reproductive behavior Flashcards
what are bowers?
arrangement of grasses, twigs, flowers and colored objects
built by male satin bowerbirds
for females to evaluate mates
female bowerbird visits a bower and mates there. true or false.
false.
visit many bowers several times
build her own nest
returns to observe more dancing at the several bowers
select a male by entering his bower
raises young on her own
ornaments vs armaments
ornaments are elaborate morphological traits used in intersexual (opp sex) courtship
armaments are elaborate weaponry used in intrasexual (same sex) competition
morphological traits used in intersexual (opp sex) courtship are known as _____________ while weaponry used in intrasexual (same sex) competition are known as ____________.
ornaments; armaments
do ornaments and armaments enhance survivial function?
no. they may be costly to survival function, but they enhance mating function through sexual selection.
what does the reproductive skew show?
uneven distribution of reproductive success across individuals in a population
what is the curve that shows uneven distribution of reproductive success across individuals in a population called?
reproductive skew
what is the bateman’s principle?
males have higher reproductive variance than females.
males have higher reproductive variance than females - what principle is this?
bateman’s principle
male reproductive skew is dependent on _________ while female productive skew is dependent on __________.
why?
number of mates; choosing the best mate
due to fundamental asymmetry of the sexes - great asymmetry in the number of each gamete avaliable because egg is more costly to produce than sperm
is there a cost to produce sperm? how so? in what species?
yes. in soay sheep rams, those that copulated more frequently produced less sperm per ejaculate.
parent care is frequent/rare in animals. in species that do give parental care, it is most like to be the mother/father.
rare; mother
what is the parental investment theory?
cost/benefit analysis of care given by assessing the cost of current offspring and its impact for overall reproductive success
cost/benefit analysis of care given by assessing the cost of current offspring and its impact for overall reproductive success - what theory is this?
parental investment theory
according to the parental investment theory, females derive greater/less benefit and greater/less cost from parental care than males because of _____ and _____.
parental certainty and reproductive skew
what is the operational sex ratio (OSR)?
higher and lower OSR mean what respectively?
number of sexually active males per sexually receptive female
higher OSR - more competition among males
lower OSR - less competition among males, females may be more selective
in katydids providing nourishment for future offspring, the male provides an edible _______ containing __________ pigment to a female. This will be incorporated into _______ for egg development of the offspring.
spermatophore; carotenoid; nourishment
male photinus firefly donates a nutrient-rich _______ to a female during __________.
coiled spermatophore; copulation
according to parental investment theory,
sexual selection operates strongest in sex that has what 3 factors?
these usually belong to the males, but not always - sometimes it’s the females. it can be reversed and this is called ________.
- lower investment in offspring development
- higher competition to find mates
- greater potential for producing more offspring by mating more often
sex role reversal
in long-tailed dance flies, OSR is biased towards ____ because they are away foraging for insect prey.
_____ swarm together and ___ come to these swarms, causing the ____ to compete for access to a _____ with a ____________.
the above demonstrates _____.
females
females; males; females; male; high-quality nuptial gift
sex role reversal
what 3 species in the lecture demonstrate sex role reversal?
long-tailed dance flies - females in foraging swarms
pipefish - females can produce eggs twice as fast as males can brood them
mormon crickets - spermatophore 25% size of male’s body, male can only mate once
what are cooperative breeders? name 1 species as example.
both sexes have high reproductive skew and competition.
black swans have curled feathers and red bills, an ornamentation present in both sexes, showing sexual selecting acting on both sexes.
___ ability is important in intrasexual competition.
what are some sexual dimorphism in favor of this ability?
fighting
sexual dimorphism in favor of fighting ability:
- larger body size
- badges of status
- armaments (antlers/horns/claws)
male yellow baboons compete for dominance fiercely and this structures their access to mates and improves chances of reproducing. how?
- higher-ranked males mate more with females when they are fertile and attractive
- dominant males sire more offspring in their groups
state 2 conditional mating tactics in yellow baboons.
- males form r/s with females to protect them and their offspring leading to mating preferencesin their favor.
- males form alliances to drive away dominant males.
in yellow baboons,
- subordinate males form r/s with females to protect them and their offspring leading to mating preferencesin their favor.
- males form alliances to drive away dominant males.
what are these tactics called?
conditional mating tactics/strategy
what is the conditional mating strategy/tactic of galapagos marine iguana?
smaller males usually removes from females by larger males shortly after mating attempt.
conditional mating tactic:
smaller males have the capacity for pre-copulatory ejaculation, storing thier sperm in a pouch and inseminating female with it immediately upon mounting.
in onthophagus beetle, larger horns mean ____ testes.
these horns are used for 2 things. they are?
what about males that are less nourished? how do they mate? do they produce more or less sperm?
smaller
horns for:
1. dung burrow defense
2. competition
males that are less nourished dont have horns and have a smaller body size, but they have larger testes. they sneak into burrows to fertilise females. they produce more sperm than the horned beetles.
panorpa scorpion flies come in 3 sizes, small, mediuma and large. each size has its own mating strategy. what are they?
small - grab tail and force copulation
medium - secrete saliva as nuptial gift
large - insect prey as nuptial gift
how does an experiment show that scorpion flies use conditional strategies in mating? (3 steps)
1) 10 males placed with 10 females
2) 2 largest males defended best nuptial gifts
3) when they are removes, others switch strategy.
thus these mating strategies are conditional (based on condition).
ruffs have 3 mating strategies. what are they?
these strategies are based on _______ and can never ____.
these are not conditional mating tactics, but _______ mating tactics.
