Features of the mating season in animals. Dangers of mating Wildlife mating and mating games of mammals
Scientists are sure that not only selfishness and aggression are inherent in all living beings, but also love. At the same time, in the struggle for the attention of the opposite sex, animals, like us, are ready to use all their internal potential, becoming brighter and more talkative with the approach of the mating season.
IT IS INTERESTING
One of the most romantic and unusual "singers" are whales. Their songs can last all day. The nightingale also floods from dusk to dawn for a reason, but in order to win the lady of the heart.
Another famous singer is the gibbon. This monogamous animal sings such loud songs to the bride that they can be heard in several areas.
But the mating games of dolphins are distinguished by a very beautiful dance. During this period, dolphins circle together for a long time, showing each other their strength and agility. They gently touch each other with their heads and fins, but if an opponent swims up to the pair and tries to break it, the male immediately drives him away, strongly clattering his teeth.
ON A NOTE
Caring for each other, some animals cannot do without touching the chosen one.
Elephants in this case rub their sides, affectionately intertwine their trunks and clap their ears strongly and loudly, and males of some species of turtles, in order to please their partner, massage her neck and head.
By the way, this behavior is typical for wolves. But the male chimpanzee during the mating season is ready to give his beloved all the most delicious, even when it was obtained by overwork.
This type of seduction is very common in birds. True, penguins don’t present food to their partner as gifts, but feathers. The behavior of females, which often begin to behave childishly, also becomes funny at this time.
KEEP IN MIND
It is also interesting that animal courtship has strict rules. And for any action of a male or female, there must be a clear response that will allow the couple to move on or stop trying to win each other. This should happen until the very end, that is, until mating. One wrong move or the slightest mistake can spoil all efforts. For example, the male stickleback fish must continue his zigzag mating dance until the female is in the nest and begins to spawn, but even during this process, the male must support her all the time, pushing.
TURNS OUT
At the same time, many animals are ready to fight for love "not for life, but for death." Even harmless, at first glance, giraffes do not give up without a fight. However, in the fight for the female, they never use their hooves, but actively butt with small horns. When the stronger and luckier giraffe wins, the female allows him to approach. Then the lovers touchingly rub their necks and cheeks against each other.
THIS IS CURIOUS
About how betrayed giraffes can be, employees of the Moscow zoo love to tell visitors. A few years ago, the Moscow Zoo decided to buy two South American giraffes, but the cash equivalent exceeded a certain amount, so the sellers had to hold a competition for this “lot”. The captured giraffes, which were in different containers, just had a mating season at that time. As a result, while the documents for the competition were being drawn up, the animals that missed each other broke the boxes and ran back to the savannah, the Animal.ru portal reports.
Marriage rituals are an integral part of the life of any living being. Just as there are a huge number of living organisms on the planet, there are so many marriage rituals. Some of them are quite cute and lovely, others are interesting and amazing, but there are some that we often call very, very strange. Today we want to bring to your attention the strangest mating rituals in animals.
Rose-Ange Jean
The list of the strangest mating rituals is opened by small, poisonous snakes from Canada and the US Northwest. garters . Their very unusual mating takes place in a huge orgy. Hundreds of snakes gather in a large den, in which one female can have up to 100 males. Thus, the female receives the right amount of warmth and protection during fertilization.
In addition to the fact that male octopuses are from the genus Argonauts much smaller than females (males up to 2 cm, females up to 10 cm), they can mate only once in their short life. Males use a special tentacle, the hectocotylus, to transfer sperm to the female. For fertilization, the hectocotylus is inserted into the mantle cavity of the female and then separated from the octopus.
A very strange mating ritual among lizards whiptails , which are all females. Their mating method is called parthenogenesis. Each whiptail lizard has an ovarian cycle of 21 to 28 days. During the mating season, they synchronize their cycles so that they are opposite. One of the lizards will act as a male and the other as a female. Then they switch roles. The result of this mating method is an ideal offspring that is an exact clone of its mother.
anglers have one of the strangest and most unique methods of fertilization. When a male is born that does not have a digestive system, he needs to find a female very quickly. When he finds a suitable female, he bites her, and a special enzyme melts her skin, making a suitable indentation for the male. After that, the male becomes just an appendage for the female, which stores a constant supply of sperm for fertilization at the right time.
