Chapter 7 Flashcards
primate behavior...
Behavior is defined as
anything organisms do that involves action in response to internal or eternal stimuli, these may or may not be deliberate.
Primate Field Studies main goal:
to collect information on wild primates whose behavior is unaffected by human activities.
who was the first primate studies pioneer?
Began with Robert Yerkes in the 1920’s, who studied gorillas, chimps, and howler monkeys.
what did japanese scientists study in the 1940’s
macaques
what characterized early primate field studies?
Most early studies were descriptive in nature.
what characterized later primate studies?
Later studies looked at social structure- the composition, size, and sex ratio of a group of animals, the result of their natural habitat.
Behavioral ecology
the study of the evolution of behavior, emphasizing the role of ecological factors as agents of natural selection. Behaviors are favored when they increase reproductive fitness of individuals.
what is important concerning behavioral ecology and differentiations in the animal kingdom?
Certain behaviors are influenced by genes
Behavior constitutes its own phenotype
Insects and invertebrates-behavior is NOT learned
Mammals-much behavior is learned
A main goal of primatology
to determine how behaviors influence reproductive fitness and how ecological factors have shaped the development of these behaviors.
Factors that Influence Social Structure: (name them)
body size (larger animals require fewer calories per unit), BMR (small animals have higher BMR), Diet (influences behavior)
what is a relationship between diet and behavior?
Small bodied animals focus on high energy foods.
Two examples of how diet influences behavior?
Example- large gorillas eat leaves, and other vegetation, lowland gorillas also consume water plants, these have less caloric value than fruits nuts and seeds.
Colobines (monkey)- have evolved elongated intestines and pouched stomachs that enable them to digest touch cellulose foods.
Matriline
groups of females who are all descendants of one female, a female, her daughters, granddaughters, and their offspring. May include dependent male offspring (macaques group in this way, and dominant matrilines have more access to resources)
What is true concerning the ecology of a species and its behavior in terms of food clumps?
Species that depend on food in small clumps tend to be protective of their resources
Water is also an important resource
primates may be vulnerable to predators based on their what?
body size!
what is important to remember about primates and predation?
Where predation is high and body size small, these animals rely on large communities
Many primates share space with what?
other non-primate species
Dispersal of primates (important points)
Members of one sex leave the group in which they were born
Male dispersal is the more common pattern in mammals.
Female dispersal is seen in a couple of species (colobus, hamadryas baboons, and chimps)
May have several outcomes
what are the outcomes of dispersal?
Females join other groups
Males may be solitary for a time or may join a bachelor group
Usually find mates outside their natal group
Reasons for dispersal?
Reasons for dispersal are educed competition for mates, and decreased likelihood of inbreeding
what does philopatric refer to?
Individuals who remain in natal group form close long term bonds
Characteristics or developmental stages that typify members of a given species and influence potential reproductive rates.
Example: gestation, length of time between pregnancies, period of infant dependency, and age at weaning, age of sexual maturity, and life expectancy.
Can be critical to species survival.
Gorillas are the only non-humans to sleep on the ground
unique trait of a gorilla in terms of sleeping
Sympatric Species
Living in the same area; pertaining to two or more species whose habitats overlap (example Included black and white colobus, red colobus, mangabey, blue monkey, and retails in the kihale forest of uganda)
Kibale forest study showed what?
Omnivores move more than folivores
Among omnivores there’s an inverse relationship between body size and group size, there is a direct relationship between bodysize and home range size
Omnivores are more spatially dispersed than folivores
Females sexual swelling is obvious only those species that live in multimale-multifemale species
Feeding, spacing and dispersal and reproductive strategies may be very different for males and females of the same species
Why Be Social?
Costs of competition are offset by the benefits of predator defense
Through strategies of association with other primates potential prey animals are able to spend more time feeding and increase their opportunities for foraging.
Larger groups can outcompete small groups of conspecifics when foraging in the same area
Dominance in primates
Aggression is frequently used to increase an individuals status
Usually serve to lessen major physical conflicts
Individual rank can be measured by access to resources
Increased reproductive success for high ranking females
All primates learn their position in the hierarchy
Communication in primates
Any act that conveys information, in the form of a message to an other individual
May or may not be deliberate
Autonomic- pertaining to physiological responses that aren’t under voluntary control (such as erect body hair)
Vocalizations play an important role in many species
Ritualized Behaviors
behaviors removed from their original context and sometimes exaggerated to contain information
Aggressive behavior in primates is related to what?
a fight for resources
how does agression play out?
in the from of signals and displays, can lead to injury or death if between males
what are afiliative actions
reconciliation, consolation, and amicable interactions between friends and relatives, usually involve physical contact
Sexual behavior is tied to what?
the female cycle
permanent bonding is common or uncommon in other primates besides humans?
not common
k selected reproductive strategy
individuals produce relatively few offspring, but they invest a lot of time into parental care
R selected reproductive strategy
emphasizes large number of offspring with little investment
sexual selection
natural selection within a species, can lead to sexual dimorphism regarding one or more traits
infanticide
males kill offspring not their own, some males kill an infant then father another
polyandry
a mating system characterized by an association between a female and more than one male (only seen in marmosets and tamarins
alloparenting
a common behavior in many primates whereby individuals other than the parents hold, carry, and interact with infants
