1032 Flashcards
Primary literature or empirical paper
– presents original research, published for first time
– clues: methods, results, stats original
– words such as I/we measured, observed, collected, etc.
Review paper or secondary literature
– summarises past, already published research
– with main focus on collating a body of research
Review + theoretical paper/opinion piece
summarises a body of research
– with main focus of presenting a typically new view, theory, or model
– papers presenting models of mathematical phenomena
Pest management
o Behaviour management
o Focus on behaviours that maximise fitness
o e.g., marking pheromones
o Sterile insect technique (SIT)
o Benign chemical repellents
HIREC - Human-Induced Rapid Environmental Change
Rapid change to environments – too fast to adapt to
o Impacts on behaviour?
o Climate change
o Urbanisation
o Agriculture
How long ago did modern humans, Homo sapiens, arise in evolutionary history?
200,000 years ago
René Descartes
o Modern philosophy – founder
o Part of scientific revolution
o Reductionism
o Developed Cartesian co-ordinate system (x,y)
o Uses algebra to describe geometry
o Significant contributions to maths (x,y,z – unknowns;
a,b,c known values)
o Reflex
Luigi Galvani
Discovered ‘bioelectricity’ – frog experiments
o Founder: electrophysiology (modern day term)
o Electrical basis for nervous transmission
o Muscle activation through electrical charge
Otto Loewi
o the chemical nature of nervous transmission
o Removed beating frog hearts
o Ringer’s solution (saline)
o Discovered acetylcholine
o Confirmed chemical signalling in cells
Wilder Penfield
o Pioneering neurosurgeon
o Developed surgery for controlling epilepsy
o Mapped brain + function
Charles Sherrington
- synapse and reflex
- spinal reflexes had their communication stations in the spine of vertebrate animals
Edward Lee Thorndike
o Pioneer in animal learning
o Developed early theory of learning in animals
o Used puzzle boxes – latency to escape
o Plotted learning curves
comparative psychology
- the study of all aspects of the psychology of different species of organisms
o Strength: sound experimental control
o Weakness: unnatural, artificial situations,
lack of attention to evolution
ethology
focused on natural behaviours such as escaping from predators, foraging,.. in the natural habitats of the animals.
o Strength: focus on natural behaviour, considers evolutionary mechanisms
o Weakness: often lacks control
Tinbergen’s (1951) 4 questions
- How do physiological mechanisms regulate behavior? (Causation)
- How do these behaviours develop or what is their
ontogeny? (Development) - How is this behavior adaptive (i.e., increase fitness)?
(Function) - How has it evolved? (Evolution)
A 46 million yr-old mosquito in amber
o A blood-engorged 46 million-year fossil
mosquito
o Extremely improbable event
o Shale deposit in NW Montana (USA)
o Contained high iron levels
o Heme (O2 carrying haemoglobin)
discovered in gut
o DNA not preserved in (very old) fossils,
despite Jurassic Park!
Hutton - Geology
o Scottish
o “Theory of the earth”
o Recognised that materials on land had marine origin
i.e., land masses pushed up from ocean floor
o Uniformitarianism
Lyell - biology
o British, significant contributions to geology
o “Principles of geology”
o Earth shaped historically by same present-day
(slow moving) processes
o “uniformitarianism” – gradual change over long
time periods
o Big influence on Darwin
o Darwin had his book on the Beagle
uniformitarianism
the theory that changes in the earth’s crust during geological history have resulted from the action of continuous and uniform processes.
Lamarck - biology
o French naturalist (studied plants, animals)
o Heavily influenced Lyell
o Possibly 1st significant contribution to evolutionary theory
o Species become progressively more complex
o Species gain/lose characters through use/disuse
o i.e., species change – passing on traits
(adaptations) to descendants
o Not considered true, although possibly via epigenetics
Charles Darwin - biology
o English naturalist - most influential evolutionary biologist in history
o Greatly influenced by round-the-world voyage on the Beagle (ship’s naturalist)
o Best known for developing evolutionary theory; extremely prolific (publisher)
o Evolution follows descent with modification
o Theory of natural selection - mechanism
o Published on wide range of topics: vegetable
mould, plants, earthworms, barnacles, vertebrates, geology, fossils, corals, etc.
