The challenge hypothesis (Wingfield et al. 1990, American Naturalist, 136, 829–846) predicts varying androgen responses to mating, breeding or territorial behaviour in avian males. At the interspecific level, the highest androgen responsiveness has been observed in males from monogamous species with paternal incubation, and the lowest in males from promiscuous, nonpaternal species. Studies of a...

We present a new and convenient method for automatically positioning parts in an assembly. High-level entities of mating features and mating relations are used to describe the composed state of parts in an assembly. The characteristics of volume, reference origin, and boundary face of mating features and parts are used to determine automatic partpositioning operations. Using the proposed approa...

As evidenced by the articles in this volume, a recent increase in interest in the mating systems of poikilothermic vertebrates has focused primarily on fishes, a few amphibians, and squamate reptiles. Turtles by contrast have received relatively little attention, yet they display a wide variety of mating behaviors and life-history characteristics that make them excellent candidates for addressi...

We used in vivo microdialysis to examine the responses to intraspecific social interactions in the striatal dopamine systems of females of two vole species displaying vastly different social structures. Both highly social prairie voles and asocial meadow voles had similar increases in extracellular dopamine associated with mating. There was a species-specific effect of social condition on extra...

Sexual selection is often quantified using Bateman gradients, which represent sex-specific regression slopes of reproductive success on mating success and thus describe the expected fitness returns from mating more often. Although the analytical framework for Bateman gradients aimed at covering all sexual systems, empirical studies are biased toward separate-sex organisms, probably because impo...

The recent incorporation of molecular methods into analyses of social and mating systems has provided evidence that mating patterns often differ from those predicted by group social organization. Based on field studies and paternity analyses at a limited number of sites, African lions are predicted to exhibit a strict within-pride mating system. Extra-group paternity has not been previously rep...

Although there is growing evidence that males tend to suffer higher levels of parasitism than females, the implications of this for the population dynamics of the host population are not yet understood. Here we build on an established ‘two-sex’ model and investigate how increased susceptibility to infection in males affects the dynamics, under different mating systems. We investigate the effect...

Although there is growing evidence that males tend to suffer higher levels of parasitism than females, the implications of this for the population dynamics of the host population are not yet understood. Here we build on an established 'two-sex' model and investigate how increased susceptibility to infection in males affects the dynamics, under different mating systems. We investigate the effect...

Sexual selection and mating systems profoundly influence the behavior and psychology of animals. Using their own studies of green anacondas (Eunectes murinus) and reviewing other recent studies, the authors conclude that incomplete data derived from a few well-studied snake species have led to general acceptance of polygyny as the dominant mating system in snakes. New data on behavior, paternit...