chapter 4 textbook Flashcards
Why do the forest subspecies prefer blood from nonhumans and the domestic species prefer human blood?
They are attracted to different odors; domestic species like sulcatone are found more in humans
What happens when a queen termite dies?
Workers become aggressive until one becomes queen; this is due to the chemical signaling from the queen ceasing. Neofem 2 gene. the suppression of worker reproduction by the queen was directly related to the pheromones associated with the Neofem2 gene
mendels laws
Mendel’s first law—the principle of
segregation—states that individuals have two copies of each gene
Mendel’s second law—the
law of independent assortment—states that whichever allele is passed down to the next generation at one locus is independent of which allele is passed down at other loci. Today, we know this second law is true
only for what are called unlinked loci.
Male ruff birds
independent males: guard mating territories (ss)
satelite males: dont defend territories but share the independent males mating area (they are smaller and have lighter plummage) (Ss or SS)
polygenic behavioral traits
traits associated with variation at more than one locus
QTL mapping
Finding the region of the genome where trait loci reside, ex: chromosomes that show fear in mice:1, 4, 12, 15, 17, 18
Is per mRNA higher in bees who foraged for food or bees that did not?
per mRNA was significantly greater in older individuals that foraged for food and brought such food to their colony, when compared with younger bees that remained at the hive. baby foragers had high mRNA like older foragers signaling the link between mRNA and foraging not age.
what kind of honeybees have a higher response to sucrose
Foragers collecting pollen have a higher response to sucrose than nectar foraging honeybees, and both of them have a stronger response than nurse honeybees. This is due to higher mvl mRNA and manganese levels in pollen and nectar foragers.
what is the FOXP2 gene?
associated with both song perception in birds and language acquisition in humans
What happens to zebra finches when their FOXP2 gene is knocked out?
Their ability to copy the songs of adults is severely impaired. mRNA levels associated with the zenk
gene increased after the birds heard zebra finch songs, and that
increase was associated with an increase in the number of neurons in the neostriatum (the section of the brain associated with song pattern recognition). They are more likely to learn from conspecifics rather than a different bird
habituation
the diminishing of a physiological or emotional response to a frequently repeated stimulus, ex: zebra finches responses decline after hearing a conspecific song repeatedly and no longer elicits the molecular genetic and neural changes associated with increased zenk expression
prarie voles and the avpr1a gene
The long version of the avpr1a allele was more strongly associated with prosocial behaviors like parental care and affiliative
interactions with mates.
regulatory enhancers
act as a switch to turn genes on and off
regulatory enchancers and territoriality
House mice, three-spined sticklebacks, and honeybees share a genetic toolkit that includes G protein-coupled receptors linked to territoriality. In addition, these species show similar patterns of gene expression with respect to a number of genes likely important in territoriality.
abiotic factors that have important developmental consequences
temperature, ex: parasitoid wasps lay their eggs in a host species. Exposure to cold temperatures during development had significant effects on the number of eggs a female laid inside a host and the female’s ability to discriminate among hosts of different quality. Exposure to cold temperatures had a strong negative effect on the speed at which females learned to avoid already parasitized hosts, while exposure to hot temperatures led the wasps to learn more quickly
family structure in prarie voles
Single mom females licked and groomed their pups less than both parent individuals. Both males and
females from the single mom group took longer to find a mate and bond with that individual than did males and females from the both parent group
early nest development in cichild fishes
Parents and older siblings raise the nest and defend it against predators and parasites. Fish raised with either adults or adults and helpers displayed behaviors that were less costly in terms of energy but were still very effective in defending their territories compared with fish that were
raised in the absence of adults or adults and helpers
How do animals become better parents?
by raising more and more offspring
Do female mice who helped their mother raise their younger siblings care for their own offspring better?
both experienced and inexperienced females became better parents as they produced more and more litters over time, but the experienced female offspring are more likely to survive
