Chapter 12 - Mating Behaviour

Question 1

Primary Sexual Characteristics

Answer 1

The genitalia and organs of reproduction

Question 2

Secondary Sexual Characteristics

Answer 2

Morphological differences between the sexes that are not directly involved in reproduction

Question 3

Sexual Selection

Answer 3

Form of natural selection that acts on heritable traits that affect reproduction

Question 4

Mate Competition

Answer 4

situation in which members of the same sex compete for
access to the other sex for reproduction (direct aggressive interactions, contests over breeding territories)
Also called intrasexual selection

Question 5

Mate Choice

Answer 5

Selection by one sex for members of the other sex for reproduction.
Also known as intersexual selection.

Question 6

Anisogamy

Answer 6

The existence of differently
sized gametes (small and large) in the
different sexes.

Question 7

Isogamy

Answer 7

The production of gametes of
the same size by all individuals.

Question 8

Bateman’s Hypothesis

Answer 8

the hypothesis that female reproductive success is most
strongly limited by the number and success of eggs that she can produce, while male reproductive success is
limited by the number of mates he has.

-foundation of sexual selection theory

Question 9

Parental Investment Theory

Answer 9

The hypothesis that the sex that pays the higher cost of parental investment should be choosier when it comes
to mates

• Sex w/ higher cost of PIT = choosier when it comes to mates
• Other sex = more intense sexual selection

Question 10

Operational Sex Ratio

Answer 10

The ratio of the number of sexually receptive males to sexually receptive females in a population

-Large skew in ration in non-caring sex w/ little / no waiting time = greater intensity of sexual selection on that sex

Question 11

Weapons

Answer 11

Exaggerated morphological traits used in competition with
individuals of the same sex (vocalizations, courtship trials)

Question 12

Ornaments

Answer 12

Exaggerated morphological traits used to attract mates

Question 13

Lek

Answer 13

A location where males aggregate and display to females.

Question 14

Sex Role- Reversed Species

Answer 14

A species in which females compete for males that
invest heavily in parental care.

Question 15

Sensory Bias Hypothesis

Answer 15

The hypothesis that female mating preferences are a byproduct of preexisting biases in a female’s sensory system.

Question 16

Direct Maternal Benefits

Answer 16

Material resources obtained by a female from mating with a particular male.

Question 17

Indirect Maternal Benefits

Answer 17

Genetic benefits females can obtain for their offspring by mating with males that have high genetic quality.

Question 18

Nuptial Gift

Answer 18

A physical resource such as a food item that an individual provides to a potential mate to enhance mating success.

Question 19

Runaway Process

Answer 19

An evolutionary process in which a male trait co-evolves with a female preference for it and becomes increasingly exaggerated

Question 20

Handicap Principle

Answer 20

The hypothesis that well-developed secondary sexual characteristics are costly because they handicap survival.

Question 21

Good Genes

Answer 21

The alleles of a high quality individual.

Question 22

Hamilton-Zuk Hypothesis

Answer 22

The hypothesis that parasites and pathogens
play an important role in sexual selection when secondary sexual traits are costly and condition dependent.

Question 23

Sperm competition

Answer 23

A situation that occurs when the sperm of different males compete to fertilize eggs

Question 24

Mate guarding

Answer 24

A behavior in which a male remains close to his mate to
prevent her from mating with rivals.

Question 25

Extra-Pair Young

Answer 25

Offspring of a pair bonded female produced outside the pair bond by a third-party male

Question 26

Cryptic Female Choice

Answer 26

A situation that occurs when a female influences the fertilization success of sperm from one male over that from others.

Question 27

Alternate Reproductive Tactics

Answer 27

The existence of multiple behavioral mating phenotypes in a population.

Question 28

Conditional Strategy

Answer 28

A strategy that an individual chooses based on its condition.

Question 29

Mate choice copying

Answer 29

A situation in which one individual observes and copies the mating decisions of another individual.

Question 30

Alternative Mating Tactics

Answer 30

Multiple behavioural mating phenotypes in a population

Question 31

Satellite Male

Answer 31

Alternative, parasitic mating tactic in which a male remains near a bourgeois male to intercept females that are attracted to the bourgeois male

Question 32

Sneaker Male

Answer 32

Alternative, parasitic mating tactic in which a male attempts to avoid detection so that he can quickly enter a bourgeois territory to fertilize eggs being deposited in a nest

Question 33

Conditional Strategy

Answer 33

The flexibility with which one chooses a particular strategy based on an individual’s condition

Question 34

ESS (Evolutionary Stable Strategy)

Answer 34

A strategy that, if adopted by individuals in a population, cannot be trumped by another strategy because it yields the highest fitness