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92-479: See text Temenuchus (but see Taxonomy and systematics) Sturnus is a genus of starlings . As discussed below, the taxonomy of this group is complex, and other authorities differ considerably in which species they place in this genus, and in the species boundaries within Sturnus . The genus name Sturnus is Latin for "starling". This genus has representatives across most of Eurasia and one species,

184-493: A choice when it comes to the mating season. They can either invest in parental care, through helping feed the young, provide shelter, etc. and be monogynous or they can control many nests at one time, increase the number of matings they engage in and be polygynous . To add to this, much of the time their choice is biological. Sturnus unicolor males are more likely to be polygynous and be less involved in parental care if they have higher levels of testosterone. In addition, females of

276-476: A few hooved animals, some bats , and the Eurasian beaver . This beaver is particularly interesting, as it is practicing monogamy in its reintroduction to certain parts of Europe; however, its American counterpart is not monogamous at all and often partakes in promiscuous behavior. The two species are quite similar in ecology, but American beavers tend to be less aggressive than European beavers. In this instance,

368-420: A greater number of offspring. This eventually leads to large differences in body size between females and males. Polygynous males are often 1.5 to 2.0 times larger in size than females. In monogamous species, on the other hand, females and males have more equal access to mates, so there is little or no sexual dimorphism in body size. From a new biological point of view, monogamy could result from mate guarding and

460-651: A later homonym of a validly published name is a nomen illegitimum or nom. illeg. ; for a full list refer to the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants and the work cited above by Hawksworth, 2010. In place of the "valid taxon" in zoology, the nearest equivalent in botany is " correct name " or "current name" which can, again, differ or change with alternative taxonomic treatments or new information that results in previously accepted genera being combined or split. Prokaryote and virus codes of nomenclature also exist which serve as

552-628: A long time and redescribed as new by a range of subsequent workers, or if a range of genera previously considered separate taxa have subsequently been consolidated into one. For example, the World Register of Marine Species presently lists 8 genus-level synonyms for the sperm whale genus Physeter Linnaeus, 1758, and 13 for the bivalve genus Pecten O.F. Müller, 1776. Within the same kingdom, one generic name can apply to one genus only. However, many names have been assigned (usually unintentionally) to two or more different genera. For example,

644-405: A low to moderate amount of sperm competition. In species where the young are particularly vulnerable and may benefit from protection by both parents, monogamy may be an optimal strategy. Monogamy tends to also occur when populations are small and dispersed. This is not conductive to polygamous behavior as the male would spend far more time searching for another mate. The monogamous behavior allows

736-527: A polygamous mating system. Sexual dimorphism then began to decrease. Studies suggest sexual dimorphism reached modern human levels around the time of Homo erectus 0.5 to 2 million years ago. This line of reasoning suggests human ancestors started out polygamous and began the transition to monogamy somewhere between 0.5 million and 2 million years ago. Attempts to infer the evolution of monogamy based on sexual dimorphism remain controversial for three reasons: Studies of sexual dimorphism raise

828-409: A reference for designating currently accepted genus names as opposed to others which may be either reduced to synonymy, or, in the case of prokaryotes, relegated to a status of "names without standing in prokaryotic nomenclature". An available (zoological) or validly published (botanical) name that has been historically applied to a genus but is not regarded as the accepted (current/valid) name for

920-464: A sexual partner for socially monogamous females in an enforcement pattern. Kleiman also offered a second theory. In obligate monogamy, the driving force behind monogamy is a greater need for paternal investment. This theory assumes that without biparental care fitness level of offspring would be greatly reduced. This paternal care may or may not be equal to that of the maternal care. Related to paternal care, some researchers have argued that infanticide

1012-416: A similar nutritional state. If the male is not around, she will allow asynchronous hatching and even allow a brood reduction if she cannot take care of all the young. This allocation of resources to the more desirable situation is differential allocation. The sexy son hypothesis is an attempt to explain why a female may choose to mate with a previously mated (polygynous) male. This hypothesis suggests that

