What is Behavioral Ecology?

Question 1

How do we define behavioral ecology? Is this a perfect definition?

Answer 1

The study of the evolutionary basis for organismal behavior due to ecological pressures
ie. behavior is subject to natural selection

NO! Very vague and will probably change, but hard to agree on what behavior is

Question 2

What are the 4 requirements for natural selection to occur?

Answer 2

1. phenotypic (behavioral) variation
2. competition for resources among individuals
3. differential survival/ reproduction based on phenotype (behavior)
4. variation is heritable

Question 3

who first described evolution by natural selection?

Answer 3

Charles Darwin and Russel Wallace both independently described evolution by natural selection in 1858

• Al-Jahiz was an Islamic scholar in the 8th century who described something like evolution by natural selection in his book “the animal”

Question 4

t/f

variance in behavior is heritable even if it cannot evolve

Answer 4

false!

Question 5

what does blending heritance mean?

Answer 5

neither is dominant

*** i don’t really know

Question 6

Are there any examples of Mendelian inheritance of behaviors?

Answer 6

It’s rare that it’s that simple

2 examples though:

• Hygenic behavior in bees
• rovers/ sitters in fruit flies

Question 7

phenotypic gambit=

Answer 7

the assumption that phenotypic patterns are good predictors of genetic patterns

Question 8

Is it true that behavioral differences are associated with genetic differences?

Answer 8

yes!

• heritability, there is lots of evidence of this

Question 9

t/f

there can be thousands of genes contributing to a behavior, not just one

Answer 9

true

Question 10

What are 4 methods to demonstrate the genetic basis of behavior?

Answer 10

• GWAS (genome-wide association study)
• genome editing
• selection experiments
• estimating heritability

Question 11

which genetic method allows you to look for many small effects simultaneously?

Answer 11

GWAS
genome-wide association study

Question 12

How does genome editing work?

Answer 12

• insert, remove, duplicate, after specific genes (eg CRISPR) and see what happens to it

*possible/ ethical only in certain species like drosophila and zebrafish)

Question 13

Selection experiments are feasible for organisms with ____ (short or long) generation times

Answer 13

short

Question 14

Describe what the estimating heritability method tells us and a benefit/ drawback

Answer 14

(ie the proportion of phenotypic variation that can be explained by genetic variation)

• can be done on a very short time frame, but requires a way to tease apart the effect of shared genes from shared environment

Question 15

t/f

heritability= how important genes are

Answer 15

false

Question 16

____ experiments and _____ estimates are low- tech approaches

Answer 16

selection experiments and heritability estimates= low tech

Question 17

heritability estimates are done in a much ___ time frame than selection experiments. They also require teasing apart the effect of _____ ____ vs _____ ____

Answer 17

shorter

shared genes vs shared environment

Question 18

heritability=

Answer 18

the proportion of phenotypic variation that can be explained by genetic variation

Question 19

Even though most humans have 5 fingers, heritability is very low. Explain this

Answer 19

genes are at play but selection has been so strong that there’s little variation left (most people have 5 fingers!)

*variation in # of fingers is usually due to enviro (like a saw accident)

Question 20

t/f

variation in genes being correlated with variation in behavior does not imply that behavior is solely genetically determined

Answer 20

true!

Question 21

phenotypes are shaped by both ___ and ____

Answer 21

genes and environment

Question 22

t/f

if you have certain genes, your behavior will be fixed (unable to be shaped by enviro)

Answer 22

false

Question 23

method of acquiring knowledge that consists of systematic observation, measurement, and experiment, and the foundation of testing, and modification of hypotheses

= ?

Answer 23

the scientific method

Question 24

What is science?

Answer 24

a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions

Question 25

Explain inductive reasoning

Answer 25

• start with information (observations)
• notice patterns
• form a tentative hypothesis
• once that’s tested lots & well supported = theory

Question 26

explain deductive reasoning

Answer 26

start with a theory and form a hypothesis (could just start with hypothesis)
- make observations
- get confirmation (or not)

Question 27

t/f

to get the best explanation, you should stick with just one of either inductive or deductive reasoning

Answer 27

false

• go back and forth between the 2 to get the best explanation

Question 28

behavioral ecology is based on hypothetico-deductive reasoning. Explain the steps

Answer 28

start with observations –> question –> hypothesis –> prediction –> test: experiment or additional observation

• if test DOES support hypothesis: make additional predictions and test them
• if test does NOT support hypothesis: revise hypothesis or pose a new one

Question 29

ad hoc observation=

Answer 29

no plan before observing

Question 30

____= a proposed explanation for a phenomenon based on previous observation. Must be testable

Answer 30

hypothesis

Question 31

What are Tinbergen’s 4 questions?

Answer 31

• mechanism
• ontogeny
• phylogeny
• function

Question 32

explain Tinbergen’s “mechanism” explanation
- proximate or evolutionary?

Answer 32

structure of the trait/ how it works
- physiology, anatomy, regulation, and how the trait works to accomplish a function
- proximate

Question 33

explain timbergen’s “ontogeny” explanation
- proximate or evolutionary?

Answer 33

explains how the behavior develops in individuals
- proximate

Question 34

explain timbergen’s “phylogeny” explanation
- proximate or evolutionary?

Answer 34

explains how the behavior develops over evolutionary time (phylogenetic history of the trait)
- evolutionary/ ultimate

Question 35

explain timbergen’s “function” explanation

Answer 35

= adaptive value
- descriptions of how variations in the trait have influenced fitness

Question 36

What’s a proximate explanation?

Answer 36

explains how organisms work by describing their mechanisms and ontogeny

Question 37

What is an evolutionary/ ultimate explanation?

Answer 37

explains how a species came to its current form by describing how they were influenced by selection/ other evolutionary factors

Question 38

Gulls sometimes steal food (kleptoparasitism). Give explanations for why they might do this behavior.