midterm one Flashcards
behavior
any internally coordinated, externally visible pattern of activity that responds to external or internal conditions
octopus can see with skin, camouflage without brain or eyes
debated whether this is a behavior
proximate causes of behavior
immediate cause, usually physiological
ultimate cause of behavior
evolutionary or adaptive cause
frogs jumping out of puddles, scientist put tadpoles in puddles with a control predator, a predator and nothing
experimental study
Do chimpanzees change their diet when they are nursing or pregnant. watched and recorded diet
observational study
looked at whether burrowing behavior/patterns are derived or ancestral
comparative study using a phylogeny
Evolution requires:
1) variability
2) heritability
3) variation causes difference in fitness
What causes difference in behavior
1) genetics
2) environment + genetics
3) learning
4) if behavior doesn’t affect fitness
5) behavior is condition dependent
6) behavior is frequency dependent
male crickets call when they are well fed but not when they aren’t
condition dependent
negative frequency dependence
the more rare a behavior is, the higher it’s fitness is
multiple species of salamanders have a polymorphism for stripe on back, but not many of each species have it
negative frequency dependence
Measures of heritability
parent offspring regression
artificial selection
great tits were taken from the wild and rated on exploratory behavior, as were their offspring
parent offspring regression
researchers took great tits who were most exploratory and most shy and mated them
artificial selection
Modes of natural selection
1) directional
2) disruptive
3) stabilizing
lizards were raced and then let into the wild, fastest survived most
directional selection
spade foot toad tadpoles have carnivores, omnivores and intermediates, but carnivores and omnivores have adaptive body structures and are found to survive more than intermediate
2) disruptive selection
in convict cochlid, gish guard an area that they get food from, so it is found that fish with medium size territory get the biggest bc they get enough food and don’t waste energy guarding
stabilizing selection
an explanation for cooperation
kin selection
heritability formula
Vp=Vg+Ve+Vgxe
Broad sense heritability
proportion of phenotype variation in a population due to genetics
narrow sense heritability
proportion of phenotype variation in a population due to additive effects
Types of genetic effects
1) additive effects
2) dominance effects
3) epistatic effect
fruit flies are identical except some are yellow, yellow flies are found to mate less
additive effect
when scientists make a hormone inactive in mice, they get less stressed/anxious
knockout genes
collect fire ants from two populations of different social structure and observe the genetics of those in each population
identifying alleles on a gene that effect behavior
pea aphids feed on different plants, mate these two and then mate offspring and look at DNA
Quantitative trait loci mapping
detection of chemical stimuli
àmost primitive and widespread sensory system àinvolves gustation (taste) and olfaction (smell)
chemoreception
detection of dissolved chemicals (“tastants”)
gustation
detection of water or airborne chemicals (“odorants”)
à general odorants (not species-specific): food, danger etc.
olfaction
species-specific organic compounds produced by an
individual that affect behavior of another individual àcan be odorants or tastants
pheromones
cuttlefish like to lay eggs with other eggs, how do they find other eggs
chemoreception
ability to perceive light and physical objects
photoreception
vision receptors that contain photosensitive proteins
called opsins
à variation in opsin structure confers sensitivity to different
wavelengths of light
photoreceptors
Pied flycatchers with sunscreen on plumage
photoreception, ultraviolet plumage reception light
Pit viper snakes with water balloons
photoreceptor infrared light reception
detect vibrations through air, water, or physical surfaces
mechanoreception
elephants: measured response of group to known female’s call vs unknown female’s call
mechanoreception infrasound communication
moths: deafened, hearing and sham female, mating–> do they buzz wings to mate
mechanoreception ultrasonic sonic
Antlion larvae feed on ants
In sandy environments dig funnel-shaped pits
mechanoreception substrate born vibrations
the ability to detect weak electric fields
à can electrolocate in dark environments or find buried
prey
à widespread in sharks and rays
electroreception
hammerhead sharks in water with active dipoles vs other sharks– big head more adaptive?
electroreception
ability to detect earth’s magnetic field
Magnetoreception
cut trigeminal and olfactory nerves in birds to see if they can still tell direction
magneto reception
ultrasonic vocalizations in bats and insects responsive flight behaviors
coevolution
