Cooperation and Altruism Flashcards
Altruism
Animals provide aid to others at a cost to themselves
What could have caused altruism to evolve?
Kin selection and Mutualism: benefits of genetics, suggests genetic selfishness
Manipulation: Suggests altruism is form of deception or deceit(manipulation through aid benefits themselves)
Reciprocity: Suggests altruism is form of self-sacrifice(animals help others in good faith, with expectation to pay back later)
Ecological constraints
Kin selection
By providing aid to others, animal indirectly helps their genes advance to next generation
Diploid
2 sets of chromosomes
1 set comes from each set of haploid parent
Coefficient of relatedness (r)
Probability that individuals share an allele with a common relative
Addressing how they are genetically linked
What is the probability that an allele comes from mom or dad?
50%
Do diploid animals distinguish aid by coefficient of relatedness?
NO
Direct fitness vs Indirect fitness
direct fitness has their own offspring survive, while indirect fitness has distant relatives survive
Inclusive fitness
having all relatives that animal is related to survive
What should animals decide to provide aid? (Do I help them?)
- evaluated using mathematical prediction called Hamilton’s rule
Define the variables of Hamilton’s rule
Donor: animal who offers aid
Recipient: animal who receives aid
C = cost to donor for giving aid
B = benefit to donor for providing aid
r1 = coefficient of relatedness between donor and own offspring
r2 = coefficient of relatedness between donor and recipients offspring
Formula: B/C > r1/r2
Ultimate altruism
When animals provide aid for severe cost to themselves
Example: bees sting to protect nearby hive, will cause their death
Describe an example of incidental/accidental altruism
- alarm calls to run home to safety is used by colonies other than their own
- so altruism wasn’t intended, but did indeed happen
How do animals know who is kin?
Phenotype matching: if its like me, it is kin (physical, behavioral, or genetic markers)
Treating anybody near or in my home as kin
Learning to treat who they grow up with as kin
Most likely from behavior and genetic markers
Mutualism
association between two organisms where they both benefit
Describe how cheetahs use mutualism
Prey too big to take on own, rely on others to accomplish goal
Need cooperation, whether related or not
Describe manipulation in the South America tropical ant
Animal performs altruistic act and this alters behavior of animal receiving aid
Parasitic roundworm has relationship with tropical ant (central of south America)
Ant consumes roundworm, roundworm creates bright red belly, attractive to bird to eat and consumed by bird
When bird poops it out, larvae comes out too and this creates roundworm population
Tit for tat concept
Do onto others what you expect to get in return
If you cheat out another organism, expect to get cheated on
High probability of encounter each other
Describe how Tit for tat concept works for the Hamlet fish
True hermaphrodite
Participates in egg-trading
Fish a deposits some eggs, and Fish B will fertilize eggs
Then will trade roles, swap them
Done since eggs are expensive to produce
Describe the Tit for tat concept in Vampire bats
Severely high metabolism
Need blood meals overnight to get through night and next day
Begging behavior can happen, through relatives and such
Unfamiliar bats (ones not seen often or living in same “roost’) not likely to give w/ begging behavior
Describe how Florida Scrub Jay uses altruism
- altruism used due to ecological constraints/kin selection
Owner of land has a couple of helpers, help raise young
As helpers get older, they will secure territory/land in the future
Social insects
class of organisms
in class you have one reproductive individual aka the queen
Name three groups of social insects and examples
Hymenoptera: bees, wasps, ants
Isoptera: termites
Humoptera: true insects (aphids, grasshoppers, cicadas)
Describe the structure of a class of social insects
Other members are all sterile individuals aka castes OR chemically/behaviorally inhibited from reproduction
Works spend life rearing young, taking care of colony, and serve queen
Cycle: queen –>lay eggs –> larvae –> adult (who forage for food, protect and serve queen, protect colony/all female)
Why are social insects set up in the system this way?
Genetic reasons
Ecological reasons: always needs work, colony will make it successful colony
Physiological reasons: polysaccharide; taken from friends in “friendly” way
Describe haploid males in social insects
Develop from unfertilized eggs
Get one set (or 100%) of his chromosomes (genes) from a diploid queen female
r = 1.0
Contribution of genes received represents 50% of the queen’s genome
Males get 0% of his chromosomes from his father (males don’t have a father)
r = 0
Describe diploid females in social insects
Develop from fertilized eggs
Get one set (or 50%) of her chromosomes (genes) from a diploid queen female
r = .50
Contribution of genes received represents 50% of the queen’s genome.
Get one set (or 50%) of her chromosomes (genes) from her father
r = .50
Contribution of genes received represents 100% of the father’s genome
What is the only know social mammal?
- Naked mole rat
- Only known social mammal
- Same colony structure as social insects
- Behaviorally and chemically infertile
- Female chooses who to mate with
- Despite being social, no preferential treatment seen
- Burrow animals, dig with huge front teeth, travel together
- Studied for many traits, such as why they thrive in low oxygen environments and why they never have cancer
- 3-4 inches big (tinyyyy)
Here is listed all the charts that should be studied and understood when it comes to math on this exam
coefficient of relatedness (slide 6)
- ex: parent(mom or dad) & offspring (slide 7)
- ex: grandparent and in relation to half siblings (slide 8)
- full siblings and full cousins (slide 9)
- brothers less related than sisters (slide 30)
- brother and sister vs sister and brother (slide 31)
Hamilton’s rule (slide 13)
- 2 scenarios (slide 13-14)
