What Animals Tell Us About Dating

ANIMAL ARDOUR WHAT ANIMALS TELL US ABOUT DATING The animal world is full of weird and wonderful examples of mating (dating) behaviour. Many have interesting scientific explanations and many of the behaviours give us a tantalising insight into why humans behave the way we do. Maybe something below might remind you of someone you know! ANIMAL EXAMPLES SCIENTIFIC CONCEPTS PRAYING NANTIS • SIGNALING Signals are traits, including structures and behaviours that have evolved Female mantis produce pheromones or chemical attractants which specifically lure males to her. If they don't measure up, she eats them. If they are suitable, she mates with them. Then eats them anyway. specifically because they change the behaviour of receivers in ways that benefit the signaller. For the purposes of selection, this would be attracting a mate and convincing them of your suitability of fitness. NOOSE 8° • SELECTION Male moose with large antlers are more likely to obtain mates due to their competitiveness, dominance and high phenotypic quality. EMPEROR PENGUIN Some individuals out reproduce others of a population because they are better at securing mates. DIFFERENTIATION Penguin couples spend their lives apart from each other and meet once a year in late March. Once there, penguins look for their mates by making a bugling call. In order to be successful in selection, many animals seek to differentiate themselves from other members of the PEACOCK same sex • SEXUAL DIMORPAISM Peacocks produce large colourful tails. Peahens actively favour peacocks with large bright tails over ones without. PORCUPINE • Sexual Dimorphism is an obvious difference between males and females of the same species. Examples include differences in form, size, ornamentation and behaviour. • COSILY SIGNALING Male porcupines often spray their urine at high velocity onto female porcupines. If this interests her, she will mate with the male. MANAKIN 8 A signal which comes at a cost tends to be more trustworthy because it is difficult to produce. Peacock with large tails are likely to be healthy and have good genes. RUNAWAY SELECTION In an attempt to impress female manakin, male manakin perform a number of 'dance' moves. One move (the backwards slide) has a striking resemblance to Michael Jackson's 'moonwalk'. When characteristics (such as a large colourful tail) are actively selected for, there is a tendency for offspring to show more of this characteristic creating a runaway - tails get bigger with each generation. LION Lions copulate 20 to 40 times per day, females doing the majority of the hunting and larger dominant males defending territory. Presented by CFreeDating.co.uk Developed by GLOWS newmedia