3.6 social behaviour Flashcards
Define social behaviour
-many animals live in social groups and have adopted behaviours to working in groups
Give 3 examples of social behaviour
- social hierarchy
- cooperative hunting
- social defence
What is a dominant member within a social hierarchy
-the member present in a group to carry out threatening behaviours (ritualistic)
Define social hierarchy
-a rank order within the group consisting of dominant members and subordinate members
Give an example of a dominant member
-a dominant wolf in a group: high body, high tail, fixed stare, upright ears and baring teeth
What is a subordinate member within a social group
-subordinate members are the ones present to reduce any conflict and carry out behaviours to appease
Give an example of a subordinate member within a group
-subordinate wolf: ears held back and flattened, lowered body, head tilted down, eyes tilted down, tail tucked underneath
Why do groups undergo social hierarchy
- increases the chance of favourable genes from the dominant members being passed into the offspring
- groups may also form alliances to increase social status within a group of animals
Define cooperative hunting
-predatory animals often hunt together to increase in hunting success
What are the advantages of cooperative hunting
- more food obtained
- less energy used
- larger prey caught
- increase in hunting success
How does cooperative hunting increase the amount of food ontained
-the animals are working together and are using more members which leads to more food being obtained, which also benefits the subordinate members
How does cooperative hunting decrease the amount of energy used
-more energy is used by an individual hunting solo as it is more work for the animal
How does cooperative hunting lead to larger prey being caught
-working together animals can predate larger prey than working alone
How does cooperative hunting increase the chance of hunting success
-with animals working together as a group rather than solo, the group is more likely to succeed
What is altruism
-an altruistic behaviour is an unselfish behaviour which harms the donor individual but benefits the recipient
What are the 2 possible explanations for altruistic behaviour
- reciprocal
- kin selection
Define reciprocal altruism
- when one animal giving help to another animal in the prospect that the favour will be returned
- the roles of donor and recipient later reverse
Give an example of reciprocal altruism
-grooming to remove parasites in primates and apes
Define kin selection
- some behaviour that can appear to be altruistic can be common between the donor and recipient if the 2 animals involved are related to each other
- kin selection predicts that animals are more likely to behave altruistically towards their relatives than towards any unrelated member of their species
What is a benefit of kin selection
-increases chances of survival of shared genes in the recipients offspring/ future offspring
Give an example of a social insect
-bees, wasps, termites
What is a queens role in a social insect group
- lays eggs (<2000 per day in April/may)
- high importance
What is the role of a worker in a social insect group
- defend the huge, feed larvae, groom queen, collect pollen, pollinate, waggle dance
- mid importance
What is the role of a drone in a social insect group
- mate with queen
- low importance
What is the purpose of the waggle dance
-show the direction of a food source
What are complex social behaviours in primates
-foraging, hunting, recognising danger,