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1104-415: A socially monogamous bird species that usually only have one mate throughout their lives, much like the prairie vole. The female will close herself up in a nest cavity, sealed with a nest plug, for two months. At this time, she will lay eggs and will be cared for by her mate. The males are willing to work to support himself, his mate, and his offspring in order for survival; however, unlike the emperor penguin,

1196-479: A species of animal, however, may potentially operate on a large number of factors throughout that animal's life cycle. For instance, with many species of bear, the female will often drive a male off soon after mating, and will later guard her cubs from him. It is thought that this may be due to the fact that too many bears close to one another may deplete the food available to the relatively small but growing cubs. Monogamy may be social but rarely genetic. For example, in

1288-427: A taxon; however, the names published in suppressed works are made unavailable via the relevant Opinion dealing with the work in question. In botany, similar concepts exist but with different labels. The botanical equivalent of zoology's "available name" is a validly published name . An invalidly published name is a nomen invalidum or nom. inval. ; a rejected name is a nomen rejiciendum or nom. rej. ;

1380-455: A total of c. 520,000 published names (including synonyms) as at end 2019, increasing at some 2,500 published generic names per year. "Official" registers of taxon names at all ranks, including genera, exist for a few groups only such as viruses and prokaryotes, while for others there are compendia with no "official" standing such as Index Fungorum for fungi, Index Nominum Algarum and AlgaeBase for algae, Index Nominum Genericorum and

1472-610: Is a relatively new concept in salamanders, and has not been seen frequently – it is also concerning that the act of monogamy may inhibit the salamanders reproductive rates and biological success. However, the study which was conducted in cooperation by the University of Louisiana, Lafayette, and the University of Virginia showed that the salamanders are not inhibited by this monogamy if they show alternative strategies with other mates. Azara's night monkeys are another species that proved to be monogamous. In an 18-year study conducted by

1564-413: Is a typical tactic in monogamous species. It is present in many animal species and can sometimes be expressed in lieu of parental care by males. This may be for many reasons, including paternity assurance. While the evolution of monogamy in animals cannot be broadly ascertained, there are several theories as to how monogamy may have evolved. Anisogamy is a form of sexual reproduction which involves

1656-432: Is because males may increase their fitness by mating with many females, whereas females are limited by their own fecundity. Females are therefore typically more likely to be selective in choosing mates. Monogamy is suggested to limit fitness differences, as males and females will mate in pairs. This would seem to be non-beneficial to males, but may not be in all cases. Several behaviors and ecological concerns may have led to

1748-621: Is because resources may be found more easily for the pair than for the individual. The argument for resource availability has been shown in many species, but in several species, once resource availability increases, monogamy is still apparent. With increased resource availability, males may be offsetting the restriction of their fitness through several means. In instances of social monogamy, males may offset any lowered fitness through extra pair coupling . Extra pair coupling refers to male and females mating with several mates but only raising offspring with one mate. The male may not be related to all of

1840-430: Is body size. For example, among mammals, males typically have larger bodies than females. In other orders, however, females have larger bodies than males. Sexual dimorphism in body size has been linked to mating behavior. In polygynous species, males compete for control over sexual access to females. Large males have an advantage in the competition for access to females, and they consequently pass their genes along to

1932-544: Is defined as a pair bond between two adult animals of the same species. This pair may cohabitate in an area or territory for some duration of time, and in some cases may copulate and reproduce with only each other. Monogamy may either be short-term, lasting one to a few seasons or long-term, lasting many seasons and in extreme cases, life-long. Monogamy can be partitioned into two categories, social monogamy and genetic monogamy which may occur together in some combination, or completely independently of one another. As an example, in

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2024-567: Is derived from the conflict-centric differential allocation hypothesis, which states that there is a tradeoff between investment and attractiveness. Genetic monogamy refers to a mating system in which fidelity of the bonding pair is exhibited. Though individual pairs may be genetically monogamous, no one species has been identified as fully genetically monogamous. In some species, genetic monogamy has been enforced. Female voles have shown no difference in fecundity with genetic monogamy, but it may be enforced by males in some instances. Mate guarding

2116-612: Is discouraged by both the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature and the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants , there are some five thousand such names in use in more than one kingdom. For instance, A list of generic homonyms (with their authorities), including both available (validly published) and selected unavailable names, has been compiled by the Interim Register of Marine and Nonmarine Genera (IRMNG). The type genus forms

