Remating

Remating refers to the act of mating again after an initial mating. In biology and behavioral ecology, remating is studied to understand how often and under what conditions individuals engage in multiple matings within a season or across a lifetime. The term applies across many taxa and contexts, from single-season breeders to long-lived species with extended reproductive windows.

Remating frequency and timing vary with a species’ mating system. In strictly monogamous lineages, remating can occur via partner loss or occasional extra-pair events; in polygynous and polyandrous systems, remating tends to be more common. Factors such as age, physical condition, seasonality, and mate availability influence remating rates. Remating can increase genetic diversity of offspring or allow adjustments in parental investment, but it can also incur costs such as energy expenditure, predation risk, or reduced paternity certainty.

Mechanisms shaping remating include sperm competition and cryptic female choice, as well as physiological constraints on sperm production and mating-induced refractory periods. The paternity outcome of successive matings is often redistributed, with later partners contributing varying shares of fertilizations depending on the species. These dynamics influence sexual selection and the evolution of mating strategies.

Examples from the animal kingdom include species where individuals mate multiple times within short intervals, with fluctuations in each partner’s paternity share. In birds, mammals, and some insects, remating patterns respond to ecological conditions and social structure, altering reproductive success and gene flow.

In humans, remating is sometimes used to describe remarriage or the formation of new sexual partnerships after divorce, widowhood, or separation. Cultural norms, life history, and relationship history shape remating patterns in human populations.