Alternative mating strategy

An alternative mating strategy is a mating strategy used by males or females that differs from the prevailing strategy of the sex. The mating strategies of animals are diverse and variable both across and within species. Animal sexual behavior and mate choice directly affect social structure and relationships in many different mating systems, whether monogamous, polygamous, polyandrous, or polygynous. Though males and females in a given population typically employ a predominant reproductive strategy based on the overarching mating system, there is still significant variation in behavior among individuals of the same sex. Alternative strategies provide animals of certain phenotypes with a different means for obtaining mates. The study of alternative mating strategies is critical to correctly characterizing the diverse sexual behavior practiced by animals in a population and understanding the strength of selection on these individuals.

Alternative mating strategies have been observed among both male and female animals. Most typically, alternative strategies will be adopted in the face of competition within a sex, especially in species that mate multiply. In these scenarios, some individuals will adopt very different mating strategies to achieve reproductive success. The result over time will be a variety of strategies and phenotypes, consisting of both unsuccessful and successful conventional individuals and unconventional individuals who mate through alternative means. Successful strategies will be maintained through sexual selection.

In many cases, the coexistence of alternative and traditional mating strategies will both maximize the average fitness of the sex in question and be evolutionarily stable for a population. However, the utilization of alternative mating strategies may oscillate as a result of varying reproductive conditions, such as the availability of potential mates. Under changing circumstances, the existence of a variety of strategies allows individuals to choose the conditional behavior that will currently maximize their fitness.

Conventional and alternative mating behaviors arise through the pressures of sexual selection. More specifically, varying levels of reproductive success will select for phenotypes and strategies that maximize an animal's chance of obtaining a mate. As a result, certain animals will successfully use a conventional mating strategy while others employing this strategy will not obtain mates. Over time, phenotypic variance both between and within the sexes will result, with males exhibiting greater diversity in phenotype. The resulting variance in male fitness will create a niche in which alternative strategies may develop, such as sneaking to obtain a mate. The alternative behaviors will persist as part of this polymorphism, or variety of phenotypes, because the average fitness of unconventional males will equal the average reproductive success of conventional males.

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