Psychology 3221F/G Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: Lark Bunting, Vasopressin, Red Phalarope

• School: Western University
• Department: Psychology
• Course: Psychology 3221F/G
• Professor: David Sherry

Document Summary

Without male parental care: section for polygyny. Male competition for females and parental care. Also affected by distribution of females and resources. With male parental care: selection for monogamy. Polygyny: mating system in which the variance in male reproductive success is greater than the variance in female reproductive success gyn = woman or wife (greek) In a population of 10 males, 10 females; each females have 1 offspring. High reproductive success for some males while low-zero reproductive success for most males. Variance important because it sets up competition. Female reproductive success is usually limited by the number of offspring that can be produced (the number of eggs, the number of pregnancies) not by the number of mates. Male reproductive success is limited by the number of mates. Mate defence: elephant seals - females come onto beach to give birth to young. Produce babies then mate males must compete physically & prevent other males from mating with their females.