Title:
Does the characteristics of Resplendent Quetzal’s tail such as its length and color difference affect male’s mating success during the courtship?
Abstract:
The resplendent quetzal (Pharomachrus mocinno) is a bird in the trogon family. It is found from Chiapas, Mexico to western Panama. It is well known for its colorful plumage. This species is 36 to 40 cm (14–16 in) long, plus up to 65 cm (26 in) of tail streamer for the male, and weighs about 210 g. Resplendent quetzals have a green body (showing iridescence from green-gold to blue-violet) and red breast. Their green upper tail coverts hide their tails and in breeding males are particularly splendid, being longer than the rest of the body. The primary wing coverts are also unusually
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Female and male resplendent quetzals equally divide their work during their suckling period: while looking after their nestling, both parents take turns at incubating, with their long tail-covert feathers folded forwards over the back and out of the hole, where they tend to look like a bunch of fern growing out of the hole. The incubation period lasts about 18 days, during which the male generally incubates the eggs during the day while the female incubates them at night.
Introduction:
Resplendent Quetzal (Pharomachrus mocinno) are monogamous territorial breeders. The appearance of male and female resplendent quetzal are distinctive: the male is the most beautiful due to his colorful, sheen and glitter plumage which shows his elegance and the noble dignity. They have beautiful green feathers and red breast, they are shinning and turns to bright blue-violet under the sun. The greatly elongated upper tail, which are golden green with blue or violent iridescence, conceals the dark, central feathers of the tail entirely. The size of male resplendent quetzal is usually about 36 to 40 cm from bill to the base of the tail and the tail is usually up to 65cm long. Thus, it is obvious that the tail of male resplendent
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This trait not only influences the mating success of male resplendent quetzal, but also influencing the number of offspring in the living environment. If the results of this experiment reject my null hypothesis, which means that my hypothesis of the longer tail length of male resplendent quetzal, the higher rate for successful mating will be successfully established. Thus the characteristic of the long tail will increase resplendent quetzal’s adaptability and leads to fitness. If the results of my experiment do not reject my null hypothesis, then the tail length is not an adaptation to increase fitness. There might be some possible errors during the experiment that leads to the wrong answer such as the monogamy breeding behavior of resplendent quetzal. However, there might be other interesting adaptations that are not been tested and we can still use this trait to investigate another function, for example, instead of tail length that may affect the mating success, the brightness of the color of the tail may be the trait that can increase the fitness of breeding. By investigating how different brightness of the tail may influence the mating success, I would like to have three male and female resplendent quetzals with similar behaviors and characteristics as my test samples. Because most color that appear among quetzal species are green, thus, I would like to paint each quetzal’s tail with
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Lake Malawi’s cichlid male population of fish are tested on their ability to build bowers to attract the female population. Altering this extended phenotype, or ability to build bowers resulted in no change of mating, but males that built successful bowers showed to
Sexual selection was an idea proposed by Darwin and refers to the process in which males and females attempt to maximize their chances of reproductive success. Within a species there are certain characteristics that make individuals attractive to potential mates. An example of this is in peacocks, female peacocks are attracted to males with long brightly colored tails, even though this makes them easier to be spotted by predators. This characteristic then evolves within the species due to how males with this characteristic have a higher chance of reproductive success and their characteristics being passed on to surviving offspring.
Parus bicolor, commonly known as the tufted titmouse is a small bird species native to many places in North America. The taxonomy for the tufted titmouse follows this hierarchy: Kingdom Animalia, Family Parade, Genus Parus, and species Paris bicolor. Originally, the tufted titmouse only inhabited few areas of the around the South East, and slowly the species migrated up the East Coast, and even a few subspecies have developed in Texas. They thrive best in woodlands, swamps, river basins, and other vegetative areas. Occupying the tops of many deciduous trees, the Tufted Titmouse offers many positive factors to an ecosystem.
The Tamandua Mexicana is a medium-sized anteater with a prehensile(capable of grasping) tail, small eyes and ears, and a long snout. The anteaters can weigh from 7.1lbs to 11.9lbs. Their typical size can range from 102 to 130 centimeters. The anteaters type of symmetry is Bilateral. (which is the same on both sides) Their fur is pale over most of the body except on the upper half of the body where there is a black shaped vest.
These birds most commonly found in North America. It will breed through a wide range from western Alaska and Northern Canada all the way to the west Indies and Panama. The bird is one of the larger birds in its subspecies it weighs about 1.52-3.53 pounds or 690-1600 grams, and measuring 45–65 centimeters or 18–26 Inches in
Ringneck Pheasants only weigh two to three pounds. The females are very blandly colored in order to blend in, but the males have browns, yellows, oranges, and sometimes a dark green. The ring around a Male ringnecks’ neck is a pure white like the spots on their wings, although their long tails are dark colored. They are considered the most commonly identified
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tail. They have gray or rosy brown backs with lighter gray or brown hind legs and have
Red Tailed Catfish mating systems are diverse and sexual selection is expected to be stronger in some lineages than others. In particular, polygynous mating systems and female-only parental care set the stage for potentially strong sexual selection by female choice. But does such intraspecific choosiness target the same coloration traits that also determine assortative mating.
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Sexual selection can best be described by the definition given by Darwin himself. Sexual selection is “the advantage which certain individuals have over other individuals of the same species solely in respect of reproduction” (Hosken et al, 2011). Sexual selection occurs throughout the animal kingdom, where male frogs dominate through the depth of their croak, and certain peacocks reign superior based on the colour and intricate detail on their tails. They remain superior to their lesser counterparts as they bear more admirable characteristics, from which they are chosen by females of the same species.
The males in most cases are the most active in courtship- they are in fact, the best provided with and are the more attractive of the two sexes in various ways. The attractions are flaunted in an elaborate manner in the presence of the females; and also only during the mating season. It also happens to be, that the individuals of one sex are capable of feeling a preference for a certain individual of the opposite sex according to Darwin. When the above happens, like in the case of the argus pheasant where the females are attracted to the exotic shading of the ball-and-socket ornaments and designs on the wing feathers of the male, it is interesting to notice that the males especially flaunt their great plumes only during the mating season and preferably in the presence of his female counterpart/counterparts. The great plumes which prevent the wings from being used for flight, thus, can be traced to the fact that they were given to the male as an ornament. Also, interesting is the fact that, the females would likely mate with that male argus pheasant who had the greatest plume because it charms them.