Final answer:
A female cat in heat urinates more frequently due to hormonal stimulation, spreading pheromones to attract males, which leads to reproductive competition. Territorial behaviors in animals often involve defense of living space and resources, influencing mating dynamics.
Step-by-step explanation:
The behavior of increased urination in a female cat in heat is a proximate cause that can be best explained by hormonal stimulation. When a female cat is in heat, hormones influence her behavior to increase the chances of successful mating. The act of frequent urination in various places serves to spread her scent, which contains pheromones that attract male cats. The presence of pheromones incites reproductive competition among males, who then gather and may engage in aggressive behaviors to showcase their fitness and compete for the right to mate with the female.
Animals often engage in territorial behaviors and can become fiercely defensive over their living space. This is evident in species that are polygynous, where one male mates with several females, and the females establish territories that they defend and use to attract males with the resources they control, resulting in many males being attracted to few females with the richest territories.