L5: Mating & life history strategies

Question 1

define kin

Answer 1

an individual’s relatives

Question 2

define fitness

Answer 2

ability to survive & reproduce, optimised by optimal strategy

Question 3

determine the factors to a ‘higher’ fitness

Answer 3

a higher reproductive & survival rate

Question 4

compare lifetime vs seasonal fitness

Answer 4

lifetime fitness is over the individual’s lifetime
seasonal fitness is over the season (for those that reproduce seasonally)

Question 5

which sex has higher initial reproductive investment

Answer 5

females, due to limited eggs

Question 6

compare the two types of sexual selection: intersexual & intrasexual

Answer 6

intersexual occurs BETWEEN males & females, where different traits are sexually selected by the other sex based on attractiveness
intrasexual occurs WITHIN the same sex in competition for territory or access to other sex

Question 7

compare armaments vs ornaments

Answer 7

both differentiate female & male morphology
armaments help with intrasexual selection (e.g. larger horns to help with competition)
ornaments help with intersexual selection (e.g. colourful feathers to attract females)

Question 8

identify the term for inconvenient, exaggerated traits that can impede survival (____ selection)

Answer 8

runaway selection

Question 9

identify & describe the 4 primary mating strategies

Answer 9

polygyny - multiple females
polyandry - multiple males
polygynandry - multiple all
monogamy - one mate

Question 10

what is serial monogamy?

Answer 10

one mate per season

Question 11

describe the r-K continuum

Answer 11

R = live fast, die young, lots of offspring, low survival
K = live long, high survival, high parental care, less offspring

Question 12

explain the reasoning behind the r-k continuum

Answer 12

limited time & energy to spend of survival & reproduction. minimal offspring means more parental care = high survival, whereas more offspring means less parental care but some still survive

Question 13

describe the process of manipulating sex ratios

Answer 13

through selective death (before or after birth) or choosing location for temp dependent sex

Question 14

compare the results of increased females vs males in an individuals offspring

Answer 14

increased females = increased overall population
increased males = increased individual’s own fitness

Question 15

describe kin selection

Answer 15

ensuring relative’s survival to increase your own inclusive fitness (esp if you cannot produce offspring)

Question 16

what is altruism?

Answer 16

helping others at a cost to yourself

Question 17

parents want ___, offspring want ____

Answer 17

quantity . . . quality.

Question 18

define eusociality

Answer 18

mating & kin systems make up the social system of population, ensuring variety
(e.g. overlapping generations within ant colony, labour is divided)

Question 19

define death

Answer 19

permanent ending of all biological functions in an organism. cells stop reproducing & die off, increased mutations