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Ethology > Chapter 4 > Flashcards

Chapter 4 Flashcards

1
Q

How does the penis and clitoris develop?

A

from the same embryonic tissue; testosterone makes a penis

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2
Q

What happens if females are exposed to testosterone prenatal?

A

larger clitoris

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3
Q

How do we know testosterone is the reason why female hyenas have a pseudopenis?

A

in hyenas, higher levels of testosterone in pregnant females when compared to free-living/ lactating females

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4
Q

How does a communication system evolve?

A

benefit for both signaler and receiver

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5
Q

How does whistling moth’s exhibit evolution of preexisting traits?

A

can detect ultrasonic signals by males

female receivers can locate male signalers by hearing ultrasonic frequencies

hypothesis: originally used by ancestors to detect bats

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6
Q

How did we test the whistling moths?

A

tapes of male sounds and bat sounds were played

a related moths reacted

proved that bat detection preceded male ultrasonic courtship

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7
Q

What kind of example do whistling moth’s ears provide?

A

these signals are being used for other purposes (originate in actions that activate sensory abilities and biases of the receiver)

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8
Q

How do water mites exhibit sensory exploitation?

A

courting in males may have tapped into the preexisting sensory abilities of females

when a female waits for food, the mite is posed into a “net stance”

males that encounter females in this stance may vibrate- similar to prey vibration

females grab the male, where the male transfers a spermatophore

female will pick up spermatophore if receptive

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9
Q

What did experiments with water mites prove?

A

if males are triggering prey receptors, hungry females should be more responsive than fed

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10
Q

How do guppies exhibit sensory expoitation?

A

females prefer to mate with bright orange males

males cannot produce color but must get it from diet

hypothesis: when first evolved, it was a byproduct of some preference that evolved in another context

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11
Q

How did they test guppy exploitation?

A

female guppies feed on rare, orange fruits that may fall in

if this is true, females should respond more to orange colors

experiment results: rate of feeding in species that prefer orange males have a preference for orange food

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12
Q

If sensory exploitation is a major factor to the origin of effective signals, what should experiments do?

A

it should be possible to create new experimental signals that trigger responses from animals that have never been exposed to them previously

playing sounds to frogs not present in natural calls

adding feather crests to crestless heads of least auklet

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13
Q

What do artificial attributes do for signals, and an example?

A

artificial attributes elicited stronger reactions from females than natural ornaments

adding crests to long-tailed finches and least auklets led to a higher response
- specifically white crests in long-tailed finches

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14
Q

What can sensory preferences arise from?

A

mutations of existing sensory preferences

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15
Q

Why were signals lost in the past, and an example?

A

possible that similar signals were used in the past, and there was no selection against maintaining it

closely related birds having or not having ornamentation

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16
Q

How did Sceloporus virgatus lizard lose traits?

A

lacks blue abdominal patches, unlike related species

blue patch used as a threat posture

experiment- when the lizard was painted blue, they elicited more retreat behavior

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17
Q

How did Priapella olmecae fish lose traits?

A

males with novel yellow swords, they get more females

the longer it is, the more time females spend with them

no swords in the species, but closely related to swordtails

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18
Q

How did sensory preferences evolve in Priapella?

A

in the ancestors, where female preference may have evolved to recognize males of the same species

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19
Q

How did swords evolve in Priapella?

A

swords evolved and were lost in several species

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20
Q

What does the evolution of swords in Priapella signify?

A

sexual signals are evolutionary holdovers that were gained and lost over time

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21
Q

How do cichlid fish exhibit losing traits?

A

females brood their eggs and young fry in mouth

first laid in depressions made by males

female picks up orange eggs almost as soon as she lays them

male moves in front of her and spreads his anal fin which has orange spots

female may try to pick up the spots, while the male deposits sperm in the female’s mouth

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22
Q

How did this behavior evolve in cichlid fish?

A

if females had evolved to orange for egg identifications, males that mimic these colors have an advantage

results in males having higher fertilization rates

females benefit more from brooding fertilized eggs

not taking advantage/ lowering fitness of female, but instead taking advantage of a system

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23
Q

What is the panda principle? (3)

A

aka principle of imperfection

natural selection can only act on variations that are currently present

evolution occurs in slow steps, with traits changing piece by piece

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24
Q

How did the panda thumb evolve?

