Mating systems explain the ways that species mate and whom they chose to mate with in the animal world. To make it clearer, definitions of mating systems are based on how many mates' species acquire during the breeding season. Species mating behavior involves competition between several males in a given population. Along with males competing with one another, females carefully select their male mate. For instance, if a male species gives an impression of being strong and is cable of protecting themselves, they have a higher chance of being chosen by a female. Therefore, males who are viewed with such characteristics have a higher chance to mate with several females and have their genes passed on. In this paper, I will be discussing the mating behavior of three different species; elephants, lions, and birds.
Elephants are large mammals that are identified as herbivores; their habitats include places such as savannahs, forests, deserts, and marshes. The elephant mating season is short and can be seen as complex because "they have large reproductive tracts, long pregnancies, produce large calves that require a long developmental period, and reproduce infrequently with the inter-calf interval as long as five years" (AZA p1). The romances between male and female elephants begin when they rub their bodies on each other and wrap their trunks together. In order to find the right mate, both male and female elephants use different techniques. .
First, male elephants are referred to as bulls and are capable of reproducing by the time they are ten to fifteen years old. Bulls that are identified as being large are the ones that have access to females in the wild. In order for males to find a mate they tend to fan their ears, which allow female elephants to know when they are ready to reproduce. By fanning their ears, it allows them to get their scent recognized at a wider distance. When competing with other males there is rarely any fighting that occurs.
