courtship behaviour

• courtship behaviour is essential for successful mating and for species recognition
• a species is a group of similiar organisms that can breed to produce fertile offsprings
• courtship rituals are usually done by males
• courtship rituals

  • unique sequence of actions
  • sounds
  • releasing pheromones
  • sounds
  • displaying feathers
  • fighting
• importance of courtship rituals

  1. ensure successful reproduction

  • enable to recognise same species and opposite sex
  • synchronises mating behaviour to indicate sexual maturity

  2. ensure survival of offspring

  • forms a pair bond
  • choose a strong, healthy mate
• the more similiar a courtship sequence is between two different species, the more closely related they are
• courtship rituals are genetically determined so the more similar the sequence is, the more similiar the DNA base sequence is