social behaviour Flashcards
What is social hierarchy in animal groups?
Social hierarchy is a rank order within a group of animals consisting of dominant and subordinate members.
What behaviours do dominant individuals exhibit in a social hierarchy?
Dominant individuals carry out ritualistic (threat) displays.
What behaviours do subordinate animals exhibit in a social hierarchy?
Subordinate animals carry out appeasement behaviour to reduce conflict.
How does social hierarchy benefit dominant animals?
Social hierarchies increase the chances of the dominant animal’s favourable genes being passed on to offspring.
What is the benefit of forming alliances in social hierarchies?
Animals often form alliances to increase their social status within the group.
What is co-operative hunting?
Co-operative hunting is a behaviour where animals hunt together, benefiting both subordinate and dominant members.
How does co-operative hunting benefit subordinate animals?
Subordinate animals may gain more food than by foraging alone and use less energy per individual.
What is the benefit of social defence strategies in groups?
Social defence strategies increase the chance of survival as some individuals can watch for predators whilst others can forage for food.
How do groups protect their young during an attack?
Groups adopt specialised formations when under attack to protect their young.
What is altruism in the context of animal behavior?
Altruistic behaviour harms the donor individual but benefits the recipient.
How does kin selection influence altruistic behavior?
Behaviour that appears to be altruistic can be common between a donor and a recipient if they are related (kin).
What is the benefit of altruism in kin selection?
The donor will benefit in kin selection in terms of the increased chances of survival of shared genes in the recipient’s offspring or future offspring.
What is reciprocal altruism?
Reciprocal altruism occurs when the roles of donor and recipient later reverse, often in social animals.
What are social insects?
Social insects are species like bees, wasps, ants, and termites that have a structured society where only some individuals (queens and drones) reproduce.
What is the role of sterile workers in social insect colonies?
Sterile workers cooperate to raise relatives, defend the hive, collect pollen, and perform waggle dances to indicate food direction.
Why do sterile workers raise relatives?
They raise relatives to increase the survival of shared genes.
What characterizes primate behavior?
Primates exhibit a long period of parental care to facilitate the learning of complex social behaviors.
How do complex social behaviors benefit primates?
They support social hierarchy, reduce conflict through ritualistic display and appeasement behavior.
What is the significance of alliances in primate groups?
Alliances are formed to increase social status within the group.
What are some forms of communication used by primates?
Primates use grooming, facial expressions, body posture, and sexual presentation as forms of communication.