A

a highly modified wrist bone

when pandas evolved into herbivores, the first digit was not suitable to be used as a thumb to help strip bamboo

natural selected acted on the wrist bone- free to be modified for another purpose

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25
What does the panda principle disprove?
intelligent design
26
How do parthenogenetic whiptail lizards exhibit the panda principle?
even though they don’t need males, females engage in pseudo-male sexual courtship behavior females exposed to pseudo-male behavior tend to produce more offspring intelligent design would eliminate vestiges of male traits
27
What are tradeoffs of the pseudopenis?
in humans, early exposure to androgens may lead to sterility or low birth rates
28
How does the pseudopenis act as a by-product in hyenas?
side-effect of hormone levels that promote aggression among sibling’s for mother’s attention newborns with large genitalia have open eyes and erupted teeth selection may have favored rapid development and high neonatal aggresion
29
How did the pseudopenis evolve in hyenas?
help make adult females larger and more aggressive females are aggressive, more than subordinate males females beat males and fight others for rank
30
Why is dominance important in hyenas?
higher ranked females get first crack at food also have higher reproductive success offspring have higher survival and faster development sons do better
31
What is the subordination hypothesis in hyenas?
a female ancestor must have allowed another to inspect her receiver must have been analyzing chemical signals supported by all hyena species communicating via chemicals
32
How do males support the subordination hypothesis?
- subordinate males were ancestral - subordinate males displayed penis to signal courtship or submission
33
What supports the subordination hypothesis? (2)
- suported by subordinate females and young are more likely to display - shows a willingness to subordinate - dominant may force subordinates into display
34
What is the social bonding hypothesis in hyenas?
- dominant individuals tolerate subordinates as associates - promotes coalition formation - coalitions that cooperate may increase inclusive fitness - coalition may shift, so exchange can be frequent - some may display to reconcile past differences
35
What is another hypothesis for the hyena's pseudopenis?
acts as an obstruction, requires female cooperation for copulation
36
Explain the bufo bufo/ European toad threat display
- male may try to pull rival male mounted on female - mounted male croaks on contact, while other runs away - hypothesis- adaptive for non-mounted males as croak can reflect body size - croak pitch and body size is correlated
37
How did scientist test the bufo bufo?
- experiment- pairs of males (mating and single) were put together - mounted males were silenced - when contacted, tape recorders played a croak - small paired males were less likely to be attacked if they heard a low croak
38
What is an honest signal? (2)
some way to judge a rival, and the chance of winning an all out fight an honest or dishonest signal simply means an action that conveys accurate or inaccurate information to a signal receiver without implying that the signaler intends to be accurate (or deceptive) in its dealing with the other individual.
39
Why don't small bufo bufo toads pretend to have low-pitches?
maybe it cannot maybe it's an honest signal
40
What kind of signals do fiddler crabs have?
a dishonest signal fiddler crabs with larger, regenerated arms are dominant, even though they regenerated arms are weaker; unaware it is being dishonest
41
How do barking geckos exhibit honest signals?
the larger they are, the lower the pitch they create
42
How do paper wasps exhibit honest signals?
marking indicates fighting abilities, with darker patches being more dominant
43
Why don't paper wasps cheat?
- wasps test each other occasionally, and can detect cheaters - subordinate females with faces painted as dominant gets atttacked more than dominant females painted in subordinate colors
44
How does selection favor honest signals?
cheaters are selected against
45
How do antlered flies exhibit honest signals?
antlers show honest information about body size
46
How do colalred lizards exhibit honest signals?
have UV patch near mouth that reflect fighting abilities bigger patches produce harder bites
47
How do both signals and receivers benefit with honest signals?
- small males don’t waste time and energy in fights they cannot win - larger males don’t wste time and energy fighting smaller males
48
How should aggression be between signalers and non-signalers, and an example?
in a population of signalers and non-signalers, levels of aggression towards non-signalers should be greater silent crickets have higher aggression than signal producing males
49
Why are honest signals beneficial?
individuals that fight no matter what would get thrashed more than individuals who only fight when odds are good
50
Why don't cheaters evolve in honest signals?
