Mating Systems Flashcards
What is Polygyny?
One male and many females.
What is the most common mating system?
Polygyny.
When is polygyny more likely?
When females group.
According to the Vole study, when did males distribute? When males distributed, what occurred?
After the females did. When males distributed, it had no effect on females.
Which mating system did the Vole experiment studying distribution provide evidence for?
Polygyny.
In a polygynous mating system is male reproductive fitness more or less variable?
More.
What are the types of polygyny mating systems? (4)
- Female defense polygyny. 2. Resource-defense polygyny. 3. Scramble Competition. 4. Lek Polygyny.
What is female defense polygyny? (3)
- Males fight for access to females. 2. Females are clustered or herded. 3. High variance in male RS.
What is Resource-defense polygyny? (3)
- Males have resource-rich territory to attract females. 2. Best (most fit) males have best resources/territories. 3. Female resources can be clumped.
What is scramble competition? (4)
- Females are widely dispersed/breeding season is highly compressed. 2. Little direct competition between males. 3. Males do not need to defend females or territories. 4. Need to remember location of females.
Does scramble competition include explosive breeding?
Yes.
What is Lek Polygyny? Do males provide any parental care? (2)
- Males defend territories that contain no resources for females and are created on traditional display sites, Leks. 2. Males do not provide any parental care.
What animal does Lek Polygyny?
Peacocks.
Where on Leks are the chances for mating the best?
At the center of the Lek.
What are the two theories on why males aggregate in Leks?
- Hotspot theory. 2. Hotshot theory.
What is the Hotspot theory?
Males cluster because females are bound to travel along certain routes that intersect.
What is the Hotshot theory?
Subordinate males cluster around a “hotshot” to which females are attracted.
Does the hotspot or the hotshot theory have more evidence?
The hotshot theory has more evidence.
What is polyandry?
Females control access to (and mate with) more than 1 male.
Is polyandry rare or common?
Rare.
In polyandry, do males perform parental care on their own?
Yes.
Why does polyandry exist? (2)
- Females may be more limited by access to mates than by production of gametes. 2. Can be plastic based on the operational sex ratio.
When is monogamy more likely to occur?
When food resources are scatterd and nest sites scarse.
In monogamy, who gives parental care?
Both parents.
Is monogamy in nature more social or genetic?
Social; they form pair bonds.
Do pair bonds occur in genetic monogamy?
No.
What are the hypotheses for monogamy? (3)
- Mate-guarding monogamy. 2. Mate-assistance monogamy. 3. Female-enforced monogamy.
What is the mate-guarding hypothesis for monogamy?
Difficult for a male to find another mate.
What is the mate-assistance hypothesis for monogamy?
Male parental care significantly increase the probability that the offspring will survive.
What is the female-enforced hypothesis for monogamy?
Female inhibits males ability to interact with other females.
What are the main reasons why females would mate with other males?
- Genetic benefits polyandry. 2. Material benefits polyandry.
What are the hypotheses for why females mate with other males based on genetic benefits? (3)
- Fertility insurance hypothesis. 2. Good genes hypothesis. 3. Genetic compatibility hypothesis.
What are the hypotheses for why females mate with other males based on material benefits? (3)
- More resources hypothesis. 2. Better protection hypothesis. 3. Infanticide reduction hypothesis.