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An equally strange marriage ritual takes place in giraffe . The male identifies his female by the taste of her urine. The male giraffe pushes the female with his head under the tail, provoking her to urinate. After that, he determines if she is ready for fertilization by the enzymes in her urine. If the female suits him, then he will pursue her everywhere until he gets what he wants and will also protect her from other males. Well, the female, in turn, can also choose a more suitable candidate.
Ryan Merrill
porcupine porcupine thinks about sex only for 8-12 hours a year. An interested male stands on its hind legs and sprays urine on the female. If she is ready, then with her whole appearance she will show that the male gets down to business. If the female is not ready, or not interested in a given male, she will make a screaming sound and shake the male's urine.
Franco Folini
banana slugs have penises almost as long as their body length, which sometimes reaches 30 centimeters. Their Latin name "dolichyphallus" even translates to "giant penis". They are all hermaphrodites and when it comes time to mate, banana slugs join at opposite ends, trying to fertilize each other. It is very important to find a partner with the same or comparable penis size, because if the penis does not fit perfectly, it can get stuck in the partner. In this case, another slug simply gnaws it off.
Paul Rowbotham
male bee , who has the only mission in life - mating with the queen, takes his job damn seriously. So much so that in the process of mating, he leaves his penis inside the female. During the mating ritual, the female queen flies out in search of a suitable mate. Huge numbers of males swarm around the queen, vying for her attention. After intercourse, the endophallus (penis) of the male remains inside the queen to stop other males from mating attempts. After that, the male falls to the ground and waits for his death.
Will Burrard-Lucas
If you still think hippos charming despite their ferocious reputation, you should definitely learn about their strange mating ritual. Due to fierce competition, male hippos have developed a disgusting but apparently effective way to get the attention of their females. When a male positions himself in terms of a potential female partner, he proceeds to defecate and urinate at the same time. As it does this, it rapidly spins its tail like a propeller, throwing its special mixture far and wide to mark its territory. Once the aromatherapy sprays have caught the eyes of the female (and sometimes it turns out that the male sprays the female herself), the hippos get down to business.
Francisco Valdes
White-fronted parrots or white-fronted Amazons They begin their mating season around February and end at the end of June or July. Although, this varies by region. In some places, their mating season doesn't even begin until November. After choosing a suitable partner, the two parrots start kissing each other. These are very long and passionate kisses during which parrots fix their beaks and use their tongues, making these birds one of the few animals that can kiss like humans. Everything would be very nice if, during the kiss, the male did not lower the secret ingredient into the partner's mouth - his vomit.
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MARRIAGE PERIOD MARRIAGE PERIOD
mating season of animals. Most of the world has a clear seasonal pattern. In B. p. in males (or much less often in females) pl. vertebrates develop secondary sexual characteristics and special forms of behavior (see GON). The development of the gonads in B. p. and the phenomena accompanying this are carried out on the basis of internal. physiol. the rhythm of the body, controlled by external. factors. to extratropical areas of the main ext. the regulator of the seasonality of reproduction is the photoperiod. In the tropics pl. the animals do not breed strictly periodically, but here, too, the onset of the B. p. is often timed to coincide with the rainy season. The seasonal timing of B. p. was formed in the course of evolution in such a way that the birth of young people falls at the beginning of the most favorable season of the year (usually summer); in animals with a short gestation period, the rut occurs in early spring and summer (hares, rodents, some predators), and in species with continued pregnancy - in autumn (large ungulates) or even summer (sable, marten). Depending on external conditions (weather, availability of food, etc.) B. p. may shift in time.