2208-462: Is due to the harshness of the Antarctic weather, predators and the scarcity of food. One parent will protect the chick, while the other finds food. However, these penguins only remain monogamous until the chick is able to go off on their own. After the chick no longer needs their care, approximately 85% of parents will part ways and typically find a new partner every breeding season. Hornbills are

2300-485: Is engaged as a result of sexual conflict . Some researchers have attempted to infer the evolution of human mating systems from the evolution of sexual dimorphism. Several studies have reported a large amount of sexual dimorphism in Australopithecus , an evolutionary ancestor of human beings that lived between 2 and 5 million years ago. These studies raise the possibility that Australopithecus had

2392-504: Is in polygamous situations. Therefore, sperm quality for monogamous species has a higher variation and lower quality sperm have been noted in several species. The lack of sperm competition is not advantageous for sperm quality. An example of this is in the Eurasian bullfinch which exhibits relaxed selection and sperm competition. The sperm of these males have a lower velocity than other closely related but polygamous passerine bird species and

2484-417: Is less of a chance for a given male to find multiple females to mate with. In such a case, it becomes more advantageous for a male to remain with a female, rather than seeking out another and risking (a) not finding another female and or (b) not being able to fight off another male from interfering with his offspring by mating with the female or through infanticide . In these situations, male-to-male competition

2576-408: Is more beneficial for their young to be taken care of by both parents. They take turns incubating the eggs, and then supplying their fledglings with food. Black vultures will also attack other vultures that are participating in extra pair copulation , this is an attempt to increase monogamy and decrease promiscuous behavior. Similarly, emperor penguins also stay together to care for their young. This

2668-421: Is much more than just reproduction. It includes all the benefits and costs that the female weighs when choosing a mate and the competition that males, and sometimes females, go through when trying to win a mate. The genus Sturnus uses three major mechanisms in their complex mating system: parental care , differential allocation, and (arguably) the sexy son hypothesis . Male Sturnus unicolor individuals face

2760-436: Is not needed, there may still be a need for the pair to protect each other. An example of this would be sentinel behavior in avian species. The main advantage of sentinel behavior is that many survival tactics are improved. As stated, the male or female will act as a sentinel and signal to their mate if a predator is present. This can lead to an increase in survivorship, foraging, and incubation of eggs. Male care for offspring

2852-454: Is not seen in all species, such as some primates, in which the female may be more dominant than the male and may not need help to avoid unwanted mating; the pair may still benefit from some form of mate assistance, however, and therefore monogamy may be enforced to ensure the assistance of males. Bi-parental care is not seen in all monogamous species, however, so this may not be the only cause of female enforcement. In species where mate guarding

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2944-414: Is one of the main sources of competition females are able to choose sperm from among various male suitors. Typically the sperm of the highest quality are selected. In genetically monogamous species it can be expected that sperm competition is absent or otherwise severely limited. There is no selection for the highest quality sperm amongst the sperm of multiple males, and copulation is more random than it

3036-400: Is rather rare in some taxa of species. This is because males may increase their fitness by searching for multiple mates. Females are limited in fitness by their fecundity, so multiple mating does not affect their fitness to the same extent. Males have the opportunity to find a new mate earlier than females when there is internal fertilization or the females exhibit the majority of the care for

3128-424: Is reduced and female choice is limited. The end result is that the mate choice is more random than in a more dense population, which has a number of effects including limiting dimorphism and sexual selection . With resource availability limited, mating with multiple mates may be harder because the density of individuals is lowered. The habitat cannot sustain multiple mates, so monogamy may be more prevalent. This

3220-460: Is somewhat arbitrary. Although all species within a genus are supposed to be "similar", there are no objective criteria for grouping species into genera. There is much debate among zoologists about whether enormous, species-rich genera should be maintained, as it is extremely difficult to come up with identification keys or even character sets that distinguish all species. Hence, many taxonomists argue in favor of breaking down large genera. For instance,

