Comparative cognition Flashcards
In order to have evolution we need
Individuals to differ (variablitity), heritability of some traits, competition - not all offspring survive (environmental pressure)
Phenotype
observable traits or characteristics; including morphological structures, neural structures, neural properties and also behaviour - Produced by organism’s genotype in combination with environmental and activity-dependent mechanisms
Genotype
Total collection of genes within individual, Genes = the only heritable part of natural selection equations
Sources of genetic variation?
Gene mutations - E.g. deletions or substitutions in nucleotide
Chromosome mutation - E.g. recombination
Mendelian variations - Laws of inheritance (dominant vs recessive alleles, etc.)
Adaptation
A phenotype arising from genetic variation (mutation) that increases the probability of an individual producing offspring
Divergent evolution
Def: process of tracking down 2 or more species to their common ancestor - All mammals have 1 common ancestor and then diverge from lineage - E.g. humans related to monkeys, or mice
Homology
resemblance based on common ancestry but adapted to provide different functions e.g. forelimb structures in different mammals
Convergent evolution
Independent evolution of similar features in species of different lineage - Responses to similar ecological environment brings out similar features or characteristics E.g. dolphin and shark look similar, but one is a mammal, the other a fish
Analogy/analogous structure
similarity of function and superficial resemblance of structures that have different origins
Comparing to worms how and why?
Look at behaviour we share (tells us a lot) and how they combine to form more complex behaviour and then look at their genotype, since we know all of theirs
Comparing to closely related species and why?
Closely related species to us and see how they developed differently in adaptation to their environment. Humans and chimpanzees are >99.1% identical at the coding sequence level, Our common ancestor lived 4-6 million years ago. We cannot compare to humans 10 000 years ago.
Comparing to those with outstanding features and specialized skill?
Look at specialized animals that are adapted intricately to their environment, how to relate brain structure to physical structure (Body) . E.g. platypus: senses movement in water due to changes in electrical field huge part of its cortex devoted to that but visual and auditory system are tiny in comparison
Suggestions as to how Saharan ants measure distance
Energy hypothesis, optic flow hypothesis, time-lapse integrator.
Saharan desert ant study by whom and results?
Wittlinger, Wehner & Wolf (2006): caught ants when they found pray and manipulated length of their legs: Stump group: undershot, Control group: correct, Stilt group: overshot
Nutcracker bird
Buries 30,000 nuts for later and marks spot with a stone for 3 weeks (nuts only in season for 3 weeks), For next 6 months (winter) finds 90% of nuts in snow, just with his mental map