.(Source: "Biological Encyclopedic Dictionary." Chief editor M. S. Gilyarov; Editorial board: A. A. Babaev, G. G. Vinberg, G. A. Zavarzin and others - 2nd ed., corrected . - M .: Sov. Encyclopedia, 1986.)
mating seasonMating period in animals. As a rule, it has a seasonal frequency. Many vertebrates during this period acquire secondary sexual characteristics (for example, coloration and mating attire in fish and birds), and exhibit specific forms of behavior (lekking, tournaments, nest building). The onset of the mating season is regulated by the seasonal activity of the sex glands that produce hormones that stimulate the sexual activity of animals. see also Gon.
.(Source: "Biology. Modern Illustrated Encyclopedia." Editor-in-Chief A.P. Gorkin; M.: Rosmen, 2006.)
See what the "MARING PERIOD" is in other dictionaries:
MARRIAGE PERIOD- the mating period of animals. One of the main periods in their lives, on which the number and quality of new generations depend. A complex system of relations between males and females, between them and the environment is connected with the mating season. Ecological … Ecological dictionary
mating season- EMBRYOLOGY OF ANIMALS Mating period - the period of mating of animals, which has a seasonal character. In many vertebrates, the severity of secondary sexual characteristics sharply increases at this time, and special forms of behavior are realized ... General Embryology: Terminological Dictionary
- (in animals) the time of year when mating occurs. B. p. in many vertebrates is characterized by the development of secondary sexual characteristics in males (See Secondary sexual characteristics) and the appearance of special forms of behavior: “courtship” ... ... Great Soviet Encyclopedia
mating season- traction. current. current. current. estrus, estrus. caviar (to spawn). milk. spawning. spawning. spawning ... Ideographic Dictionary of the Russian Language
A pair of mallards in breeding attire (a drake in front) ... Wikipedia
- (contract) an agreement of persons entering into marriage, or an agreement of spouses, defining the property rights and obligations of spouses in marriage and (or) in case of its dissolution. In accordance with v. 40.42 of the Family Code of the Russian Federation, ... ... Wikipedia
A marriage contract (contract) is an agreement between persons entering into marriage, or an agreement between spouses that determines the property rights and obligations of spouses in marriage and (or) in the event of its dissolution. In accordance with Art. 48 of the Family Code of the Russian ... ... Wikipedia
WEDDING ATTRACT- Mating attire, external features acquired by animals during the breeding season. Many fish acquire brighter colors during the spawning period, which gradually disappear after the breeding season has elapsed. Tritons (males) by the period ... ... Big Medical Encyclopedia
MARRIAGE, marriage, marriage. adj. to marriage 1. Marriage. Marriage bonds. Marriage bed. ❖ Wedding attire (zool.) temporary color change, the appearance of special feathers, tails, crests, etc. in animals (mainly males) during the breeding season, for ... ... Explanatory Dictionary of Ushakov
Have you ever wondered what strange mating rituals animals have? In the animal kingdom, reproduction is not always a straightforward process. In fact, it can be quite complex and controversial. For many, this process involves an elaborate scheme of finding a mate and then luring her into copulation. And the competition is insane here. To get what they want, many males must fight other males, sometimes quite violently, in order to get their soul mate as a reward. However, there are other cases where the mating rituals of animals are just as romantic as those of humans. One thing is for sure: it's a strange world where millions of animals vie to pass on their DNA to the next generation. Here are 25 weird animal mating rituals.
25. Banana Slugs
These slimy, yellow creatures are hermaphrodites, meaning they have both male and female reproductive organs, and both partners exchange sperm. When they mate, they attack each other like snakes and may even bite each other. It takes them several hours to get into position and even more time to finish mating. Sometimes they can get stuck stuck to each other. If they fail to separate, they will take turns biting off their genitals, turning exclusively into females.
24. Honey bees
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These buzzing insects have one queen that only mates once in her entire life. During her solitary mating ritual, she flies out into the open, where the drone will overtake the queen in the air and insert its endophallus into her. After that, more male honey bees sit on the queen. When the male honeybee finishes mating, its endophallus breaks off from the body, and, as a rule, its stomach is torn as a result - the male dies. If the male honey bee somehow survives the mating ritual, he will be expelled from the nest because he has fulfilled his mission.
