Spectrum of Sociality - mammals Flashcards
Mammals are united by _________________________________ and __________
- milk production by the mother
- hair/fur
Mothers and offspring _____________________________ for some period of time for the purposes of milk feeding.
always form maternal-offspring groups
“solitary” in arthropods are equivalent to what in mammals
the “subsocial” category for arthropods since at least one parent engaged in parental care in regarding mammals
mammal society trends - roaming animals
Groupings of reproductive units are common for roaming animals
mammal society trends - monogamy and polygyny
- monogamy is rare
- polygyny is common
mammal society trends - larger mammal social groups
typical to see many mother-offspring units with few males
mammal society trends - bonding
Bonding across generation is typically matrilineal
mammal society trends - eusociality
exceptionally rare
mammal society trends - hierarchal scaling compared to arthropods
Less of a hierarchical scaling of complexity than in arthropods, but still lots of repeated “convergent evolution” on distinct social structures
define herd
Grouping of mother-offspring social units and other classes of individuals that display collective grouping behavior.
herd benefits
Herd provides protection in numbers and collective defense
herds do not have what
they don’t have:
- shared parental care.
- bias in female reproductive opportunities
- variability in the degree of bias in male reproductive opportunities
define monogamy
A single female and male join to cooperate in parental care to rear at least one cohort of offspring
monogamy - cooperation is limited to what
Cooperation typically limited to the breeding season and often only extended to the end of the weening period (end of milk from mother)
In monogamy, it is the standard mammal mother offspring relationship, ______ the participation of the male.
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