3312-420: Is that a female who chooses a polygynous mate, for a chance that her sons grow up to be successful and pass her genes on, would be risking her own health. The hypothesis has been shown to be flawed in some scenarios. A female that mates with a previously mated male, who is also likely to leave her nest, fledges far fewer young than one that mates with a monogynous male. Formerly, some authorities also considered

3404-474: Is the type species , and the generic name is permanently associated with the type specimen of its type species. Should the specimen turn out to be assignable to another genus, the generic name linked to it becomes a junior synonym and the remaining taxa in the former genus need to be reassessed. In zoological usage, taxonomic names, including those of genera, are classified as "available" or "unavailable". Available names are those published in accordance with

3496-465: Is the true cause of monogamy. This theory has not garnered much support, however, critiqued by several authors including Lukas and Clutton-Brock and Dixson. Monogamous mating may also be caused simply by enforcement through tactics such as mate guarding. In these species, the males will prevent other males from copulating with their chosen female or vice versa. Males will help to fend off other aggressive males, and keep their mate for themselves. This

3588-517: Is thought to be lessened, and typically little to no sexual dimorphism is noted as there is less ornamentation and armor. This is because there is a relaxation of sexual selection. This may have something to do with a feedback loop caused by a low population density. If sexual selection is too strenuous in a population where there is a low density the population will shrink. In the continuing generations sexual selection will become less and less relevant as mating becomes more random. A similar feedback loop

3680-402: Is thought to occur for the sperm quality in genetically monogamous pairs. Once anisogamy has emerged in a species due to gamete dimorphism there is an inherent level of competition. This could be seen as sperm competition in the very least. Sperm competition is defined as a post copulatory mode of sexual selection which causes the diversity of sperm across species. As soon as sperm and egg are

3772-470: The Sturnus vulgaris species see a decrease in their fitness if the male is polygynous because there is no assistance in nestling feeding. Offspring success per nest, however, is significantly higher if there is parental care from the male, but males see greater overall fitness when they are polygynous. This is the trade off and the cost/benefit balance that each individual must go through. To try and make

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3864-621: The International Code of Zoological Nomenclature ; the earliest such name for any taxon (for example, a genus) should then be selected as the " valid " (i.e., current or accepted) name for the taxon in question. Consequently, there will be more available names than valid names at any point in time; which names are currently in use depending on the judgement of taxonomists in either combining taxa described under multiple names, or splitting taxa which may bring available names previously treated as synonyms back into use. "Unavailable" names in zoology comprise names that either were not published according to

3956-824: The International Plant Names Index for plants in general, and ferns through angiosperms, respectively, and Nomenclator Zoologicus and the Index to Organism Names for zoological names. Totals for both "all names" and estimates for "accepted names" as held in the Interim Register of Marine and Nonmarine Genera (IRMNG) are broken down further in the publication by Rees et al., 2020 cited above. The accepted names estimates are as follows, broken down by kingdom: The cited ranges of uncertainty arise because IRMNG lists "uncertain" names (not researched therein) in addition to known "accepted" names;

4048-418: The common or European starling, has been introduced to North America , South Africa , Australia and New Zealand . The more northerly breeding species are completely or partially migratory , wintering in warmer regions. The Sturnus starlings are terrestrial species; they walk rather than hop, and have modifications to the skull and its muscles for open-bill probing. The latter adaptation has facilitated

4140-480: The common starling ( Sturnus vulgaris ) is considered the type species . The common and spotless starlings are particularly closely related, and interbreed to some extent where their ranges overlap in southwestern France and northeastern Spain . The non-migratory spotless starling may be descended from a population of ancestral S. vulgaris that survived in an Iberian refugium during an Ice Age retreat. Two extant species are recognized: A mating system

4232-419: The nomenclature codes , which allow each species a single unique name that, for animals (including protists ), plants (also including algae and fungi ) and prokaryotes ( bacteria and archaea ), is Latin and binomial in form; this contrasts with common or vernacular names , which are non-standardized, can be non-unique, and typically also vary by country and language of usage. Except for viruses ,

4324-404: The platypus belongs to the genus Ornithorhynchus although George Shaw named it Platypus in 1799 (these two names are thus synonyms ) . However, the name Platypus had already been given to a group of ambrosia beetles by Johann Friedrich Wilhelm Herbst in 1793. A name that means two different things is a homonym . Since beetles and platypuses are both members of the kingdom Animalia,

