Editing Mating

{{Short description|Process of pairing in biology}}{{about|sexual reproduction|the mating of mechanical components|Engineering fit|the 1991 American novel|Mating (novel)}}
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[[File:Blue-tailed damselflies (Ischnura elegans) mating, female typica 2.jpg|thumb|250px|[[Blue-tailed damselfly|Blue-tailed damselflies]]<br>(''Ischnura elegans'') mating]]

In [[biology]], '''mating''' is the pairing of either opposite-sex or [[hermaphrodite|hermaphroditic]] [[organism]]s for the purposes of [[sexual reproduction]]. ''[[Fertilization]]'' is the fusion of two [[gamete|gametes]].<ref>{{cite web|last=The Free Dictionary|title='Fertilization' – definition of|url=http://www.thefreedictionary.com/fertilization|publisher=Farlex, Inc.|access-date=25 January 2014|archive-date=28 May 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220528130546/https://www.thefreedictionary.com/fertilization|url-status=live}}</ref>  ''[[Copulation (zoology)|Copulation]]'' is the union of the [[sex organ]]s of two sexually reproducing animals for [[insemination]] and subsequent [[internal fertilization]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Naguib |first=Marc |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KgTeDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA69 |title=Advances in the Study of Behavior |date=2020-04-19 |publisher=Academic Press |isbn=978-0-12-820726-0 |language=en}}</ref> Mating may also lead to [[external fertilization]], as seen in [[amphibians]], fishes and plants. For most species, mating is between two individuals of opposite sexes. However, for some hermaphroditic species, copulation is not required because the parent organism is capable of self-fertilization ([[autogamy]]); for example, [[banana slug]]s.

The term ''mating'' is also applied to related processes in bacteria, [[archaea]] and viruses.  Mating in these cases involves the pairing of individuals, accompanied by the pairing of their [[homologous chromosomes]] and then exchange of genomic information leading to formation of [[Genetic recombination|recombinant]] progeny (see [[mating systems]]).

==Animals==
{{Main|Animal sexual behaviour}}
{{See also|Copulation (zoology)|Human mating strategies}}

For animals, mating strategies include [[random mating]], [[disassortative mating]], [[assortative mating]], or a [[mating pool]]. In some birds, it includes behaviors such as [[nest]]-building and [[nutrition|feed]]ing offspring. The human practice of mating and [[Artificial_insemination#Artificial_insemination_in_livestock_and_pets|artificially inseminating domesticated animals]] is part of [[animal husbandry]].

In some [[Terrestrial animal|terrestrial]] [[arthropod]]s, including insects representing [[Basal (phylogenetics)|basal]] (primitive) [[phylogeny|phylogenetic]] clades, the male deposits [[spermatozoon|spermatozoa]] on the substrate, sometimes stored within a special structure.  [[Courtship display|Courtship]] involves inducing the female to take up the sperm package into her genital opening without actual copulation. Courtship is often facilitated through forming groups, called [[Lek mating|leks]], in flies and many other insects. For example, male ''[[Tokunagayusurika akamusi]]'' forms swarms dancing in the air to attract females. In groups such as [[dragonflies]] and many spiders, males extrude sperm into secondary copulatory structures removed from their genital opening, which are then used to inseminate the female (in dragonflies, it is a set of modified [[sternite]]s on the second abdominal segment; in spiders, it is the male [[pedipalp]]s). In advanced groups of insects, the male uses its [[aedeagus]], a structure formed from the terminal segments of the abdomen, to deposit sperm directly (though sometimes in a capsule called a "[[spermatophore]]") into the female's reproductive tract.

Other animals reproduce sexually with external fertilization, including many [[primitive (biology)|basal]] [[vertebrate]]s. Vertebrates reproduce with internal fertilization through [[cloaca]]l copulation (in reptiles, some fish, and most birds)<ref name="Hyman1992" /> or [[penis|penile]]-[[vagina|vaginal]] penetration and [[ejaculation]] of [[semen]] (in [[Mammal|mammals]]).<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Birkhead |first1=Tim R. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FhvmHW972mAC&pg=PA701 |title=Sperm Competition and Sexual Selection |last2=Møller |first2=Anders Pape |date=1998-08-12 |publisher=Elsevier |isbn=978-0-08-054159-4 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Dixson |first=Alan F. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=whcvEAAAQBAJ |title=Mammalian Sexuality: The Act of Mating and the Evolution of Reproduction |date=2021-06-03 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-108-69949-5 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="Hyman1992">{{cite book|author=Libbie Henrietta Hyman|title=Hyman's Comparative Vertebrate Anatomy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VKlWjdOkiMwC|date=15 September 1992|publisher=University of Chicago Press|isbn=978-0-226-87013-7|access-date=21 November 2016|archive-date=1 August 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230801092954/https://books.google.com/books?id=VKlWjdOkiMwC|url-status=live}}</ref>

In domesticated animals, there are various type of mating methods being employed to mate animals like pen mating (when female is moved to the desired male into a pen) or paddock mating (where one male is let loose in the paddock with several females).

