Stop raising your eyebrows this is not another abysmal size thread! I am getting back to nature and following on from the 'Do Fish Pee?' thread...
I read recently that larger birds are more monogamous i.e. Swans, Eagles, some Owls and Albatrosusses, Albatrossi 
Whereas smaller birds are less so...especially the hummingbird, a right little go'er...
I pondered (I ponder a lot!) is it their size? life span? Territorial needs? The food heirarchy/triangle thing? |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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most animals who look similar tend to be monogamous. they both invest in their offspring unlike in tounrament species where the male is more showy to attract a mate and the male is larger than the female, he has evolved to appeal physically then fuck off and impregnate someone else.
learned that from the monkey guy, sapolsky. |
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"Don't puffins mate for life? Not exactly a large bird!"
I don't know, but seems larger birds are predominantly more monogamous....I also have no idea about Flamingoes or Ostriches....there must be reasons why certain birds are more monogamous....
Lifespan and being lower down the food/heirarchy table....not sure about puffin predators |
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"most animals who look similar tend to be monogamous. they both invest in their offspring unlike in tounrament species where the male is more showy to attract a mate and the male is larger than the female, he has evolved to appeal physically then fuck off and impregnate someone else.
learned that from the monkey guy, sapolsky."
That appears to make sense.....so why do some species have the 'tournament' aspect? |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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"most animals who look similar tend to be monogamous. they both invest in their offspring unlike in tounrament species where the male is more showy to attract a mate and the male is larger than the female, he has evolved to appeal physically then fuck off and impregnate someone else.
learned that from the monkey guy, sapolsky.
That appears to make sense.....so why do some species have the 'tournament' aspect?"
can't remember exactly why, although testosterone has something to do with it.
i'll have a quick (10-15 mins) look for his lecture on it, i found it really interesting and you only need a slight knowledge of DNA. |
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"so, it's not their size really. it is there is no competition when it comes to mating as they all look the same physically."
I apologise as I have lost the reference, but size did make a difference, many smaller birds would mate for the one season, where the majority of larger birds were monogamous |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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"so, it's not their size really. it is there is no competition when it comes to mating as they all look the same physically.
I apologise as I have lost the reference, but size did make a difference, many smaller birds would mate for the one season, where the majority of larger birds were monogamous"
did it also suggest why they did that?
i only know that non competitive species tend to look similar, the males and females. i've found the lectures, just skimming them to find the actuall part where sapolsky explains what i was on about.
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It was a question raised in one the major newspapers, my first thoughts were around larger birds, especially predatory finding monogamy more practical.....yet, the Flamingo, Ostrich are more 'for want of a better word' tribal, yet I imagine, monogamy also being practical in this sense... |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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19 mins in he starts explaining the different ways of selecting how to breed.
1.16 he goes on about what i was saying, think it will make sense to listen to without hearing the whole lecture.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0Oa4Lp5fLE&index=2&list=PLEFF7A5B2A599F00F
left the playlist as the link because if you're interested in this stuff you'll probably enjoy the whole of these lectures. they're all long lectures but he explains things simply.
but species that stay together (monogamous) want to invest in their own offspring, those who do not tend to want to just spread their DNA and will abandon their children to someone else or just leave one parent to do this. and even birds will do this by laying their eggs in another birds nest. |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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"It was a question raised in one the major newspapers, my first thoughts were around larger birds, especially predatory finding monogamy more practical.....yet, the Flamingo, Ostrich are more 'for want of a better word' tribal, yet I imagine, monogamy also being practical in this sense..."
there's different ways of breeding. one is for the species overall), tournament (the kids don't really matter, just spreading DNA is what matters), or both parents investing in their children. there might be other ways as well.
i think any species, where there isn't any fighting amongst it's members, is a good way to ensure it survives overall. but also, ensuring certain traits survive over others can mean that species evolves a certain way to survive better as well, physically, which is where tournament and competitiveness happens would work.
i bet someone more knowledgeable than me would have a good answer though. |
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