Week 1: 03 Scientific Approach

Question 1

Genus Panthera

Answer 1

So called “big cats”

The tiger, lion, leopard and jaguar in order of size

Roaring

All cats are carnivores and efficient predators.

Lions have group living and the tiger, leopard and jaguar are solitary.

Question 2

A pride of lions

Answer 2

A group of related lioness and their cubs

Including a male or a coalition of two or more males

Male cubs are evicted from their maternal pride when they reach maturity, becoming nomads.

Question 3

Lionesses

Answer 3

Do the majority of hunting for the pride

Hunt in a coordinated group and stalk their chosen prey

Communal care for the cubs

Defend their territory

Question 4

Male lion

Answer 4

Tend to stay on the fringes, patrolling the territory

Marking and roaring

Defend his pride against other males

They dispel the females and eat the prey first even though they didn’t catch it

Question 5

Infanticide (lions)

Answer 5

After taking over a pride, incoming males try to kill the cubs of previous resident males. (females try to resist)

Why does a male lion kill the unwanted infants of the females that would soon become his mate?

Question 6

Hanuman langur in northern India

Answer 6

Long limbed primates

One or more late adult males

Several smaller females and their offspring

Males fight to monopolise sexual access to females

Question 7

Infanticide in the langur

Answer 7

Once a new male typically chases the previous dominant male, he tries to kill the baby langurs

Females resit the male by joining forces to fight back in defence of their infants

Question 8

What is science?

Answer 8

Science or scientific

Objective, experiments, complicated, nature, biology, physics, exact, precision

Sociology vs social sciences

The name is derived from the latin verb meaning “to know”

Science is an approach to understanding nature

Question 9

Science as an approach to understanding nature

Answer 9

Science –> Describe and predict

Discovery science: mostly about describing nature

Hypothesis-based science: Mostly about explaining nature

Question 10

2011 Took earthquake and tsunami

Answer 10

• 11 March 2011
• Magnitude: 9.0 Mw
• Epicenter: 70 kilometres (43 mi) east of the Oshika Peninsula of Tōhoku
• Casualty: 15,894 deaths, 6,152 injured, 2,562 people missing

The earthquake created extremely destructive tsunami waves of up to 10meters that struck Japan minutes after the quake.

Question 11

Induction in Discovery Science

Answer 11

Inductive reasoning:
- Through induction, we derive generalisations from a large number of specific observations

Example:
- The sun always rises in the east
- All organisms are made of cells

Question 12

Deduction: The “if…then” logic

Answer 12

deductive reasoning:
- the logic flows from the general to the specific.
From general premises, we extrapolate to the specific results.

example:
- If all organisms are made of cells (premise 1), and humans are organisms (premise 2), then humans are composed of cells (deductive prediction about a specific case)

Question 13

Hypothesis-based science

Answer 13

Observations and inductive reasoning stimulates us to seek natural causes and explanations for those observations.

Hypothesis:
≡ a tentative answer to a well-framed question, narrower in scope than a theory and subject to testing.

A hypothesis is an explanation on trial.

A scientific hypothesis leads to predictions that can be tested by observation or experimentation.

If you can’t test it, then the hypothesis is worthless

Question 14

Scientific method

Answer 14

• Observation and question:
• Inductive reasoning or deductive reasoning
• Hypotheses (null vs alternative):
• Derive testable predictions from hypotheses

*Test:
- Observation or experimentation

• Intepretation

Question 15

Alternative hypothesis for infanticide

Answer 15

1. Social pathology hypothesis
   - abnormal, pathological response to overcrowding
   - maladaptive, hyperaggressive reactions to youngsters
2. Population regulation hypothesis
   - Langurs living at high densities may very well stress their food supplies, which could favor a mechanism for the prevention of overpopulation.
3. Quicker reproduction hypothesis
   - Killer males could boost their reproductive success by leaving the mothers of dead infants with no other adaptive option except to mate with them.

Question 16

Testing hypothesis on infanticide

Answer 16

Test:
Infanticide regularly occurs in lion prides or langur troops living at moderately or even low densities in areas.

1. social pathology hypothesis → unlikely
2. population regulation hypothesis → unlikely
3. quick reproduction hypothesis → consistent with the observation

Question 17

Lactation delays reproduction

Answer 17

In almost all mammals, high milk production inhibits reproduction.

The inhibition provides the optimal birth spacing for survival of the offspring

In lions, weaning occurs after 6 to 7 months

Once lactating is interrupted, fertility returns

Question 18

Quicker reproduction hypothesis for infanticide

Answer 18

The average tenure of an adult male with a pride of females is 2 years.

A lioness is not sexually receptive until her progeny is about 2 years old.

Once a lioness has lost her cubs by infanticide, she will come into heat at once and mate with the new male.

Question 19

Infanticide in the giant water bug

Answer 19

A female oviposits on emergent vegetation and departs.

A male provides parental care.
- moistens them
- shades them
- defends them against predation

The male will not mate with additional females during parental care.

Infanticide by another female

The now egg-less male may then mate with the killer female and care for her clutch of eggs.

Question 20

Giant water bug

Answer 20

The largest insect in the order Hemiptera

Occur worldwide

Typically encountered in fresh water streams and ponds

Aggressive predators which stalk, capture, and feed on the aquatic invertebrates, snails, crustaceans, fish and amphibians.