6. social behaviour

Question 1

name 3 social groups animals live in

Answer 1

-social hierarchy
-cooperative hunting
-social defence

Question 2

benefits of living in a social group

Answer 2

-Individual risk of predation reduced by joining a group
-Groups can tackle larger prey than individuals
-Grouping confuses predators, making it harder for them to target prey
-Huddling in groups help thermoregulation
-Energetic advantages to swimming or flying in a group through ‘slipstreaming’

Question 3

costs of living in a social group

Answer 3

-Greater risk of inbreeding
-Young may be cannibalised by neighbours
-Greater risk of contracting disease

Question 4

describe a social hierarchy

Answer 4

In a social hierarchy, dominant individuals carry out ritualistic (threat) displays whilst subordinate animals carry out appeasement behaviour to reduce conflict

Animals often form alliances in social hierarchies to increase their social status within the group

Question 5

advantages of social hierarchies

Answer 5

• increase the chances of the dominant animal’s favourable genes being passed onto offspring
• reduces conflict after social hierarchy establishment

Question 6

describe a ritualised threat gesture

Answer 6

Social signal used by the leader in a dominance hierarchy to assert authority

Question 7

describe a subordinate response

Answer 7

Social signal used by lower-ranking member of a social hierarchy to indicate acceptance of the dominant leader

Question 8

describe cooperative hunting

Answer 8

Type of foraging behaviour employed by a group of predators resulting in mutual benefits

Question 9

advantages of cooperative hunting

Answer 9

• Co-operative hunting may benefit subordinate animals as well as dominant ones, as they may gain more food than by foraging alone.

-Less energy is used per individual.

-Co-operative hunting enables larger prey to be caught and increases the chance of success

Question 10

describe social mechanisms for defence

Answer 10

Social defence strategies increase the chance of survival as some individuals can watch for predators whilst others can forage for food.

Groups adopt specialised formations when under attack protecting their young

Question 11

describe altruistic and reciprocal behaviour

Answer 11

An altruistic behaviour harms the donor individual but benefits the recipient.

Reciprocal altruism, where the roles of donor and recipient later reverse, often occurs in social animals e.g. blood-sucking bats.

Question 12

describe kin selection

Answer 12

Behaviour that appears to be altruistic can be common between a donor and a recipient if they are related (kin).

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

Question 13

some individuals do not reproduce. Explain the benefit of this type of behaviour to a species in terms of ‘shared genes’.

Answer 13

the individuals will benefit from this behaviour as there is an increase in the chance of survival of their shared genes in the recipient’s offspring.

many copies of the shared genes reach the next generation

Question 14

describe social insects’ social hierarchy

Answer 14

Social insects (include bees, wasps, ants and termites) and the structure of their society in which only some individuals (queens and drones) contribute reproductively.

Most members of the colony are sterile workers who cooperate with close relatives to raise relatives

Question 15

what are some examples of sterile workers roles

Answer 15

defending the hive, collecting pollen and carrying out waggle dances to show the direction of food.

Sterile workers raise relatives to increase survival of shared genes

Question 16

Explain why social insect societies would be a good example of altruism

Answer 16

most members of the colony are sterile workers who raise close relatives and don’t produce offspring themselves

Question 17

State the benefit of a long period of parental care for primate infants

Answer 17

they can learn complex social behaviours which support the hierarchy, reduce conflict

Question 18

Explain the advantage of high status in a primate social hierarchy

Answer 18

they get priority access to resources such as food/mates

Question 19

Describe a strategy used by some individuals to increase their social status in the primate group

Answer 19

having offspring in the early breeding season, forming alliances with others in the group

Question 20

what are some appeasement behaviours that reduce conflict in a primate group

Answer 20

facial expressions, grooming, sexual presentation, body posture

Question 21

Give one feature of parental care in primates that allows complex social behaviour to be learned

Answer 21

A LONG period of parental care. As young primates grow older, they watch and learn while the adults perform important behaviour patterns such as foraging, hunting and recognising danger.