midterm 4 Flashcards
Crypsis
The ability of an animal to remain undetected by other animals
pepper moths
there are black and white pepper moths that can be cryptic based on the lichen on trees. pollution killed lichen causing the black moths to be cryptic then pollution laws caused the lichen to grow back and the white moths became cryptic. natural selection caused black moths to become better than after the laws the reverse happened
visual crypsis
cryptic vs conspicuous
Cryptic crypsis
you blend in the background
conspicuous crypsis
not blending in the background
Dilution effect
when theres more of you theres less of a chance to get preyed on
the many eyes hypothesis
the bigger the group the more eyes there are to see predators
chaotic dynamic
who is keeping watch at any one given time
swim bladder
fish communicate through vibrating their swim bladder, which is then perceived as sound.
elk and wolves
in an experiment where they compare birth rate vs survival of elks when theres no wolves vs the intro of wolves. The elk forage less with the presence wolves so then they repro less
Sentinel behaviour
some individuals oversee being on the lookout
confusion effect
the presence of the many makes it hard to focus on one
Rosettes
all the lobsters put their butts in the middle and then they have their spiny antennae on the outside
mesocosm expiriment
the bigger the lobster group size was, the more likely they were to survive
domain of danger
the area in which that individual is the closest individual to an
unseen predator - the middle has less domain of danger
bobwhite quail - coveys
There is an optimal group size, which is big enough to afford protection but also allow effective foraging. too big they leave, too small they try to find bigger
tradeoff in larave
larvae will hatch early when theres a predator. the tradeoff is that they are small when they develop but they survived as larvae
Deimatic
startle displays
Protean
confuse predator ex. squid inking
intimidation hypothesis
animals use certain signals, postures, or displays to intimidate or deter potential predators, rivals, or threats rather than engaging in physical confrontations
deflection hypothesis
deflect or redirect attacks from predators away from vital body parts, thereby increasing the animal’s chance of survival
examples of deflections
eye spots and false heads on butterflies
types of alarm calls in smooth billed anis
chlurp
ahnee alarm
chlurp signals what
flying predators
ahnee alarm signals what
terrestrial threat
screaming
can attract or startle predators - birds and rabbits scream
stotting
when an animal randomly bounces
functions: signal a predator, show social cohesion, cause confusion in predators, or pursuit defence signal
what is stotting’s correct function
pursuit defence signal - basically telling predator they’re too fit to be their prey
Aposematism
an animal develop traits (ex. colour) to show that they are toxic to prey
plasticine snake experiment
researchers used brown or tricoloured plasticine snakes, the soft material made it easy to see how many times the birds attacked the snake. tricolour snakes were attacked much less
mimicry complex
where one species evolves to resemble another, often to gain a survival advantage
Müllerian mimicry
two or more species that are harmful, toxic, or otherwise unpalatable evolve to resemble each other
Batesian mimicry
when a harmless species evolves to resemble a harmful one to gain protection from predators
when do mullerian mimics benefit
when theres a high density of them
when do batesian mimics benefit
when there are more models around them
examples of a batesian mimic
a fruit fly mimicking a jumping spider
burrowing owl mimicking the sound of a rattle snake
caudal autotomy
a defensive behavior in which an animal voluntarily sheds its tail to escape from predators
feigning death
a defensive behaviour in which an animal appears to be dead to avoid predation
Homology
refers to the similarity between characteristics or traits of different species that result from shared ancestry
analogy
refers to traits or features that appear similar between species, but which have evolved independently due to similar environmental pressures or functional requirements, rather than from a shared ancestry
comparative method
a research approach used to study the similarities and differences among species to understand evolutionary processes, functional adaptations, and the underlying mechanisms of various biological traits
what are some of the signal modalities
light, sound, vibrations,
chemicals
what colour wavelengths are reflected
red or infrared
Hue on a graph
where the peak of the reflected light is
Saturation on a graph
how narrow the curve is
Visual signal production
refers to the use of visual cues or signals by animals to communicate with each other or with other species
pigments
chemicals that have a particular light absorption
Carotenoids
are a type of pigment, usually oranges, reds, and yellows. come from diet, useful signals, signals health
Melanins
pigments synthesized in the body; blacks, greys, and browns
structural colours
blue, violet, ultraviolet, white
what is the cause of structural colours
the size of the gaps in the matrix of keratin interacts with different wave lengths changing its reflection and saturation
sound
a wave of pressure that travels through a medium
how does sounds travel
through alternating periods of condensation and rarefaction (pressure).
amplitude
loudness - perceived by the difference pressures of peaks
wavelength
frequency/pitch - the distance from peak to peak
harmonics
frequencies that form tight, regularly spaced peaks. integer multiples of a fundamental frequency
formants
are certain frequencies that are amplified by the shape of the resonator. in speech resonator = mouth/throat
reading a spectrogram
is the frequency of a sound (y axis) over time (x axis). The third axis (the darkness of the spectrogram) represents amplitude. So what you’re seeing is the amplitude of
certain frequencies over time.
audiogram shows what
the sensitivity thresholds of
hearing of different frequencies in different animals
what can happen to sound in dif environments
it can degrade
Global attenuation
the overall drop in sound energy
Frequency-dependant attenuation
environments degrades specific frequencies. Some
frequencies travel better.
