Grasslands: Behavioural ecology 1 Flashcards
What are grasslands and forests associated with respectively?
Grasslands are associated with low precipitation and forests are associated with high precipitation
What are the two categories in the evolutionary basis for animal behaviour?
Ultimate causes and proximate factors
What are the two ultimate causes for animal behaviour?
Evolution and development
What are the two proximate factors for animal behaviour?
Physiology and development
What are the four ‘whys’ Tinbergen gave for the evolution of animal behaviour?
Survival function, causation, development, evolutionary history
Define altruism
Doing things that appear to be primarily for the benefit of others, at a personal cost
Natural selection should select against altruism, so why does it persist?
Because it protects individuals with similar genes and can lead to personal benefits
Define kin selection as an altruistic act
Sacrificing your chance of reproduction for the increased chance of your relative reproducing
Define Hamilton’s rule in relation to altruistic behaviour
A trait is favoured by natural selection when the benefit to others, multiplied by relatedness, exceeds the cost to self
Give an example in nature of reciprocal altruism
Vampire bats can donate food to a bat that is at risk of starvation, giving it time to find food, even though this is a detriment to the donor.
Give an example where infanticide is seen in nature and describe why it is a selfish behaviour
Males bears can kill offspring to increase the chance of the female reproducing again
What dictates the costs and benefits of group living?
Group size
Give three examples of the costs of group living
Competition for resources, more pathogens, higher visibility to predators
Give five examples of the benefits of group living
Territory defence, defence, sharing of food, parenting and information
What is the Selfish Herd theory?
An individual will try to put other members of their own species between themselves and a predator to increase their chance of survival. It does this by staying in the middle of the group.
