Ch. 10 Social behaviors (Ecology: The Economy of Nature 8th edition) Flashcards
A _____ is a location where large groups aggregate only to attract mates.
lek
When two hyenas hunt and kill a zebra together, and both hyenas share in eating the dead zebra, the social behavior of the hyenas is considered _____, where the donor experiences _____ fitness and the recipient experiences _____ fitness from the interaction.
cooperation; increased; increased
Which of the following eusocial species is NOT haplodiploid?
termites
What is NOT a benefit of living in a large group for an individual?
reduced competition for food
An individual’s indirect fitness is equal to the _____.
benefit given to a recipient relative times the coefficient of relatedness between the donor and the recipient relative
The offspring of a queen bee are divided among a worker caste made up of _____ and a caste made up of _____.
nonreproductive females; reproductive males and future queens
You are hiking in South America and you come across a group of small primates living in a small stand of fruit trees that seem to bear fruit that no other trees in the forest produce. After watching the primates for a while, you observe that they consume only this fruit and nothing else. Further, you observe that the males of this group are fairly evenly spaced and stay in the same place. However, the females move about freely. Males that defend a fruited area let the females consume the fruit but often try to mate with the females after they do so. What type of social grouping system do you conclude you have stumbled upon in this forest?
males defending territories
In a newly discovered species of tropical wasp, males have two options for passing along their genes to the next generation. One option is for the males to breed with females, in which case males produce an average of 4.3 offspring that will grow up to reproduce themselves. Alternatively, a male can help his brothers and sisters mate and raise their offspring. In this strategy, a male has an average of two siblings that survive to reproductive maturity, and with his help, each sibling will produce an average of 4.6 offspring that will survive to reproduce. The male should opt for a(n) _____ mating strategy, as it will increase his inclusive fitness by _____.
altruistic; 0.3
A female wasp would receive the greatest inclusive fitness by _____.
helping her sister produce and raise 100 female and 100 male offspring
Why do many people consider the licensed hunting of deer an important tool for managing the health of wild deer populations?
Hunting deer reduces disease outbreaks and competition for food.
You are studying an ant colony and you observe a queen mating with a drone, after which she produces a few male offspring and a large number of female worker and queen offspring. However, her first drone mate is soon replaced by another drone and the queen mates again, producing a new round of offspring. On average, what is the coefficient of relatedness between a daughter of the queen and her first drone mate and a daughter of the queen and her second drone mate?
0.25
A dominance hierarchy is most likely to form when _____.
an individual is surrounded by so many members of its species that it is impractical to defend a territory against them all
What C:B ratio for altruistic behavior must be exceeded for natural selection to favor the evolution of altruism between donor individuals and their half siblings?
0.25
What is the indirect fitness benefit of a worker bee in a eusocial colony who helps her queen sisters produce and raise 300 drones, 500 workers, and 250 queens?
637.5
Under what conditions does natural selection favor individuals that live in groups, such as herds or flocks?
When the chance of finding a high quality mate increases in a group.
When the risk of predation is reduced in a group.
When working as a group makes it easier for individuals to obtain enough food.
A population of territorial mammals experiences an increase in population density. Why might individuals in the population give up defending their territories?
Defending territories is too costly against the greater number of conspecifics.
Why might selfish behaviors be less favored when animals interact with closely related family members?
Closely related individuals share genes and can indirectly increase each others fitness through successful reproduction.
Termites are a diploid eusocial species in which a colony’s queen and king produce both sons and daughters through sexual reproduction. What evolutionary reasons may explain why workers forgo reproduction unless the king or queen dies?
Workers that leave the home colony are unlikely to establish a new colony.
Workers increase their indirect fitness by contributing to the survival of their siblings.
