all Flashcards
who were the 3 founders of animal behaviour?
Tinbergen, Lorenz, Von Frisch
what were the 3 main interests of Tinbergen?
- evolutionary history of behaviour
- causation of behaviour
- function of behaviour
what are Tinbergen’s 4 questions?
- ontogeny- how did behaviour develop, learned or innate?
- causation- stimuli and mechanisms, causal factors
- adaptive significance- current function, increase fitness?
- evolutionary history-why evolve like this
a) what did von Frisch discover?
b) what is his odour theory of communication?
c) what was the real reason for the behaviour?
a) dance language of honey bees
b) that the bees waggle dance can spread smell of sugar water
c) dance orientated around the sun and could communicate distance and direction
what were the 3 main interests of Lorenz?
drives, causation, imprinting
a) what did Lorenz find when he studied three spined sticklebacks?
b) what was the man species he studied?
a)males red throat is a signal to other males
females swollen belly signals males to trigger courtship
b) courtship in ducks- displays differ depending on species
what is MHC- major histocompatibility complex?
what attracts someone by it?
set of genes concerned with fighting disease
someone with a different set of MHC has a more attractive smell (complimentary)
in Thorpes study of chaffinches what was found/done for the question of ontogeny?
- females could hear sounds of males at different times during development
- few months after hating is when most likely to learn song- sensitive period
- song is partly innate and partly learned from tutor
in Thorpes study of chaffinches what was found/done for the question of causation?
light triggers bird song in spring
light reaches pineal gland which has light sensitive cells
brain releases GnRH leading to growth of testes
more testosterone released so song occurs
whats the difference between proximate and ultimate causal factors?
proximate: near, causation, neurological mechanisms
ultimate: distantly removed, evolutionary, survival rate of behaviour
in birds what do testes show in response to changing day length?
show huge seasonal change in size
a) in the bird brain what is the Robust archistriatum (RA)?
b) what is it connected to and what does this do?
c) why do males tend to have a larger RA?
a) part of the brain concerned with song
b) connected to HVC (higher vocal centre) which sends nerve impulses to syrinx via NXIIts
c) are the ones that sing so the larger the RA the more complex the song
in birds what may happen to the brain in winter?
parts may shrink and song structures may disappear
grow back the next season and songs are remembered
what is the causal and what is the proximate stimuli for bird song?
causal- neurological changes (the brain)
proximate- day length
what part of the bird produces the song?
the syrinx (voice box)
in Thorpes study of chaffinches what was found/done for the question of adaptive significance/function?
reasons for song:
territory defence
mate acquisition
in Thorpes study of chaffinches what was found/done for the question of evolutionary history?
only 3 birds groups sing: - hummingbirds - parrots -passerines likely that song evolved independently 3 times
what is it that allows female birds to see colour?
cone cells in the avian retina
with a coloured oil droplet
how many foveas do humans and birds have?
human: 1
birds: 2
how many photoreceptor types do humans and birds have and what does this mean for birds?
humans: 3
birds: 4
- can see ultraviolet (can follow urine trails and indicate mate quality)
what is the avian cochlea in birds and what does it do?
the inner ear
sensory epithelium with hair cells and supporting cells
rests in basilar membrane
hair cells range from tall at superior margin and short at inferior margin
why don’t birds go deaf?
they can regenerate hair cells that vibrate when sound is loud
inside of birds beaks what are the structures allowing for touch to occur?
are pits with a conical structure
- inside this there are grandly corpuscles and herbst corpuscles (pressure sensitive)
bird can detect shape and texture of materials
what is the anatomical evidence that some birds can smell?
olfactory bulb size and complex nasal conchae
in terms of the olfactory bulb and conchae what gives a bette sense of smell?
more complex conchae and larger bulb
in a study of olfactory bulb size in birds by bang and Cobb in 1960s:
a) how many species studied?
b) which species had the largest?
c) what can some albatrosses and petrels smell?
a) 107
b) snow petrel
c) smell DMs released from predated plankton to locate feeding areas
in birds what do the taste birds surround and what do they coincide with?
surround salivary glands
coincide with where food goes when bird eats
roughly how many taste buds do mallards have?
