Mating | animal behavior (original) (raw)

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Assorted References

• chemoreception
  • 
    In chemoreception: Terrestrial vertebrates
    …organ for habitat selection and mating, using the snout to make deliberate contact with the object being investigated. These animals have a narrow groove close to each nostril that connects the upper lip with the nostril. During nose tapping, fluid moves along the grooves by capillary action and is driven,…
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  • 
    In chemoreception: Sex-attractant pheromones
    …that is characteristic of the mating pattern of the species.
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  • 
    In chemoreception: Sex recognition
    …off onto the female during mating, and this changes her wax chemistry so that she is no longer attractive. Females of the vinegar fly, Drosophila, lose their attractiveness after mating by secreting wax with a different chemical profile.
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  • 
    In chemoreception: Individual recognition
    …different from their own; thus, mating tends to occur between individuals with different MHCs. In order to detect different MHCs, an individual must be aware that a potential partner has a distinct smell. In mice the odour of the family in which they are reared becomes imprinted early in development.…
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• communication
  • 
    In animal communication: Signal design rules
    …also serve to coordinate the mating act. The range of a courtship signal should be small not only because the sender and receiver are close but also because the mating couple does not want to attract interlopers or predators. Therefore, in most cases, sounds, movements, and scents are low in…
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• conservation and extinction factors
  • 
    In conservation: Mating systems
    Small populations suffer from inbreeding, an inevitable tendency of mating individuals in a small isolated population to be more closely related than they would be in a larger one. When population size is severely reduced, inbreeding may be the final insult that will…
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• courtship behaviour
  • 
    In courtship
    …animals, behaviour that results in mating and eventual reproduction. Courtship may be rather simple, involving a small number of chemical, visual, or auditory stimuli; or it may be a highly complex series of acts by two or more individuals, using several modes of communication.
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• display behaviour
  • In display behaviour
    Some mating displays evolve from food-giving behaviours; the male bobwhite quail gives a food call and offers a tidbit to his potential mate. In many birds the food-giving behaviour is completely ritualized and proceeds without any exchange of food; domestic cocks, for example, call and peck…
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• heredity and evolution
  • 
    In heredity: Nonrandom mating
    …engage in alternatives to random mating as normal parts of their cycle of sexual reproduction. An important exception is sexual selection, in which an individual chooses a mate on the basis of some aspect of the mate’s phenotype. The selection can be based on some display feature such as bright…
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• hypothalamic functions
  • 
    In human nervous system: Mating
    The total act of copulation is organized in the anterior part of the hypothalamus and the neighboring septal region. In the male, erection of the penis and the ejaculation of semen are organized in this area, which is adjacent to the area that controls…
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• major references
  • In reproductive behaviour
    activity directed toward perpetuation of a species. The enormous range of animal reproductive modes is matched by the variety of reproductive behaviour.
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  • In sex: Differentiation of the sexes
    …in pairs, nor is such mating practiced.
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  • In sex: Seasonal or periodic sexual cycles
    …this, the time of the mating season is clearly regulated, both with regard to the physiological condition of the animal and to the environmental conditions. The urge and capacity to mate depends on the ripeness of the gonads, male or female. In most animals, the reproductive glands wax and wane…
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• melatonin regulation
  • In melatonin
    …acts as a breeding and mating cue, since it is produced in greater amounts in response to the longer nights of winter and less so during summer. Animals who time their mating or breeding to coincide with favorable seasons (such as spring) may depend on melatonin production as a kind…
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• sperm competition
  • In sperm competition
    …are best thought of as mating effort (that is, effort directed at increasing the number of offspring a male sires), because they are usually not available at the time of birth or hatching to benefit the offspring sired by the male presenting the gift. The male’s paternity and the number…
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animal behaviour

• 
  In animal behaviour: Sensory-motor mechanisms
  …when these fish defend their mating territories in the springtime against intrusions from rival male sticklebacks. The males differ from all other objects and forms of life in their environment in a special way: they possess an intensely red throat and belly, which serve as signals to females and other…
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• 
  In animal behaviour: Adaptive design
  …to study the diversity of mating systems, specifically among various species of African antelope. In some species, such as the dik-dik (Madoqua), individuals are solitary and cryptic; however, during mating season, they form conspicuous monogamous pairs. Others, such as the black wildebeest (Connochaetes taurinus), form enormous herds. During the breeding
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• 
  In animal behaviour: Character mapping
  …secondary sexual characteristics and female mating preferences in several taxa, such as Central American frogs (Physalaemus) and swordtail fishes (Xiphophorus). In the frogs, electrophysiological studies of present-day species indicate that females have identical auditory preferences regardless of the acoustic characteristics of the mating calls of the males. The most parsimonious…
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• 
  In human evolution: Learning from the apes
  …are fundamentally promiscuous, though such mating behaviour is heavily proscribed by the cultures into which individuals are born and reside. Indeed, theorists who wish to construct models of the emergence of hominin societies on the basis of extant ape societies seldom tackle the overriding fact that humans utilize a wide…
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arachnid