4416-417: The University of Pennsylvania, these monkeys proved to be entirely monogamous, exhibiting no genetic information or visual information that could lead to the assumption that extra pair copulation was occurring. This explained the question as to why the male owl monkey invested so much time in protecting and raising their own offspring. Because monogamy is often referred to as "placing all your eggs in one basket"

4508-478: The amount of abnormalities in sperm structure, length, and count when compared to similar bird families is increased. The evolution of mating systems in animals has received an enormous amount of attention from biologists. This section briefly reviews three main findings about the evolution of monogamy in animals. The amount of social monogamy in animals varies across taxa, with over 90% of birds engaging in social monogamy while only 3–9% of mammals are known to do

4600-442: The base for higher taxonomic ranks, such as the family name Canidae ("Canids") based on Canis . However, this does not typically ascend more than one or two levels: the order to which dogs and wolves belong is Carnivora ("Carnivores"). The numbers of either accepted, or all published genus names is not known precisely; Rees et al., 2020 estimate that approximately 310,000 accepted names (valid taxa) may exist, out of

4692-432: The cichlid species Variabilichromis moorii , a monogamous pair will care for eggs and young together, but the eggs may not all be fertilized by the male giving the care. Monogamy in mammals is rather rare, only occurring in 3–9% of these species. A larger percentage of avian species are known to have monogamous relationships (about 90%), but most avian species practice social but not genetic monogamy in contrast to what

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4784-410: The cichlid species Variabilichromis moorii , a monogamous pair will care for their eggs and young but the eggs are not all fertilized by the same male. Thierry Lodé argued that monogamy should result from conflict of interest between the sexes called sexual conflict . There are species which have adopted monogamy with great success. For instance, the male prairie vole will mate exclusively with

4876-521: The evolution of monogamy as a relevant mating strategy. Partner and resource availability, enforcement, mate assistance, and territory defense may be some of the most prevalent factors affecting animal behavior. First introduced by Kleiman, facultative monogamy occurs when females are widely dispersed. This can either occur because females in a species tend to be solitary or because the distribution of resources available cause females to thrive when separated into distinct territories. In these instances, there

4968-519: The female mates with a polygynous male because he has already proven himself successful and will therefore be likely to pass these successful genes to his sons. Although it may not be ideal for the female at the time, her genes are likely to get passed on for many generations due to her sons' success. Those sons are likely to exhibit many of the behavioral qualities of the father, causing them to also be highly successful in their sexual maturity. This hypothesis has its critics, however. One counter-argument

5060-426: The first female he ever mates with. The vole is extremely loyal and will go as far as to even attack other females that may approach him. This type of behavior has been linked to the hormone vasopressin . This hormone is released when a male mates and cares for young. Due to this hormone's rewarding effects, the male experiences a positive feeling when they maintain a monogamous relationship. To further test this theory,

5152-521: The following species (or subspecies) as species within the genus Sturnus : Genus The composition of a genus is determined by taxonomists . The standards for genus classification are not strictly codified, so different authorities often produce different classifications for genera. There are some general practices used, however, including the idea that a newly defined genus should fulfill these three criteria to be descriptively useful: Moreover, genera should be composed of phylogenetic units of

5244-446: The form "author, year" in zoology, and "standard abbreviated author name" in botany. Thus in the examples above, the genus Canis would be cited in full as " Canis Linnaeus, 1758" (zoological usage), while Hibiscus , also first established by Linnaeus but in 1753, is simply " Hibiscus L." (botanical usage). Each genus should have a designated type , although in practice there is a backlog of older names without one. In zoology, this

5336-549: The fusion of two unequally-sized gametes. In many animals, there are two sexes: the male, in which the gamete is small, motile, usually plentiful, and less energetically expensive, and the female, in which the gamete is larger, more energetically expensive, made at a lower rate, and largely immobile. Anisogamy is thought to have evolved from isogamy , the fusion of similar gametes, multiple times in many different species. The introduction of anisogamy has caused males and females to tend to have different optimal mating strategies. This

