How does a lek breeding system work?
A lek breeding system is employed by some polygynous species and is characterised by aggregations of males that females visit primarily for breeding purposes. This results in strong sexual selection pressures on the lek, as males compete for females and females 'choose' between males.
What is a lek in biology?
lek, in animal behaviour, communal area in which two or more males of a species perform courtship displays. Lek behaviour, also called arena behaviour, is found in a number of insects, birds, and mammals.
What is meant by lek polygyny?
Lek polygyny is a mating system common in polygynous species of insects and birds in which the male provides no parental care to its offspring. The lek mating system is uniquely driven by the females' pursuit of their mate, rather than the males'.
What is the purpose of a lek?
A lek is a gathering of males for the purpose of competitive display (strutting) and mating. The same males attend a traditional place that can be active for decades.
What mammals are lek?
antelopes are known to form leks: the kob and the lechwe.) As many as 100 males may crowd together in an arena, where the central males may be only 25 metres (80 feet) apart.
Do females mate guard?
Female mate guarding is the act of guarding a potential partner away from other competing females. It occurs when women mate with males that are seen as desirable due to their paternal value (see mate value), and are therefore more likely to attract other females.
Why do animals form leks?
A lek is an aggregation of male animals gathered to engage in competitive displays and courtship rituals, known as lekking, to entice visiting females which are surveying prospective partners with which to mate.
What species use leks?
The Greater Sage-Grouse is one of the most well-known birds that exhibit lekking behavior, but many other birds do it too; including: Great Snipe, Manikin, Prairie Chicken, Sharp-tailed Grouse, Musk Duck, Hermit Hummingbird, and Peacocks. Mammals, reptiles, insects, and fish also have species that lek.
What is a turkey lek?
Turkeys mate in a system known as an exploded lek, wherein all the males of a given population congregate in one area to display and compete for the breeding rights to most of the females in the area. It's actually similar to a prairie chicken lek, but spread out over a much larger area.
Are lekking species monogamous?
Manakins (Pipridae) are a group of Neotropical birds well known for their spectacular lekking displays and non-monogamous mating system.
What is the difference between mating and breeding?
Mating is the process of sexual union between a male and female. It is a random process. In contrast, breeding involves sexual reproduction to produce offspring. Breeding is well planned and depends on the social behaviour and maturity of the organisms.
How do birds mate?
In general, though, birds mate in much the same way as other animals. The female bends over, arching her back, and the male presses himself against her from behind. The difference is, in birds, there is usually no actual penetration - copulation occurs by the organs of the male and female rubbing together fleetingly.
What's an example of polygyny?
Polygyny, a mating system that is most common in bats, is characterized by one male mating with several females (Crichton and Krutzsch, 2000). An example of this type of mating system can be observed in the cave-roosting greater spear-nosed bat (Phyllostomus hastatus).
What is difference between polygamy and polygyny?
Polygamy refers to a person (male or female) being married to two or more people at the same time. Polygyny refers to a man, in particular, being married to two or more women at the same time.
What is female defense polygyny?
Female Defense Polygyny. The Emlen-Oring theory postulates that when females aggregate, males will compete amongst each other for the right to mate with this cluster. This theory is supported by observations made of sheep, gorillas, lizards, and bats.
What is male dominance polygyny?
Polygyny (e.g. a dominant male with a harem of several females) is more adaptive when environmental resources (e.g. water, food) are patchy (clumped) and when females occur in groups. Thus, males compete for acquisition of a group of females by fighting with other males and displaying their prowess to females.
What is a lekking parrot?
The males are lekking—dancing and singing their way to an invitation to mate. Halfway around the world, Kakapos—flightless parrots with whiskery sideburns—spend their nights singing. About the size of a housecat, a male Kakapo’s whole body pulses with each tuneless boom of white noise. That’s lekking, too.
Why are lekkings so difficult to track?
During the rest of the year, many lekking species are difficult to track, which means scientists can’t follow individual birds and their reproductive success. As a result, they don’t know which traits attract females to mate with one male over another, or how leks shape populations.
What do white bearded manakins do?
When they're feeling lekky, White-bearded Manakins gather in groups to snap, crackle, and pop their feathers. Photo: National Geographic Creative/Alamy
What bird parades their plumage and booming air sacs on a lek?
