Key Area 3.6 Social behaviour Flashcards
What are the 3 types of social behaviour?
Social hierarchy
Cooperative hunting
Social defence.
What is social hierarchy?
A rank order within a group of animals consisting of subordinate and dominant members.
What do dominant individuals carry out?
Ritualistic threat displays.
What do social hierarchies increase the chance of?
The dominant animals favourable genes being passed on.
How do animals advance in social hierarchies?
Forming alliances.
How does cooperative hunting be if it the subordinate animals?
They gain more food than they would foraging alone as the kill is shared.
What are the benefits of cooperative hunting?
Larger prey can be caught and increase change of the hunt being successful.
What do social defence strategies increase?
The chance of survival.
What is social defence?
Some individuals watch out for predators while others forage for food. When groups are under attack they adopt specialised formations to protect their young.
What is altruism?
When an animal will behave in a way that is harmful to themselves but benign oak to others.
What is reciprocal altruism?
One individual, at the cost of itself, giving help to another provided there is the prospect of the favour being returned at a later date.
What must animals be to practice reciprocal altruism?
Sufficiently intelligent to be able to remember who is indebted to whom.
What is kin selection?
Altruistic behaviour between closely related animals (kin).
How does the donor benefit in kin selection?
Increased chances of survival of shared genes.
What are some examples of social insects?
Bees,
Wasps,
Ants,
Termites.
What are some examples of roles of sterile worker bees?
Defending the hive,
Collecting pollen,
Carrying out waggle dances to show the direction of food.
Why do primates carry out long periods of parental care?
Gives them an opportunity to learn complex social behaviours which are essential for their survival.
What are some ways in primate groups that they avoid conflict?
Ritualistic display and appeasement behaviour.
What are examples of appeasement behaviours?
Grooming,
Facial expressions,
Body posture,
Sexual presentation.
What is the description and function of grooming?
Includes preening of one animals coat by another.
This reduces tension and strengthens alliances to increase social status, strengthening the bond between individuals.
What is the description and function of facial expressions?
Include closing eyes, teeth baring, mouth opening.
Act as signals to indicate position in hierarchy and avoid conflict.
What is the description and function of body posture?
Include the lowering of body positions and bowing actions.
Act as signals to indicate position in dominance hierarchy and avoid conflict.