if signals could be mimicked, signals would have less value as % of cheaters increase
51
How do lizards support the idea that honest signals cannot be cheated?
males lizards with blotches display pushups, and performance falls if they were forced to run on a treadmill males that display before being on a treadmill cannot run as much as those they don’t perform current condition accurately reflects performance
52
Example of Margay cat being deceptive
mimicing call of juvenile tamarin prey
53
Example of octopi being deceptive
mimicking toxic flatfish
54
Example of caterpillars being deceptive
mimicking sound of ant queen to receive care
55
How are femme fatale fireflies deceptive?
- have unique flash patterns - male signals females - females signals back with unique signals - signals are species specific so mating can occur within the right species - other firefly genus females respond to males with a mimicked signal - larger females eats males using chemical defenses of her victimes to protect herself
56
How are katydids deceptive?
predatory katydid species call several types of cicadas using receptive female mimics
57
How do cicadas and fireflies benefit?
if they don’t respond, they may never have the chance to reproduce
58
What is the net benefit theory, and what supports it?
there is a greater chance of benefits that outweigh the risks maladaptive response cause by sensory mechanisms that may result in fitness losses in some situations, but doesn’t nullify the average fitness gains signals usually accrue from responding male fireflies need to respond to signals to reproduce, as long as being fooled is a low chance
59
What is the novel environment theory (3), and what supports it?
species are in a changing environment, and haven’t had time to evolve a resistance to fake stimuli maladaptive behavior occurs b/c current situation is very different from that in which the behavior evolved not enough time for advantageous mutations to occur recent events, like human effects on habitat
60
How does the net benefit theory on deception clarify adaptations? (2)
adaptations do not need to be perfect, but contribute to average fitness illegitimate signalers reduce but doesn’t eliminate net fitness benefits of using this generally advantageous communication system
61
How do male thynnine wasps exhibit manipulation?
- males mistake orchids petals for female wasps - female wasps are wingless - climbs on a twig and gives off a pheremone - when male tries to fly away, they get stuck on a pollen column - doesn’t kill male, but allows males to pollinate when it mistakes another plant again - male loses time, energy, and sperm - if male spends time on distinguishing mimic and male, he may lose his chance to another male
62
How did deceptive plants evolve their deceptive ways? (2)
plants that feed on deceived insects (venus-flytrap) evolved their attractant signalers after nectar-pollen signals evolved insect perceptual signals evolved before these manipulative plants
63
What is eavesdropping?
hijacks or take advantage of signals provided by prey cues can be sensory modality used by communicating prey
64
How do fringe-lipped bats eavesdrop?
bats mimic Tungara frog calls to eat them
65
How has crickets selected against crickets?
silent field crickets evolved when parasitoid flies were introduced not all populations with flies are silent
66
How has frogs evolved against deception?
- males may perform longer calls with chucks- more likely to attract females, but also predators - males in small groups, which are more likely to be found bats, are more likely to drop the chucks from the calls
67
Why do animals provide cues that kill them?
- when an evolved communication contributes to fitness, it can be exploited - eavesdropping imposes costs - if costs are high, signaling can be eliminated - if reproductive costs don’t exceed benefits, it will persist
68
How do nestling songbirds exhibit cues?
- makes noise that is used by hawks or raccons to find a nest of baby birds - tapes of begging tree swallows attracted predators - begging calls vary in degree of exploitation in experiments, tapes of tree-nesters on the ground were attacked more than ground-nester calls
69
How do rasping mob calls differ from seet alarms of great tits?
- when approaching a perched hawk or owl, they produce a mobbing call for other brids to join in - if flying hawk is spotted, birds make a quiter seet call - allows them to warn others without alerting the hawk - seet calls travels shorter distances, and lies outside the hearing range of the hawk, but optimal for the great tits- requires hawk to be closer to the great tit to perceive it
70
How has seet calls evolved in birds?
- unrelated species have evolved this call - means the predation by hawks has favored evolution of these calls
71
How do empid flies exhibit deception?
males often bring woven cocoons instead of food to mate females may be triggered by the male “carrying” something to mate, but cannot distinguish between cocoon and food

Ethology (9 decks)

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