Behavioral Ecology: Evolution of Social Behavior Flashcards
Define the dilution effect. Provide examples of benefits to both prey and predator populations.
when a group of animals herd together as a survival tactic
predators: american white pelicans - create formations to heard fish for easy capture
prey: antelopes - increased vigilance of predators and grazing time
Which individuals will benefit from group living? Which individuals will suffer?
dominant and healthy individuals benefit most by receiving greatest amount of safety and food with few drawbacks. submissive and unhealthy individuals will suffer because they are forced to the unsafe peripheries of the group and lose in contests for food and resources.
Define altruistic behavior.
actions that benefit another individual in the group at the expense of an organism’s own wellbeing in order to increase inclusive fitness
Define inclusive fitness.
an organism’s ability to transfer an allele to its offspring as well as the reproductive success of other organisms that share the same allele
How does kin recognition relate to lesser male parental care in anisogamous organisms?
kin recognition is an organism’s ability to distinguish between close genetic kin and non-kin; males have uncertain paternity, so investing resources into offspring has the potential for a loss of inclusive fitness; males are more successful when their resources are invested in mating rather than parental care
Define haplodiploidy. Provide an example.
the males of a population exhibit haploidy by developing from unfertilized eggs and females exhibit diploidy by developing from fertilized eggs (i.e. hymenopterans such as bees and ants)
Define eusociality. Explain the relationship between eusociality, haplodiploidy, and inclusive fitness.
one female is reproductively active and the other nonbreeding members care for the young and provide for the group; in haplodiploid individuals, all female offspring within the population inherit an identical chromosome set from their haploid father, meaning sisters are more related to one another than to their own mother, so it is beneficial for daughters to help the mother reproduce more sisters than it is if they reproduced themselves
Explain how kin selection plays a role in microbial interactions. Provide an example.
In the bacterium Proteus mirabilis, swarms are created based on allele similarity, and boundaries are formed between swarms with differing alleles. Kin selection allows microbes to identify clonemates and use this information to complete basic tasks
