Lecture #22 Flashcards
What is cooperation in the context of social behavior?
Cooperation is defined as + (delayed) à + Reciprocity, where cooperators act to allow for cooperation.
What are free riders?
Free riders receive benefits from others without paying the costs of cooperation.
What are the pathways for the evolution of mutualism/altruism?
Direct benefits, mutualism, reciprocal altruism, long-term benefits, indirect benefits, kin/group selection.
What is an example of altruistic behavior in Belding’s ground squirrels?
Ground squirrels whistle in response to hawks attacking, with whistlers killed 2% of the time, while others killed 28% of the time.
What is Hamilton’s Rule?
A social behavior will increase inclusive fitness when B*r – C > 0, where B is the benefit to the recipient, C is the cost to the helper, and r is the relatedness.
What does the coefficient of relatedness (r) quantify?
It quantifies relatedness between two individuals, calculated using pedigree.
What is inclusive fitness?
Success in terms of the number of offspring an individual has (direct fitness) plus the number of offspring that individual’s relatives have (indirect fitness).
What is the significance of kin selection?
Natural selection spreads alleles that increase the indirect component of fitness.
What is eusociality?
Social groups that demonstrate a division of reproductive labor, cooperation in care of offspring, and overlap in generations within a colony.
What hypothesis explains the evolution of eusociality in Hymenoptera?
The haplodiploidy hypothesis, where males are haploid and females are diploid.
How does monogamy relate to eusociality?
Monogamy facilitates higher genetic relatedness, which is crucial for the evolution of eusociality.
What is reciprocal altruism?
A situation where individuals benefit from exchanging acts of altruism, often seen in stable groups.
What is the difference between reciprocal altruism and true altruism?
Reciprocal altruism provides delayed benefits to the cooperator, while true altruism involves costly behaviors that benefit others without direct gain.
What conflict can arise among kin regarding parental investment?
Conflict can occur over who should provide more investment between parents and offspring, as well as among siblings over resources.
What is altruism?
Altruism occurs when animals engage in behaviors that are costly to themselves and beneficial to others.
What are examples of parental investment?
Food, shelter, and defense that parents provide their offspring.
What is sexual conflict in parental investment?
Parents face sexual conflict over who should provide more investment.
What is sib-sib conflict?
Sib-sib conflict occurs over which sibling receives the most resources from parents.
What happens in burying beetles regarding parental care?
When parental care was provided, siblings competed with one another; when absent, they cooperated to divide food evenly.
When is competition worth the cost for siblings?
It is worth paying costs of competition when the prize is high, such as when parental care is present.
What is parent-offspring conflict?
Parents maximize fitness by maximizing the number of offspring produced, but have limited care to allocate among them.
How does parental investment affect offspring fitness?
Parental investment that maximizes offspring fitness is higher than investment that maximizes parent’s fitness.
What disagreement exists between offspring and parents?
Any offspring will disagree with their parent as to how much investment should go to itself versus its siblings.
