The purpose of this study was to learn why male salamanders sexually gravitate towards female salamanders who are strongly gravid and a bit larger in regards to size. This study is quiet interesting, when speaking from a human’s perception because some men tend to court women who are highly fertile too. It’s quite interesting to know that in the animal kingdom things work a bit differently, but produce similar outcomes. Although understanding their behaviors can be quite complex, it’s always good to learn about different species. Learning about how and why different animals mate is always fun and interesting. All organisms have different ways of producing their offspring and the salamander’s way of mating can captivate the attention
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They were taken from Macon County in North Carolina, U.S. A (Eddy, S. L. et al, 2015). The salamanders that were not used were placed in individual boxes until they needed to be used for behavioral trials. The salamanders were given two waxworms every week to eat. However, the female salamanders that were used in the experiment were not given waxworms to eat. Female salamanders were not fed until the end of the experiment. By not feeding the female salamanders during the experiment, it prevented their condition from changing between trials with different males. Since these salamanders were only fed every week, withholding food the week after would not negatively impact their body. In the experiment, the salamander males mated with a female salamander at least once in the laboratory. There were 20 male salamanders that were chosen at random to participate in experiment one. Although the males were chosen at random; however, the females were not. There were 60 females collected for this experiment were not used in any courtship trials before the start of the experiment. The female salamanders were placed into three distinct groups: nongravid, weakly gravid, or strongly gravid salamanders. Female salamanders measuring less than 46 mm were not used in the experiment. Three nights for courtship were held. During each time a male was paired with a nongravid, weakly gravid …show more content…
They performed a ratio test and it revealed that a female reproductive condition accounted for the amount of time a male salamander spends courting the female salamander, by foot dancing. The Tail-straddling walk done by the male salamanders was not done in any of the 90 min trials. Male salamanders danced an average of 27.5%, when paired with strongly gravid females (Eddy, S. L. et al, 2015). On the other hand, males foot danced 2.3 times less often when paired with nongravid females (z = −9.352, P < 0.0001) and 1.4 times less often when paired with weakly gravid females (z = −4.344, P < 0.0001) (Eddy, S. L. et al, 2015). In the experiment they used a post hoc Z test to compare whether males foot-danced more or less for weakly gravid or nongravid females, and found that there is no significant difference between the groups (P = 0.2877) (Eddy, S. L. et al,
They were taken from Macon County in North Carolina, U.S. A (Eddy, S. L. et al, 2015). The salamanders that were not used were placed in individual boxes until they needed to be used for behavioral trials. The salamanders were given two waxworms every week to eat. However, the female salamanders that were used in the experiment were not given waxworms to eat. Female salamanders were not fed until the end of the experiment. By not feeding the female salamanders during the experiment, it prevented their condition from changing between trials with different males. Since these salamanders were only fed every week, withholding food the week after would not negatively impact their body. In the experiment, the salamander males mated with a female salamander at least once in the laboratory. There were 20 male salamanders that were chosen at random to participate in experiment one. Although the males were chosen at random; however, the females were not. There were 60 females collected for this experiment were not used in any courtship trials before the start of the experiment. The female salamanders were placed into three distinct groups: nongravid, weakly gravid, or strongly gravid salamanders. Female salamanders measuring less than 46 mm were not used in the experiment. Three nights for courtship were held. During each time a male was paired with a nongravid, weakly gravid …show more content…
They performed a ratio test and it revealed that a female reproductive condition accounted for the amount of time a male salamander spends courting the female salamander, by foot dancing. The Tail-straddling walk done by the male salamanders was not done in any of the 90 min trials. Male salamanders danced an average of 27.5%, when paired with strongly gravid females (Eddy, S. L. et al, 2015). On the other hand, males foot danced 2.3 times less often when paired with nongravid females (z = −9.352, P < 0.0001) and 1.4 times less often when paired with weakly gravid females (z = −4.344, P < 0.0001) (Eddy, S. L. et al, 2015). In the experiment they used a post hoc Z test to compare whether males foot-danced more or less for weakly gravid or nongravid females, and found that there is no significant difference between the groups (P = 0.2877) (Eddy, S. L. et al,