Behaviour Ecology

Question 1

Define behaviour

Answer 1

Action in response to an environmental cue

carried out by muscles or glands under control of the nervous system

Question 2

Define proximate cause?

current vs historical

Answer 2

immediate cause
C = how does it work?
H = how did it develop?

Question 3

Define ultimate cause?

current vs historical

Answer 3

ultimate cause
C = what is it for?
H = how did it evolve?

Question 4

What is sociality?

Answer 4

any set of organisms, belonging to the same species, that remain together for a period of time interacting with one another to a distinctly greater degree than with conspecifics - wilson

Question 5

Aggregation vs social group?

Answer 5

aggregation would take place at a watering hole

relationship between individuals is short lived

Question 6

List the benefits to sociality?

Answer 6

• predator detection and defence
• finding and obtaining food
• cooperative defence of territory
• thermoregulation
• reproductive benefits

Question 7

How to lower the cost of foraging/vigilance trade-off? (3)

Answer 7

1. perform low-quality vigilance
2. live in groups
3. coordinate vigilance

Question 8

low quality vs high quality vigilance?

Answer 8

low = non-exclusive
high = exclusive

Question 9

What are the 4 types of predator detection mechanisms within groups?

Answer 9

1. dilution effect
   - thousands of penguins
2. selfish herd
   - penguin on inside
3. increased vigilance = many eyes
   - meerkats
4. active defense
   - muskox

Question 10

how does individual and collective vigilance change with group size

Answer 10

Individual vigilance decreases with group size

Increase in collective vigilance with group size

Question 11

Define Sentinel system under coordinated vigilance.

Answer 11

group members take turns as the guards

Question 12

Assumptions of sentinel behaviour (3)

Answer 12

1. stand on guard from raised positions
2. warn group members of danger
3. alternating guard system, reduce amount of time that no sentinel is present

Question 13

Why do lions live in social groups?

Answer 13

cooperative hunting, defend territory, prevent infanticide

Question 14

Example of using cues from conspecifics to find food

Answer 14

eavesdropping in bats

Question 15

What is a territory?

Why defend it?

Answer 15

Food, sleep, reproduction, drink.

Everything needed to survive is within territory

Question 16

How is thermoregulation a benefit of sociality?

Answer 16

Huddle in groups

Less energy is spent o thermoregulation when in groups

Question 17

What is a lek?

Who does this?

Answer 17

gathering and defending small territories by males.

9 ungulate species, 1 bat, walrus and dugongs

Question 18

Reproductive benefits of sociality?

Answer 18

Alloparental care
Information transfer
-finding females
-social learning

Question 19

list the costs of group living (4)

Answer 19

1. increased conspicuousness
2. increased disease/parasites
3. increased comp. for resources
4. reproductive competition

Question 20

what is the relationship between habitat and sociality?

Answer 20

more likely in open grasslands

less likely in forested regions

Question 21

how does increased competition affect primates?

Answer 21

exhaust resources quicker when in groups therefore must keep moving to have enough

Question 22

How is reproductive competition managed in groups?

Answer 22

male-male competition

hierarchy

Question 23

what causes infanticide to occur?

Answer 23

high population densities

Question 24

What is the sexual selection hypothesis in relation to infanticide?

Answer 24

male reproductive tactic in which the loss of suckling infant leads to the onset of estrous in the mother.
males gain a reproductive advantage through earlier conception by females

Question 25

Define altruism

Answer 25

a behaviour that benefits another individual at a cost to the actor "for the good of the species" - different than mutualism, reciprocal altruism, and kin selection

Question 26

Example of mutualism discuss in regards to sociality?

Answer 26

male lions cooperate to defence a territory, both benefit

Question 27

Explain reciprocity | ex?

Answer 27

exchange of altruistic acts between 2 individuals | ex. baboons and blood!

Question 28

3 conditions for reciprocal altruism to evolve?

Answer 28

1. stable relationships - high p of meeting again 2. time lag between reciprocal exchanges can't be too long 3. animals must be able to recognize "cheaters"

Question 29

Explain kin selection

Answer 29

an individual dies to save 10 close relatives | -one copy of kin-altruism gene lost but a large n of those particular genes saved

Question 30

what influences the likelihood of kin selected behaviours?

Answer 30

degree of relatedness | r

Question 31

What is Hamiltons rule? What does it relate to?

Answer 31

Altruism will spread if... | B/C > 1/r

Question 32

Alarm calling is considered to be an ____ behaviour because it's ____

Answer 32

altruistic | costly

Question 33

what information can be conveyed through alarm calling?

Answer 33

``` inform members of danger info about predator cause chaos discourage an attack attract other predators ```

Question 34

diff between cooperative breeding and eusociality?

Answer 34

C-everyone has change to breed eventually | E-single female process offspring, non-reproductives never breed

Question 35

why help raise other individuals offspring?

Answer 35

helps kin | future breeding opportunities

Question 36

Eusociality in naked mole rats, why?

Answer 36

possible adaptation to cost of digging and maintain tunnels in arid areas

Question 37

Ecological constraints of Eusociality

Answer 37

1. high cost of rearing | 2. breeding openings nonexistent

Question 38

Colony structure of naked mole rats? | why?

Answer 38

``` 1 breeding F 1-3 breeding M non breeding helpers of either sex sm animals = maintenance jobs lg animals = defend against predators and intruders ``` maybe bc highly interbred? but wild pop don't support this