Brainscape's Knowledge GenomeTM

Browse over 1 million classes created by top students, professors, publishers, and experts.


See full index

Animal Behavior > Behavioral Ecology > Flashcards

Behavioral Ecology Flashcards

1
Q

behavioral ecology

A

study of ecological pressures that impact evolution of behavior

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
2
Q

Four ways evolution has been used to study behavior

A
  1. Historical/phylogenetic approach
  2. Testing adaptive value through experimentation
  3. Comparative approach
  4. Predictive approach
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
3
Q

Historical/phylogenetic approach

A

involves reconstructing evolutionary history of behavior –> find behavioral “homologies”

ex. Kettlewell Peppered moth

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
4
Q

Testing adaptive value through experimentation

A

involves determining adaptive value of behavior

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
5
Q

Comparative approach

A

relies on comparing species w/ similar ancestry but living in different environments AND/OR comparing species with different ancestries but living in similar environments

ex. Darwin’s finches

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
6
Q

Predictive approach

A

involves setting up hypotheses derived from evolutionary theory –> testing them with behavioral data from extant species (ex. optimality models)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
7
Q

Peppered moth (Kettlewell)

A
  • trend since early 19th century –> peppered moth once mostly light-gray individuals –> now dark gray in industrial areas (light-gray in rural)
  • place moths on trunks in both environments –> mark-recapture across 2 nights –> crypsis (camoflauge advantage)
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
8
Q

Crypsis

A

camoflage or protective appearence of an animal

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
9
Q

Of Moths and Men (2002)

A
  • implied Kettlewell comitted fraud, popular with opponents of evolution
  • ignores much subsequent research confirming Kettlewell’s results
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
10
Q

Blue jay (Pietrewicz & Kamil)

A
  • peck if see moth on video, can be trained
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
11
Q

Convergent evolution

A

similar selection pressures despite different lineages

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
12
Q

Divergent evolution

A

different selection pressures despite same lineage

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
13
Q

Darwin’s finches

A

natural selection shaped bills in accordance to diet

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
14
Q

Cactus & Ground Finches (Peter & Rosemary Grant)

A
  • studied Darwin’s finches for 40+ years
  • noticed changes in adaptive success of finches based on environmental changes
  • Medium ground finch: 4% increase in beak size across 2-year period due to drought affecting food availability
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
15
Q

Who said “nature red in tooth?”

A

Weiner

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
16
Q

1982 Medium vs. Large Ground Finch

A
  • larger species arrives in Daphne Island –> eats most of the larger, thorny seeds of puncture vine plants – pushing medium finches to rely on smaller seeds
  • medium ground finch that did not compete with larger species performed better + more likely to have surviving offspring –> overall smaller beaks
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
17
Q

Adaptive value of mobbing in gulls (Kruuk)

A
  • Bank swallow & other colonial smallows + Ground nesting gulls: distinct ancestry, shared mobbing behavior (both lay eggs on ground)
  • Ground-nesting gulls + Kittiwakes: shared ancestry, divergent behavior (Kittiwake nests on cliffs)
18
Q

Principle of Parsimony

A

Simpler scenarios involving fewer transitions preferred

19
Q

African Weaver Birds (Crook 1964)

A
  • found that they could be divided into two groups:

GROUP 1 : forest, insectivorous, solitary nests, feed alone in large territories, drab color, monogamous

GROUP 2 : savannah, seed eaters, nest in colonies, feed in flocks, males brightly colored, polygamous

  • food abundance and distribution thought to be main selective pressure
20
Q

African ungulates (Jarman 1974)

A
  • divided ungulates into 5 classes (dikdik, reedbuck, gazelle, wildebeest, buffalo)
  • organized based on :
  • body weight (low –> high)
  • habitat (forest –> grassland)
  • diet (browsing –> grazing)
  • group size (solitary –> herd)
  • reproductive unit (pair –> male dominance hierarchy in herd)
  • antipredator behavior (hide –> defense)
  • Gut size is important component to efficient digestion of foliage
  • as body mass increases, volume of gastrointestinal tract increases
21
Q

Kieft (2017)

A

abundance and diversity of animal-associated microbes scale with individual animal mass

22
Q

Ungulate videos

A

Plants
* ungulates able to consume with head up to watch for predators
* ungulates form unique niches to reduce competition for resources
* elephants able to reach top of akashia trees with few thorns, stomachs allow for long digestion

Predators
* ears can be rotated to hear sounds from all directions
* noses and sense predators
* head down –> eyes can swivel to see in fron tand behind to sense danger
* predators’ eyes pointed ahead to sense range
* prey stalk predator –> taunt hunter to prevent surprise attack
* North American pronghorn fastest animal for long distances
* jumping use to distort predators
* slim legs –> easy to trip

23
Q

Older hypotheses on egg shape

A
  • clutch size (shapes optimized for sharing warmth in)
  • calcium conservation (spherical eggs have less surface area –> conserve calcium where mineral is rare)
  • roll factor (conical eggs less likely to roll off cliff)
24
Q