Reverberation
the lingering effect caused by sound bouncing off of stuff in the environment.
acoustic adaptations
animals have the ability to adapt to their environment by creating signals that are resistant to degradation
active space
is the space in which a signal can act, limited by global attenuation
environment and frequency
animals who live in more dense environment (ex. forest) use lower frequency than animals who live in open environments (ex. fields) who use higher frequencies
Anthropogenic noise
refers to any sound generated by human activities that disrupts the natural acoustic environment
Anthropogenic noise causes?
animals to have to change their frequency songs to communicate better
properties of olfactory communication
slow
non-directional
non-spectral
ancient and widespread
Volatility affects what
duty cycle and active space
duty cycle
duration of a signal
olfactory signals are best for
marking territory, leaving a trail, and identification
vibrational communication
a discrete way of communicating between individuals of the same species
electrical communication
only occurs in fish, used for electrolocation
honest signalling
refers to the transmission of signals between individuals in a way that accurately reflects the sender’s intentions, traits, or condition.
cheap talk
signals that don’t have any guarantee of reliability
Zahavi’s handicap principal
provides an explanation for how honest signaling can evolve in animal communication, particularly in situations like mate selection, where individuals signal their quality to others.
what signals can be costly
sexual signals produced by males
convention - the way that a signal is treated
Conventional costs
refers to the energetic, physiological, or ecological costs associated with behaviors or traits that animals use
index signals
refer to signals that are directly tied to a specific, honest physical characteristic or condition of the animal that cannot easily be faked
vulnerability costs
refer to the risks or increased susceptibility to negative outcomes (ex. predation) that come with certain things
unreliable signals
refer to signals that do not accurately reflect the sender’s true condition, status, or abilities, or are easy to manipulate or deceive
deceit
signal deviates from the typical relationship and characteristics of sender or environment benefitting the sender
affect induction
refers to the process of influencing or inducing specific emotional states or feelings in animals, often as a result of environmental stimuli or social interactions.
eavesdropping
when other animals other than the recipient intercept and interpret signals
intraspecific eavesdropping
refers to the ability of one individual of a species to listen in on or observe the communication signals of the same species
Interspecific eavesdropping
refers to a phenomenon where individuals of one species listen to or intercept the signals of another species
Direct influence in animal communication
refers to the ways in which animals influence the behavior, emotions, or actions of other animals through direct and often intentional signals or cues.
The informational approach in animal communication
focuses on how animals transmit and receive information, with an emphasis on understanding the content and purpose of signals
prey model of foraging
Currency - amount of food/time
Strategy - either add a prey another prey type to the diet or to not
Constraints - time, energy, accessibility
Going for the most high quality prey is optimal but based on the amount of prey, the more the more narrow diet
patch model of foraging
currency- optimal food intake
strategy- to stay or leave environment
constraint - prey density and rate of return
when is the optimal time to move on, rate of return decreases when prey is less dense
tau - time of moving between enviro
>tau = longer time at each spot, as travel time increases so does time spent in enviro
risk sensitive foraging
animals choose a risky strategy when they are in an energetic need
patch a: low risk
patch b: high risk
types of currencies
nutrients, predation, sampling
nutrients
like protein, or essential vitamins might be highly valued.
predation
Looking out for a predator makes it harder to look for food.
sampling
trying a new prey or food
Bayes’ theorem
integrating new information with old information
search image
ability to find prey improves the more you search
adaptations for foraging
search image
tool use
traps
caching
farming
leaf cutter ants
leaf cutter ants dont eat the leaves they collect, they take parts of leave and give it to the fungus, they then eat the fungus
cooperative hunting
refers to the behaviour where individuals of the same or different species collaborate to locate, pursue, and capture prey.
Aggressive mimicry
a form of mimicry in which a harmful organism imitates a harmless species to deceive its prey
echolocation
a biological process used by certain animals to navigate, locate objects, and hunt by emitting sound waves and interpreting the returning echoes.
the terminal buzz
a rapid series of high-frequency echolocation calls produced by animals, particularly bats and toothed whales, as they close in on their prey during hunting
Kleptoparasitism
is a form of feeding behaviour where one animal steals food or other resources that another animal has procured or prepared.
the dancing language of honeybees
a sophisticated form of communication used by worker bees to convey information about the location of food sources, water, or potential nest sites
waggle dance
communicate the angle and distance of a food source to the other bees, based on the angle from the sun
