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Polyandry Flashcards

1
Q

What is polyandry

A

Female receptive to and/or actively mating with multiple males

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2
Q

What seeks to prevent polyandry and how helpful it is

A

Mate guarding may prevent in some cases, but not all

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3
Q

What are two reasons why polyandry is adaptive for females?

A

They invest much more in the egg and parental care
They dictate the terms of mating in most cases

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4
Q

What are the three genetic/indirect benefits of polyandry

A
  1. Fertility insurance hypothesis
  2. Good genes hypothesis
  3. Genetic compatibility hypothesis
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5
Q

What is fertility insurance hypothesis

A

Mating with several males reduces risk of some eggs remaining unfertilized because any one male may not have sufficient sperm to do the job

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6
Q

What is good genes hypothesis

A

A female mates with more than one male because her social partner is of lower genetic quality than other potential sperm donors, whose genes will improve offspring viability or sexual attractiveness

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7
Q

What is genetic compatibility hypothesis

A

Mating with several males increases the genetic variety of sperm available to the female, increasing the chance that some sperm will have DNA that is an especially good match the the DNA of her eggs

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8
Q

What are four material or direct benefits of polyandry

A
  1. More resources hypothesis
  2. More care hypothesis
  3. Better protection hypothesis
  4. Infanticide reduction hypothesis
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9
Q

What is the more resources hypothesis

A

More mates mean more resources received from sexual partners

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10
Q

What is the more care hypothesis

A

More mates mean more caregivers recruited for offspring

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11
Q

What is the better protection hypothesis

A

More mates mean more time with protectors who keep other males from sexually harassing female

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12
Q

What is the infanticide reduction hypothesis

A

More mates mean greater confusion about paternity of females offspring and thus less likelihood of losing offspring to infanticidal males

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13
Q

What is the team approach

A

Single female assembles team of males who aid in defending territory and or gathering food, building nest, rearing young

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14
Q

What is the advantage of the team approach for males

A

Better chance to mate by being part of a team

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15
Q

What are extra pair matings

A

Female has stable social partner, but engages in extra pair matings with other females

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16
Q

What are the risks of extra pair matings

A

Detection by social partner and rejection
Time and energy spent finding a suitable male
Sexually transmitted disease

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17
Q

What does detection by social partner and rejection lead to

A

Loss of parental care by this social partner

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18
Q

What is the degree of polyandry in species related to

A

Measure of white blood cells

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19
Q

Why do superb fairy-wren vary in their reproductive success

A

Differences in number of offspring they have with females other than their social partners

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20
Q

Describe polyandrous female duck copulation tendencies

A

Female polyandrous ducks copulate more often with males that spend less time with them

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21
Q

What is the fertility insurance hypothesis

A

Polyandry protects against infertile males, ensures investment in egg production does not go to waste

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22
Q

What evidence from birds supports fertility insurance hypothesis

A

Eggs more likely to hatch in polyandrous blackbirds
In species where sperm degrades quickly, multiple matings prolong fertility

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23
Q

What evidence from prairie dogs supports fertility insurance hypothesis

A

100% of polyandrous females become pregnant, only 92% of monogamous females become pregnant

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24
Q

Describe the grey foam nest treefrog’s mating style

A

Lay clutches of eggs that may be fertilized by 1-12 males. Offspring of polyandrous females are more likely to survive than those of females mated to only one male

