Biology of Sex - Lecture Review

A set of vocabulary flashcards based on the lecture notes covering various mating systems, reproductive strategies, and evolutionary hypotheses related to sex.

Polyandry

A reproductive strategy involving one female and multiple males, allowing the female multiple mating options to ensure reproductive success.

Lekking

A mating behavior where males aggregate in specific areas called leks to display for females, competing for mating opportunities.

Hotshot model

A hypothesis explaining lek formation where inferior males establish territories near dominantly attractive males to intercept females.

Kin selection

An evolutionary strategy favoring the reproductive success of an organism’s relatives, even at a cost to the organism's own survival and reproduction.

Predation protection

The hypothesis suggesting that joining mixed-species leks can reduce the risk of predation for male prairie chickens.

Classical Polyandry

Occurs when a female mates with multiple males, with these males raising their own progeny without assistance.

Cooperative Polyandry

A social structure where multiple males and a female cooperate in raising offspring, often seen in species like marmosets.

Convenience Polyandry

A strategy employed by females to mate with multiple males to avoid harmful mating harassment.

Resource Defense Polyandry

A mating system where females defend territories that include the territories of their male partners.

Polygynandry

A mating system involving multiple males and females mating with each other, which may decrease the risk of infanticide.

Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC)

A group of genes important for immune response, involved in mate choice to avoid inbreeding.

Forced Copulation

A reproductive strategy where males copulate with females against their will, commonly seen in certain species of birds and frogs.

Mate guarding

A tactic where males increase their proximity to females during their fertile period to prevent other males from mating with them.

Sperm Competition

The competition between sperm from different males for fertilization of a female's eggs, increasing the fertilization success of the male.

Red Queen Hypothesis

An evolutionary concept suggesting an ongoing arms race between hosts and pathogens, resulting in adaptations through sexual reproduction.