450
whats an example of a bird the can echolocate?
oilbirds
roost + breed in caves so navigate in darkness with echolocation
what is the flow diagram leading to behaviour beginning with sensory inputs?
sensory inputs –>sensory system –> neural processing in brain –> muscular movement –> behaviour
what are the 2 hormones cause hunger and when and where is each released?
leptin - released from fat storage cells - if more of these cells more leptin released into blood by hypothalamus - less hunger Ghrelin - released when leptin levels low - released from stomach via hypothalamus - more hunger
what is the mating process for freshwater amphipods (gammarus pulex)?
- when females malt can mate
- males choose females that malt soonest
- hormones in faeces mean males can tell when females will malt
how do animals maintain regular behaviour?
internal clock and aschoffs concept of a zeitgeber (time keeper)
what are the 4 internal clocks that drive rhythms in animals?
- short rhythms
- locomotion
- heart beat - circadian (24hrs)
- resting/sleeping
- eating
- temp - circa lunar (monthly)
- menstrual - circa annual (1yr)
- migration
- reproduction
what are 2 things that need to be considered when migrating?
- when to migrate
- navigating when migrating (compensating for sun/star movement)
when do small passerines and big birds migrate?
small- night
large- day
if an animal lives in constant conditions is there circadian rhythms?
no rhythm
which of the 4 rhythm types controls the time of breeding?
circannual
what are sex peptides and what do they do?
sperm/hormone mimics that are an anti aphrodisiac so female discouraged from re-mating
what 4 things does sperm do?
- promotes sperm production
- activates sexual behaviour
- stimulates aggressive behaviour
- suppresses immune system
are testosterone levels higher in females competing for males in polygynous groups or monogamous?
polygynous
the last chick to hatch usually has a size disadvantage so what compensates for this?
higher testosterone in this egg
in the side blotched lizard what do the 3 colour morphs reflect but what is a drawback?
reflects testosterone levels with orange being the highest
but reduced immune function
what is tinbergens view of development also known as?
ethology
what does behavioural ecology focus on?
adaptive significance of behaviour
in twin studies reared together or apart what 3 results were found?
- highest correlations between monozygotic twins reared together
- lowest correlation between adoptive parents and offspring
- higher correlation for MZ rather than DZ
in a study on black caps using an Emlen funnel where ink on the birds feet is used to indicate migration direction, which way did the bird migrate in Germany, Hungary, UK, Spain ?
germany- SW
Hungary- SE
UK- S
spain- S
what do animal model studies provide?
provides estimates for heritabilities and genetic correlations and estimate genetic components of phenotypic variation
what does the fos B gene control in mice and in a knockout experiment where this single gene is removed what happen?
controls maternal behaviour
mothers will ignore their pups
in the ruff males what are the 3 different morphs?
resident - black snd hold most of the territory - ancestral: homozygous, no inversion satellite - mate with females when other males are fighting - inversion: 1 double inversion, 1 ancestral faeder - looks like female - inversion: 1 inversion, 1 ancestral
in order of young bees to old bees what are the roles of the bees?
cleaning cells feeding larvae feeding nest mates packing pollen foraging
what do bees release to signal to other bees something is attacking?
olfactory signals/ pheromones
in young bees whats the concentration of juvenile hormone like?
low
where is ethyl oleate produced in bees and what is the series of processes to do with it, beginning with more foragers?
produced by foraging bees salivary glands
more foragers–> more food brought back–> more ethyl oleate–> fewer become foragers
a) what 4 things affect a foetus and its development?
b) what happens if there is poor fetal nutrition?
a) thalidomide, poor diet, smoking, fetal alcohol syndrome
b) small offspring as food supply may also be short when born
what is catch up growth?
animals fed low diet then normal food resumes, massive catching up
are females that come from a 2M egg or a 0M egg more aggressive and less attractive?