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25
What is the good gene hypothesis
Polyandry leads to better offspring survival
26
What are the two components of the good gene hypothesis
Behavioral difference Survival of infancy
27
Describe good gene hypothesis behavioral difference
Guppies born to monogamous mothers didnt form schools but wandered off alone (dangerous)
28
Describe good gene hypothesis survival of infancy
Wild guinea pig pups born to polyandrous mothers were less likely to be stillborn and to survive through weaning
29
What is the polyandrous guppie proximate observation for good gene hypothesis
Male with better courtship display fertilizes more eggs than the other
30
What is the female bird proximate observation for good gene hypothesis
Female birds that seek extra-pair copulations choose males that mold early (sign of good condition)
31
What is the older male procimate observation for good gene hypothesis
Older males demonstrating ability to stay alive are also a good source of genes in some songbirds
32
What ties all of the proximate observations for the good gene hypothesis together
Traits in fathers can be passed on to sons
33
What was the first bug mating experiment
Two males competed for same female. Loser given different female to mate with so the sons could be compared
34
What were the results of the first bug mating experiment
The sons of successful bugs had more matings than sons of unsuccessful bugs
35
What was the second bug mating experiment
Two males competed for a mate, then both were given a different, random female to mate with. Rule out any contribution of the courtship ritual on the female side to the success of the sons
36
What were the results of the second bug mating experiment
Sons of successful bugs had more total matings than the sons of unsuccessful bugs
37
What is the basis of gene matching
Not all alleles are compatible
38
What was the chickens in vitro experiment
Sperm of two males mized and used to fertilize multiple females' eggs No clear winner in these experiments Conclude that chickens possess an internal mechanism to pick the sperm that are most complementary or lead to the most heterozygosity Avoid embryonic lethality
39
Describe scorpions in terms of gene matching
Scorpions reject the spermatophore of males she has previously mated with but not new males
40
How does ant hive size relate to colony diversity
Bigger hives form more diverse work force with better disease resistance and larger brood
41
Describe the difference between single insemination queen colonies and poly-inseminated queen colonies
Single insemination - colonies did not survive the winter Poly insemination - 25% of colony survived the winter
42
What is the major histocompatibility locus important in
Immune function
43
What may the major histocompatibility locus be the proximate mechanism for
Detecting genetic compatibility
44
Why may the major histocompatibility locus be the proximate mechanism for detecting genetic compatibility
Humans, primates, reptiles, and possibly birds who mate with partners having the same MHC haplotype suffer reduced fertility and offspring survival
45
What are the two ways in which we could ascertain the MHC compatibility
Pre-mating At/near fertilization
46
How could pre-mating ascertain the MHC compatibility
Region contains genes encoding polymorphic olfactory receptors Animals and humans prefer the odor of MHC-dissimilar individuals
47
How could at/near fertilization ascertain the MHC compatibility
MHC similarities/homozygosites can be non-viable so eggs fertilized by genetically similar sperm dont survive
48
Describe the preference for MHC haplotype
No preference for any one haplotype, just a difference
49
What four strategies have evolved for polygyny
Female defense polygyny Resource defense polygyny Lek polygyny Scramble competition polygyny
50
What are the three factors that determine whether polygyny is used
Female distribution Food availability Territory size
51
What is female defense polygyny
Females in groups are easy for a male to dominate and monopolize, relative to many dispersed females
52
Describe polygyny in mammals where females live in groups
Always polygynous
53
What three species have females that are always polygynous
Lions Bighorn sheep Gorillas
54
What is the key element of female defense polygyny following
Females, not nests of territories
55
What do males in Montezuma oropendolas populations attempt to do
Monopolize females in small colonies of nesting females
56
What happens as Montezuma oropendolas colony size increases
Mating attempts are often disrupted by rivals
57
What happens as the result of mating attempt disruptions in montezume oropendolas colonies
Frequency of copulations per hour at the colony site decreases
58
What is resource defense polygyny
Females dont live together, but visit a resource on a regular basis. Mate controls resource, gets access to many visiting females
59
What are three types of resources that males control in populations utilizing resource defense polygyny
Floating vegetation Rotting bark Rotting fruit
60
What is a defensible resource
Any safe place to lay eggs
61
How does the number of male barking treefrogs relate to the number of mating female barking treefrogs
As number of males increases, number of mating females increases
62
Describe the basis of the polygyny threshold model
Polygyny threshold is the resource level at which she has more to gain by mating with a polygynist on a good territory than a monogamous male on a poor territory
63
Describe the prediction in the polygyny threshold model
Female should have same fitness with either type of male if territory is constant
64
Describe the first test in the polygyny threshold model
Count fledged hatchlings of a songbird that has males that can attract one or two females per seasons
65
Describe the results of the first test in the polygyny threshold model
1.3 vs 1.6 fledged young (poly vs mono)
66
Describe the second test in the polygyny threshold model
Manipulate habitat so polygynous male is preferable to monogamous male
67
Describe the results of the second test in the polygyny threshold model
Red winged blackbird females pick male with best territory, even if she becomes part of a harem (2x better reproductive success)
68
What is scramble competition
Females/resources are widely distributed, male territory defense doesnt male sense. Searching then becomes the primary method
69
What does scramble competition require
Different set of abilities - perceptual, endurance, etc
70
What two species partake in scramble competition
Fireflies and squirrels
71
How does the time searching for female from male thirteen-lined ground squirrel vary when (1) esterous female is removed or (2) control female is removed
More time searching when estrous female is removed
72
How does the number of visits from male thirteen-lined ground squirrels vary when (1) estrous female removed or (2) control female removed
More visits when estrous female is removed
73
What area of the brain is thought to be depended on in thirteen-lined ground squirrels in terms of mating and why
Hippocampal dependence - Spatial memory for where male interacted with soon-to-be fertile females
74
Describe hippocampal volume of polygynous voles
Sexually dimorphic hippocampal volume
75
Describe maze performance on reproductively active polygynous vole males
Outperform females on mazes
76
Describe the home ranges of polygynous male voles
Males have larger home ranges than females or immature males, and expand their home range during breeding season
77
What does size of home range correlate with
Spatial ability
78
Describe the tendencies of lekking species
Males gather in groups to display for females, with each male defending a small area of the lek
79
What are the three hypotheses for congregation in leks
Hotspot: males go to territory where females go Hotshot: males go where dominant male goes Female preference for sites with multiple males
80
Elaborate on the hotshot hypothesis
Male decoys attract both male and females (especially when they are very elaborate, attractive male decoys) Lek sites change over time Removal of populate male leads to lek dispersal
81
Describe the female uganda kob alek aggregation
Female uganda kob do not aggregate disproportionately at leks with large number of males
82
What is female uganda job attendence at leks proportional to
Number of males displaying there
83
What is the result of female uganda kob attendence being proportional to number of males
female to male ratio does not increase as lek size increases
84
Describe bat success at leks
6% of males sire 80% of the progeny
85
Describe mamakin success at lek
One male sired 75% of the progeny, a second 13%, and the rest 12%
86
Describe the dispersal of mating success at lek
Males at center have more mating success

Neuroethology (16 decks)

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