T of L: Fighting

Question 1

For beadlet sea anemones:
1. Social structure?
2. Means of ID’ing kin?
3. Action taken when stranger is detected?

Answer 1

1. Colonies of sister-twins
2. ID kind vs. non-kin via chemoreceptors
3. Collectively attack non-kin with stinging.

Question 2

For strawberry frogs:
1. Why do males fight?
2. How do males fight?
3. How does the fight end?
4. Who normally wins?

Answer 2

1. Males fight over mates.
2. Wrestle
3. Ends when one male stops calling (call is a releaser).
4. The territory holder normally wins (payoff asymmetry).

Question 3

For mantis shrimp:
1. Why do they fight?
2. How do they defend themselves?
3. How do males win females?
4. What do unreceptive females do?

Answer 3

1. They fight over shelter holes (males and females).
2. Defend with tails
3. Males tickle female’s bottom and wafts his scent.
4. Unreceptive females block their hole with rocks.

Question 4

For wolves:
1. How are most disagreements handled?
2. What happens when contact is made?

Answer 4

1. Gestures such as showing teeth, growling, hair raised.
2. They bite but rarely break skin.

Question 5

For gorillas:
1. How are territory disputes handled?
2. What do fights look like?

Answer 5

1. Chest beating and sometimes charging.
2. Fights include a lot of screaming (by all in area) and urinating.

Question 6

For elephants:
1. Who fights, and why?
2. What type of selection is this, and what’s under selection?

Answer 6

1. Males fight for females.
2. Tusks and size are under intrasexual selection and intersexual selection since females are polyandrous and will continue mating if she can increase the status of the sperm donor.