Animal courtship behavior

Assessment | Biopsychology | Comparative | Cognitive | Developmental | Language | Individual differences | Personality | Philosophy | Social |
Methods | Statistics | Clinical | Educational | Industrial | Professional items | World psychology |

Animals · Animal ethology · Comparative psychology · Animal models · Outline · Index

---

Courtship in the animal kingdom

Main article: Mating

File:Waterbergoriolesdownsized.jpg

Male and female Black-headed Oriole in courtship ritual, in a riparian zone of central Waterberg, South Africa.

Many non-human animal species have mate-selection rituals also referred to as courtship. Animal courtship may involve complicated dances or touching; vocalizations; or displays of beauty or fighting prowess. Most animal courtship occurs out of sight of humans, so it is often the least documented of animal behaviors. One animal whose courtship rituals are well studied is the bowerbird, whose male builds a "bower" of collected objects.

From the scientific point of view, courtship in the animal kingdom is the process in which the different species select their partners for reproduction purposes. Generally speaking, the male initiates the courtship and the female chooses to either mate or reject the male based on his "performance". As of this moment, the best scientific model that explains courtship behavior is The Selfish Gene model proposed by Richard Dawkins which states that an individual of a particular species will mate with individuals from the same species that display "good genes".

In this case, courtship is a display of "genes" carried by a particular organism looking forward to mix with the genes of another organism in order to preserve themselves onto the next generation, thereby ensuring the survival of the genes themselves.

One sociobiological model of courtship is propounde in the book The Selfish Gene, proposed by Richard Dawkins: That an individual of a species will mate with individuals from the same species displaying "good genes". ^{[citation needed]} Courtship, then, is a display of "genes" carried by an organism looking forward to mix with the genes of another organism to preserve themselves and their genes onto the next generation. ^{[citation needed]}

---

See also

• Animal courtship displays
• Animal mate selection
• Animal mating behavior
• Animal sexual behavior
• Human courtship

Additional material

Papers

• Google Scholar