Sex and culture

Sex and Culture

What are the advantages and disadvantages of sexual reproduction (animal/human world)?

Sexual reproduction is an evolutionary phenomenon, which entails the cooperation of two species: the male and the female. In any aspect of sexual reproduction, the energy of male spermatozoa and the female oocyte must both be expended in order to reproduce, as opposed to the efficient method of asexual reproduction, which only involves the singular (female) organism. Furthermore, sexual reproduction has a failing in that humans and animals tend to reproduce much less than organisms that reproduce asexually. However, this evolutionary method of reproduction allows for genetic variation and adaptable feasibility. The offspring of the sexually reproductive parents will have gained half of the mother's genetic characteristics and half of the father's genetic characteristics. Genetic variation increases the immunity against otherwise deadly genetic diseases.

Is the capacity that female primates have for orgasm detrimental to their reproductive success?

On the contrary, the female primates' orgasms are also another evolutionary process that attempt to encourage physical bonding with the male species. Not only does the female orgasm attempt to reinforce the bonding, her orgasm encourages a pleasurable quality that attracts males in a way. Many other theories regarding the female primate orgasm also includes the increase in fertility when a female orgasms. A male orgasm allows for the ejaculation of sperm into the female orifice; the female's orgasm in turn contracts and speeds up the sperm's travel toward the egg. The contractions within a female during orgasm also helps keep the semen inside the body.

3) What are the connections between bipedal posture and the loss of estrus in our species?

Bipedalism and the estrus cycle are more obviously connected within the day-to-day environs of female primates. As far as physiological properties go, females lose their estrus when they have copulated and ovulated, otherwise they are in "heat." At pregnancy and child-rearing, females evolved a way in which they can both care for their young and function efficiently with their environment. Evolving into a bipedal posture frees up two extra limbs that would allow them interact with their environment, as well as care and rear their children without extra pressure.

4) What is the difference between r-selection and K-selection? If "fitness" is defined as the number of genes and if the individual contributes to the next generation, why would "reproductive efficiency "evolve?

K-selection involves the reproduction of species that are likely more "fit" and adaptable to the environment, thus more durable. On the other hand, r-selection focuses on the reproduction of numerous offspring in the same parental strand, though this compromises the species' longevity. If fitness is a contribution for an individual, reproductive efficiency wouldn't evolve; this is because then the reproductive function is K-selective, and focuses on a specialized set of offspring. K-selection sacrifices reproductive efficiency, thus fitness would not be an important factor in r-selection.