Article Report - Book Report/Review Example

Article Report: Mate-Choice Copying in Japanese Quail Coturnix coturnix japonica is a type of species among the Japanese quails. To determine the criteria that significantly affect how female Japanese quails are searching for their mate, the authors hypothesized that “female birds copy one another’s choices of males” (Galef & White, 1998: 545). To initiate breeding condition of female quails, the researchers placed them inside a stainless-steel cage for a maximum of 30 days. To initiate breeding condition among the male quails, the researcher purposedly placed the male quails with the females under breeding condition.

On a daily basis, each male quail was paired with a couple of randomly selected female quails until the male quail would mount the two females for two weeks. To find out whether or not the authors’ hypothesis is acceptable or not, the researchers conducted a series of experiments using 10 male and 10 female Japanese quail that was taken from a commercial breeder in Ontario. The first experiment examines the female choices on male quails. The second experiment examines whether watching mating changes females’ criteria in choosing male.

The third experiment examines how female quail chooses their male counterparts. The last experiment aims to monitor changes in female perception on male quails or male behavior.The authors confirmed that the researchers’ hypothesis which suggests the idea that “female birds copy one another’s choices of males” is acceptable. Based on the research study result, female quails that were given the opportunity to watch their non-preferred male spent significantly more time together with the male quail during post-tests as compared to pre-tests.

Furthermore, watching male and female quails mate does not create any significant changes with regards to the preferences of female quails when choosing a mate. However, it was noted that female quails who mated with a non-preferred male becomes less attractive to them as compared to their non-preferred males whom they have not mated. *** End ***ReferencesGalef, B., & White, D. (1998). Mate-choice copying in Japanese quail, Coturnix coturnix japonica. Anim. Behav. , 55(3):545-552.