In many bird species, males vigorously display to attract females, and females a
ID: 178065 • Letter: I
Question
In many bird species, males vigorously display to attract females, and females are very selective about choosing mates. Explain this general pattern with reference to the fundamental asymmetry of sex using a real life example. In Spotted Sandpipers (a bird species found locally), females compete vigorously for males with whom to mate and they mate with multiple males. On the surface, this would seem to be a contradiction to the usual pattern of males competing for mating opportunities. How might the observation that males incubate the eggs, with no assistance from the mother, help explain this?Explanation / Answer
Answer part a) Sexual selection is a very common phenomenon in animals and birds. Generally, both males and females tend to be very choosy about their mates for some specific reasons. Females generally choose those males who have strong build, are capable of protecting the family and work hard to feed and rear the family. On the other hand, males choose those females who are reproductively active and can bear offsprings. Together, these requirements and mutual fulfillment of criteria helps in contributing to the gene pool and evolution.
Although males are generally choosy about female mates but some species display the opposite as well. For example, in some species of reptiles, the females are highly choosy about the male counterparts for their capacity to hatch the eggs and protect them from enemies. Once a female mates with this male, she never mates with it again and look out for new potential mates in next mating season. This represents a fundamental asymmetry of sexual selection in animals.
Answer part b) The spotted Sandpipers show a classical case of sexual selection by females for those males who are fit enough to help rear the offsprings by hatching and incubating the eggs without any help from the female. Since this requires complete devotion and dedication by the male counterparts, females compete vigorously among themselves to make them elite enough so that the most efficienct male counterpart might select them. This is why, the females complete their part of laying eggs post mating and the males take care of hatching the eggs and rearing the offsprings thenafter.
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