Lecture 13 Flashcards
What are the two types of questions? Give an example of each
Proximate (how/what): who does an individual manage to carry out an activity? (Ex. How do birds sing?)
Ultimate (why): why has an animal evolved the trait? (Ex. Why do birds chirp? Is it advantageous?)
What two things are phenotype (Z) affected by?
Genes (G)
Environment (E)
Natural selection shapes behaviour because it works on what level?
On the level of genes, not the individual
Define plasticity
Response to environmental effect on a trait (one genotype leading to different phenotypes depending on the environment)
What is the phenotypic equation?
Z = G + E + (G x E)
Define polymorphism
A trait/phenotype w at least two different variances of a particular phenotype/gene
What was the conclusion to the rover-sitter study where the path lengths of both phenotypes were observed when placed in petri dishes of yeast and agar?
Quickly describe the results
The phenotype was plastic because it depended on the environment (food-driven response)
In yeast (high resource): rovers are more active (longer path length) In agar (low resource): both elongate
What was the conclusion to the rover-sitter study where the path lengths of both phenotypes were observed when placed in petri dishes of PATCHES of yeast on agar?
Quickly describe the results
The phenotype that did better depended on the overall environment
General abundance of food: too E costly to move around (sitters > rovers)
General scarcity of food: resources at one patch depleted faster (rovers > sitters)
What is PKG? Where is it found?
An enzyme involved in cell signalling produced in foraging alleles
It is found in the hindgut, stomach, and brain
What was the conclusion to the rover-sitter study where the rover allele was inserted into the sitter strain?
Quickly describe the results
It is the allele alone that influences the behaviour
Pathlength/PKG activity in the transgenic strain were similar to that of the rover
What was the conclusion to the rover-sitter study where the foraging behaviours of both phenotypes observed when strains were starved for varying times
Quickly describe the results
The plasticity in behaviour depends on conditions
Adult rovers still found to travel significantly more but both strains traveled less the longer they starved (less likely to take risks)
What was the conclusion to the Daphnia morphology study when species were raised in predator/non-predator environments?
Quickly describe the results
Morphology changed in response to environmental presence of a predator
Presence of a predator: produced helmet
Lack of predator: produced a round head
What are reaction norms?
Trend lines that help visualize G and E (specific for the genotype of interest)
What is phototactic behaviour?
Where species are attracted or repelled to light
Attracted by food source, repelled by predators
What was the conclusion to the Daphnia morphology study when 3 different species were raised in different environments to the response to a fish smell?
Quickly describe the results
Certain populations have evolved to avoid habitats w high risk predation (increase survival)
Daphnia from many fish lake: moved away from light when fish-smelling was induced
From few fish lake: moved away at a lesser extent
From no fish lake: showed a slight preference to light
