Image: Wikimedia Commons

mating

Process of pairing in biology

Instance of: biological process
1
Sources
1.Stated in Gene Ontology release 2019-10-07Retrieved 2019-10-12
View statement on Wikidata ↗
Subclass of: multi-organism reproductive process
1
Sources
1.Stated in Gene Ontology release 2019-10-07Retrieved 2019-10-12
View statement on Wikidata ↗
Part of: sexual reproduction
1
Sources
1.Stated in Gene Ontology release 2019-10-07Retrieved 2019-10-12
View statement on Wikidata ↗

Overview

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia · Read full article · Text CC BY-SA 4.0

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.

Overview

All data

35 statements · 40% with external sources · numbers in brackets are citations

Different from: copulation
Uses: mating behavior

On other databases

27 identifiers linking mating across the web's reference databases

Data quality

statements

40%

externally sourced

Source last edited August 17, 2026. AIDB refreshes this page daily.

Suggest a fact or correction

Links

Use this data

curl https://aidb.si/api/v1/entities/Q228395

API docs, limits & keys

Cite this page

AIDB. (2026). mating (Q228395). Retrieved from https://aidb.si/e/mating-Q228395