˗ˏˋ primate behavior ´ˎ˗ Flashcards
what is primatology?
- scientific field that studies primate behavior and/or ecology
- different fields and focuses (evolutionary theories, intelligence, conservation studies, social complexity, and behavioral variation)
what is ecology?
the relationship between organisms and their physical surroundings.
how many species of primate are there?
over 600.
what is the primate diet?
- omnivores (animals and plants)
- food factors (abundance, distribution, and quality)
- highly quality foods are less abundant, patchy
what is the abundance of food based on diet?
- folivores (everywhere)
- frugivores (scarcee, in clumps)
- insectivores (scarce and randomly distributed)
what is direct competition?
- fight over resources
- indirect (eat food first)
what is community ecology?
the branch of ecology that deals with the relationships and interactions between different organisms that occupy the same habitat.
what are conspecifics?
- members of the same species
- heterospecifics (members of different species)
what are niches?
the role of a species in its environment; how it meets its needs for food, shelter, etc.
what is sympatric?
two species in the same area.
what is allopatric?
two species in different areas.
what is the competitive exclusion principle?
two species competing for the same resources cannot occupy the same niche.
what is niche partitioning?
two species avoid competition through different uses of an environment.
what is predation in primates?
many primates preyed upon by carnivores, birds of prey, reptiles.
what are predation avoidance tactics in primates?
- crypsis (avoiding detection, camoflouge)
- nocturnal behavior
- vigliance
- alarm calling
- mobbing
- venom (slow loris)
what is dispersal?
to leave one’s group/area.
what is fission-fusion?
- societies in which group composition is flexible, such as chimpanzees and spider monkeys
- individuals may break up into smaller groups or combine into larger ones
why do primates live in groups?
- feeding competition (dominance hierarchy reduces aggression)
- females in larger groups had shorter birth intervals
- intergroup conflict (larger groups are more successful)
- predation avoidance
what are polyspecific associations?
an association between two or more different species that involves behavioral changes in at least one of them to maintain the association.
what does it mean to be philopatric?
remaining in one’s birth group.
what is parental investment?
spending more time with current offspring to ensure that they survive at the expense of other potential offspring.
what is sexual selection?
selection of traits that increase mating success.
what is intrasexual selection?
selection of traits that enhance the ability of members of one sex to compete amongst themselves.
what is intersexual selection?
selection of traits that enhance the ability of members of one sex to attract the attention of the other.
what is a social system?
way of describing the typical number of males and females of all age classes that live together.
what is monogamy?
- mating system with one male and one female
- gibbons
- low sexual dimorphism
what is polygyny?
- mating system with one male and multiple females
- orangutans
- high sexual dimorphism
what is polyandry?
- mating system with multiple males and one female
- tamarins and marmosets
what is polygamy?
multiple males mate with multiple females.
what is vocal primate communication?
- loud calls, screeches
- semantic communication (use of signals to refer to objects in the environment)
what is visual primate communication?
- facial expressions
- piloerection (raising one’s hair to look bigger)
- sexual swelling
- facial coloration
what is olfactory primate communication?
- anogenital scents
- urine washing
what is tactile primate communication?
- grooming
- affiliative (non-aggressive social interactions between individuals)
what is culture?
- transmission of behavior via social learning
- in humans it is shared, symbolic, and learned
- in chimpanzees, includes population-specific pray preferences, tool-use techniques, hunting strategies, and social behaviors
- in macaques, unique foraging behaviors and hot springs bathing.
what are cultural traditions?
a distinctive pattern of behavior shared by multiple individuals in a social group, which persists over time and is acquired through social learning.
