Chapter 8 Social Relations Flashcards
Behavioral ecology is best described as ______.
the study of social relations which is focused on how behavior influences the relationship between an organism and its environment
Identify the individual with the highest evolutionary fitness.
A redfish that reproduces once in a single year, but 10% of the population 5 years later is a descendant of this individual.
In terms of evolutionary fitness, social interactions may be most directly important for ______.
sexual reproduction
Identify the groups of organisms with species that commonly reproduce asexually.
bacteria
protozoan
plants
Which of these would be included in behavioral ecology?
Male prairie chickens conducting elaborate mating rituals.
Damselfish protecting their territory on a reef.
Male bluehead wrasses defending their mating territories.
Organisms that have both male and female functions in the same individual are known as ______.
hermaphrodites
Why are social relationships, as studied by sociobiologists, important to an individual?
They can have a direct impact on evolutionary fitness.
In biology, fitness is best defined as the ______.
number of offspring an individual contributes to future generations
Some individuals reproduce at higher rates because they are better at securing mates. This is known as _______ selection.
sexual
Which of the following social interactions are important for sexual reproduction?
Male spiders conducting the proper mating dance of their species to avoid being eaten by females.
Birds migrating northward to warmer climates when food sources are more abundant.
A male praying mantis sacrificing himself to the female while he is mating.
Which of the following is considered a hermaphrodite?
a plant that produces a flower with stamens and pistils
Which of the following would be an example of a limitation on male ornamentation?
a very brightly colored tail in male guppies that prevents escape from predators
According to Darwin, sexual selection could be best described as a ______.
struggle between males for the possession of females
Why do female guppies choose males with ornamentation, which does not directly increase survival?
Ornamentation indicates good health and nutritional state.
Ornamentation is likely to be inherited, so the female’s offspring are likely to inherit the good traits.
In addition to presenting dead arthropods to females, what other method can a male scorpionfly use to attract a mate?
They can secrete a mass of saliva.
What factors may limit ornamentation in males under sexual selection? (Select all that apply.)
The risk of predation with larger, showier feathers
A reduced ability to hunt or forage
How do female scorpionflies benefit when choosing males that provide larger arthropods?
Female fitness is improved due to increased egg laying.
Ornamentation in male guppies may indicate that ______.
ornamented males may have good genes that are inherited by the female’s offspring
Endler used guppies from multiple populations ______.
to ensure that color variation was present in the experimental units so that he could test for natural selection
Self-incompatibility may occur when a ______.
plant has pistils and stamens, but cannot pollinate itself
Based on the results of Thornhill’s experiments, male scorpionflies with the highest mating success ______.
had the largest nuptial gift
What benefits does a male gain by offering larger nuptial gifts to female scorpionflies?
The female is more likely to mate with him.
A larger nuptial gift may improve his fitness because the female is likely to lay more eggs.
Nonrandom mating in plants could result from ______.
female control over fertilization
competition among pollen
Variability in natural conditions may have more importance in pollination than
nonrandom mating.
The evolution of sociality likely arose from the need for group defense ______.
of young
for mates
of good territories
An example of a cooperative behavior may include a ______.
herd of wildebeest defending a young animal against a predator
If a female plant was able to control the fertilization process, this would clearly be an example of ______.
nonrandom mating
Marshall and Fuller (1994) point out that the harsh conditions in nature may have
more importance on the number and size of seeds produced than nonrandom mating.
Sociality, like many behaviors, has a wide range of complexity. Which of the following would not be considered a social behavior within a species?
a group of vultures eating carrion
The evolution of sociality for some groups may have begun with ______.
a group of related individuals defending a single food resource
Cooperation generally involves which of the following?
Individuals assisting others for defense
Individuals exchanging resources
A social system where helpers provide care for offspring that are not their own is known as ______
cooperative breeding
Some of the most complex sociality in a social species occur in ______.
ant colonies
An example in cooperative breeding that has a benefit to helpers may include ______.
experience raising young
Which of the following are considered the major characteristics of eusociality?
multiple generations live simultaneously
sterile, nonreproductive, and reproductive individuals are present
cooperative care of the young
The reproduction of the individual plus the survival and reproduction of individuals it shares genes with is known as ______ fitness
inclusive
An example of a species with cooperative breeding is ______.
green woodhoopoes
Kin selection operates by ______.
individuals helping to raise relatives that are not offspring
What are the benefits to helpers in cooperative breeding systems even though they may not be reproducing?
Helpers may improve their own genetic fitness by improving the survival rates of relatives.
Helpers may gain or retain access to high-quality territory.
Helpers may improve their own reproductive success by gaining experience.
Inclusive fitness includes the survivorship and production of ______.
relatives
Kin selection operates by increasing ______.
inclusive fitness
When selection favors diverting resources to kin when it helps the helpers but not when it exceeds its cost to the helper, it can best be described as ______.
Hamilton’s rule
Which of the following types of animals are known cooperative breeders?
woodhoopoes
African lions
wolves
The Ligons were able to follow individual Green Woodhoopoes and study their social behavior because ______.
they roost in cavities and are easily captured and banded when exiting the cavity
True or false: Male woodhoopoes are larger than females so that they can rapidly excavate new cavities to improve their territory.
false
defend territory
Which of the following are characteristics of a high-quality nesting cavity?
the soundness of the wood
the size of the opening
the depth of the cavity
Based on Hamilton’s rule, when does selection favor diverting resources to kin?
when C < RgB
Which of the following animals are not considered a cooperative breeder?
guppies
Identify the characteristics of green woodhoopoes that make them great organisms to study sociality.
They are widespread and easily observed.
