Introduction (History, Ethology) Flashcards
What’s mutualism ?
Association between organisms of two different species in which each benefits.
What’s philopatry ?
Tendency of an animal to remain in or return to the area of its birth to reproduce.
What’s parsimony ?
The principle that, out of all possible explanations for a phenomenon, the simplest of the set is most likely to be correct. Parsimony is an important idea in the discipline of phylogeny, the study of the evolutionary history and relationships among organisms.
What’s heredity
Specific mechanisms by which characteristics or traits are passed from one generation to the next via genes.
What’s natural selection ?
Natural selection is a mechanism of evolution. Organisms that are more adapted to their environment are more likely to survive and pass on the genes that aided their success. This process causes species to change and diverge over time.
What’s fixed action pattern ?
Predictable series of actions triggered by a cue, sometimes called the key stimulus. Fixed action patterns are characterized by a complex pattern of behaviors which is highly conserved between individuals of the same species.
What’s precocial ?
(of a young bird or other animal) hatched or born in an advanced state and able to feed itself and move independently almost immediately.
What’s altricial ?
Being hatched or born or having young that are hatched or born in a very immature and helpless condition so as to require care for some time.
What’s ontogeny ?
Origination and development of an organism (both physical and psychological, e.g., moral development), usually from the time of fertilization of the egg to adult. The term can also be used to refer to the study of the entirety of an organism’s lifespan.
What’s phylogeny ?
Representation of the evolutionary history and relationships between groups of organisms. The results are represented in a phylogenetic tree that provides a visual output of relationships based on shared or divergent physical and genetic characteristics.
