Lecture 3 Flashcards
Natural selection works at the __________ level.
individual
Who does evolution favor?
Individuals that have some survival advantage.
Evolution works to increase an individual’s _________.
fitness
Describe kin selection.
Natural selection should also favor behavior that increase the survival of close relatives.
Give an example of kin selection in the wild.
Cooperative hunting in cheetahs (A cheetah will kill and give prey to a relative like a sister)
Define direct fitness.
The number of viable offspring produced, plus any effects that might have a positive effect on successive generations produced by direct offspring.
Define indirect fitness.
The increased reproductive success of an individual’s genetic relatives and ay lineal descendants of offspring.
Define inclusive fitness.
The sum of an individual’s direct and indirect fitness
What kind of fitness caused a paradigm shift in ethology?
Hamilton’s theory of inclusive fitness.
Hamilton’s theory allowed ethologists to make predictions about what?
When and where cooperative behavior may exist. Helped to explain confounding instances of cooperation (helpers at nest, cooperative hunting, alarm calling).
Define learning
Typically occurs at the individual level but can have components that are favored by natural selection.
What does individual learning do?
Alters the frequency of behaviors displayed within the lifetime of an individual.
(Where food patches are, where shelter is, and where predators are likely)
Give a proximate effect of learning.
Changes behavior over a single lifetime
Give an ultimate effect of learning
Natural selection would favor the ability of individuals to acquire specific types of information.
Describe cultural transmission?
A new or learned behavior is passed from person to person, can occur within or between species.
Define social learning.
Process where cultural transmission occurs.
Define social facilitation.
Animals learn by watching other individuals perform behavior
Define social enhancement.
The presence of other individuals draws attention and creates an opportunity for other members of the group to learn new behavior.
Individual learning never makes it across ___________.
generations
__________ __________ is required for learning by individuals to pass to the next generation.
Cultural transmission
Cultural transmission has _________ and _________ generation effects
within and between
Give an example for social learning
Norway rats:
They’re communal and lack ability to vomit
So, must be sure that new or novel foods are safe.
Individuals have a survival advantage if they’re predisposed for what?
If they’re predisposed to learn specific types of information.
The specific content of the learned info may be what?
May be time or situationally specific. There’s no benefit to having info hard wired.
Some forms of communication do not seem to require ________.
learning
Individuals that come with what will have a survival advantage?
individuals that come with built in preferences (primary tastes).
What are components of communication?
Sender/receiver
Signal/message
Channel/noise
Information/redundancy
Define behavior.
COORDINATED RESPONSE OF THE WHOLE LIVING ORGANISM TO INTERNAL AND/OR EXTERNAL STIMULI
What are the 3 principles components of communication as outlines by Marler?
Non-constancy
Specialization
Internal processing
Define non-constancy.
Communication signals have a clear start and endpoint.
Define specialization.
Adaptations for signal production, transmission or reception
Define internal processing.
Signals must be picked up ad interpreted by the receiver.
Define communication according to Darwin and Krebs.
Communication is not so much an exchange of information as manipulation of the receiver.
In manipulative situations natural selection will develop an arms race between signaler and receiver.
When can communication become honest?
If both parties have something to gain from exchanged information.
Selection pressures should favor what?
Economy in honest signaling
Exaggeration and complexity in manipulative signals.
What animal is responsible for 70-80% of the world’s food supply?
Honeybees
Why do honeybee workers have shortened lifespans?
Typically die from exhaustion
Drones don’t reproduce
Only the queen reproduces
What kind of foragers are honeybees?
Single crop foragers
What do honeybees do with the gathered nectar?
It’s brought to the queen to support larva growth and health of queen
What kind of genetics to honeybees possess?
Haplodiploid genetics
Describe haplodiploidy.
Unfertilized eggs produce males (haploid)
Fertilized eggs produce females (diploid)
Female honeybee offspring receive genes from…?
Diploid mom
Haploid dad
Extend the reasoning as to how fathers are related to daughter by r=1
The daughter receives a pure copy of dad’s genes, because he only has one to give (haploid)
Extend the reasoning as to why daughters are related to dads by r= .5
Daughters are diploid and their genetics come from mom (diploid) and dad (haploid)
Sisters are related by r = ?
.75
Sisters are related to brothers by r = ?
.25
What did Karl von Frisch study?
Language of honeybees. Used marked bees to identify how honey bees communicate.
How do honeybees communicate?
Honeybees communicate food locations by dancing (waggle dance).
Describe the waggle dance.
The angle between the straight line part of dance and sun’s position in the sky signals location of the food source. Length of waggle indicated distance from hive.
