Question 1

In fiddler crabs, the male's major claw

Accepted Answer

A)  serves in male-male combat. 
B)  serves in mate attraction. 
C)  serves in both of the above functions. 
D)  is not involved in sexual selection, it's primary function being in feeding.

Question 2

A male is more likely to decide to guard a particular female if

Accepted Answer

A)  he can be present when her eggs can be fertilized. 
B)  it is apparent that she has already mated. 
C)  she is at an early stage in her reproductive cycle. 
D)  there are few other males in the vicinity.

Question 3

An attempted explanation of the fact that a female's choice often reflects selection for an exaggerated characteristic in a male is called the

Accepted Answer

A)  mate-choice copying hypothesis. 
B)  model selection hypothesis. 
C)  parental investment hypothesis. 
D)  runaway selection hypothesis.

Question 4

Which of the following has been hypothesized to be the function of parasperm? They

Accepted Answer

A)  have no adaptive function. 
B)  kill or displace the sperm of another male. 
C)  provide nutrients to the female, her eggs, or to fertile sperm. 
D)  all of the above hypotheses have been proposed.

Question 5

Which of the following examples of nuptial gifts doesn't provide energy directly to the mating female, but is valuable to her and to her eggs nonetheless?

Accepted Answer

A)  a portion of the male's body, such as his hindwings or his head 
B)  a prey item 
C)  distasteful tasting alkoloids 
D)  the structure of the spermatophore

Question 6

In some species of spider, the male places a copulatory plug into the genital opening of the female after he mates with her. In some cases this plug consists of

Accepted Answer

A)  a hardened gel. 
B)  an aphrodisiac. 
C)  bits of leaves and silk. 
D)  the male's entire body.

Question 7

The idea that, in addition to differential investment by the sexes in gamete production, there was differential investment in the offspring themselves and that this too was responsible for competition and mate choice is attributed to

Accepted Answer

A)  Bateman 
B)  Darwin 
C)  Tinbergen 
D)  Trivers

Question 8

Female fireflies (Photinus ignitus) can use the protein from a digested spermatophore to fuel development of their eggs. This suggests that there are exceptions to Bateman's prediction that

Accepted Answer

A)  females are rather passive participants in courtship and mating. 
B)  female reproductive success should not increase with an increase in number of mates. 
C)  males incur trivial costs when mating. 
D)  all of the above.

Question 9

Sato and Goshima (2007) studied mate preferences of female stone crabs (Hapalogaster dentata) in aquaria and found that the females use chemical cues rather than visual cues to make their choice between two males. They did this by

Accepted Answer

A)  applying an antiaphrodisiac to one of the two males. 
B)  blocking the female's eyes. 
C)  placing the test males in opaque plastic pipes with very narrow openings in them. 
D)  using only small males in choice tests rather than large males.

Question 10

Males display a number of different adaptations that increase the probability that their sperm, rather than the sperm of a competitor, will fertilize the eggs of a particular female. One of these techniques is mate guarding. Mate guarding

Accepted Answer

A)  is necessary only in instances where females do not store sperm. 
B)  must occur before copulation to be effective. 
C)  must occur immediately after copulation to be effective. 
D)  sometimes occurs both before and after copulation.

Question 11

A phenomenon often linked to sperm competition is sperm heteromorphism. This

Accepted Answer

A)  occurs in a variety of animal species. 
B)  results in the production of one sperm morph that can fertilize eggs and one that cannot. 
C)  results in the production of two sperm morphs, eusperm and parasperm. 
D)  all of the above.

Question 12

When Jones and colleagues (1998) conducted laboratory experiments designed to evaluate the fitness consequences of mate choice for female sandflies (Lutzomyia longipalpis) and their offspring they found no evidence that mating with attractive males influenced the viability of her offspring. They did find that the mating success of sons increased with the attractiveness of the father. These findings support the

Accepted Answer

A)  good genes model. 
B)  runaway selection hypothesis. 
C)  sensory bias model. 
D)  all of the above.

Question 13

In species in which males form dominance relationships, such as stumptailed macaques (Macaca arctoides), low-ranking males

Accepted Answer

A)  attempt to interfere with the copulations of the higher ranking males. 
B)  can successfully monopolize one or more females because they are less aggressive than are higher ranking males, and females prefer their company. 
C)  experience greater reproductive success than if they were living within a more egalitarian society. 
D)  mated not at all, or if they did, did so surreptitiously, out of view of the more dominant males.

Question 14

The finding by Madden and Tanner (2003) that female bowerbirds, when given a choice of grapes of different colors, prefer to eat blue ones, and that male bowerbirds prefer to decorate their bowers with blue objects is consistent with the

Accepted Answer

A)  good genes model. 
B)  runaway selection hypothesis. 
C)  sensory bias model. 
D)  all of the above.

Question 15

Meerkats (Suricata suricatta) are cooperatively breeding African mammals in which a single dominant female within a group monopolizes reproduction. Which of the following statements regarding meerkats is FALSE?

Accepted Answer

A)  Competition for reproductive opportunities is more intense among females than among males. 
B)  Female meerkats that achieve breeder status show changes in their behavior and morphology, such as increases in body mass and levels of aggression. 
C)  Meerkat reproductive behavior supports the general notion that patterns of parental investment are prime determinants of the nature and strength of sexual selection. 
D)  Meerkats display the typical mammalian pattern of greater parental investment by females than males.

Question 16

A particularly gruesome form of sexual interference is infanticide. Among Hanuman langurs (Presbytis entellus), the primate species in which infanticidal male intruders were first reported, it has been found that the behavior

Accepted Answer

A)  increases a male's chance of siring the next infants. 
B)  is a result of crowded living conditions. 
C)  is not actually committed by the males that took over the troops. 
D)  results in infanticidal males killing all infants, whether they are related to him or not.

Question 17

Applying repellant odors or copulatory plugs, mate guarding, and satellite behavior are all examples of

Accepted Answer

A)  male intrasexual competition. 
B)  male intersexual competition. 
C)  female intrasexual competition. 
D)  female intersexual competition.

Question 18

In katydids, male parental investment consists of the gift of a protein-rich nuptial meal in the form of a spermatophore.

Accepted Answer

A)  The gift is especially important to females when food is scarce, and during these times females compete for males. 
B)  The spermatophore is important to successful reproduction because both the number and fitness of the female's offspring are enhanced by the male's gift. 
C)  When food is plentiful the relative value of the gift declines, and males compete for females. 
D)  All of the above.

Question 19

Which of the following does NOT accurately describe an outcome of a male fiddler crab having a super-sized, major claw and only one small feeding claw?

Accepted Answer

A)  Males gain energy more quickly by feeding at a faster rate and for longer periods of time than females. 
B)  Males that lose their major claw and then regenerate it incur significant production costs. 
C)  Males with their major claw have higher metabolic rates than males without their major claw. 
D)  Males with their major claw have lower endurance capacities than those without their major claw.

Exam 14: Reproductive Behavior