FINAL Flashcards
Female Distribution Polygyny
If females group together, polygyny is more likely
Female Defense Polygyny
females in groups and males defend those groups of females (harems) against other males – usually causes a high variance in male reproductive success
Resource defense polygyny
female fitness depends on quality of non random resources. A male with control some resource therefore, access to females. Most-fit males with have the best resources and females have subsets of the male’s territory
Scramble Competition
females are widely disperse and males are focused on finding them during breeding seasons avoiding competition with other males or defending resources
Lek Polygyny
males defend territories that contain no resources for females and located on traditional display sites - male’s don’t provide parental care and females will visit the leks to watch the displaying males and either mate or leave.
leks
male display sites where females come to males
Hotspot Theory
males cluster because females tend to travel along certain routes that intersect
Hotshot theory
subordinate males cluster around a hotshot to with females are attracted
solitary sociality
solitary for all activities except mating
gregarious sociality
groups that are unstable in composition – aggregate for one or more activity in large groups
social sociality
stable association of groups , fixed membership - complex rules with kinship, individual recognition, social maintenance.
benefits of living in a group
dilution effect and Hamiltion’s Selfish Herd Principle
Increased Detection of predators
Mutual defense
cooperative hunting
Costs of living in a group
dominant/subordinate interactions
competition for food
parasites and disease
infanticide
dilution effect
if animals group together, each of them is less likely to be taken by a predator (safety in numbers)
selfish herd principle
other individuals in a group provide a sheild against predators (in many groups, animals in the center are better protected)
selfish interactions
donor benefits at expense of recipient - dominant individuals display this
-evolves because small % of individuals are selfish – doesn’t interfere with RS
mutualism
both donor and recipient benefit, evolves through cooperation as both receive benefits they wouldn’t have without help
reciprocity
both eventually benefit - but delayed
highly social, good memory, long lifespan,low dispersal. evolves through discrimination against cheaters and individual recognition, repayment opportunity
For reciprocity to evolve:
- individuals must have the opportunity to interact repeatedly
- the fitness benefit received must excess the cost of helping
- individuals must be able to recognize one another in order to reciprocate
Fitness
number of genes contributing to the next generation
direct fitness
a measure of reproductive or genetic success of an individual based on the number of its offspring that live to reproduce.
indirect fitness
a measure of genetic success of an altruistic individual based on the number of relatives (or genetically similar individuals) that the altruist helps reproduce that would not have otherwise survived to do so
altruism
recipient benefits at expense of donor, may suffer a cost to direct fitness
r - coefficient of relatedness
fraction of gene copies or alleles shared between two individuals as a result of common descent
r of parent to offspring
0.5
r of siblings
0.5
r of aunt/uncle to niece or nephew
0.25
r of grandparent-grandchild
0.25
relatedness direct fitness
-personal reproductive output
number of offspring x r
relatedness indirect fitness
-genetic gains derived by helping nondescendant relatives
number of realtives that survive because of help x r
relatedness inclusive fitness
direct + indirect fitness
indirect selection
genetically different individuals differ in their effects on the reproductive success of relatives - surviving because of help
direct selection
genetically different individuals differ in their ability to produce offspring capable of reproducing
- surviving without parental care
-surviving because of parental care
Dependents on if altruism increases inclusive fitness:
- cost to altruist in reproductive potential
- gain to beneficiary in reproductive potential
- probability that beneficiary carries same altruism gene as altruist
Hamilton’s Rule
altruism is favored by natural selection when r x B(benefit to the recipient) > C (cost to the altruist)
Mechanisms for Identifying Kin
- location
- familiarity
-phenotype matching - recognition alleles
phenotype matching
matching a learned family image to a relative through wither inherited traits or characteristics related to the family environment such as maternal labeling (scent) while developing in utero or within same group of eggs
eusociality
highest level of organization of sociality. It is defined by the following characteristics: cooperative brood care, overlapping generations within a colony of adults, and a division of labor into reproductive and non-reproductive groups
haplodiploidy
unfertilized eggs develop into males and fertilized eggs develop into females (male - haploid, females - diploid)
communication
the transmission of a signal from one animal to another such that the sender benefits, on average, from the response of the receiver
