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.
what types of competition does intra-sexual selection involve?
fighting and ritualised contests including roaring, female guarding and sperm comp,
what is female guarding?
when males prevent other males from getting access to fertile females. it sometimes involves forced mating.
what is sperm comp?
competition for insemination between sperm of rival males.
Xylocoris maculipennis is an example of sperm comp, what happens?
a male injects its sperm into a rival male.
the imposter sperm migrates to the rival males testes.
the rival male then inseminates the female with imposter sperm.
what is intersexual comp?
female choice.
the females choose the best male to mate with.
benefits of intersexual comp:
good resources and parenting ability.
good genes.
how to impress females:
defeat opponents,
defend high quality territory,
give nuptial gifts - courtship feeding,
advertise genetic benefits
how to advertise genetic benefits:
have trait females find attractive to pass onto sons (=runaway sexual selection).
have strategic handicaps (traits only high quality mates can afford to possess).
what is sexual conflict?
conflict between males and females.
what are 2 examples of sexual conflict?
- sexual cannibalism
- infanticide
what are 2 examples of sexual conflict?
- sexual cannibalism
- infanticide
what is an example of sexual cannibalism?
female mantids eat male during mating.
what’s an example of infanticide?
male lions slaughter cubs when they take over new prides. they then father new cubs.
which birds experience conflict over parental care and how?
Kentish plover birds.
they both incubate eggs at 1st.
either can desert the eggs and make a new nest leaving the other to care for the birds.
are males ever more choosy?
yes.
males who invest more than females have the females compete for them.
other word for altruism?
cooperation
what is altruism?
when individuals do something for others that does not benefit themselves but does benefit the other individual.
what are the results of altruism to each individual?
there is immediate costs for the actor but benefits for the recipient.
what is an example of altruism?
parental care.
what is an example of altruism?
parental care.
why is parental care an example of altruism?
the parent faces costs but to the benefit and survival of their offspring.
are there any benefits for parental care to the parent?
yes.
by helping the offspring the parents are maximising the genetic contribution to future generations.
what is the coefficient of relatedness?
how genetically similar 2 individuals are to each other, relative to the pop as a whole.
what is the coefficient of relatedness between offspring and their parents and their siblings?
0.5 or 50%
what other definitions can be given for coefficient of relatedness?
the probability that 2 individuals share a gene that’s inherited by descent
or
the probability of sharing a rare allele.
in what 2 ways can siblings maximise their genetic contribution to the next gen?
by helping to rear their siblings
and
by rearing their offspring.
equation for inclusive fitness?
inclusive fitness = direct fitness and indirect fitness.
how can gene transmission be maximised into the next gen?
by inclusive fitness.
what is direct fitness?
maximising the repro success of the individual the genes are present in.
what is indirect fitness?
maximising the repro success of other individuals who are likely to share the gene.
what is kin selection?
the process by which traits are favoured due to their effects on the fitness of relatives.
what is kin selection?
the process by which traits are favoured due to their effects on the fitness of relatives.
what’s an example of kin selection?
coots killing their weak offspring.
what does Hamilton’s rule do?
it identifies conditions under which altruism will spread due to kin selection
equation for Hamilton’s rule?
r*B-C>O
what doe each of the things in Hamilton’s rule mean?
r = coefficient of relatedness between actor and recipient.
B = benefit to recipient.
c = cost to actor
using the equation, when will altruism be favoured?
when r and B are large, and c is small.
what is an example of altruism?
bees
how do bees show altruism?
worker bees do not reproduce, they allow the queen to do so.
their sting is fatal to them also.
how are bees related?
male bees come from unfertilised eggs so share all of their DNA with the queen bee.
female bees are diploid so half their DNA comes from the queen, and the other half from their dad.
how are male bees related to others?
male bees are as related to their mom and their daughter as they are to themselves.
how do male wild turkeys show cooperative courtship?
the males form coalitions to court and defend females.
there’s 1 dominate makes who mates and 1 subordinate male who does not.
