APS 126 Behaviour Flashcards
describe the behaviour of the sac winged bat in making a smell for mating
cleans and licks wing cavities
drinks urine
secretes substance from penis licks it up
prepuital glands - usually involved in seminal fluid production
chin glands
let bacteria feed to make smell
waft smell with wings at female bats
who were the three founding fathers of ethology?
Niko tinbergen,
karl von frisch
konrad lorenz
what are the two proximate/mechanistic questions in behavioural biology
how does the behaviour develop
what are the stimuli that cause the behaviour
what are the two ultimate questions in biology?
why did the behaviour develop like this
what is the function of the behaviour
define instincts
behaviours that are inherited
define an intelligent action
actions learnt during an animals deveopment
describe the function of the major histocompatability complex
set of genes concerened with fighting diseases, high variability means lots of diseases can be fought
- makes a smell
if the smell is the same then the MHC is the same and offspring wont have a varied MHC
is bird song in chaffinch learned or innate
a mixture of the two
- chaffinches reared alone have a similar but retarded song
- need to be tought to refine it by a tutor
- needs to be taught in s ensitive part of developement
describe the effect increases sunlight has on bird behaviour regarding bird song
increased day length
light penetrates through skull which stimulates photoreceptors - synthesise gonadotrophi releasing hormone = increased testes growth
larger testes = more testosterone = song production
what evidence is there that testosterone is the cause of bird song?
females usually dont make the calls, if you inject them with testosterone they will start singing
injecting males in december where they wouldnt normally sing makes them sing
gonad increase is related to which part of the bird brain involved with song? In which sex is this part larger?
robust archistratum
connected to higher nerve centre and sends impulse to the syrinx
larger in males
when a bird sees or hears members of its own species and starts to sing what type of stimulus is this?
a proximate stimulus or extrinsic
what were the results of the experiments by john krebbs looking at wether bird song was a means of territory defence?
had three different sites
- silent
- whistle
- sound of the bird
silent and whistle was invaded by the territory owners after their removal
- suggests the nosie of the birds (not just any bird) caused the scaring off of the birds
describe an experiment suggesting that bird song is a method of males gaining a mate
sedge warbler
- repetoire from many males in song complexity
males with most complex got to mate earlier
in how many genera or birds is song found? what are these genera?
passerines
hummingbirds
parrots
what evidence is there to suggest that evolution of song occured three times rather than once in a common ancestor of the three singing genera
the control centres of singing are all differerent in each of the singing genera
describe an experiment to study using naive youngsters to test if behaviour has a genetic basis
california garter snakes are in two populations
- high mountain and costal regions
mountains eat fish and frogs
coast eat banana slugs
if slug eating was genetic then costal babies would eat slugs from birth in isolation of learning
- 70% of costal ate most of the slug pieces
mountain didnt eat any
describe a cross breeding experiment to look at the genetic basis of cross breeding
rover vs sitter behaviour in drosophilla larvae light receptors in body can detect food rovers move sitters wait for food to come to them crossed sitters with rovers F1 generation all rovers F2 generation all 3:1 ratio of rovers to sitters - determined by one gene
describe the case of Jack yufe and oskar stohr as an example of comparing twins to study genetic basis of behaviour
jack raised as a jew oskar rasied as a catholic - splir from birth similar personalities same clothes etc
describe the test looking at spatial ability correlations in pairs of differing relatedness
parents together has the most similairty
biological parents closer than adoptive parents
monozygotic twins reared apart less similar than those reared together but both more similar than dizygotic twins
describe a knock out gene experiment test done on mice to test for genetic basis of behaviour
identical individuals but knock out the fosB gene of some individuals
- mother keeps young warm and allows them to nurse
- where fos B was innactivated there were scattered pups
- lost proteins required for normal mothering behaviour
describe an artifical breeding experiment on mice used to study the genetic basis of behaviour
got mice that all got about 13-18 grams of wool for nests
- bred for low wool collectors and high wool collectors
after many repetioins had a high collecting and low collecting line
the control breeding program had no variation
give examples of conditions that children of a low birth rate may suffer in later life
high blood pressure obesity strokes heart disease type 2 diabetes
having a lower birth _____ decreases a males chance of ever children
weight
in female red deer an _% decrease in body weight occurs for every 1 degree reduction in tempertures
8%
describe an experiment looking at estradiol in mice to see if early developmental environment has an effect on behaviour
foetuses either next to brothers or sisters
those next to 2 brothers have less estradiol
when next to 2 sisters, the concentration of estradiol increases
when 90 days old those mice next to sisters have a far reduced chance of attacking a stranger mouse
females next to males were more aggressive
if a human female has a twin brother they have a significantly lower chance of ever_________ and if they did the ____________ was very high
reproducing
infant mortality
when looking at interactions between twins in early pre natal development (i.e. release of estradiol etc) and later behaviour what is the main confounding factor? how was this addressed?