Thomas Malthus – economist, scholar
o Published “An Essay on the Principle of Population” 1798
o Populations grow rapidly, exceed food resources = struggle for existence
Alfred Russel Wallace
- Independently came up with natural selection
- Sometimes called father of biogeography
- Lots of field work
- Warning colours in animals
The voyage of the HMS Beagle
o Companion to Captain
FitzRoy
o 5-yr trip (1831-1856)
o Collected huge range
plants, animals, fossils
o Copious notes
o Many new species
described
o Galapagos mockingbirds
ingredients of natural selection
-Heredity: Parental characteristics passed on
-Variation: Differences between organisms, Raw material for natural selection
-Selection: Struggle for existence
adaptive radiation
one species had branched in evolution into many
Non-adaptive microevolutionary processes
- Source of errors/mutations: errors in copying DNA
- Gene flow (restricted) among subpopulation
Genetic drift – stochastic (chance) fluctuations in gene frequencieso - Small populations affected the most
o Can be human induced
o Can result in genetic
bottlenecks/founder effects (reduced
genetic variation)
Adaptive microevolutionary processes
*Two key processes: natural selection (NS) and sexual (SS)
*NS: directional, stabilising, disruptive
*Frequency dependent selection – can apply to SS or NS
o Stabilising selection on human birth weight.
o Reduced over time.
o Intermediate size has highest fitness.
Sexual selection
o Intrasexual selection: male-male competition
o Intersexual selection: female choice
o Both cause non-random mating
o and sexual dimorphism: difference between
sexes
morphological concept of species
groups of individuals that are morphologically similar to one another and are morphologically distinct from other such groups.
biological concept of species
a group of organisms that can successfully interbreed and produce fertile offspring
prezygotic isolation mechanisms
Reproductive barriers
-habitat isolation
-temporal isolation
-behavioural isolation
-mechanical isolation
-gametic isolation
post-zygotic isolation mechanisms
-zygote mortality: the offspring dies before it reaches sexual maturity
-hybrid sterility: the offspring can actually grow to maturity, but is sterile and will not reproduce
-hybrid reduction in fitness: the offspring can actually mature and reproduce, but does not do as well as non-hybrids
gradual evolution
evolution makes gradual changes to lineages of organisms
punctuated equilibria
evolution occurs in spurts instead of following the slow, but steady path
Why should females be choosy?
Nourishment
o Better fecundity
o Protection
o Avoidance of parasites
o help in raising offspring (parental care)
Microevolution
what happens at
population level (small scale)
Macroevolution
what happens at
landscape level – across space (e.g. large areas, continents) + across geological time
The Biological Species Concept (BSC)
- A group of organisms that can interbreed and produce
viable offspring - Viable=fertile
- Species maintained by interbreeding with ‘appropriate’ members while maintaining reproductive barriers with other populations (species)
- Conceived by Ernst Mayr and others
- Interbreeding individuals may be highly variable
- Short comings? Asexual species, fossils, species that freely hybridise (e.g., many plants)
- No species concept covers all situations
Wegener -Continental drift, plate tectonics
o Populations separate: leads to allopatric speciation
o Mechanisms: genetic drift, natural selection
o New species, no longer reproductively compatible
o Can lead to adaptive radiations (e.g. islands)
explosion
540 million years ago, when a vast assortment of animal forms moved on stage
Mass extinctions:
the big 5 (or 6) o Note: this is mostly for
- mostly for marine species
o Marine species easier to track (extinctions) because
of shells
o 6th extinction is now! (Holocene)
o Human-driven
o Higher overall diversity today
Primary reason: change to environment
Climate: temperature, rainfall, snow/ice cover
o Ocean acidity
o Ocean oxygen levels
o Nutrient levels
o Rare events: meteorite, volcanic eruption
(directly kills organisms)
o Cascading events (flow on from other events):
disruptions to productivity such as
photosynthesis; how species interact
Human activity: change to environment
o Deforestation, land clearing (farms,
urbanisation)
o Harvest (e.g., fishing, hunting, commercial
fisheries)
o Invasive species
o Pollution, insecticides
o Industrial action
phylogeny
a map of evolutionary relationships between organisms
Evolution of agriculture in ants
Leaf-cutter ants
o Live in highly complex societies
o Division of labour: 4 castes
o Harvest leaves, farm fungus underground
o Feed fungus freshly cut vegetation, keep it
free of mould, pests
o Mutualism: bacteria produce antimicrobials
o Could be beneficial to humans
Homologies
the result of descent from a common ancestor
A horse’s front limbs, a bat’s wings, a dolphin’s flippers
analogies
similarity of function and superficial resemblance of structures that have different origins
sensory exploitation
refer to a pattern in evolutionary history in which a preference, precedes the evolution of another trait that takes advantage of this preference
Belyaev - Experimental evolution: domesticating the silver fox
o Planned experiment to domesticate fox
o Selected for ‘tameness’
o Tameness increased significantly in 6 generations
o Many other traits associated with tameness
o Neoteny was key
DNA (Deoxyribonucleic acid) – basics
Consists of 2 connected strands (double helix)
o Located in cell nucleus
o DNA tightly packaged into chromosomes
o Carries genetic code – life’s instructions – development, reproduction, survival
o Sexual reproduction: offspring get 1/2 nuclear DNA from each parent
o Genome – all nuclear DNA
o Some DNA in mitochondria (power the cell)
What does DNA do?
o Carries genetic code – life’s instructions – development,
reproduction, survival
o DNA sequences converted to messages which produce proteins
o Proteins maintain body/do most work
o Genes = DNA sequence necessary to make a protein
o Genes vary in size: e.g., humans: 1 k – 1 million bases
How do DNA sequences make proteins?
