Sexual Selection And Human Reproductive Behaviour

Question 1

What is sexual selection and what does it involve?

Answer 1

• an evolutionary explanation of partner preference.
• attributes or behaviours that increase reproductive success are passed on and may become exaggerated over succeeding generations of offspring.

Question 2

What does anisogamy refer to?

Answer 2

• the differences between male and female sex cells (gametes)

Question 3

What are male gametes like?

Answer 3

• extremely small, highly mobile, created continuously in vast numbers from puberty to old age and do not require a great expenditure of energy to produce.

Question 4

What are female gametes like?

Answer 4

• relatively large, static, produced at intervals for a limited number of fertile years and require a huge investment of energy.

Question 5

What is a consequence of anisogamy for mate selection?

Answer 5

• there is no shortage of fertile males but there is a shortage of fertile females.

Question 6

What two mating strategies does anisogamy give rise to?

Answer 6

• inter-sexual selection and intra-sexual selection.

Question 7

What is inter-sexual selection?

Answer 7

• between the sexes, the strategies used by makes to select females and vice versa

Question 8

What is intra-sexual selection?

Answer 8

• within each sex, such as the strategies between males to be the one that is selected.

Question 9

What is the preferred strategy of the female?

Answer 9

• inter-sexual selection

Question 10

Why is inter-sexual selection the preferred strategy of the female?

Answer 10

• ova are rarer than sperm and require greater energy to produce

Question 11

What did Trivers emphasise?

Answer 11

• the female makes a greater investment of time, commitment and other resources, before, during and after the birth of her offspring.

Question 12

Why are females more choosy with their partner preference?

Answer 12

• the consequences of making a wrong partner choice are far more serious for the female than the male

Question 13

What is a females optimum mating strategy?

Answer 13

• to select a genetically fit partner who is able and willing to provide resources, this leaves the males competing for the opportunity to mate with the fertile female.

Question 14

What does the female preference for a fit mate determine?

Answer 14

• which features are passed on to the offspring.

Question 15

What is the preferred mating strategy of a male?

Answer 15

• intra-sexual selection

Question 16

In intra-sexual selection, what does the winner of the competition be able to do?

Answer 16

• mate with a female and reproduce and gets to pass on his characteristics that contributed to his victory to his offspring.

Question 17

According to anisogamy, what is a males optimum mating strategy?

Answer 17

• to mate with as many fertile females as possible

Question 18

What is a behavioural consequence of the preferred male strategy for mating?

Answer 18

• a distinct preference for youth and a sensitivity to the indicators of youth as well as fertility