post natal influences of having a twin and growing up with them
studied females where male twin had died and where female twin had died
those with male twin even when died before birth still had a lower chance of reproduction later in life.
describe how brown anolis lizards and their variable environment demonstrate post natal behavioural adjustments
lizard cant know what surface it is going to be born on to
- thick wood = long limbs for running
- short wood = short limbs for balancing
the environment around the lizard effects how it grows
why arent all behaviours flexible?
it takes energy to maintain brain capacity benefit of plasticity must outweigh the costs
define developmental homeostasis
ability for animals to maintain normal behaviour in suboptimal conditions
describe a study suggestinng that some factors are not effected by early developmental environment, why might this be so
holland in ww2
500 calories a day for pregnant women in city
normal diet for women in rural locations
no differnce in intelligence between the two groups of children
- sparing the brain at the expense of other health problems
describe the rhesus monkey social deprivation studies
seperated monkey from mother at birth
gained weight normally but didnt behave well
- corner of room rocking
social and sexual behaviour very abnormal
when with only mother social and sexual behaviour still did not develop normally
why can birds see UV light and humans cannot
red, green, and blue light detected by cone cells in humans
birds have a fourth cone cell for UV
describe a test on UV light blocking in bird sexual selection
blocked out a UV reflector
those without UV reflector took longer to find a mate, as well as getting far fewer extra pair copulations
describe the nose of the star nosed
11 paired appendages - each with eimers organs
fibres going to the brain are not evenly distributed - 10% come from appendage 10 and 11 which are found on the bottom
define cortical magnification
small part of the body takes a huge amount of sensory information to the brain
describe the how sound energy is converted into action by the brain of the nocturid moth
the tympanum virbrates stimulates A1 and A2 receptors causes stretch sensitive membranes to open Na + flows through the receptor cells action potential triggered over come a threshold
describe how the nocturid moth can detect from how far away bat sonar is coming from?
the A1 and A2 receptors respond differently
- A1 will respond with regular pulses under low intensity stimuli whilst A2 will do nothing
A1 rapid A2 very few in moderate distance
A1 rapid and A2 rapid in high intensity
how will a moth know if a bat is above or below it?
with its wings:
if the bat is above when the moths wings are in the up position the sonar will be channeled more rapidly onto the moth
why can moths hear a bat before the bat has located it with sonar
to get from bat to moth to bat the sonar must move twice the distance as that of bat to moth
- the strength of the singal will diminish over this period
the smaller the insect the ______ the pitch of the sonar must be to detect it. this means that bat calls have become ______ to the insect they hunt.
higher
specific
to detect a insect of size 2-8mm what hertz must a bat use
40,000 - 120,000 hertz
give two bird species that use echolocation
oil bird
cave swiftlet
describe why there is a difference in male and female parasatoid flies ability respond to cricket sound
parasatoid flies parasitise a cricket
females can detect the cricket sound of 4 kilo hertz in order to detect them and lay their eggs in them
describe a super normal study conducted on goslings to test for sense releated behaviour
goslings will peck at the parent gull - which feature of parent gull bill involved?
