Primate Mating Systems
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- How can males reduce the costs of dispersal?
- Scoping out neighboring groups before leaving, banding together in all-male groups, transfering to groups that already contain their kin.
- How do females protect against infanticide?
- Mating with multiple partners (males will not kill the infant of a female they have mated with), developing relationships with other males (as in baboon "friendships"), and trying to defend their young (this is unsuccessful because in populations where in
- What are the three traits favored by intersexual selection?
- Traits that increase the fitness of their mates, traits that indicate good genes, and nonadaptive traits that make males conspicuous.
- What are the two types of sexual selection?
- Intrasexual (from competition between males) and Intersexual (from female choice.)
- What is a Benefit?
- Something that has a positive effect on reproductive success, such as saving one's young from danger.
- What is a Cost?
- Something that has a negative effect on reproductive success, such as giving away food or defending a kin in a fight.
- What is Altruism?
- Altruism is when an animal performs an act that increase the fitness of others but decreases the animal's own fitness.
- What is Hamilton's Rule?
- B*R>C When B= Benefit to recipient R= Relatedness coefficient C= Cost to benefactor
- What is Sexual Selection?
- The selection for traits that increase male sexual success.
- What is the Coefficient of Relatedness?
- The fraction of genetic material shared between two individuals. **R is highest with self, at R=1**
- What is the female reproductive trade-off?
- Females must make a trade-off between the number of offspring they can have and the quality of care they can provide.
- What is the Parent-Offspring conflict?
- The conflict arising because of the asymmetry in genetic interests of mothers and their offspring. (i.e., infants want to continue to be taken care of but mothers want to make more infants.)
- What is the relatedness coefficient between cousins?
- Full: 12.5%, Half: 6.25%.
- What is the relatedness coefficient between parents, offspring, and full siblings?
- 1/2
- What kinds of traits are favored by Intrasexual selection?
- Large body size, large canines, ability to fight. Intrasexual selection increases sexual dimorphism.
- When is increased sperm production favored?
- In multimale multifemale groups where females mate with several males.
- When will males provide extra effort towards raising their offspring?
- When females are widely distributed.
- Why are females obligated to their young?
- Because they lactate and can thus produce very few offspring. They few they produce, they must do everything possible for.
- Why do high-ranking females produce more offspring?
- Because they have better access to food and their offspring survive more often.
- Why is dimorphism most evident in groups where there are more females and few males?
- Because natural populations have equal male and female populations, so in many-female, few-male groups, bachelor males exert constant pressure.
- Why is infanticide a male reproductive strategy?
- Because killing a female's infant causes her to stop lactating and ovulate again. Also, it ensures that the offspring is his.
- Why is male sexual selection so strong?
- Because male reproductive success is more varied than female reproductive success.
- Why is sexual selection different than normal selection?
- Because it sometimes selects for traits that are nonadaptive, such as a peacock's tail.