animal behaviour Flashcards
what are Timbergen’s 4 ‘why’ q’s?
- Causation .
- Ontogeny.
- Function.
- Phylogeny.
what is an issue with studying animal behaviour?
the risk that it is naively extrapolated from animals to humans (anthropomorphism).
what do animals communicate?
Aggression, sex, identity, status, need, social info, “auto-communication”.
what are some models of communication? (signals).
Visual signals
Acoustic signals
Vibrational signals
Chemical signals
Tactile signals
Electrical signals
what is a signal?
a feature of an animal that has evolved specifically to alter the behaviour of receivers
what is a cue?
any feature that can be used by an animal as a guide to future action.
what 4 ways do ritualised signals differ from cues?
conspicuousness,
redundancy,
stereotyping,
alerting opponents.
what is ritualisation? (google definition)
the process by which non-communicative processes are transformed into communicative processes
what is ritualisation? (lecture definition)
the evolution of cues into something more effective at transforming info to other individuals.
what is urination/defecation’s role as a signal?
to mark territories chemically.
how does thermoregulation act as a signal?
the raising of hair/feathers.
how has pupil dilation act as a signal?
it signals friendliness/arousal.
how does yawning act as a signal?
it’s a signal of aggression.
how do conspicuous effectively transfer info?
it makes the signal harder to miss.
how does redundancy/repetition effectively transfer info?
it makes the behaviour harder to miss as it occurs so many times.
how does stereotypy effectively transfer info?
it involves doing the same thing over and over with little variation so the message gets across
what’s the point of ritualised signals?
to transfer info more effectively to individuals.
how does alerting components effectively transfer info?
it creates conspicuous movements/sounds.
what 3 ways does ritualisation make signals more effective at transforming info than cues?
- it increases the cost.
- it increases efficacy.
- it increases activity of signals to manipulate the receiver so they can’t resist the message.
why do signals evolve?
to maximise transmission and minimise eavesdropping.
how do prey signal other prey?
(4)
alert, flee, attack, assemble.
how do prey signal predators?
(2)
aposematism (= conspicuous warning of unprofitability).
pursuit deterrence.
what is sexual selection?
natural selection for traits that increase reproductive success. variation is inherited.
what is anisogamy?
unequal gametes
why are the gametes unequal?
because eggs are expensive and large, whereas sperm is cheap but small.
sperm can be produced whenever in large amounts, whereas eggs are produced few at a time and it takes time.
why are females more picky?
they invest more time and care in the offspring than males do and they only have a few chances at having offspring, whereas males can impregnate as many females as they want and often don’t put in any time or energy.
females are a what resource?
scarce
what is intra-sexual selection?
male-male competition.
males compete for females.