2M more aggressive and less attractive
what are 3 forms of innate behaviour?
habituation
imprinting
associative learning
what is phase sensitive learning?
imprinting on someone at a particular phase (partner)
what did Parker and trivers discover?
discovered individual selection
what did Parker notice about dung flies in his experiment?
- females lay eggs in dung so larvae can feed
- females mate with many males
- last male to mate and fertilise most likely to succeed
- males guarded females they mated with
what is extra pair copulation?
where a male paired to one female partner and a female of another pair
in the female bird reproductive tract what is the UVJ?
UVJ has tubules where sperm is stored in the female
in zebra finches what is the fawn phenotype?
whats the offspring when a fawn female and male?
whats the offspring when fawn female and wild grey male?
- sex linked recessive
- fawn offspring
- grey offspring
what is the molecular method for determining paternity?
multi locus DNA fingerprinting
whats the % of extra pair paternity in mute swan and fairy wren?
swan: 0%
wren: 75%
in susan smiths experiment looking at black capped chickadees what was found in the cases?
14 cases of extra pair copulations
13/14 extra male was higher ranking than partner
what are 4 direct benefits and 2 indirect of extra pair copulation?
direct: - nutrients - paternal care - fertility - avoiding infanticide indirect: - better genes - more diverse genes
what is it evidence for, the fact that female ducks reproductive tract varies in size as does the male penis?
evidence that females anatomy coevolved with males in response to post copulatory sexual selection
what is the coefficient of relatedness of parents and offspring?
0.5
what is individual/direct selection?
behavioural act favoured by selection that involves parents and offspring
what is kin selection/indirect?
behavioural act favoured due to its beneficial effect on non descendent kin
what is inclusive fitness?
individuals total contribution of genes to next generation
in what Hamilton equation situation will genes for altruistic behaviour spread?
rB>c
what are 4 costs of group living?
- more competition for resources
- more conspicuous to predators
- susceptible to parasites and diseases
- conspecifics may kill offspring
give 4 benefits of group living?
- improved foraging efficiency
- less chance of being predated
- improved defence of resources from non group members
- communal offspring care
a) in American cliff swallows what is the cost?
b) what happens if a chick has more bugs on it?
c) what happened when half the nests were fumigated?
a) breed in large colonies to improve foraging but increased parasite spread
b) more bugs= slower growth
c) killed bugs so chick growth improved
in common guillemots what is the cost and benefit to living in dense colonies?
cost: disease transmission likely
benefit: predation defence, dilution effect
whats the altruistic behaviour of geldings ground squirrel?
give loud alarm call when sees a predator but is risky as means the individual is more likely to be predated
what type of selection is :
selfish
altruism
selfish: direct
altruism: indirect
where is testosterone produced and in response to what?
what does it stimulate?
in testes in interstitial cells in response to glycoprotein produced in anterior pituitary in brain
stimulates reproductive behaviour
what are individuals like who have higher endogenous testosterone levels?
more aggressive/dominat
when do testosterone levels tend to increase?
in anticipation of aggression- priming effect
after aggressive incident- feedback loop
in copperhead snakes what is the effect of the stress hormone corticosterone?
losers have higher levels
losers less likely to want to fight again or court females
whats the difference between between type A and B people in the human dominance hierarchy?
A: more responsive to challenges, dynamic, hyper, die sooner, more mates
what are the 5 types of aggressive behaviours?
- male-male contact
- sexual cannibalism
- siblicide
- infanticide
- child abuse
describe sexual cannibalism in praying mantis
female eats mate during/after copulation
females that eat males lay 30% more eggs
describe siblicide in eagles
older chick pushes younger out of nest
gets rid of competition if resources are limited
describe infanticide in languor monkeys
new male takes over troop and kills as many babies of previous males as he can to increase his reproductive success
how much more likely are children with step parents to be abused in USA?