5428-682: The generic name (or its abbreviated form) still forms the leading portion of the scientific name, for example, Canis lupus lupus for the Eurasian wolf subspecies, or as a botanical example, Hibiscus arnottianus ssp. immaculatus . Also, as visible in the above examples, the Latinised portions of the scientific names of genera and their included species (and infraspecies, where applicable) are, by convention, written in italics . The scientific names of virus species are descriptive, not binomial in form, and may or may not incorporate an indication of their containing genus; for example,

5520-482: The hornbills do not find new partners each season. It is relatively uncommon to find monogamous relationships in fish, amphibians and reptiles; however, the red-backed salamander as well as the Caribbean cleaner goby practice monogamy as well. However, the male Caribbean cleaner goby fish has been found to separate from the female suddenly, leaving her abandoned. In a study conducted by Oregon State University, it

5612-633: The largest component, with 23,236 ± 5,379 accepted genus names, of which 20,845 ± 4,494 are angiosperms (superclass Angiospermae). By comparison, the 2018 annual edition of the Catalogue of Life (estimated >90% complete, for extant species in the main) contains currently 175,363 "accepted" genus names for 1,744,204 living and 59,284 extinct species, also including genus names only (no species) for some groups. The number of species in genera varies considerably among taxonomic groups. For instance, among (non-avian) reptiles , which have about 1180 genera,

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5704-405: The lizard genus Anolis has been suggested to be broken down into 8 or so different genera which would bring its ~400 species to smaller, more manageable subsets. Monogamy in animals Monogamous pairing in animals refers to the natural history of mating systems in which species pair bond to raise offspring. This is associated, usually implicitly, with sexual monogamy . Monogamy

5796-569: The male is not present in these populations, the survivorship of the offspring is drastically lowered and there is a lowering in male fitness. Without monogamy, bi-parental care is less common and there is an increased chance of infanticide . Infanticide with monogamous pairing would lead to a lowered fitness for socially monogamous males and is not seen to a wide extent. Monogamy as a mating system in animals has been thought to lower levels of some pre and post copulatory competition methods. Because of this reduction in competition in some instances

5888-459: The male stay faithful to her, a female will act aggressively towards another female that solicits his attention. If the male looks like he is going to leave, she will perform aggressive acts towards a prospecting female, in an attempt to have the male stay. Males respond to this behaviour, and the resident female's aggressive acts towards prospecting females do play a role in whether the male stays monogamous . The female then responds to whether or not

5980-421: The male sticks around to invest in parental care. If the father stays monogamous, she will allocate more maternal steroid hormones to the eggs she lays later. Doing so negates the effects of hatching asynchrony. When the female is alone, she has difficulty finding enough resources to fully take care of all the offspring. Therefore, if the male is monogamous, she allows all the young to hatch at a similar time, and at

6072-443: The male to have a mate consistently, without having to waste energy searching for other females. Furthermore, there is an apparent connection between the time a male invests in their offspring and their monogamous behavior. A male which is required to care for the offspring to ensure their survival is much more likely to exhibit monogamous behavior over one that does not. The selection factors in favor of different mating strategies for

6164-399: The male wants to ensure his young survive, and thus pass on his genes. The desert grass spider, Agelenopsis aperta , is mostly monogamous as well. Male size is the determining factor in fights over a female, with the larger male emerging as the winner since their size signifies success in future offspring. Other monogamous species include wolves , certain species of fox , otters ,

6256-757: The males and the females. The existence of purely social monogamy is a polygamous or polyandrous social pair with extra pair coupling . Social monogamy has been shown to increase fitness in prairie voles. It has been shown that female prairie voles live longer when paired with males in a social monogamous relationship. This could be because of the shared energy expenditure by the males and females lower each individual's input. In largemouth bass, females are sometimes seen to exhibit cuckoo behavior by laying some of their eggs in another female's nest, thus "stealing" fertilizations from other females. Sexual conflicts that have been proposed to arise from social monogamy include infidelity and parental investment. The proposed conflict

6348-403: The most (>300) have only 1 species, ~360 have between 2 and 4 species, 260 have 5–10 species, ~200 have 11–50 species, and only 27 genera have more than 50 species. However, some insect genera such as the bee genera Lasioglossum and Andrena have over 1000 species each. The largest flowering plant genus, Astragalus , contains over 3,000 species. Which species are assigned to a genus