They roost in cavities and are easily captured so individuals can be tagged and identified.
In woodhoopoes, males are often larger because ______.
of competition over territories and females
In cavity-nesting birds like the woodhoopoe, what is one of the biggest factors that determines the quality of the territory?
the quality of the cavities
The territory where an individual was raised is known as a(n) _______ territory
natal
An example of a philopatric animal would be a ______.
woodhoopoe that remains on the same territory
Which of the following is a benefit of philopatry to cavity-nesting birds like the woodhoopoe?
They may eventually inherit the territory and its cavities.
They are familiar with the territory and have safe places to roost.
They would have a lower rate of predation.
Which factor would improve reproductive success in green woodhoopoes?
Finding roost cavities that reduced the risk of predation on the adults.
How do helpers in cooperative breeding increase their inclusive fitness?
the young tended by helpers are closely related
Based on careful field observations by Hawn et al. 2007, which of the following would most likely have the highest lifetime reproductive success?
females that delay reproduction until they are older
An animal that is considered philopatric would have a tendency to ______.
stay in the same area throughout its life
A philopatric cavity-nesting species may remain on a territory because ______.
cavities are scarce in the highlands of Kenya
What are the two major sources of reproductive success in green woodhoopoes?
spatial variation in the quality of roosting cavities
temporal variation in seasonal rainfall
Helpers in cooperative breeding often remain on their natal territories because helpers may ______.
eventually inherit the high-quality, natal territory
improve their inclusive fitness by helping to raise young that are closely related
The total number of offspring produced over a lifetime is known as lifetime ______
lifetime reproductive success
Lion prides can be highly variable and include all of the following except ______.
nine to twelve adult, unrelated females
Which of the following are forms of cooperation in lion societies?
Females in a pride will defend their territory against encroaching females.
Female lions in a pride nurse each other’s cubs.
Females in a pride hunt together to obtain larger prey.
What are the evolutionary benefits of related males forming coalitions?
Cooperative behavior among related males would increase their inclusive fitness.
Male and female interactions in lion societies are complex. Which of the following is an important reason for females or males to cooperate?
females protecting their young against attacking males
Kin selection and environmental constraints probably led to the evolution of ______.
eusociality
The primary focus of behavioral ecologists includes which of the following?
Determining the mechanisms driving the evolution of a particular social system
Understanding how a particular social system works
The best studied group of eusocial animals is ______.
ants
When is there an evolutionary benefit of unrelated males forming coalitions?
When unrelated males form a coalition of two or three individuals and there is equal probability each individual has the opportunity to mate.
What are the key factors that affect the evolution of eusociality?
ecological constraints
kin selection
Which of the following would be studied by a behavioral ecologist?
the evolution of cooperative behavior in male lion coalitions
The best studied group of eusocial insects are in the order ______
Hymenoptera
Which of the following would not be an example of a caste?
male lions in a coalition
TRUE
female drones that forage for food and resources
a single dominant queen that reproduces
male ants that defend a colony against invaders
Leaf-cutter ant colonies are quite large and complex and have ______.
only one queen
Kin selection and environmental constraints probably led to the evolution of ______.
eusociality
In leaf-cutter ants, what factor would be the most important in determining if the individual is used for defense of the colony?
the size of the individual
The activities of leaf-cutter ants are highly varied and include which of the following?
ants guarding the trail of ants
ants carrying leaves
ants guarding the ones carrying leaves from parasitoid flies
What do larger caste members in leaf-cutter ants and naked mole rats have in common?
They are used for defense of the colony.
Individuals in a social group that engage in different activities are said to be in different ______
caste
Which of the following caste is correctly matched with its size?
medium-sized ants that carry leaf fragments to the nest
Large naked mole rats may defend a colony by doing what?
They will block the entrance with soil to wall off the entrance.
They will throw soil at a snake in attempt to turn it back.
They will try to kill snakes entering the colony.
Which of the following is a major difference in the social organization of ant colonies and naked mole rats?
Both males and females are workers in naked mole rats.
Haplodiploidy has a few peculiarities. Which of the following would be true of a haplodiploid mating system?
Males have no fathers or sons, but they can have grandfathers and grandsons.
Haplodiploidy is known to influence kin selection because the ______.
workers are more closely related to each other than they would be to their offspring
According to Tinbergen, a behavioral ecologist attempting to understand a particular behavior would need to ask which fundamental question?
How does this behavior improve reproductive success?
When populations of endangered animals become critically low, they are often removed from the wild and bred in captivity to increase their numbers. What is a factor leading to the failure of the reintroduction of captive-bred animals?
The captive-bred individuals have different behaviors than individuals in the wild.
What are the similarities in social organization between naked mole rats and ant colonies?
Division of labor is based on size.
Reproduction is limited to a single queen.
Larger workers are used for defense.
Haplodiploidy is a sex-determination system where ______.
males are haploid and females are diploid
What is the relatedness of the female workers in a haplodiploidy sex-determination system?
0.75
According to Tinbergen, there are four fundamental questions to understanding behavior. Which of the following is not considered one of those fundamental questions?
How do females select males in intersexual selection?
OTHER 3
How does behavior contribute to reproductive success?
What are the causes of behavior?
What is the evolutionary history of the behavior?
When individuals are released into the wild from a captive-breeding program, what may cause the reintroduction to fail?
The captive-bred individuals may lack essential behaviors that would reduce their survivorship and fitness.
Captive-bred animals will see improved chances of successful reintroduction if humans increase the complexity of their captive environment. This process is called ______.
environmental enrichment
To improve the success of reintroduction of captive-bred cod, researchers could do which of the following?
Improve the complexity of the captive environment.