40X
how do spotted hyenas communicate?
sound + gestures
erect tail= aggression
tail forward over back= excitement
tail between legs= fear
what was Dawkins experiment?
cumulative selection
experiment demonstrating process driving evolutionary processes
what is a -ve of of female pseudopenis in female hyenas?
difficult to mate and give birth from it
why may the pseudopenis have evolved in female hyenas?
high levels of male sex hormones to allow for killing siblings and larger females
what are the sensory modalities in:
a) ravens
b) blue tit
c) luna moth
d) chimps
a) vocal
b) UV
c) olfactory
d) tactile
what is sensory exploitation?
biasing effect of existing perceptual mechanisms on origins of new communication signals
how do you test for sensory exploitation?
present novel signals to to species that have never experienced them before, if they respond more to signal than control then evidence for sensory exploitation
what did nick Davies find about begging intensity for cuckoo chick and reed warbler host?
begging intensity of one cuckoo chick similar to entire brood of reed warbler chicks
(high begging intensity means high feeding rate)
what is signal size a compromise between?
costs and benefits
what is the female waist:hip ratio correlated with?
corrected with woman long term health and reproductive endocrinological status, low ratio indicates high reproductive capability
what 2 things do you need info on for understanding evolution of communication systems?
- origins of signal and changes taking place
- causal processes causing changes
whats the max human lifetime reproductive success for males and female?
male= 888 children female= 69
whats the operational sex ratio?
ratio of sexually active males to fertile females
describe Robert trivers idea of parental investment ?
relative amount of investment by each sex
- assumed individuals have finite amount of resource to invest
- determines how much competition and choosiness there is in a particular species
what are the 3 varying levels of male PI?
- females invest more (male plumage more elaborate)
- male and female invest similarly (rear offspring)
- males invest more (females bigger + brighter)
what does sexual selection drive?
morphological and behavioural traits
what are the 2 types of post copulatory sexual selection?
- sperm competition
- cryptic choice
what is an adaptation for sperm competition?
large testes size produce more sperm
in primates when looking at residual testes size what does it mean for testes size of above or below line?
above: relatively large testes
below: relatively small testes
why do gorillas have small testes?
there is an alpha male that females are faithful to and so sexual selection occurs before copulation
what proportion of male insectivorous marsupials die off by synchronised immune collapse?
1/5
what are the 2 main mating system categories and what is one of them divided into?
monogamy polygamy - polygyny - polyandry - ploy gynandry
what % of birds are monogamous?
90%
why may animals be monogamous?
if both parents feed offspring they her more young
why is parental care important in marmosets?
twins are usually born
what % of mammal males help rear young?
3%
why does polygyny occur and what are the 3 main types?
only females can lactate and fertilisation is internal, hard to males to care
- female defence (male with group of females)
- resource defence (territory)
- lekking (displays)
describe female defence within polygyny in antarctic seals
male defends hareem and will fight for territory
if a large group may be many males defending
describe resource defence within polygyny in honey guide birds
wild bee nests are the defended resource
honey is attractive to females
relationship formed with honey badger
what are the 4 lekking hypotheses?
- hotspot- leks where females congregate
- hotshot- poor males congregate round higher quality males
- female preference- females select quicker from congregated males
- kin selection: related males congregate
what is polyandry and what may occur?
one female paired with several males
double clutching may occur
what is polygynandry?
multiple males and females that all mate with each other
what other function may copulation have?
for bonding
what is the extra pair paternity like in s.african san bushmen?
low
what is Bekoff and Byers definition of play?
play is a motor activity performed postnatally that is purposeless where motor patterns from other contexts can be used in modified forms
- activity directed towards other living beings
what are 3 issues with play being defined as purposeless?
- observer may fail to decipher immediate benefit/function of play
- true benefit/function may not occur until much later
- benefits/functions may be multiple and confounding
for what 4 reasons is play seen as costly?
- increased predation
- reduced vigilance
- energetic
- injury risk
what % of fur seal pups are predated while playing?
85%
in sharpes study of meerkat play how did she identify individuals and what were the 4 tested ideas?
coloured rings on tail to identify individuals - subsequent fighting success - reduce aggression - social cohesion - dispersal partnerships but found no evidence
what was the structure and mechanisms of play in animals recorder in and what are these? what doesn’t it explain?
in ethograms- complete inventory of animals actions
but doesn’t explain function of play
what are the 3 main types of play known as?