Caswell (2017)

A
  • looked at asymmetry and ellipticity of eggs –> partitioned egg variation among avian orders (largest is Charadriiformes)
  • most Charadriiformes live near water + eat invertebrates/small animals
  • found that:
    length of egg correlates with bird body size
    shape of egg (asymmetry/elliptical) relates to flying habits
    stronger bird’s flight –> more asymmetrical/elliptical eggs (likely due to pressure on pelvis –> round eggs require wider pelvis)
25
Q

HWI

A
  • “hand-wing index”
  • measure of wing shape (wing length to width)
  • high HWI linked to long distance flight ability
26
Q

Spotted Hyenas (Kruuk)

A
  • Serengeti usually nomadic and scavengers
  • Ngorongoro Crater live in large groups to defend + hunt prey
  • When prey high in Serengeti, hyenas form social groups + hunt (facultative behavior)
27
Q

Flexible social systems: hamadryas and gelada baboons

A
  • gelada =/= actually baboons
  • hamadryas part of genus Papio
  • Papio: social groups, maintain similar social organizations
  • Hamadryas: large social groups –> split into smaller groups to forage (1 male, many females)
  • environment influences social structure
28
Q

Testes size and primate mating systems

A
  • correlate body weight w/ testes weight
  • multi-male reproductive systems tend to overperform (larger testes than projected trend)
29
Q

Correlation between brain size and intelligence: model species

A

Dolphins, baleen whales
* Baleen whales: mouth type enables filtration, low effort
* Dolphins: body shape enables herding, requires strategy and coordination

30
Q

Dorsal stripe morphology as an adaptation to predation in Timema walking stick insects (Sandoval & Crespi)

A
  • 2 species, feed on two different leaf types –> white stripe adopted by needle-feeders to blend in
  • comparative study on all 21 species –> Timema walking sticks evolved dorsal stripe 5-6 times independently (each time associated with shift to needle-like plants)
  • ecological experiment tests selction w/ & w/o stripes in diff environments –> striped has higher survival on needle leaves
31
Q

Predictive method

A

setting up hypotheses derived from evolutionary theory –> test with behavioral data from extant spcies

natural selection should, over time, make animals efficient at tasks critical to survival & reproduction –> “optimality models” of behavior

32
Q

Behavioral ecology and optimality approaches: animal economics

A
  • currency of fitness (& its proxies)
  • “decisions” by animals
  • constraints on decisions
  • competition
  • social behavior
  • predation
  • sex & mating
  • reproduction & parental care
  • costs of adornment & signaling
33
Q

Crows & whelks (Zach)

A
  • coastal crows feed on whelks by dropping them from air onto rocks below –> do the birds use a dropping height that minimizes the total energy expenditure in upward flight?
  • in general, largest size possible chosen –> break @ lower heights
  • all eventually plateau at around 5m in # of drops
34
Q

Animal Behavior (Alcock)

A

“This seems adaptive. Case closed.” –> assumes must be about genes –> must see differences between environmentally separated groups of crows (exposed to whelks and not) to determine genetic role

–> “At first, this behavior appears to be adaptive.”

35
Q

Starlings @ the nest (Kacelnik)

A
  • “economics” of foraging
  • How many items should the parent bring on each trip in order to maximize the rate of delivery of food to the nestlings?
  • central place foraging (nest)
  • “Marginal value theorem” - diminishing returns –> plateau
36
Q

Dungfly copulation time (Parker)

A
  • problem of the second male (want to guard to increase chance of parenting offspring)
  • consider guarding time in optimizing copulation time (before pursuing another female)
  • predicted: 41 min, observed: 36 min –> lead to issues regarding optimality models’ accuracy
37
Q

Critics of Optimality Approaches

A
  • Pierce & Ollason: problem of seeking agreement to models –> poorer data more likely to support models, many fits to predictions might disappear if more data were available
38
Q

Scientific principle of falsifiability (Popper)

A
  • scientific hypotheses can only be empiracally tested by trying to disprove them
  • however, seeking agreement w/ predicting rather than challenging –> confirmation bias
39
Q

African Golden-Winged Sunbirds: nectar & territoriality (Gill & Wolf)

A
  • undefended flowers –> less nectar for birds/flower
  • if undefended foraging time = territory foraging time –> no benefit –> sunbirds abandon territorial behavior completely if it becomes uneconomical to defend flowers
40
Q

Evaluating optimality models: advantages

A
  • generate testable, quantitative predictions
  • assumptions need to be made explicit (ex. starlings optimize rate of delivery)
41
Q

Evaluating optimality models: disadvantages

A
  • what if behavior does not fit prediction?
  • what if animals are not optimally adapted? (environmental changes, insufficient genetic variation)
  • “good enough” vs. optimal
  • assumption of genes “for the behavior”
  • constraints on optimality

Animal Behavior (10 decks)

Brainscape helps you reach your goals faster, through stronger study habits.
© 2024 Bold Learning Solutions. Terms and Conditions