• 
  In arachnid: Reproduction and life cycle
  In most cases the male does not transfer spermatozoa directly to the female but rather initiates courtship rituals in which the female is induced to accept the gelatinous sperm capsule (spermatophore). During mating the sperm are transferred to a sac (spermatheca)…
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• mites and ticks
  • 
    In acarid: Reproduction and life cycle
    The sexes occur separately in acarids; i.e., there are both males and females. Most species lay eggs (oviparity), but in some parasitic ones the eggs hatch within the female, and the young are born alive. Many species also can reproduce by…
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• scorpions
  • 
    In scorpion: Reproduction and life cycle
    Mating in scorpions is preceded by a complicated and characteristic courtship initiated by the male. He first faces and grasps the female, using his pincers (pedipalps). Then the pair, directed by the male, moves sideways and backward in a dancelike motion called promenade à deux.…
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• spiders
  • 
    In spider: Mating
    In most groups, after a male has successfully approached a female and mounted her, he inserts his left pedipalp into the left opening of her genital structure and the right pedipalp into the right opening. In some primitive spiders (e.g., haplogynes, mygalomorphs) and a…
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insect

• cricket
  • 
    In sound reception: Behavioral observations
    …elaborate of these experiments, 1,600 sexually receptive females were released around the periphery of a large enclosed area in the middle of which had been placed a cage containing one or more chirping males. Precise data concerning the frequency with which the females moved toward the cage were obtained by…
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• damselfly
  • 
    In damselfly
    In some species mating is preceded by elaborate courtship by the male. In two families the male hovers in front of the female while displaying his brightly coloured wings, abdomen, or legs, sometimes in combination. To mate, damselflies join together in the “wheel” position and commonly fly in…
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• dragonflies
  • 
    In dragonfly: Life cycle and reproduction
    Dragonflies, like damselflies, exhibit a mating posture unique to the Odonata. The male and female contort themselves into the “wheel” position before sperm is transferred. Before and after mating, dragonflies often fly in tandem, with the male towing the female in flight using claspers at the tip of his abdomen…
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• mosquito
  • 
    In sound reception: Antennae and antennal organs
    …and finds the female for mating. For the male yellow fever mosquito, the most effective (i.e., apparently best heard) frequency has been found to be 384 hertz, or cycles per second, which is in the middle of the frequency range of the hum of females of this species. The antennae…
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• orthopteran
  • 
    In orthopteran: Hormones
    …functions that combine to control mating and egg production. Frequently, dorsal abdominal glands of the male aid in attracting the female to a mating position. In several cases, once a female has mated and an ootheca is being carried, mechanical pressure of the ootheca causes a stimulation to be transmitted…
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• water striders
  • 
    In water strider
    To increase mating opportunities, males counterevolved a strategy of vibrational signaling that attracts both females and predators. During copulation the female floats on the water’s surface with the male mounted on her back; this leaves the female more susceptible to predators than the male. The males’ strategy…
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mammal

• 
  In perissodactyl: Courtship and mating
  Courtship is relatively simple among the social equids. The true ass is apparently exceptional. The partners are strangers when the first approaches are made and the female requires violent subjugation by the male, which bites, kicks, and chases her before she will stand for…
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• anseriforms

  • 
    In anseriform: Behaviour
    This is necessary if mating with closely related and coexisting species is to be avoided. Swans and geese cement the pair bond by a “triumph ceremony,” with mutual head waving and calling, typically when the male has driven off an intruder. Male sheldgeese have a puffing, strutting display. Their…
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• bighorn sheep

  • 
    In bighorn sheep
    …predators, but ewes prefer to mate with dominant rams. Young rams cannot compete until their horns have reached full curl at seven or eight years of age. Bighorns can live 20 years or more, but life expectancy may be only six or seven years in populations that are reproducing rapidly.
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• bonobos

  • 
    In bonobo
    …and females, old and young, mate and use a variety of sexual behaviours to promote social bonding. Female bonobos are sexually active for more of the time than their chimpanzee counterparts; they bear offspring at roughly five-year intervals and resume copulating with males within a year of giving birth. Bonobos…
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• bovids

  • 
    In bovid: Social organization
    Whether the mating system is territorial or based on a male dominance hierarchy may be linked to phylogeny. The members of the subfamilies Caprinae and Bovinae, which appear to have separated from the main bovid line very early, are virtually all nonterritorial. For the rest, the Antilopinae…
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• cetaceans

  • 
    In cetacean: Courtship and mating
    Sexual behaviour starts early in cetaceans. Young dolphins engage in exploratory sexual behaviour involving their mothers and other members of the school. Self-stimulation is common in both sexes. Male cetaceans perhaps use their penises as a manipulation organ in much the same way that…
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• hippopotamus

