Mating
process of pairing in biology
In biology, mating refers to the pairing of either opposite-sex or hermaphroditic organisms for the purpose of sexual reproduction. For most species, mating is between two individuals of opposite sexes; however, for hermaphroditic species, copulation is not required because the parent organism is capable of self-fertilization (autogamy). The basis of this is a process called fertilization, which is the fusion of two gametes. One gamete from the female (egg) and one gamete from the male (sperm) is used for fertilization. Copulation is the union of the sex organs of two sexually reproducing animals for insemination and subsequent internal fertilization. Mating may also lead to external fertilization, as seen in amphibians, bony fishes and plants. The term mating also applies to similar processes in fungi and unicellular protists.
Additionally, in ethology "mating" refers to the sexual activity between two individuals (referred to as "mates") regardless of their sex.
Animals
Animals have multiple different mating strategies, or different ways that copulation can occur. These include random mating, disassortative mating, or assortative mating.
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This entry incorporates text from “Mating” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.