis

Question 37

in barking frogs, more males at lek means more females.

hwoever, experimentally preventing males from coming to lek to sing, did not reduce number of females coming. this shows that?

Answer 37

both sexes are attracted to conditions of the lek like right temp and dampness

Question 38

fireflies, wood frogs, red-striped garter snakes and thirteen-lined squirrels engage in ____ polygyny.

Answer 38

scramble competition - compete to find female first

Question 39

condition can affect type of polygynous strategy used by males.

in water striders, there were 2 experiment groups, one with __ and another with 3.

in large pools, ___ was demonstrated and in small pools, ___ was demonstrated.

Answer 39

12

scramble competition; female defense

Question 40

which animal maintain an ability to form groups of any mating system?

Answer 40

dunnocks

Question 41

japanese macaques have what kind of mating systems?

Answer 41

polygyandrous

Question 42

rough periwinkles and seaweed flies have what kind of mating system?

Answer 42

promiscuous