FSHD 150B1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 13: Parental Investment, Infant Mortality
24 Oct 2016
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Document Summary
Male and female reproductive strategies: begins with male and female gametes differing greatly in size (eggs are much bigger than sperm) Egg provides a lot of nutrition and energy to the embryo: obligate parental investment: not chosen, obligatory. Women: big egg, only a limited amount. Men: tiny sperm, a lot constantly reproduced. Women: much more of an obligatory investment made (gestation, lactation) Men: none beyond the sexual act itself. Potential number of offspring in a given year. Women: limited number of eggs, not enough space to grow in stomach, resources. Women: parental effort; during mating, tend to be very choosy. Men: mating effort; during mating, tend to focus on male-male competition and being attractive: for mammals in general, the above differences lead to divergent male and female reproductive strategies. What is a life-history strategy: all of life is a matter of budgeting energy, choice between energy (resources) devoted to bodily growth and maintenance vs. reproduction, life history strategy.
