The one instinct that is ingrained in every living species is to reproduce. To carry on the species and pass genes on to the next generation. In order to do this, the majority of species require another organism of that species of the opposite gender. Animals have a variety of interesting ways in which to attract the sexual attention of the opposite gender that I will discuss in this paper. I have chosen a variety of different animals from different classes to research their methods of attracting mates. .
First looking at the mollusks, the species of the Australian Squid is an example of the use of color changing to attract mates. These Squid journey to the shallow waters around Tasmania every summer to breed. The males rapidly change colors to attract females and ward off other males. All of the while they are doing this they are performing a sort of underwater ballet consisting of twirling and rising and falling around the female (bbc). The Australian Squid shows just how intricate the process of attracting a mate can be in the animal Kingdom. .
Attracting a mate is not always as elegant as the Australian Squid makes it out to be though. A common method of attracting mates among mammals is by scents given off by the animal. The hippo attracts its mate by marking its territory with urine and feces that the hippo will twirl in its tail to send the scent in every direction. When a mate picks up the scent and finds the hippo it will engage in playful splashing before settling down to mate (animalican).
Another mammal with a messy technique at attracting their mate is the porcupine. Female porcupines are only sexually active for 8 to 12 hours every year. In order to court a female during this brief mating period a male porcupine will stand on his hind legs and urinate on the female from as far as 6 feet away! If the female is impressed by the male then she will allow him to mate with her, otherwise she will shriek and shake off the urine and waddle away (neatorama).