- object play
- locomotor play
- social play
what is object play?
- focus on inanimate objects
- social or solitary
- practice
- more in juveniles
- can be in predators/scavengers
what are the 2 main functions of locomotor play/
- provides lay of the land/ spatial awareness information
2. provides exercise and develops motor skills
what can repetition of play such as locomotor result in?
can lead to changes in neural morphology and the formation of synapses
what are the 3 main functions of social play?
- enhance physical skills (hunting/fighting)
- facilitate long term social relationships
- enhance cognitive skills
what is the rats signal that it is play fighting?
bites neck rather than head
give 7 signals of dogs that they are playing
- shake head and ears
- open mouth
- tail up and wagging
- bow body posture
- vocalisations
- roll on back
- crouch and stare
why do animals play fair?
gains from cheating are low
costs from exclusion from group significant and long lasting
in which 2 species is there evidence that play increases fitness?
- beldings ground squirrel
- American brown bear
what is the general theory for the function of play?
ply creates novel situations so enables animals to deal better with unexpected events later in life
what are 2 problems with testing for play?
- depriving animals of prey may deprive them of other things
- hard to design an experiment to establish function of play
give 4 features of extroverts
- external focus
- energy gained from stimulation
- think broadly
- short, dopamine pathway
give 4 features of introverts
- internal focus
- energy from quiet contemplation
- think deeply
- long acetylcholine pathway
in milgrams obedience experiments what % of ‘teachers’ exceeded danger level?
65%
what are the 6 personality axes?
- extroversion
- dominance
- dependability
- emotional stability
- agreeableness
- openness
what is non human personality described as?
non random individual behaviour specialisations
what causes a personality trait to occur?
interplay between genes and environment
what are the 2 main environmental effects on personality?
birth order
social contact
describe birth order as an effect on personality
- first borns; conscientious, responsible
- later borns; outgoing, rebellious
- birth order often confounded with family size and socio economic factors
what was harlows experiment on monkeys in terms of social contact and what did he find?
social deprivation on monkeys using surrogate mothers,
found contact is important for normal development
what does INAH3 control in the hypothalamus and is it larger in men or women?
controls sexual behaviour and determine masculinity
2-3 times larger in men
what is the SG in the prefrontal cortex associated with and is it larger in males or females?
social cognition
10% larger in women
what is the hippocampus?
cognitive map that is a neural representation of the environment and provides spatial awareness
usually larger in males
whammy a female bird have a larger hippocampus than a male?
if she searches for host nests for eggs
what intelligent behaviour can chickens carry out?
can distinguish between fertile and infertile females
what did sapolskys work on primates show?
showed a link between personality, social status, physiological stress
in dingemanses work on great tits:
a) what did he find varied?
b) what were the differences between slow and fast birds?
c) was it repeatable/heritable?
d) which type of bird survives better when resources are scarce?
a) varied in exploratory behaviour
b) fast: bold, aggressive, unphased by challenges
slow: shy, reserved, cautious about challenges
c) repeatable and heritable
d) fast birds as are more competitive
when interpreting intelligence what 4 things need to be considered?
- be critical, start with parisomy
- consider past experiences
- avoid anthropomorphism
- consider confounding factors
whats the difference between proximate and ultimate explanations?
proximate: causation/mechanism, development, more concerned with learning
ultimate: function/ adaptive value, evolutionary history
what are taxes?
a learning mechansim
innate/ genetic directional responses to stimuli
for what 4 factors make learning mechanisms usually genetic?