  • 
    In hippopotamus: Reproduction and life cycle
    …however, initiate most of the mating.
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• lion

  • 
    In lion: Reproduction and life cycle
    Both sexes are polygamous and breed throughout the year, but females are usually restricted to the one or two adult males of their pride. In captivity lions often breed every year, but in the wild they usually breed no more than once in two years. Females are receptive to mating…
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• meerkat

  • 
    In meerkat
    …to prevent other males from mating. There is also a dominant female that produces more litters than other females. Meerkats are unusual among carnivores in that the pups are raised with the assistance of adults other than the parents. In the wild, a female bears one or occasionally two litters…
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• moose

  • 
    In moose
    Moose mate in September so that the calves may be born in June to take advantage of spring vegetation. The antlers are shed of the blood-engorged skin called velvet in late August, and the bulls are in rut by the first week of September. Rutting bulls…
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• orangutan

  • 
    In orangutan: Reproduction
    Most mating takes place in the context of consortships that last 3 to 10 days and are correlated with ovulation. Subadult males often forcibly copulate with females at times other than during ovulation.
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• platypus

  • 
    In platypus: Life cycle and reproduction
    Courtship and mating take place in the water from late winter through spring; timing varies with latitude, mating occurring earlier in the more northern parts of the range and later in the more southerly regions. Mating is a strenuous affair; in one recorded session the male was…
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• puma

  • 
    In puma: Natural history
    …are both solitary except for breeding associations lasting one to six days. Pumas are usually silent, but during this time they emit long, frightening screams intermittently for several hours. Pumas breed throughout the year, with a summer peak in births at higher latitudes. The interval between births is about two…
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• tiger

  • 
    In tiger: Natural history
    …readiness of a tigress to mate is announced through vocalization and scent production. There is no fixed breeding season, though the preponderance of mating appears to occur in winter, with striped cubs being born after a gestation period of more than three months. The normal litter size is two to…
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• zebra

  • 
    In zebra
    Two types of mating systems are observed in zebras. Like the horse, the mountain and the plains zebras live in small family groups consisting of a stallion and several mares with their foals. The females that form the harem are unrelated. The harem remains intact even when the…
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• animal social behvaiour

  • 
    In animal social behaviour: The range of social behaviour in animals
    Mating behaviour in animals includes the signaling of intent to mate, the attraction of mates, courtship, copulation, postcopulatory behaviours that protect a male’s paternity, and parental behaviour. Parental behaviour ranges from none to vigilant care by both parents and even by additional group members. Biologists…
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  • 
    In animal social behaviour: Social interactions involving sex
    Mating behaviour describes the social interactions involved in joining gametes (that is, eggs and sperm) in the process of fertilization. In most marine organisms, planktonic gametes are shed (or broadcast) into the sea where they float on the tides and have a small but finite…
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  • 
    In animal social behaviour: Social interactions involving sex
    As a result, mating is not a simple cooperative endeavour. On the contrary, male and female interests often conflict each step of the way, from mating to allocation of parental effort. The end result of these conflicts has been an extraordinary diversity of sexual ornaments, sexual signals, genital…
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• cephalopod

  • 
    In cephalopod: Reproduction and life cycles
    …is highly modified and in mating is autotomized (self-amputated) and left within the mantle cavity of the female. In the squids a much larger section of the arm may be modified; often the suckers are degenerate and the distal half of the arm bears rows of slender papillae, although special…
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• dunnock

  • 
    In dunnock
    …noted for an exceptionally flexible mating and territorial system that reflects food density. They may be monogamous, polygamous, or polyandrous. Where food is plentiful, one male may overlap the territories of two or more females. When it is scarce, females have larger territories that overlap with two or more males.
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• malacostracan

  • 
    In malacostracan: Reproduction and life cycles
    Mating (copulation) is very brief, often completed in a few seconds and usually following the reproductive molt of the female, when her exoskeleton is still soft. The eggs are fertilized as they are extruded from the oviductal opening on the sternum of the sixth thoracic…
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• marine organisms

  • 
    In marine ecosystem: Migrations of marine organisms
    …to different habitats or find mates by swimming when visual predators find it hard to see them. In some cases only one sex will emerge at night, and often that sex is morphologically better suited for swimming.
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• mollusk

  • 
    In mollusk: Reproduction and life cycles
    …whereas in some cephalopod species mating or egg laying appears to be rapidly followed by death effected by hormones.
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• penguins

  • 
    In penguin: Reproduction
    …year and generally rejoins its mate of the previous year, unless the death of the latter forces it to choose another partner. This applies even to the emperor penguin, which is capable of finding its mate despite the absence of a nest and the large size of the colony.
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• tuataras

  • 
    In tuatara: Natural history
    …of the fairy prion, the mating season for the tuatara occurs. During this period, social interactions between tuatara increase. A male defends his territory by inflating his body, erecting the crest on his head and neck, and shaking his head. Close encounters between males result in a sequence of mouth-gaping…
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