Greater Sage-Grouse parade their plumage and booming air sacs on a lek. Video: K. Theule/USFWS /Flickr CC (BY 2.0)
What songbirds lek?
But for these tiny black-and-white songbirds, the go-to move is part dance, part drumroll: They snap, crackle, and pop special feathers on their wings to call females to a cleared forest courtyard.
What do you need to make a lek?
But there are three key ingredients in any lek. First, you need a bunch of birds. Typically, males gather to put on an impressive show to attract a mate, and females wander by to check out their options.
Do leks cater to gold diggers?
But leks cater to the shallowest of singles, not to gold diggers. That’s because moms of many lekking species raise their young without any help from dad. As a result, a mate’s looks and moves matter, but his resources and territory don’t.
Lekking species
The term was originally used most commonly for Black Grouse ( orrlek) and for Capercaillie ( tjäderlek ), and lekking behaviour is quite common in birds of this type, such as Sage Grouse, Prairie Chicken, and Sharp-tailed Grouse.
Lekking behavior
There are two types of lekking arrangements: classical and exploded. In the classic lekking system, male territories are in visual and auditory range of their neighbors. In an exploded lek, males are further away from one another than they would be in a classic lek.
Costs and Benefits of Lekking
The main benefit for both sexes is mating success. For males the costs stem from females’ preferences. The traits that are selected for, may be energetically costly to maintain and may cause increased predation. For example, increased vocalization rate caused a decrease in the mass of male Great Snipe.
Female Mating Preferences
A meta analysis of 27 species found that qualities such as lekking size, male display rate, and the rate of male aggression exhibit positive correlation with male success rates. There was also a positive correlation found between attendance, magnitude of exaggerated traits, age, frequencies of fights, and mating success.
The lek paradox
Persistent female choice for particular male trait values should erode genetic variance in male traits and thereby remove the benefits of choice, yet choice persists.
Lek Evolution
There have been several hypotheses proposed as to why males cluster into leks. The hotshot hypothesis is the only model that attributes males as the driving force behind aggregation. The hotshot model hypothesizes that attractive males, known as the “hotshots,” garner both female and male attention.
What are leks in biology?
Leks have recently been defined as male display aggregations that females attend primarily for the purpose of mating. This is an extended version of previous definitions, as a clear-cut definition of leks is difficult to obtain. Four criteria should be verified to identify a lekking species: (i) there is no male parental investment beyond the sperm; (ii) males aggregate at specific sites for display; (iii) the only resource females find on the lek is the male, i.e. the male genes; (iv) females can select her mate(s), although the necessity of this latter condition for lekking species has been highly debated. We applied these criteria to the endangered little bustard Tetrax tetrax, a species that is claimed to show an exploded lek mating system, but for which this has never been fully investigated. We monitored a population of little bustards in western France during 2 years to investigate the two central criteria in the assessment of their mating system: male aggregation in arenas and lack of consistent resources in male territories. We analysed the spatial distribution of little bustard male territories, the individual variation in size, and the land use characteristics of male territories, with particular attention to the habitats that may be considered as defensible resources. Displaying males showed an aggregated spatial distribution over the study area during the 2 years of survey. Male territories were rather large (19+/-16 ha), but a large among-male variability in territory size was observed. Land use within the territories included mainly permanent and semi-permanent crops. The variability in land use among territories suggests also that resources found within male territories were selected according to male needs (food and display) rather than to female needs (permanent crops that are more appropriate for reproduction). The mating system of the little bustard seems to match the general (and extended) definition of leks, at least in some populations. However, limits between resource defence polygyny and extreme exploded or resource-based leks are thin and unclear, and the little bustard is a good example of how lek definitions may be difficult to apply in non clear-cut empirical situations.
What is a lek?
Leks have recently been defined as male display aggregations that females attend primarily for the purpose of mating. This is an extended version of previous definitions, as a clear-cut definition of leks is difficult to obtain. Four criteria should be verified to identify a lekking species: (i) the …
What is a lek?
Lek, in animal behaviour, communal area in which two or more males of a species perform courtship displays. Lek behaviour, also called arena behaviour, is found in a number of insects, birds, and mammals. Varying degrees of interaction occur between the males, from virtually none to closely cooperative dancing.
Do female leks form lasting bond?
Females visit the lek briefly to select mates and to copulate, but they do not form lasting pair bonds with the males. This article was most recently revised and updated by Amy Tikkanen, Corrections Manager.