- independents - territorial
- satellites - non-territorial
- faeders - female-mimic
heredity; change
alternative
the yellow baboons and scorpion flies demonstrate ______ mating strategy while the ruffs demonstrates ________ mating strategy.
conditional; alternative
in sponge isopods, when in an experimentally controlled envt, which of the below, alpha, beta or gamma, sired most offspring?
1) alpha, beta and 1 female
2) alpha, beta, and 2 females
3) other conditions
do they demonstrate conditional or alternative strategy in mating?
1) alpha
2) beta
3) gamma
alternative
in bluegill sunfish, what is the alternative mating strategy for bluegill sunfish for the small and medium kind?
territorial male guards nest on lake floor to attract female.
small - wait to sneak in and release sperm onto eggs
medium - has coloration of females and wait for opportunity to slip between territorial male and his mate during spawning
how do male black-winged damselflies deal with sperm competition?
what does the organ responsible for this look like?
male’s sperm transfer organ has lateral horns and spikes that scrub out competing sperm from female’s sperm storage organ, before depositing its own. (90-100% removal rate)
define mate guarding.
males defend females from amting with other males
what is the cost of mate guarding?
time and energy spent on mate guarding instead of finding other mates
what cues the male seychelles warbler that mate guarding is no loner needed?
laying of egg
in blue tits, what is an honest signal of parental care potential?
males with carotenoid-based plummage - more yellow –> selected more by females for mating due to ability for better parental care
in sickle black fish, how do female choose mates?
via ability for better parental care
prefer males that can better take care of eggs by fanning eggs with tail and oxygenating them.
what does the male hanging fly present to his mate?
what is the threshold for its size?
what happens if this threshold is passed?
moths
20mm²
longer copulation time, more sperm transferred
male sacrifices itself in the process of copulation in order to improve probability of fertilization or survival of offspring.
what is this hypothesis called?
name one species that does this.
sexual suicidal hypothesis
redback spider
state the sexual suicidal hypothesis.
male sacrifices itself during copulation to improve probability of survival or fertilisation of offspring.
in the dark fishing spider, females produce offspring that are ___% larger and __x the survivorship if the male is consumed. the male’s sacrifice improve ____ (reproductive capacity/max reproductive output).
20; 2; fecundity
redback spiders (male) are heavily predated by ___ and most never find a ___, so they are adapted to ___ all in 1 partner. (they get eaten by females after copulation - somersaults into their jaw)
ants; mate; invest
what are the 3 models on evolution of exaggerated male ornamentation and displays that provide no resources/parental care?
- good genes - indicative of male quality/viability (offspring may inherit advantages from father)
- runaway selection - sexually attractive [sons inherit attractive trait, daughters inherit majority mate preference (preference for trait, creating feedback loop and causing exaggeration of trait)]
- chase-away selection - exploitative of preexisting sensory biases (females derives no benefit by being choosy)
mating success of satin bowerbirds is higher for those with higher ____.
in ____, quality of male’s tail predicts survivability of any offspring he produces.
these are examples of ____ among the 3 models on evolution of exaggerated male ornamentation and displays that provide no resources/parental care.
cognition
peacocks
good genes
what 2 hypothesis other indirect benefits are there for female mate choices?
- hamilton-Zuk hypothesis
exaggerated traits signal male resistance to parasites & pathogens - immunocompetence hypothesis
exaggerated traits require greater levels of testosterone which requires stronger immune system to cope with higher levels of T
state the hypotheses:
1) exaggerated traits signal male resistance to parasites & pathogens
2) exaggerated traits require greater levels of testosterone which requires stronger immune system to cope with higher levels of T
1) hamilton-Zuk hypothesis
2) immunocompetence hypothesis
give an example each for:
1) hamilton-Zuk hypothesis
2) immunocompetence hypothesis
1) bowerbirds with better bowers have fewer feather mites
2) female crickets respond more to songs of males with strong immune systems
female canaries treated with ____ prior to experiment to simulate interest in mating.
canaries prefer males that can produce song of ___ and _____.
estradiol
broad bandwidth; higher syllable/trill rate
what is runaway selection?
female preference for trait, creating feedback loop and causing exaggeration of trait
define chase-away selection
antagonistic coevolutionary r/s btwn males and females - males’ exaggerated traits that attract females may actually be disadvantageous for the latter
rejection behavior of female can toad is a cryptic female choice/female-driven fertilization bias. describe it
female inflates body to make it difficult for male to grasp her properly which disrupts his ability to fertilise her eggs wen releases them
female-driven fertilization bias aka?
cryptic female choice
how does the stitchbird force copulation?
assault females in neighboring territories and force transfer of sperm
orangutan females prefers ___ males. the other one will force copulation via coercion.
flanged
