3.6 Social Behaviour Flashcards
State some advantages of living in social groups
Easier to catch food
Increased Protection
Help finding mates
Help raising young
What are the tree main types of social grouping?
Social Hierarchy
Co-operative hunting
Social Defense
Describe ‘Social Hierarchy’ and give an example of a species that features social hierarchy
Social hierarchy is where members of the social group are ordered in rank going from the most dominant individuals to the most subordinate
Examples: Chimpanzees, Wolves, Hens
What are the two ways in which the social hierarchy of a group is maintained?
Ritualistic Threats displays (teeth bared, eyes staring) Submissive Gestures (eyes covered, head lowered)
What is advantages of social hierarchy?
Fighting is minimised, saving energy
Successful genes get passed on to next the generation
How do animals improve their position in hierarchy?
By forming alliances
By challenging the dominant member
What is an advantage of cooperative hunting?
- Larger prey can be tackled
- Everyone gets a share of food
Give an example of a species that use cooperative hunting
Wolves, Lions
Give an advantage of being in a group in relation to defence?
- More eyes to look out for predator
- Safety in numbers
- Harder to pick out individuals
Describe the features of primate behaviour
Long parental care
Alliances
Dominance and Subordinate behaviours
What does long parental care allow for?
Learning of complex social behaviours
What is an alliance?
Social bonds that develop between individuals
Why is it of importance that lower males/females form alliances?
To increase their social ranking
Give examples of behaviours seen in a ritualistic displays
Chest beating
Aggressive Verbal Sounds
What are some advantages of ritualistic displays?
- Reinforces dominance of head male
- Allows challenger to practice assessing threats
Give some examples of subordinate behaviours seen in primate social groups
Grooming
Altruism is a behaviour that ______ the donor individual but ______ the recipient.
Harms…benefits. Altruism is a behaviour that harms the donor individual but benefits the recipient.
What two reasons explain why altruism happens?
- Kin selection
- Reciprocal altruism
Kin selection is a form of altruism where the donor and recipient that are _______.
related (kin). Kin selection is a form of altruism where the donor and recipient that are related.
Explain why kin selection form of altruism happens?
Occurs as the donor will benefit in kin selection in terms of the increased chances of survival of shared genes in the recipient’s offspring or future offspring.
Helper behaviour is another form of kin selection, describe this type of behaviour.
a form of kin selection common amongst birds, where the older offspring help raise younger offspring.
Define the term reciprocal altruism.
Where donor and recipient roles later reverse. Expectation that the favour being returned by the recipient when there is a need.
What type of animal is reciprocal altruism common amongst?
Social animals
Do insects exhibit complex or basic social behaviour?
Complex behaviour
List some examples of social insects.
- Termites
- Ants
- Wasps
- Bees
Which members of social insect societies are sterile and which are fertile?
Sterile = Workers Fertile = Queens and drones
What tasks are sterile workers in social insect societies carrying out?
- Defending the hive
- Collecting pollen
- Carrying out waggle dances to show location of food
Why do sterile workers in social insect societies contribute to the hive if they cannot pass on any genes of their own?
Kin selection. Sterile workers are all related to the fertile queen and drones so their shared genes are passed on.
