Social organisation

Solitary

Pair

Family group

Small group

Large group

Picture

Mating systems

Monogamous

Promiscuous
Individuals pair up and are faithful to their partners, only copulating with one another.
Individuals pair up but are not completely faithful to their partners and seek out extrapair copulations with other individuals.

Polygynous

Males mate with multiple females

Polyandrous

Females mate with multiple males

Polygamous and polgynandrous

Polygamous individuals have more than one mate thus it can be used as a broad term for polyandrous, polygynous and promiscuous individuals. In polygynandrous populations, males are polygynous and females and polyandrous.

Lekking

A polygamous mating system where congregations of males perform at a lekking site to attract females. Only the best, or most experienced, males win over the hearts of the females.