23. Brown marsupial mice 
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Originally from Australia, the male rodent practically commits suicide during mating. After preparing to mate, he desperately tries to mate with every female he can for a 3-4 week period. Mating itself can last up to 14 hours. The male becomes so exhausted during this process that his coat falls out, internal bleeding occurs, and his immune system shuts down. When it's over, he and all the other males die.
22. Bonobo 
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Closely related to humans, these primates are known to be quite promiscuous, copulate with multiple partners, and view mating as a pleasurable activity, separating it from reproduction. Also, unlike many other animals, Bonobos prefer to copulate face to face.
21. Flatworms 
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Like Banana Snails, these writhing sea creatures are hermaphrodites, but during mating they must choose who is male and who is female. How do they make this choice? There is a real competition between them when they try to pierce the enemy first. This process can take up to an hour.
20. Giraffes
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These long-necked vegetarians begin the mating ritual with the so-called "flehmen sequence". This is the process where the male rubs against the rear of the female until she urinates. The male then tries the urine to see if it's ready. If so, he will pursue her until he mates with her, using his neck to hold onto the female. In some cases, males also copulate with each other.
19. Snails
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These mollusks find each other with the help of smell and touch. Like some of the other creatures on this list, they are hermaphrodites. Once they find a mate, they use their "love arrows" to increase the chance of successful reproduction. These arrows can be quite dangerous if they are injected in the wrong place, for example, in a vital organ, which will kill the partner.
18. Fishing spiders 
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These long-legged arachnids give gifts. Having found a female, before mating, the male will give her a carcass wrapped in silk as a gift. Scientists believe that this is not a way to persuade the female, but a way not to be eaten.
17. Prairie vole
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Unlike the habits of many other animals, these small rodents prefer monogamy. Scientists have found that when prairie voles mate once, a gene is turned on in their brain that makes them mate only with that partner for the rest of their lives, as well as share space, build nests and act as parents.
16. Cichlid fish
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These fish have a rigid hierarchy and only the alpha male can mate. Other males roam the alpha male's territory, feeding on whatever they find, and have reproductive systems so suppressed that they almost look like females. When an alpha male dies, another male can take his place, quickly rebooting his reproductive system. The male builds and, shaking his tail, lures the female into it. She lays eggs in the nest, and he fertilizes them.
15. Red-sided garter snake 
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In Narcissus, Manitoba, these crawling reptiles emerge from their lair every year to mate in one giant orgy. The males crawl out first, waiting for the females. When a large female approaches, the males weave into a giant ball, where there can be up to a hundred males.
14 Spotted Hyena 
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These laughing African animals have a rigid hierarchy, where females are the leaders of the pack and are very aggressive. More unusually, females have an elongated clitoris with which they urinate, copulate, and give birth.
13. Birds of Paradise
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These magnificent New Guinean birds are unique in their own way, and are distinguished by an amazing combination of colors on their feathers. An even more amazing sight is the mating dance of males. To attract a female, they jump, shake, freeze and make sounds.
12. Bed bugs
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These pesky insects boast a rather brutal and frightening way of reproduction. The male mates with the female through "traumatic insemination" by piercing the female with his subcutaneous genitalia.
11. Hippos 
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These hungry and dangerous African mammals have a rather dirty and foul-smelling way of attracting a mate. They first urinate and defecate, then twist their tail to spread the scent. This attracts a partner, and he is for mating. During the prelude, the animals splash in the water. And then they mate.
10. Bluegill sunflowers 
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The males of these fish have three ways to mate with the female. The first is to become big and strong, protecting her nest, where the female will come to spawn. Also, a male may swim undetected into another male's nest, following a female of similar shape and size to fertilize the eggs. There is a third option - to swoop in at the moment when the enemy mates with the female and add your sperm to the mixture. However, the last word remains with the male who owns the territory, because he can smell the eggs fertilized by him from the eggs of another male, and will eat someone else's.