<gallery heights="150" widths="200">
File:Bagmati River, Pashupatinath, Nepal Animal sex バグマティ川とパシュパティナート火葬場 サルの交尾 5835.JPG|[[Macaque monkey]]s mating
File:オオカミ（Gray wolf） (5339403526).jpg|[[Gray wolf#Reproduction and development|Gray wolves mating]]
File:LionsMating.jpg|[[Lion#Reproduction and life cycle|Lions mating]]
File:Snails mating.jpg|[[Hermaphroditic]] snails (''[[Cornu aspersum]]'') [[reproductive system of gastropods|mating]]
File:Tortoise mating.jpg|African spurred tortoises (''[[Centrochelys sulcata]]'') mating
File:Chalkhill blue butterflies (Polyommatus coridon) mating 1.jpg|Chalkhill blue butterflies (''[[Lysandra coridon]]'') mating
File:Hoverflies mating midair.jpg|[[hoverfly|Hoverflies]] (''[[Simosyrphus grandicornis]]'') mating in midair
File:Joined moths.JPG|Poplar hawk-moths (''[[Laothoe populi]]'') mating
File:Ladybird-Coccinellidae-mating.jpg|[[Ladybug]]s mating
File:Aphrophora alni mating.jpg|Spittlebugs (''[[Aphrophora alni]]'') mating
File:Dogs mating.jpg|[[Dog|Dogs]] mating
File:Goats mating.jpg|[[Goat|Goats]] mating
File:Two cats mating (September 2021).jpg|[[Cat|Cats]] mating
File:Gråsparv (Passer domesticus) - Ystad-2024.jpg|[[House sparrow|House sparrows]] mating.
File:Sexually explicit flies..jpg|[[Drosophila melanogaster|Fruit Flies]] mating
</gallery>

==Plants and fungi==
{{Main|Mating systems#In plants|Mating in fungi|Mating of yeast}}

Like in animals, mating in other Eukaryotes, such as plants and [[fungus|fungi]], denotes {{clarify span|sexual conjugation|date=April 2013}}. However, in vascular plants this is mostly achieved without physical contact between mating individuals (see [[pollination]]), and in some cases, e.g., in fungi no distinguishable male or female organs exist (see [[isogamy]]); however, [[mating type]]s in some fungal species are somewhat analogous to [[sexual dimorphism]] in animals, and determine whether or not two individual isolates can mate. ''[[Yeasts]]'' are [[eukaryote|eukaryotic]] [[microorganism]]s classified in the [[kingdom (biology)|kingdom]] [[fungus|Fungi]], with 1,500 [[species]] currently described.<ref name="YeastRef2">{{cite web |url=http://www.yeastgenome.org/VL-what_are_yeast.html |title=What are yeasts? |work=Yeast Virtual Library |date=13 September 2009 |access-date=28 November 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090226151906/http://www.yeastgenome.org/VL-what_are_yeast.html |archive-date=26 February 2009 }}</ref> In general, under high stress conditions like [[nutrient]] starvation, [[haploid]] cells will die; under the same conditions, however, [[diploid]] cells of ''[[Saccharomyces cerevisiae]]'' can undergo sporulation, entering sexual reproduction ([[meiosis]]) and produce a variety of haploid [[spore]]s, which can go on to [[mating of yeast|mate]] (conjugate) and reform the [[diploid]].<ref name=Neiman2005>{{cite journal |author=Neiman, A.M. |title=Ascospore formation in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae |journal=Microbiology and Molecular Biology Reviews |volume=69 |issue=4 |pages=565–584 |year=2005 |pmid=16339736 |pmc=1306807 |doi=10.1128/MMBR.69.4.565-584.2005}}</ref>

==Protists==

Protists are a large group of diverse [[Eukaryote|eukaryotic]] [[microorganism]]s, mainly [[Unicellular organism|unicellular]] animals and plants, that do not form [[Tissue (biology)|tissues]].<ref name="pmid11452306">{{cite journal |vauthors=Javaux EJ, Knoll AH, Walter MR |title=Morphological and ecological complexity in early eukaryotic ecosystems |journal=Nature |volume=412 |issue=6842 |pages=66–9 |year=2001 |pmid=11452306 |doi=10.1038/35083562 |bibcode=2001Natur.412...66J |s2cid=205018792 }}</ref>  The earliest eukaryotes were likely protists. Mating and sexual reproduction are widespread among extant eukaryotes including protists such as ''[[Paramecium]]'' and ''[[Chlamydomonas]]''. In many eukaryotic species, mating is promoted by [[sex pheromones]] including the protist ''[[Blepharisma japonicum]].'' Based on a phylogenetic analysis, Dacks and Roger<ref name="pmid10229582">{{cite journal |vauthors=Dacks J, Roger AJ |title=The first sexual lineage and the relevance of facultative sex |journal=J. Mol. Evol. |volume=48 |issue=6 |pages=779–83 |year=1999 |pmid=10229582 |doi= 10.1007/pl00013156|bibcode=1999JMolE..48..779D |s2cid=9441768 }}</ref> proposed that facultative sex was present in the common ancestor of all eukaryotes.