- eyes, red dot?
used a super normal red pen
- goslings far prefered this stimulus to that of a rear bird bill
how do we know that geese reterive eggs using a fixed pattern response?
remove egg and the behaviour continues
fixed action responses can be described as A__ or N_____
all or nothing
what is used by bees to communicate location, describe how this process works
use waggle dances
- round dance when 50 meters away
- figure of eight dance when more than 50 meters away
the number of waggles = the distance from food source the angle of the waggle = angle away from sun where the food is
what are four methods suggested to explain how homing pigeons find home
magnetism - iron filings in bills
sun
sight
olfaction
there is a correlation between navigational ability and the activiity of the ________
hippocampus
the ____________ of taxi drivers is larger than average
posterioir hippocampus
how was it tested wether migration was learned or gentic in british blackcaps using an emlen funnel
capture british black caps keep indoors and transport to germany keep birds indoors in an aviary use an emlen funnel - can view night sky but cannot escape ink pad in the bottom of the funnel
found that parental migratory direction same as childs even when reared apart
how was the genetic basis of migratory behaviour studied using cross breeding? how was heritability measured?
german birds fly south west
austrian birds fly south west
cross bred the species
- most flew due south.
also cross bred cannary island (who dont migrate) with germans who do. found an intermediate pattern
measured heritability by plotting parental nocuturnal migratory restlessness against that of the offspring the slope of the line = heritabiility = 0.45, 45% of behaviour was therefore additive effect of genes
do all birds have internal migratory patterns?
no - E.G. whopping cranes need to be taught how to migrate
what is behavioural endocrinology? what sort of niko tinbergens questions does this study fall into?
the behaviour caused by hormones
falls into proximate questions
desribe the hormonal processes behind hunger
fat cells release leptin
signals to hypothalamus - says there is enough fat in the body
- leptin levels low = hypothalamus releases ghrelin from stommach lining which causes hunger
when will a female be most likely to reproduce (mammals)
when estrogen peak occurs in estrus cycle
what three hormones control mating desire
testosterone, estrogen and progesterone
describe the role of sex peptide in insects
males release a sex peptide along with sperm during compulation. changes female behaviour - more reluctant to mate for 10 days
describe how hormones make female green anole more sexulally receptive
males give females more attention more gondotrophic hormones released from the pituritary gland ovaries mature estrogen is produced brain becomes more sexually active
after copulation green anoles become unreceptive to females for up to two weeks , what hormone causes this?
prostaglandin
at which point in the estrus cycle are females most likely to fell stress and anxious?
low estrogen phase
week before and after period
- because estrogen upregulates brains receptivity to serotin
what treatment can be given to women to treat depression
estrogeneutics
where does testosterone come from?
within the testes
interstital cells between seminigerous tubules
- transported around the body within the blood
individuals with higher endogenous levels of testosterone are more _________
aggressive
would polygenous or monogomous show higher levels of testosterone
polygamous
- more fighting for mates
married fathers have ______ testosterone than non married non fathers. because they invest highly in ______
lower
parental care
- dont want to expend energy copulating or finding mates
why is it an adaptation for human males to have a dip in testosterone after they have children
more investment needed in humans
high testosterone will increase the number of children
describe the three types of side blotched lizard
orange throat - super dominant
blue throat - low key and less aggresive - guard one female
yellow throats - sneaker males - sneak onto orange territories
who suggested that the human mind is the equivalent of the peacocks tail
geoffery miller
what type of chin is more dominant
wide and heavy
what is a type A person? and type B
type A respond to a challnge more quickly
type B have more noradrenaline
type A go for more risks and are more intense
where would a type a be less at risk of heart disease stress
being in a high ranking social posiition
give five examples of aggresive behaviour
intrasexual combat sexual canabalism siblicide infanticide child abuse
what is the benefit of intrasexual combat?
dominant males secure more mates
intersexual aggresion occurs in both sexes dependant on which sex is competing
why is sexual canabalism advantageous?
female gains nutrients e.g. 30% more eggs laid in spiders who ate the male
the female wont go copulate with other makes - adaptive for the males
male can inseminate for longer - more sperm
where would siblicide occur? and why not all the time
where resources are limited
wont occur all the time because it is advantegous for the sibling to survive since more alleles being spread
why do langur monkeys commit infanticide?
