There are some weird and wonderful ways in which animals will attempt to attract a mate for reproduction! Take the male frigate bird, which has what is known as a gular pouch on their throats. With a lot of hard work, the male inflates the pouch until it resembles a giant, red, heart-shaped balloon. He then begins to shake his wings, and waggle his head from side to side to attract a female! The females are attracted to the male with the largest balloon. Once the male has attracted his mate, he places his wings over her eyes so she cannot get distracted by males with bigger pouches!!!
Clownfish usually live in groups of males, with one female. The female is the biggest fish, and will be surrounded by males. One of the male fish is sexually mature, and only he can mate with the female. If the female dies, then the male will actually change gender into the female, leaving another male to become sexually mature and partner the new female fish!
GCSE scientists – you need to be able to explain the difference between asexual and sexual reproduction and the different types of cell division. For help, try our new guide “How to work with Reproduction and Cell Division”. As always there are questions to try, and answers to check your understanding.
Click on the picture below to see the guide.
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