However, to many biologists it seemed unlikely until recently, that mating and sex could be a primordial and fundamental characteristic of eukaryotes.  A principal reason for this view was that mating and sex appeared to be lacking in certain [[pathogen]]ic protists whose ancestors branched off early from the eukaryotic family tree.  However, several of these protists are now known to be capable of, or to recently have had, the capability for [[meiosis]] and hence mating.  To cite one example, the common intestinal parasite ''[[Giardia lamblia|Giardia intestinalis]]'' was once considered to be a descendant of a protist lineage that predated the emergence of meiosis and sex.  However, ''G. intestinalis'' was recently found to have a core set of genes that function in meiosis and that are widely present among sexual eukaryotes.<ref name="pmid15668177">{{cite journal |vauthors=Ramesh MA, Malik SB, Logsdon JM |title=A phylogenomic inventory of meiotic genes; evidence for sex in Giardia and an early eukaryotic origin of meiosis |journal=Curr. Biol. |volume=15 |issue=2 |pages=185–91 |year=2005 |pmid=15668177 |doi=10.1016/j.cub.2005.01.003 |s2cid=17013247 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2005CBio...15..185R }}</ref>  These results suggested that ''G. intestinalis'' is capable of meiosis and thus mating and sexual reproduction.  Furthermore, direct evidence for meiotic recombination, indicative of mating and sexual reproduction, was also found in ''G. intestinalis''.<ref name="pmid17980591">{{cite journal |vauthors=Cooper MA, Adam RD, Worobey M, Sterling CR |title=Population genetics provides evidence for recombination in Giardia |journal=Curr. Biol. |volume=17 |issue=22 |pages=1984–8 |year=2007 |pmid=17980591 |doi=10.1016/j.cub.2007.10.020 |s2cid=15991722 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2007CBio...17.1984C }}</ref>  Other protists for which evidence of mating and sexual reproduction has recently been described are parasitic protozoa of the genus ''[[Leishmania]]'',<ref name="pmid19359589">{{cite journal |vauthors=Akopyants NS, Kimblin N, Secundino N, Patrick R, Peters N, Lawyer P, Dobson DE, Beverley SM, Sacks DL |title=Demonstration of genetic exchange during cyclical development of Leishmania in the sand fly vector |journal=Science |volume=324 |issue=5924 |pages=265–8 |year=2009 |pmid=19359589 |pmc=2729066 |doi=10.1126/science.1169464 |bibcode=2009Sci...324..265A }}</ref> ''[[Trichomonas vaginalis]]'',<ref name="pmid18663385">{{cite journal |vauthors=Malik SB, Pightling AW, Stefaniak LM, Schurko AM, Logsdon JM |title=An expanded inventory of conserved meiotic genes provides evidence for sex in Trichomonas vaginalis |journal=PLOS ONE |volume=3 |issue=8 |pages=e2879 |year=2008 |pmid=18663385 |pmc=2488364 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0002879 |bibcode=2008PLoSO...3.2879M |doi-access=free }}</ref> and [[acanthamoeba]].<ref name="pmid25800982">{{cite journal |vauthors=Khan NA, Siddiqui R |title=Is there evidence of sexual reproduction (meiosis) in Acanthamoeba? |journal=Pathog Glob Health |volume=109 |issue=4 |pages=193–5 |year=2015 |pmid=25800982 |doi=10.1179/2047773215Y.0000000009 |pmc=4530557 }}</ref>

Protists generally reproduce asexually under favorable environmental conditions, but tend to reproduce sexually under stressful conditions, such as starvation or heat shock.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Fowler |first1=Samantha |last2=Roush |first2=Rebecca |last3=Wise |first3=James |title=Concepts of Biology |date=2013 |publisher=OpenStax |url=https://opentextbc.ca/conceptsofbiologyopenstax/chapter/protists/ |access-date=13 November 2020 |chapter=Chapter 13: Diversity of Microbes, Fungi, and Protists |archive-date=19 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210419032453/https://opentextbc.ca/conceptsofbiologyopenstax/chapter/protists/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>

== See also ==

*[[Heterosexuality]]
*[[Animal husbandry]]
* [[Breeding in the wild]]
* [[Breeding season]]
* [[Evolution of sex]]
* [[Lordosis behavior]]
* [[Mate choice copying]]
* [[Mating system]]
* [[Reproduction]]
* [[Sex determination system]]
* [[Sexual conflict]]
* [[Sexual intercourse]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
{{Commons|Animal sex}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060216005917/http://tidepool.st.usm.edu/crswr/103animalreproduction.html Introduction to Animal Reproduction]
* [https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/evolution/sex/advantage/ Advantages of Sexual Reproduction]

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{{Sex (biology)}}
[[Category:Mating| ]]
[[Category:Animal developmental biology]]
[[Category:Reproduction in animals]]
[[Category:Sexology]]
[[Category:Sexuality]]
[[Category:Ethology]]
[[Category:Fertility]]