when a new dominant male comes into the troupe
- kills all the babies
- females are only sexualy receptive when they have no children
- if children are dead females become receptive again
how much sperm per ejaculate
350 million
what is the record lifetime reproductive success in males and females (Humans)
888 for males
69 for females
why is the pool of sexually receptive males always larger than the pool of sexual receptive females
at least some of the females in the population will be pregnant or looking after young at any one time. at this point they they are not sexual receptive
sexual selection favours_______ males and ______ females
competitive/ risk taking males
choosy females
where females of a species are promiscuous ______ or ______ competition in males is likely to occur. whilst in the female _______ will occur.
sperm competition or post copulatory competition. cryptic female choice
where females are more p_______ , testes size in males will be _______. give an example of the above trend
promiscuity
larger
zebra finch has much smaller testes than the aquatic warbler despite them being the same size. warbler has far higher levels of promiscuity in females
why gorillas have much smaller testes than chimps
gorillas have one silver back who has reign over the females. fighting takes place to get this role hence all competition is pre copulatory . where as in chimps females will have more than one mate, hence sperm compeitiion occurs.
where do humans place on the body size to testes ratio?
bang on the line of best fit
- relatively low extra pair copulation
define polyandry
2 males 1 female
polygynandry
2 males and 2 females
why is it benefical for the female to be in a polyandrous relationship
if the female has both males copulating with her they are both likely to invest in the offspring
- her offspring are more likely to survive
describe the strange pre copulatory ‘ritual’ in male dunnocks that they do in attempt to reduce sperm competition. Why do we not know exactly the adaptive function?
females are in polyandrous relationships
- male pecks at cloacar
- does this until the female releases a droplet of sperm from her last mating
not sure about the adaptive function because:
- sperm droplets contain ,mainly non functional sperm
- doesnt benefit male, since sperm released doesnt need competing with
define parental investment
the expenditure by parents of an individual offspring that reduces their potential to invest in other or future offspring
what determines parental investment?
where the increase in fitness by ensuring survial of current offspring outweighs the fitness gain by having more offspring
_______ risk and a _____ environment will increase the chance of parental investment
predation risk
harsh environment
why is maternal care often greater than paternal care?
mothers have already expended more energy on producing an egg than the male has producing the sperm - hence is more invested
only females lactate
internal fertilisation - males can leave immediately after copulation
describe Robert trivers theory into parental investment. what evidence is there for this?
the relative difference in parental investment between males and females determines competition and chooseyness.
looked at sex roles were reversed
e.g. sea horse and mormon cricket
females should be competing for male and males should be choosey
describe how and why the male mormon cricket is more choosey than the female
male can see females eggs, pick those that have the most amount of eggs
- males produce a spermatophore which is 1/4 of males body mass - takes up a lot of energy and hence can only do once
describe the parental care pattern of Doctrils
female lays a clutch and looks after it herself, lays another one and the male will look after it, repeats several times with different males looking after different clutches.
evidence of one female having males looking after her clutches in scotland and sweden
describe the breeding conflict that occurs in st peters fish
mouth brooding child
male or female keeps young in mouth
most often the male
very hard to eat with a mouth full of babies so starts to lose weight
females need to rest longer after mouth bredding than males before next reproduction
produces fewer offspring next time
females still sometimes mouth breed
- males can mate with as many females as it wants
- if males have to do all feeding then they would gain a massive benefit from securing further mates
what is brood parasitism
another species looks after your eggs
how do cuckoos improve their chances of succsessful brood parasatism?
the egg they lay is similar to that of hosts
offspring mimic the calls of the mothers
keep eggs in reproductive tract for 48 hours longer than most birds. incuabted for longer and hence develops more rapidly giving them a head start of over host chicks
why may adoption be adaptive for species?
some species absorb extra chcicks into brood
- dilution effect, if more in brood chicks of the mother less likely to be eaten
why do fathead minnow males adopt eggs?
females select males with more eggs
describe how fire flies trick smaller flies
fire flies mimic the female flash of the smaller species
males are attracted to the fire flies and are eaten
describe an experiment to show how the male attraction to the female smell is greater than to the female itself
male moths prefered a filter paper with female hormone to a female in an air tight box
give an example of tactile communication
chimps grooming each other
describe the pseudopenis of the female hyena
- how is it formed (physiology)
- how has it evolved?
pseudopenis develops from embryonic tissue which is exposed to high levels of androgens.
it is a mal-adaptive trait since 10-20% die in child birth
- it is
