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Alternative Mating Strategy
An alternative mating strategy is a strategy used by male or female animals, often with distinct phenotypes, that differs from the prevailing mating strategy of their sex. Such strategies are diverse and variable both across and within species. Animal sexual behaviour and mate choice directly affect social structure and relationships in many different mating systems, whether monogamous, polygamous, polyandrous, or polygynous. Though males and females in a given population typically employ a predominant reproductive strategy based on the overarching mating system, individuals of the same sex often use different mating strategies. Among some reptiles, frogs and fish, large males defend females, while small males may use sneaking tactics to mate without being noticed. Strategies and selection Alternative mating strategies have been observed among both male and female animals. Most typically, alternative strategies will be adopted in the face of competition within a sex, especially in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Animal Sexual Behaviour
Animal sexual behaviour takes many different forms, including within the same species. Common mating or Reproduction, reproductively motivated systems include Monogamous pairing in animals, monogamy, Polygyny in animals, polygyny, Polyandry in nature, polyandry, polygamy and promiscuity. Other sexual behaviour may be reproductively motivated (e.g. Sexual coercion among animals, sex apparently due to duress or coercion and situational sexual behaviour) or Non-reproductive sexual behavior in animals, non-reproductively motivated (e.g. Homosexual behavior in animals, homosexual sexual behaviour, bisexuality, bisexual sexual behaviour, cross-species sex, Paraphilia, sexual arousal from objects or places, Necrophilia in animals, sex with dead animals, etc.). When animal sexual behaviour is reproductively motivated, it is often termed ''mating'' or ''Copulation (zoology), copulation''; for most non-human mammals, mating and copulation occur at Estrous cycle, oestrus (the most ferti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Evolutionarily Stable Strategy
An evolutionarily stable strategy (ESS) is a strategy (or set of strategies) that is ''impermeable'' when adopted by a population in adaptation to a specific environment, that is to say it cannot be displaced by an alternative strategy (or set of strategies) which may be novel or initially rare. Introduced by John Maynard Smith and George R. Price in 1972/3, it is an important concept in behavioural ecology, evolutionary psychology, mathematical game theory and economics, with applications in other fields such as anthropology, philosophy and political science. In game-theoretical terms, an ESS is an equilibrium refinement of the Nash equilibrium, being a Nash equilibrium that is also "evolutionarily stable." Thus, once fixed in a population, natural selection alone is sufficient to prevent alternative ( mutant) strategies from replacing it (although this does not preclude the possibility that a better strategy, or set of strategies, will emerge in response to selective pre ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Polistes Canadensis
''Polistes canadensis'' is a species of red paper wasp found in the Neotropical realm. It is a primitively eusocial wasp as a member of the subfamily Polistinae. A largely predatory species, it hunts for caterpillar meat to supply its colony, often supplementing its developing larvae with nectar. The most widely distributed American species of the genus ''Polistes'', it colonises multiple combs, which it rears year-round. Emerging from hibernation in the spring, the females found nests built out of plant material such as dry grass and dead wood. These nests are not covered with an envelope and feature hexagonal cells in which eggs are laid and larvae develop. The ''Polistes canadensis'' colony divides its colony among several combs and does not reuse these combs as a defense mechanism against parasites such as the tineid moth. A single female queen with, on average, 9.1 foundresses, usually initiates the construction of new combs and cells to form nests. The more foundresses in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Xiphophorus Multilineatus
''Xiphophorus multilineatus'' is a fish in the family Poeciliidae. It is endemic to a small part of the Pánuco River The Pánuco River ( es, Río Pánuco, ), also known as the ''Río de Canoas'', is a river in Mexico fed by several tributaries including the Moctezuma River and emptying into the Gulf of Mexico. The river is approximately long and passes throu ... basin in Mexican. References multilineatus Taxa named by Mary Rauchenberger Taxa named by Klaus D. Kallman Taxa named by Donald Charles Morizot Fish described in 1990 {{Cyprinodontiformes-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Herichthys Minckleyi
The Minckley's cichlid (''Herichthys minckleyi'') is a species of fish in the family Cichlidae. It is endemic to Cuatro Ciénegas in Coahuila, Mexico. The specific name honours the ichthyologist Wendell L. Minckley (1935-2001) of Arizona State University who studied the ecology of Cuatro Ciénegas. References Minckley's cichlid The Minckley's cichlid (''Herichthys minckleyi'') is a species of fish in the family Cichlidae. It is endemic to Cuatro Ciénegas in Coahuila, Mexico. The specific name honours the ichthyologist Wendell L. Minckley (1935-2001) of Arizona State U ... Endemic fish of Mexico Freshwater fish of Mexico Cuatrociénegas Municipality Natural history of Coahuila Cichlid fish of North America Endangered fish Endangered biota of Mexico Fish described in 1983 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Cichlidae-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Elephant Seal
Elephant seals are very large, oceangoing earless seals in the genus ''Mirounga''. Both species, the northern elephant seal (''M. angustirostris'') and the southern elephant seal (''M. leonina''), were hunted to the brink of extinction for oil by the end of the 19th century, but their numbers have since recovered. They are the largest extant carnivorans, weighing up to . The northern elephant seal, somewhat smaller than its southern relative, ranges over the Pacific coast of the U.S., Canada and Mexico. The most northerly breeding location on the Pacific Coast is at Race Rocks, at the southern tip of Vancouver Island in the Strait of Juan de Fuca. The southern elephant seal is found in the Southern Hemisphere on islands such as South Georgia and Macquarie Island, and on the coasts of New Zealand, South Africa, and Argentina in the Peninsula Valdés. In southern Chile, there is a small colony of 120 animals at Jackson Bay (''Bahía Jackson'') in Admiralty Sound (''Seno Almira ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Red Deer
