In the realm of love and courtship, wild animals have their own unique ways. From African lionesses mating with multiple males before choosing a specific one to mate with, to male sea lions frolicking with several females at once, the animal kingdom is filled with creatures that change partners frequently.
In human society, such promiscuous behavior is often looked down upon. But do animals care about what society thinks of their flirtatious actions? Even the most domesticated species, like dogs, show no shame in sniffing the behind of a passing female or jumping excitedly on their owner’s leg.
“It seems that all animals have a tendency towards promiscuity,” says Diana Fisher, a behavioral biologist at the Australian National University.
Although this free-spirited approach to mating might seem carefree, survival and gene propagation are serious matters for them.
Advertising for Mates
The self-advertising displays of animals reveal the inherent conflict between males and females. Males are always eager to mate with as many females as possible, aiming to fertilize as many eggs as they can. Females, on the other hand, are more selective, preferring to bond with the best males to fertilize their eggs.
The end result is polygyny—the most common mating strategy in the animal kingdom—where males compete for access to the “beauties.” Sexual selection often favors traits that enhance reproductive success, including larger body sizes to win mate competitions and higher sperm counts to improve fertilization chances.
Instead of investing limited resources in flaunting their bodies, females adopt a more cautious strategy, investing heavily in reproduction and the care of their offspring. By observing the males compete, they can choose to mate with the strongest one.
In humans, men must decide how much effort to put into enhancing their physical fitness to attract women, and how much focus to place on their careers in order to build a family. Similarly, for polyamorous beetles, they must balance investing resources in their combat weapons, like horns, versus producing more sperm for successful fertilization. One study has shown that beetles with larger horns tend to have smaller testes.
For females, the disadvantages of mating with multiple partners include an increased risk of inbreeding, potential predation, and the likelihood of contracting diseases or suffering injuries and exhaustion from excessive mating. Nonetheless, in some species, females hold the advantage. By mating with multiple males—a polyandrous strategy—they can produce stronger offspring, ensuring that the fathers invest in and participate in the care of their young.
Just like humans, animal courtship also relies on careful maneuvers by both males and females to achieve their desires without overstepping boundaries or ending up with nothing.
Australian female flies allow males that bring larger gifts to mate for longer periods, and in return, the males will transfer more sperm, increasing their chances of becoming fathers. Males that present lower quality gifts are often “kicked out” by females before fertilization can occur.
M.T.
