PSYC 327 Lecture Notes - Lecture 20: Elephant Seal
25 Sep 2016
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Female fecundity is not tied to mate availability but to resources. More resources available the more a female can produce offspring. Male can potentially fertilize larger number of females. Reproductive success is associated with access to female instead of resources. If resources are dispersed homogeneously and/or if females must cover large areas to obtain enough resources to survive, it may not be economically feasible for males to mate and defend more than one female. In systems where males have territories that can sustain numerous mates simultaneously, females need to decide which territory they settle on. Resources doesn"t just have to be food it can also be shade. Quality of a male"s territory will affect his mating success. Female that settle on a territory which contains a male and one or more females should have about the same fitness as female that settles on a lone male"s territory. Birds often form pair bonds during breeding season.
