Animal Reproduction - Reproductive Behavior, Gestation, and Lactation

Flashcards for reviewing reproductive behavior in animals, covering precopulatory, copulatory, and postcopulatory stages, hormonal influences, and sensory stimuli.

Reproductive behavior

An obligatory component of the reproductive process, consisting of precopulatory, copulatory, and postcopulatory stages.

Attractivity

Behaviors and signals that attract males, such as postures, vocalizations, and pheromones.

Proceptivity

Behaviors exhibited by females toward males that stimulate copulation or reinitiate sexual behavior.

Receptivity

Copulatory behavior of females that ensures insemination, such as lordosis.

Physical Activity During Estrus

Increased locomotion, exploration, and vocalization by females around the time of estrus or ovulation.

Courtship-Specific Behaviors

Sniffing, urination, flehmen behavior, chin resting, and circling demonstrated during courtship.

Copulatory Behaviors

Mounting, intromission, and ejaculation are the following events.

Refractory Period

A period of time after copulation during which a second copulation will not take place.

Sexual Differentiation during Embryogenesis

The brain is programmed to be either male or female under the influence of estradiol or testosterone.

Functions served by Precopulatory, copulatory and postcopulatory behaviors in the female

Attractivity, proceptivity, and receptivity.

Gonadal Steroids

An obligatory event for normal reproductive behavior in males and females.

Primary sensory inputs that initiate Reproductive behavior

Olfaction, vision, audition, and tactility

Flehmen Response

Curling of the upper lip to restrict nasal airflow and aspirate fluids into the vomeronasal organ.

Requirements for Penile Erection

Elevated arterial blood inflow, dilation of corporal sinusoids, restricted venous outflow, elevated intrapenile pressure, and relaxation of the retractor penis muscle.

Nitric oxide (NO)

Is a gas, released by nonadrenergic, noncholonergic (NANC) parasympathetic neurons, is the principal neurotransmitter that drives the erectile process.

Ejaculation

Expulsion of semen from the penis into the female reproductive tract.

Ways to Enhance Reproductive Behavior

Introducing novel stimulus animals and changing stimulus settings.

Coolidge Effect

Restoration of mating behavior in males (that have reached sexual satiation) when the original female is replaced by a novel female

False-Mounting

Manually deviating the penis during a mount so that intromission cannot occur.

Sexual Preparation

Extending the period of sexual stimulation beyond that needed for mounting and ejaculation.

Pheromones in females

Vaginal and urinary secretions from females in estrus that smell different to the male than secretions from females not in estrus.

Series of different environments that spermatozoa are exposed to following deposition

A series of environments, such as traversing the cervix, capacitation, and the acrosome reaction.

Spermatozoa are lost from the female tract by

Phagocytosis by neutrophils and retrograde transport

Spermatozoal transport phases

Rapid transport phase and sustained transport phase

Privileged pathways

Sialomucins

Spermatozoa

Must reside in the female tract before they acquire maximum fertility.

Changes that allow spermatozoa to become fertile

Spermatozoal capacitation

Sequence of Events Leading to Fertilization

Acquisition of hyperactive motility, Binding to zona pellucida, Acrosomal reaction, Sperm-oocyte membrane fusion, Sperm engulfed and Decondensation of sperm nucleus

Acrosomal reaction

An orderly fusion of the spermatozoal plasma membrane and the outer acrosomal membrane.

Purpose of the acrosomal reaction

Enables spermatozoa to penetrate the zona pellucida and Modifies the equatorial segment so that it can later fuse with the plasma membrane of the oocyte.

Zona block

a process whereby the zona pellucida undergoes biochemical changes so that further sperm cannot penetrate it.

syngamy

This fusion is referred to as __

Varies immensely among species

The fertile life-span of sperm after deposition in the female reproductive tract

Superfecundation

A condition where Several males can sire offspring because the bitch may be bred by several males during her relatively long estrus.

artificial insemination

The greater the proportion of spermatozoa is lost to the exterior than when deposition is in the uterus when is performed in the cow and semen is deposited into the cervix

Equine conceptus

Transuterine migration

Maternal recognition

hCG (human chorionic gonadotropin).

Four steps that must be achieved before the embryo can attach to the uterus

Development within the confines of the zona pellucida, hatching of the blastocyst from the zona pellucida, maternal recognition of pregnancy and formation of the extraembryonic membranes

Ootid

Male and female pronuclei along with the first and second polar bodies are present in

Growth Prior to Attachment

Development of the Extraembryonic Membranes

Filamentous

A _ or threadlike blastocysts prior to attachment pig, sheep and cow

The extraembryonic membranes of the preattachment embryo consist of the:

Yolk sac, chorion, amnion and allantois.

Conceptus

Must provide a timely biochemical signal or the pregnancy will terminate

Pregnancy Recognition Factors

BIFN-t (BTP-1)

Artificial Insemination Techniques

Surgical, transcervical insemination (most common), Intraervical insemination and intravaginal insemination

The hormone to provide Maternal recognition of pregnancy

hCG (human chorionic gonadotropin).

Successful pregnancy requires that the preattachment embryo

Develop into a blastocyst, hatch from the zona pellucida and develop a functional trophoblast.

The final prepartum steps of reproduction

Formation of a placenta acquisition of endocrine function of the placenta and initiation of parturition.

Secretions from the female reproductive tract:

Serve to sexually stimulate and attract the male to the female

Placentas classified according to the distribution of chorionic villi

Diffuse, zonary, discoid and cotyledonary

Number of tissue layers that exist placentas in Ruminants

Epitheliochorial and Syndesmochorial

Cotyledon

A placental unit of trophoblastic origin consisting of abundant blood vessels and connective tissue.

Placenta

An organ composed of a fetal component (chorion) and a maternal component (uterine endometrium).

Chorionic villi:

Composed of small, finger-like projections on the chorion's surface.

Binucleate giant cells

Secrete placental lactogen and pregnancy specific protein B.

Puerperium

The period after parturition when the reproductive tract returns to its nonpregnant condition.

Four major events of Puerperium

Reduction in uterine size and volume, repair the endometrium, return of ovarian function and elimination of bacterial contamination.

Luteotropin stimulus during Mammalian gestation and Parturition

During its transition from estrus to pregnancy, the Corpus luteum of pregnancy serves

Myometrial Contractions

An Endocrine disruption as Fetal androgens release Cortical enzyme that transforms progesterone to estradiol, during Fetal Development known as

PreParturition and Puerperium Endocrine Disruptions of a Uterus

Placental Proteins: Relaxin, Prolactin

Sensory Activation sources for Hypothalamus

Auditory, Tactile and Visual Sytem as a Stimilus source