Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Many animal species have specific mating (or breeding) periods e.g. (seasonal breeding) so that offspring are born or hatch at an optimal time. In marine species with limited mobility and external fertilisation like corals , sea urchins and clams , the timing of the common spawning is the only externally visible form of sexual behaviour.
The selection factors in favor of different mating strategies for a species of animal, however, may potentially operate on a large number of factors throughout that animal's life cycle. For instance, with many species of bear, the female will often drive a male off soon after mating, and will later guard her cubs from him.
Therefore, mating before each oviposition is not necessary. There is no significant overall benefit for females in multiple matings; large females are at an advantage due to their ability to resist unnecessary matings. [21] As a result of multiple male mating, multiple paternities were observed in species as a result of convenience polyandry. [4]
Alternative mating strategies have been observed among both male and female animals. [3] Most typically, alternative strategies will be adopted in the face of competition within a sex, especially in species that mate multiply. In these scenarios, some individuals will adopt very different mating strategies to achieve reproductive success. [4]
Copulation is the union of the sex organs of two sexually reproducing animals for insemination and subsequent internal fertilization. [2] Mating may also lead to external fertilization, as seen in amphibians, fishes and plants. For most species, mating is between two individuals of opposite sexes.
Gorilla Great reed warbler. When two animals mate, they both share an interest in the success of the offspring, though often to different extremes. Unless the male and female are perfectly monogamous, meaning that they mate for life and take no other partners, even after the original mate's death, the amount of parental care will vary. [7]
Males of many species simply grab the females and force a mating. Coercive mating is very common in water striders because in most of the species, the female genitalia are often exposed and easily accessible to males. [3] Without any courtship behavior, males initiate by forcefully trying to mount the females.
The temptation to draw conclusions about what is "natural" for human sexual behavior from observations of animal mating systems should be resisted: a socio-biologist observing the kinds of behavior shown by humans in any other species would conclude that all known mating systems were natural for that species, depending on the circumstances or ...