9 Emperor Penguins 
Photo: pxhere
These Arctic wading birds begin to mate in March and April. They are alternately monogamous, choosing one partner per year. As soon as the female lays the egg, the male sits down to incubate it, and the female leaves to look for food. As soon as the chick hatches from the egg, the male feeds the chick with milk matter from his esophagus. When the female returns, the male leaves to look for food, and they eventually take care of the chick together.
8. Barbecues
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These strange winged creatures from New Guinea and Australia go to great lengths to attract a mate. Each type of bower, from the Great Bower to the Satin Bower, boasts its own colorful way of making it. Usually, this includes displaying colored objects, plastic toys, and dancing, all to impress the female.
7 Earwigs
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These omnivores with giant ticks on their tails are mostly nocturnal and display only a few social behaviors, including mating. To find a female, they must feel the pheromones she secretes in her feces. Males fight for the opportunity to mate with a female, and success usually depends on body size and ticks.
6. Sage grouse
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To attract a female, the Sage grouse performs an amazing dance that you should see. Arriving at a special place called "tok", the males sway, fluff their feathers, while females gather around to see the "goods face".
5. Dolphins 
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To attract a female, male dolphins do a variety of things, some of which are pleasant and others that are not. To impress the female, they will sing, bring her gifts, or perform crazy acrobatics. However, males have also been known to form "gangs" to kidnap a female from her pack and force her to mate. After mating, males leave the female to look for a new partner, leaving her to raise offspring on her own.
4 Porcupine 
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With long, sharp quills all over their bodies, it might seem like porcupines have no chance of mating, but they have solved that problem. Around September, the female porcupine secretes mucus and urine to attract males, letting them know she is ready to copulate. However, once the first male appears, she will not ovulate yet. He will have to wait until the rest of the males gather. A fierce fight ensues between them, and the bloodied winner receives his trophy. When the female is ready, she raises her tail over her back so as not to prick the male. She also folds her needles along her body to keep him safe.
3. Orange amphiprions 
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These little Nemos spawn all year round, and perform various dance rituals such as standing on their heads, touching the abdominal surface, and bending their backs to each other. What is strange about these fish is that they always start as males and change their behavior to females when there are no females around.
2 Whiptail Lizards
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This is a rare breed of lizard. They have no mating games, and they are all females. Obviously, they breed by asexual reproduction. So, their mating ritual is a party for one.
1. Khokhlach seal 
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In an attempt to show their masculinity, male seals blow out a balloon-like membrane on their heads. A pink ball emerges from the nostrils and descends onto the head. When two males fight over a female, the battle ends when a seal with a large pink ball scares the other.
Relations during the mating season between the sexes in the animal kingdom deserve special attention. Most of all, of course, animals during this period are driven by instincts. However, not everything is as primitive as it seems - if you carefully study their behavior at this time, you can notice elements of psychology and even some share of romance. Our smaller brothers, of course, tend to show much more aggression, especially in the wild, but they still show care and even affection. The proof of this is the struggle for the favor and attention of the opposite sex. One of the interesting elements of the mating season is the serenade. Males can sing love songs for their females to attract their attention. So, a whale's mating serenade can last more than a day, and gibbons are famous for singing songs very loudly for their chosen ones. Coloring also plays an important role in attracting the opposite sex. Many animals with already bright colors become much more colorful and brighter during this period. Also, in the organisms of many animals during mating games, pheromones and various smells are released, which draws attention to them and makes them attractive in the eyes of the object of affection. The period of courtship is not complete without tactile interaction.
Animals try to touch their chosen ones, thus expressing their sympathy. Fur seals, for example, can lie together on the shore for a long time during this period, gently touching their heads and shaking their cheeks, while elephants intertwine their trunks and pinch their partner. During courtship, animals are not averse to presenting some kind of present to the female they like. For example, penguins give their ladies feathers. It is also considered a beautiful gesture to leave the largest and most delicious piece of food. Violent fights for the lady of the heart are frequent in the animal world. Hippos, for example, can die in such a fight. It even happens that the male winner eats the loser! In general, the struggle during this period is serious. Below are examples of the most interesting and bizarre marriage rituals.