In
animal behavior
Ethology is the scientific study of animal behaviour, usually with a focus on behaviour under natural conditions, and viewing behaviour as an evolutionarily adaptive trait. Behaviourism as a term also describes the scientific and objective ...
, resource defense polygyny is a
mating strategy where a male is able to support multiple female mates by competing with other males for access to a resource.
In such a system, males are territorial. Because male movement is restricted,
female-female competition for a male also results. Males capable of maintaining a larger territory are said to have greater resource holding power.
It is one of the three major types of
polygyny
Polygyny (; from Neoclassical Greek πολυγυνία (); ) is the most common and accepted form of polygamy around the world, entailing the marriage of a man with several women.
Incidence
Polygyny is more widespread in Africa than in any o ...
, the other two being
female defense polygyny
Female (symbol: ♀) is the sex of an organism that produces the large non-motile ova (egg cells), the type of gamete (sex cell) that fuses with the male gamete during sexual reproduction.
A female has larger gametes than a male. Females a ...
and
leks.
Examples
Resource defense polygyny is a common strategy in insects. For examples, damselflies in the family
Calopterygidae
The Calopterygidae are a family of damselflies, in the suborder Zygoptera.
They are commonly known as the broad-winged damselflies, demoiselles, or jewelwings. These rather large damselflies have wingspans of 50–80 mm (compared to about 4 ...
typically display resource defense polygyny, in which territorial males guard riverine habitat that is sought after by females for egg deposition. Within a species there may be a territorial and nonterritorial morph.
[{{Cite book , last1=Thornhill , first1=Randy , url=https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.4159/harvard.9780674433960/html , title=The Evolution of Insect Mating Systems , last2=Alcock , first2=John , date=1983-12-31 , publisher=Harvard University Press , isbn=978-0-674-43395-3 , doi=10.4159/harvard.9780674433960]
Many bird species also display resource defense polygyny. The
yellow headed blackbird is an example, where a male may have multiple females nesting in his territory.
See also
*
Polygyny threshold model
References
Ethology
Mating systems
Polygyny