- Transcription – DNA segment copied into new
messenger RNA (mRNA) molecule - mRNA can exit nucleus (carrying copy of info)
- Next step: translation (occurs in ribosome)
- =synthesis of proteins using amino acids (protein
building blocks)
Steps of translation:
- ribosome binds to mRNA
- ribosome reads mRNA & produces chain of
amino acids (20 types) - transfer RNA (tRNA) carries amino acids to
ribosome - mRNA reads 3 bases/time (code) and tRNA
delivers corresponding amino acid, which binds
to mRNA (has to have correct complement to
work). - Chain of amino acids fold to form protein
Epigenetics
s the process whereby
genes get switched on (activated)
or deactivated at different times
and in specific locations in
response to environmental cues
(e.g., diet, stress). DNA sequence
not changed.
Case study: rat mothering
o Mothers lick, groom, nurse pups (variable)*
o Pups (nurtured) – calm as adults
o Pups («_space;nurtured) – anxious as adults
o Explained by epigenetics!
Allows mum to ‘assess’ environment and produce/shape
young best able to cope in that environment
o Fate of pup determined by mum’s behaviour, not her genes!
*Licking/grooming and arched-back nursing (LG-ABN)
Neural evolution
Neural systems evolved once; Porifera and Placozoa then lost theirs
Neural systems evolved twice, in Ctenophores and at base of Cnidaria and Bilateria
Looking more closely at Porifera (sponges) and Placozoa would help
cross-fostering experiments
adoption
Placazoa: no nervous system
One species: Trichoplax adhaerens
Name means ’sticky hairy plate’
Discovered 1833 in seawater aquarium in Austria!
Bauplan is simplest of all animals
Diet: photosynthetic algae
Sponges: precursors of a nervous system
-Don’t have a nervous system
-Sponges represent early specialisation – suspension feeding
-Have sensory cilia (feeding; mechanoreceptors); precursor (not loss)
-Rely on water flow
-Have electrical conduction (glass sponges)
Zeitgebers - time give
refers to environmental variables that are capable of acting as circadian time cues.
Ctenophora (comb jelly)
-among most primitive animals
-Nervous system amongst most primitive
-Nerve net: no brain
-Tentacles used for catching prey (don’t sting)
Cnidarians (e.g., hydra, anemones, jellyfish)
Sub-epidermal nerve net, different genetic basis to comb jellies
Sensory neurons connect to epithelial contractile neurons
Radial spread of excitation
Statocysts for balance; if animal facing up or down
Ocelli for sensing light; cnidocytes for stinging
Some jellyfish sleep! (very unusual for animals with no brain; sleep probably an ancient trait)
Learn: habituation, associative learning
Platyhelminthes (flat worms)
-Central and peripheral nerve systems
-Bilateral nerve cords
-Ladder of interconnecting nerves
-Ganglia associated near sensory organs (eyes)
-Cephalisation: concentration of neurons at one end
-Brains in bilateral
Cephalopods (Molluscs)
-Molluscs – wide range of forms
-Cephalo = head
-Extensive NS outside brain, including in arms
-nautiloids: live in deeper waters, and do not move very fast,”live slow, die old”
- Coleiods: fast, die young”, compete with the highly successful bony fishes, they move fast, hunt, and flash an uncanny range of skin colouration for display or camouflage,
Arthropods (jointed appendages)
-Increased cephalisation
-Segmental ganglia—lots of control centres
-Full suite of senses
-Insects do a lot with brains!
Chordates (Phylum: Chordata)
Non-vertebrates: lancelet, tunicate
-Dorsal, hollow notochord, no vertebrae
Vertebrates
-Backbone (spinal cord protected), vertebrae
Sympathetic division
associated with the fight-or-flight response
parasympathetic division
referred to by the epithet of rest and digest
Hindbrain
-cerebellum: coordinate muscle movements
-medulla oblongata:keeps vegetative functions operating, heart beating and the respiratory system breathing, controls the size of blood vessels, and promotes digestion
brain stem
Besides the medulla’s vegetative jobs listed, the brain stem also regulates the level of arousal, playing a role in regulating sleeping and waking, relay centre
Limbic system
-amygdala
-Hippocampus
-thalamus
Transduction
is the process whereby different forms of physical energy are converted into nerve impulses in the process of sensory perception.
Uexküll - Umwelt: an animal’s subjective world
-Animals might have different sensory capacities, one having a sense modality not possessed by another.