- the receiver will respond, on average, if it receives benefits by responding
dishonest signalling
sender may benefit at the expense of the receiver
examples of manipulative communication
- broken wing display
- avoiding a batesian mimic
- attraction towards flashing code of females
- lying food calls
Zahavi’s Handicap Principal
honest signaling can evolve when traits are very costly to fake
how signals convey information
- graded displays
- context
- metacommunication
graded displays
starting smaller and escalating to seem threatening - multiple levels to display, increasing in aggression
context
function of a signal can change depending on what is going on and the context in which it is in
metacommunication
one signal modifies the meaning of those signals that follow
ex - invitation to play
modes (channels) of communication
visual, auditory, chemical, textile, electrical, surface vibration
visual signals
- easy to locate sender
-travels fast - can’t move around an object
- easy to be located by predator
- does not last
auditory signals
- travel fast over long distances
- can go around obstacles and effective at night
- can be rapidly exchanged and modulates
- does not last lone
- could by costly
volatility
ability of a compound to vaporize or diffuse and travel through the environment
- more volatile chemical is, farther it will travel
- lower volatility, less travelled but lasts longer
Flehman Mechanism
getting substances into vomernasal organ by lifting lip
low volatile chemical signals
used to mark boundaries, detect female’s reproductive state
high volatile chemical signals
often used in alarm signals because if highly volatile, does not last long in environment after function served
preadaptation
modifying a previous movement or morphological structure to use in a new context of communication
- part of the evolution of various signals
ritualization
changing existing behaviors or traits to make them better for communication
-exaggerated movements and behaviors
-reducing ambiquity
Characteristics associated with ritualization
- development of conspicuous body structures such as ornamental feathers, manes
- more conspicuous movements and more exaggerated behaviors
- stereotype - little variation
- overall results in a reduction in ambiguity
Animal personality
set of consistent, enduring, and tempermental traits that distinguish one animal from another
conscientousness
involves being diligent. orderly, and focused on acheiving goals
information centers
one individual gains information by observng another individual and uses that information for its own benefit
pica
eating disorder – eating items that are not typically thought of as food and don’t contain significant nutritional value (hair, dirt, paint chips) can result in exposure to toxins and parasites
play
a range of voluntary and internally motivated activities (spontaneous actions) normally associated with enjoyment and recreational pleasure, which aren’t usually related with a direct and immediate increase of survival of the organism
costs of play
can be energetically costly
exposure to predators
object play
can influence what is feared and not feared – if there was choice to play with novel or familiar object, they would choose to play with novel objects, learn how to manipulate different objects
social play
long-lasting bonds, cooperative behavior, fine tune hunting and fighting skills, dominance hierarchies, learning behavioral flexibility and anticipation of intentions of others
locomotor play
- elevated motor activity, greater endurance, increased strength and motor skills
polyandry
females control access to and mate with more than one male. rare 0 may maximize reproductive success but has costs and benefits
monogamy
prolonged association and essentially exclusive mating relationship between 1 male and 1 female
mate guarding
monogamous hypothesis where males stay close to mate to prevent her from mating with other males and ensuring paternity of her offspring
mate assistance
monogamy hypothesis where males remain with mate to help raise offspring, increasing survival and male’s reproductive success
female-enforced
monogamy hypothesis - females inhibit male’s ability to interact with other females
genetically monogamous
no extra-pair copulations, confirmed using genetic testing
socially monogamous
pair bonds form but there may be extra pair copulations
How to measure if altruism or helping is beneficial
Benefit (r) > r(cost)
honest signalling
both sender and receiver benefit - to get help and resources
eavesdropping
just the receiver benefits
Honeybee Waggle Dance
communicates location of food source to hive members
dance is a figure 8 with a straight portion in the middle, the angle of the waggle relative to the vertical axis corresponds to the direction of food relative to the sun’s position
MHC gene
control immune self - nonself resonse, polymorphic, found in urine and sweat
-in in breeding conditon, females prefer scent of individual in different MHC class
-if not in breeding conditon, prefer scent of similar MHC class
Batesian Mimicry
non poisonous animal evolves to look more like another poisonous animal to avoid predation
What is required for communication
-signaller, signal, channel, receiver