6440-428: The name could not be used for both. Johann Friedrich Blumenbach published the replacement name Ornithorhynchus in 1800. However, a genus in one kingdom is allowed to bear a scientific name that is in use as a generic name (or the name of a taxon in another rank) in a kingdom that is governed by a different nomenclature code. Names with the same form but applying to different taxa are called "homonyms". Although this

6532-441: The offspring of his main mate, but some offspring are being raised in other broods by other males and females, thereby offsetting any limitation of monogamy. Males are cuckolds, but because they have other female sexual partners, they cuckold other males and increase their own fitness. Males exhibit parental care habits in order to be an acceptable mate to the female. Any males that do not exhibit parental care would not be accepted as

6624-502: The offspring. When males are shown to care for offspring as well as females, it is referred to as bi-parental care. Bi-parental care may occur when there is a lower chance of survival of the offspring without male care. The evolution of this care has been associated with energetically expensive offspring. Bi-parental care is exhibited in many avian species. In these cases, the male has a greater chance to increase his own fitness by seeing that his offspring live long enough to reproduce. If

6716-472: The possibility that early human ancestors were polygamous rather than monogamous. But this line of research remains highly controversial. It may be that early human ancestors showed little sexual dimorphism, and it may be that sexual dimorphism in early human ancestors had no relationship to their mating systems. The relative sizes of male testes often reflect mating systems. In species with promiscuous mating systems, where many males mate with many females,

6808-481: The predominant mating types there is an increase in the need for the male gametes. This is because there will be a large number of unsuccessful sperm which will cost a certain level of expenditure on energy without a benefit from the individual sperm. Sperm in polygamous sexual encounters have evolved for size, speed, structure, and quantity. This competition causes selection for competitive traits which can be pre or post copulatory. In species where cryptic female choice

6900-541: The provisions of the ICZN Code, e.g., incorrect original or subsequent spellings, names published only in a thesis, and generic names published after 1930 with no type species indicated. According to "Glossary" section of the zoological Code, suppressed names (per published "Opinions" of the International Commission of Zoological Nomenclature) remain available but cannot be used as the valid name for

6992-425: The receptors that control vasopressin were placed into another species of vole that is promiscuous. After this addition, the originally unfaithful voles became monogamous with their selected partner. These very same receptors can be found in human brain, and have been found to vary at the individual level—which could explain why some human males tend to be more loyal than others. Black vultures stay together as it

7084-427: The regulation of certain morphological characteristics may be lowered. This would result in a vast variety of morphological and physiological differences such as sexual dimorphism and sperm quality. Sexual dimorphism denotes the differences in males and females of the same species. Even in animals with seemingly no morphological sexual dimorphism visible there is still dimorphism in the gametes. Among mammals, males have

7176-413: The relationship between testis size and mating system. Chimpanzees , which have a promiscuous mating system, have large testes compared to other primates. Gorillas , which have a polygynous mating system, have smaller testes than other primates. Humans , which have a socially monogamous mating system , have moderately sized testes. The moderate amounts of sexual non-monogamy in humans may result in

7268-470: The same kind as other (analogous) genera. The term "genus" comes from Latin genus , a noun form cognate with gignere ('to bear; to give birth to'). The Swedish taxonomist Carl Linnaeus popularized its use in his 1753 Species Plantarum , but the French botanist Joseph Pitton de Tournefort (1656–1708) is considered "the founder of the modern concept of genera". The scientific name (or

7360-459: The same. This list is not complete. Other factors may also contribute to the evolution of social monogamy. Moreover, different sets of factors may explain the evolution of social monogamy in different species. There is no one-size-fits-all explanation of why different species evolved monogamous mating systems. Sexual dimorphism refers to differences in body characteristics between females and males. A frequently studied type of sexual dimorphism

7452-408: The scientific epithet) of a genus is also called the generic name ; in modern style guides and science, it is always capitalised. It plays a fundamental role in binomial nomenclature , the system of naming organisms , where it is combined with the scientific name of a species : see Botanical name and Specific name (zoology) . The rules for the scientific names of organisms are laid down in

