Animal Behavior

Question 1

Search for food or other resources in environment. Requires balance between energy expended and energy gained

Answer 1

foraging

Question 2

Foraging as a solo individual

Answer 2

solitary foraging

Question 3

Foraging as part of a larger coordinated group
Can improve outcomes, for example by allowing tackling of larger prey, but can also create competition

Answer 3

Group foraging

Question 4

Pairing of opposite-sex organisms to reproduce and propagate genes

Answer 4

mating strategies

Question 5

Strategy where all organisms of a species are equally likely to mate with each other
High genetic diversity

Answer 5

random mating

Question 6

Non-random strategy where organisms with similar traits or personalities tend to mate with each other
Can improve evolutionary fitness, but can also be harmful if it decreases genetic diversity (e.g. inbreeding)

Answer 6

Assortative mating

Question 7

Non-random strategy where organisms with different traits tend to mate with each other
The inverse of assortative mating

Answer 7

Non-assortative mating

Question 8

Optimal mating strategy

Answer 8

Scientists think that assortative mating tends to be the optimal strategy because it improves inclusive fitness, meaning that animals support close relatives and this helps propagate closely related genes

Question 9

Evolutionary game theory

Answer 9

Application of game theory to biological populations to help predict social behavior (e.g. altruism) and availability of resources

Question 10

Central principles of evolutionary game theory

Answer 10

The two most important principles are reproduction and environment

Question 11

Difference of evolutionary game theory from conventional game theory

Answer 11

Game theory generally assumes intention by the players, whereas evolutionary game theory acknowledges possibility of non-intentional behavior

Question 12

Animals communicate through:

Answer 12

• visual cues like color on birds
• sound like mating calls
• chemical signals like pheromones
• somatosensory communication like touch and movement

Question 13

Animals can communicate with other species, same species, or self
Communication with self is called

Answer 13

autocommunication. Example: Bats

Question 14

Defined as attributing human characteristics to animals or non-human things
Example: Donkey from Shrek can talk

Answer 14

Anthropomorphism