- species specific
- predictable
- inflexible
- constant timing
what are fixed action patterns and what is an example?
long instinctive sequences of behaviour
red acts as a ‘releaser’ and stimulates territorial behaviour in robins
what is the definition of learning?
process which manifests itself by adaptive changes in individual behaviour as a result of experience
explain what the two forms of non associative learning are
- habituation- repeated exposure, decreased response
2. sensitisation- repeated exposure, increased response
what are the 2 types of associative learning known as?
classical conditioning
operant conditioning
what is classical conditioning and what is it also known as?
organism pairs 2 external stimuli
1 previously neutral stimulus with unconditioned stimulus eventually becoming a conditioned stimulus leading to a conditioned response
responds to previously uninteresting stimuli
involuntary
what is operant conditioning and who was it discovered by?
associated with behaviour and consequence of own actions
stimulus response bond formed based on outcome of behaviour
voluntary
reinforcement
discovered by thorndike
who came up with the idea of behaviourism?
John Watson
what were the 4 conditions given to rats in a Skinner box?
- positive reinforcement (press lever for food)
- negative reinforcement (lever to avoid shock)
- punishment (shock)
- extinction (no benefit so will stop pulling lever)
a) what is observational learning?
b) explain the 4 types
a) learning influenced by presence of actions of others
b) 1. facilitation- presence of conspecific increased motivation
2. enhancement- conspecific draws attention to area (local) or object (stimulus)
3. imitation- observer copies sesame action sequence as demonstrated
4. emulation- actor reaches same result as demonstrated
what is insightful problem solving?
immediate understanding of how to solve problem without trial and error
what is tool use in animals?
use of external objects as a functional extension of mouth, beak, hand, claw in attainment of immediate goal
it can reveal physical cognition but not intelligence
what is tool use like in chimpanzees?
- diversity of tools
- tool sets
- tool manufacture
- tool culture (teach generations)
when did chimp and human lineages diverge?
5-7 million ya
where are New Caledonian crows found and what is their tool use like/
Gondwanan land- tropical, dense forest high endemism diverse tool types wide manufacture and use of tools tool culture
what is 1 +ve and 2 -ves of captive studies?
+ve: controlled study of behaviour
- ve: validity may be compromised
- ve: low sample size
in the captive crow experiment:
a) how many chicks and what were the groups split into?
b) what does it indicate the fact that all 4 developed tool use at same time?
c) how many birds succeeded in using sequences of tools?
d) what did birds do to the straight tools and whats the likely reason for this?
a) 4 chicks, 2 groups: regular demonstration from parents, no demonstration
b) indicates that there was a strong genetic influence but that learning was important for refining behaviour
c) 4/6, 3 on the first trial
d) bent it so It was hooked, likely to be insight, but only 1 individual tested
what are the 3 main findings of the scrub jays?
- episodic like memory (knew when, what where cache)
- future planning
- flexible cache protection
what are 3 features of social cognition?
relationships
mental states
dominance
how many food items can scrub jays cache?
4,000-6,000
what are the 2 types of memory?
- semantic memory (fact learning)
- episodic memory (unique recollection)
what is bichof-kohler hypothesis?
non human animals are bound to current motivational state
what can birds do to avoid cache thieving?
scatterhoards
active protection strategies
when the scrub jays were washed white type of cache behaviour did they display?
cache behind barriers
cache in the shade
re-cache more items
what does leg vibrations of water mites help with?
catching prey
Why did the switch from group selection thinking to individual selection thinking in the 1970s bring about a change in the interpretation of extra-pair copulation in birds?
With group selection thinking there was no obvious benefit to the group or species of extra-pair copulation.
how are internal clocks shifted?
by a zeitberger
what are 2 disadvantages to high testosterone levels?
suppressed immune function
higher mortality
when is the female rhesus monkey motivated to mate?
when oestrogen levels peak in the esters cycle so fertilisation is more likely
whats the difference between hunger and sexual motivation?
hunger restores physiological balance but not mating
what happens to shammy fish who are usually in tidal rock pools if they are kept under constant non tidal conditions?
cycle is maintained for 4-5 cycles
in the 1960s what was the new technology for studying internal clocks ?
radio immunoassay- increased precision
what did follet, mattocks and farner show about pituitary hormone secretion?
pituitary hormones only secreted when day length and internal rhythms coincided
what 3 things were found about the Caledonian crows?
- insightful problem solving
- sequence of tools
- knowledge of force