The red deer (''Cervus elaphus'') is one of the largest deer species. A male red deer is called a stag or hart, and a female is called a hind. The red deer inhabits most of Europe, the Caucasus Mountains region, Anatolia, Iran, and parts of western Asia. It also inhabits the Atlas Mountains of Northern Africa; its early ancestors are thought to have crossed over to Morocco, then to Algeria, Libya and Tunisia via the Strait of Gibraltar, becoming the only species of true deer ( Cervidae) to inhabit Africa. Red deer have been introduced to other areas, including Australia, New Zealand, the United States, Canada, Peru, Uruguay, Chile and Argentina. In many parts of the world, the meat (venison) from red deer is used as a food source. Red deer are ruminants, characterized by a four-chambered stomach. Genetic evidence indicates that the red deer, as traditionally defined, is a species group, rather than a single species, though exactly how many species the group includes remains ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Harem (zoology)
A harem is an animal group consisting of one or two males, a number of females, and their offspring. The dominant male drives off other males and maintains the unity of the group. If present, the second male is subservient to the dominant male. As juvenile males grow, they leave the group and roam as solitary individuals or join bachelor herds. Females in the group may be inter-related. The dominant male mates with the females as they become sexually active and drives off competitors, until he is displaced by another male. In some species, incoming males that achieve dominant status may commit infanticide. For the male, the primary benefit of the harem system is obtaining exclusive access to a group of mature females. The females benefit from being in a stable social group and the associated benefits of grooming, predator avoidance and cooperative defense of territory. The disadvantages for the male are the energetic costs of gaining or defending a harem which may leave him with ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Reproductive Fitness
Fitness (often denoted w or ω in population genetics models) is the quantitative representation of individual reproductive success. It is also equal to the average contribution to the gene pool of the next generation, made by the same individuals of the specified genotype or phenotype. Fitness can be defined either with respect to a genotype or to a phenotype in a given environment or time. The fitness of a genotype is manifested through its phenotype, which is also affected by the developmental environment. The fitness of a given phenotype can also be different in different selective environments. With asexual reproduction, it is sufficient to assign fitnesses to genotypes. With sexual reproduction, recombination scrambles alleles into different genotypes every generation; in this case, fitness values can be assigned to alleles by averaging over possible genetic backgrounds. Natural selection tends to make alleles with higher fitness more common over time, resulting in Darwinia ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gouldian Finch
The Gouldian finch (''Chloebia gouldiae''), also known as the Lady Gouldian finch, Gould's finch or the rainbow finch, is a colourful passerine bird that is native to Australia. Taxonomy The Gouldian finch was described by British ornithological artist John Gould in 1844 as ''Amadina gouldiae'', in honour of his deceased wife Elizabeth. The specimens were sent to him by Benjamin Bynoe although they had been described some years before by Jacques Bernard Hombron and Honoré Jacquinot. It is also known as the rainbow finch, Gould's finch, or the Lady Gouldian finch and sometimes just Gould. The Gouldian finch is sister to the parrotfinches in the genus '' Erythrura''. Description Both sexes are brightly coloured with black, green, yellow, and red markings. The females tend to be less brightly coloured. One major difference between the sexes is that the male's chest is purple, while the female's is a lighter mauve. Gouldian finches are about 125–140 mm long. Gouldia ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Uta Stansburiana
The common side-blotched lizard (''Uta stansburiana'') is a species of side-blotched lizard in the family Phrynosomatidae. The species is native to dry regions of the western United States and northern Mexico. It is notable for having a unique form of polymorphism wherein each of the three different male morphs utilizes a different strategy in acquiring mates. The three morphs compete against each other following a pattern of rock paper scissors, where one morph has advantages over another but is outcompeted by the third. Etymology The specific epithet, ''stansburiana'', is in honor of Captain Howard Stansbury of the US Corps of Topographical Engineers, who collected the first specimens while leading the 1849-1851 expedition to explore and survey the Great Salt Lake of Utah. Taxonomy The systematics and taxonomy of the widespread and variable lizards of the genus ''Uta'' is much disputed. Countless forms and morphs have been described as subspecies or even distinct specie ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dytiscidae
The Dytiscidae – based on the Greek ''dytikos'' (δυτικός), "able to dive" – are the predaceous diving beetles, a family of water beetles. They occur in virtually any freshwater habitat around the world, but a few species live among leaf litter. The adults of most are between long, though much variation is seen between species. The European '' Dytiscus latissimus'' and Brazilian '' Megadytes ducalis'' are the largest, reaching up to and respectively. In contrast, the smallest is likely the Australian '' Limbodessus atypicali'' of subterranean waters, which only is about long. Most are dark brown, blackish, or dark olive in color with golden highlights in some subfamilies. The larvae are commonly known as water tigers due to their voracious appetite. They have short, but sharp mandibles and immediately upon biting, they deliver digestive enzymes into prey to suck their liquefied remains. The family includes more than 4,000 described species in numerous genera ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