-Within the same modality, such as vision or audition, animals might be sensitive to different ranges of the energy in question.
-Even within the same energy range of a particular modality, animals might process the information differently.
Pit organs: seeing heat blobs
Rattlesnakes and pit vipers possess pit organs under their eyes that can detect heat
Magnetic sense of turtles
-The magnetic lines are also sloped in the vertical dimension, and the slope varies across locations, vary in magnetic strength
Electroreception
-can spot its prey even in silent darkness
-the bill of the platypus is armed with 40,000 to 60,000 electroreceptors
Sensory perception: touch, hearing, vision (humans)
-Pacinian corpuscle: deeper under skin, responds to pressure
-Free nerve endings in skin
vestibular system
to detect the position and movement of our head in space
Proprioception
the sense that lets us perceive the location, movement, and action of parts of the body
The planarian eye
Planarians - responses to range wavelengths
Most sensitive to short wavelengths (UV), none to red (LW, IR)
General photophobic response + wavelength-specific
Nocioception
-sensivity to pain
-fast, sharp, acute pain, and slower, dull, persisting pains
Sensory adaptation
-Different to evolutionary adaptation
-Constant stimulation = less receptor activity – no need for same info again and again
-Exception is pain (nocioception) – necessary
-Example: spot of light in dark room – disappears then reappears (retina)
Rhodopsin in rods
-Rhodopsin contains retinal
-Photon of light strikes rhodopsin molecule
-Changes shape of cis form to trans form
-Note change in molecular structure
-NB: retina changes shape when hit by light
Multimodal perception
-Humans use multiple modalities – sensory info
-Ability to localise a signal from environment (location) – complex mapping of sensory info
-E.g., visual localisation: position of head, retinal stimulation, position of eye in orbit
= integration of multiple sources - sensory + motor info
-Cues to spatial location help, e.g., mouse running in field
stereoscopic depth
a process by which the visual system gauges the relative depth of objects in three-dimensional space by measuring minute positional differences between left and right images
Non-equipotentiality in learning
Not all stimuli lead to habituation
Not all stimuli ‘work’ as CS for classical conditioning
Not all behaviours in an animal’s repertoire are equally trainable for operant conditioning
Non-equipotentiality in operant conditioning
Natural behaviours can impede learning/training – leads to misbehaviour in animals
Natural behaviours can impede learning/training – leads to misbehaviour in animals
non-equipotentiality in classical conditioning
+Train 2 groups rats – different aversive UCS, same multimodal CS
+Group shock UCS:
– bright, noisy, sweet water + shock
+Group sickness UCS:
– bright, noisy, sweet water + sickness (induced by radiation)
Called taste aversion, found in about 30% adults
latent learning
a form of learning that is not immediately expressed in an overt response, reward not needed
Social/observational learning
+Learning mediated by observing another animal behave
+Imitation just one form: copying aspects of another’s behaviour crucial for success in a task
– over-imitation: copying more than crucial aspects
+Whole raft of non-imitative socially facilitated learning; observing others can:
– increase motivation
– draw attention to stimulus or place
– draw attention to the goal or reward
Non-imitative social learning
-Social facilitation: increase motivation, performance
-local or stimulus enhancement: an animal’s behaviour changes because an individual is drawn to a location (local) or an object (stimulus) by another individual
-goal emulation: learning goal to achieve (e.g., press a button down) – observer learns what needs to be done
Aisner and Terkel – rat experiments
-Discovered stripped pine cones in the field
-Trapped the culprit: black rats
-Studied how they strip and access cones for the seeds
-Not imitation
Self-modification behaviour programs
-monitoring behaviour
-Baseline of behaviour of interest
-Experimental intervention
-Add a reward contingency
+Positive reinforcement contingency – e.g., go to movies
+Negative reinforcement contingency – e.g., send money to organisation you don’t support
Neuroprosthetics
-Combines neuroscience with biomedical engineering
-can take the place of motor, sensory, & cognitive functions following impairment
-ecological: reduce, reuse
Systematic desensitisation
link the feared object to a response incompatible with fear, that of relaxation
cost of meiosis
the genes that a female possesses are halved in the next generation
cost of producing males
a second sex, males, is needed for sexual reproduction
cost of courtship and mating
-Need to find a mate
-Sexual activity is often:
-Energetically costly
-Dangerous: attack by predators
-Risky: exposure to parasites, disease
Batesian mimicry
Named for Henry Walter Bates (1825-1892)
Worked in Amazon on butterflies (with Wallace) during 1840s
First scientific account of mimicry
Harmless species mimics a harmful/toxic species (mimic vs model)
Frequency of mimic can be important
Higher frequency of mimic can be costly to model
Can be polymorphic
Paternity uncertainty
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