7544-616: The smaller gametes and females have the larger gametes. As soon as the two sexes emerge the dimorphism in the gamete structures and sizes may lead to further dimorphism in the species. Sexual dimorphism is often caused through evolution in response to male male competition and female choice. In polygamous species there is a noted sexual dimorphism. The sexual dimorphism is seen typically in sexual signaling aspects of morphology. Males typically exhibit these dimorphic traits and they are typically traits which help in signaling to females or male male competition. In monogamous species sexual conflict

7636-471: The species have the starling's familiar triangular wing shape. They are capable of imitating many sounds and they have been recorded mimicking sounds such as that of a squeaky door. The genus Sturnus was introduced in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae . The genus name Sturnus is Latin for "starling". Of the four species included by Linnaeus,

7728-497: The specific name particular to the wolf. A botanical example would be Hibiscus arnottianus , a particular species of the genus Hibiscus native to Hawaii. The specific name is written in lower-case and may be followed by subspecies names in zoology or a variety of infraspecific names in botany . When the generic name is already known from context, it may be shortened to its initial letter, for example, C. lupus in place of Canis lupus . Where species are further subdivided,

7820-473: The spread of this genus from humid tropical southern Asia to cooler regions of Europe and Asia. Starlings nest in holes in trees or buildings. They are omnivorous and mostly feed on the ground; they specialise in taking invertebrates from just below the surface. This is facilitated by the head adaptations mentioned above, which enable the birds to probe with the bill open, closing it to secure prey items. The plumages within this group are variable, but all

7912-412: The standard format for a species name comprises the generic name, indicating the genus to which the species belongs, followed by the specific epithet, which (within that genus) is unique to the species. For example, the gray wolf 's scientific name is Canis lupus , with Canis ( Latin for 'dog') being the generic name shared by the wolf's close relatives and lupus (Latin for 'wolf') being

8004-403: The taxon is termed a synonym ; some authors also include unavailable names in lists of synonyms as well as available names, such as misspellings, names previously published without fulfilling all of the requirements of the relevant nomenclatural code, and rejected or suppressed names. A particular genus name may have zero to many synonyms, the latter case generally if the genus has been known for

8096-425: The testes tend to be relatively large. This appears to be the result of sperm competition. Males with large testes produce more sperm and thereby gain an advantage impregnating females. In polygynous species, where one male controls sexual access to females, the testes tend to be small. One male defends exclusive sexual access to a group of females and thereby eliminates sperm competition. Studies of primates support

8188-576: The values quoted are the mean of "accepted" names alone (all "uncertain" names treated as unaccepted) and "accepted + uncertain" names (all "uncertain" names treated as accepted), with the associated range of uncertainty indicating these two extremes. Within Animalia, the largest phylum is Arthropoda , with 151,697 ± 33,160 accepted genus names, of which 114,387 ± 27,654 are insects (class Insecta). Within Plantae, Tracheophyta (vascular plants) make up

8280-429: The virus species " Salmonid herpesvirus 1 ", " Salmonid herpesvirus 2 " and " Salmonid herpesvirus 3 " are all within the genus Salmonivirus ; however, the genus to which the species with the formal names " Everglades virus " and " Ross River virus " are assigned is Alphavirus . As with scientific names at other ranks, in all groups other than viruses, names of genera may be cited with their authorities, typically in

8372-484: Was found that this fish practices not true monogamy, but serial monogamy. This essentially means that the goby will have multiple monogamous relationships throughout its life – but only be in one relationship at a time. The red-backed salamander exhibited signs of social monogamy, which is the idea that animals form pairs to mate and raise offspring, but still will partake in extra pair copulation with various males or females in order to increase their biological fitness. This

8464-528: Was previously assumed by researchers. Monogamy is quite rare in fish and amphibians, but not unheard of, appearing in a select few species. Social monogamy refers to the cohabitation of one male and one female. The two individuals may cooperate in search of resources such as food and shelter and/or in caring for young. Paternal care in monogamous species is commonly displayed through carrying, feeding, defending, and socializing offspring. With social monogamy there may not be an expected sexual fidelity between

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