Non-genetic Transmission

Question 1

Genetically Coded Behaviour

Answer 1

• IE. redstarts; commons winter in mid-African regions for longer; black winter in European regions for a shorter; hybrids winter in middle time

Question 2

Heritable Variation (Excluding Genes)

Answer 2

• “… factors acting via individual that influence beh/development of another who passes them on in turn…”
• includes:
  VERTICAL TRANSMISSION
  HORIZONTAL TRANSMISSION

Question 3

HV: Vertical Transmission

Answer 3

• between generations
• via parent to offspring
• similar to genetic inheritance
• include:
  MATURNAL/PATERNAL EFFECTS
  SOCIAL LEARNING
  SYMBOLIC REPRESENTATION

Question 4

HV: Horizontal Transmission

Answer 4

• within generations
• peer to peer
• impossible w/genetic inheritance

Question 5

HV-VT: Maternal Effects

Answer 5

• offspring’s beh/morphology dependent on mother’s beh/condition pre/post birth; variation explained via considering maternal measures rather than individual genotype
• can be:
  WITHIN WOMB
  OUTSIDE WOMB
  WITHIN/OUTSIDE WOMB

Question 6

HV-VT-ME: Within Womb

Answer 6

• CLARK et al (1993); field mice; mother has 5 boys/1 girl in womb; testosterone passed to girl; late sexual maturity/increased aggression; likely to also have 5 boys/1 girl

Question 7

HV-VT-ME: Outside Womb

Answer 7

• DARWIN (1851); female cabbage butterflies lay eggs on host plants for larvae development; cabbage larvae lay their eggs there; rhubarb larvae lay their eggs there

Question 8

HV-VT-ME: Within/Outside Womb

Answer 8

• ie. bunny mothers eat blueberries while pregnant; offspring also eat blueberries after birth, even if she fostered; BUT if mother ate control food and fostered blueberries kittens, they still preferred blueberries
• preference determined by early environment/mothers diet AND milk content/mother’s rearing diet

Question 9

HV-VT: Nongenetic Inheritance

Answer 9

• developmental legacy of mothers/fathers transferred to daughters/sons respectively, influencing their own behaviour

Question 10

HV-VT: Paternal Effects

Answer 10

• offspring’s beh/morphology depends on father’s beh/condition; variation explained via paternal features rather than individual genotype
• can be:
  PRE-BIRTH
  POST-BIRTH

Question 11

HV-VT-PE: Pre-Birth

Answer 11

• HUNT & SIMMONS (2000); dung beetles; horned male helping roll dung balls leads to horned offspring; when he doesn’t, the female lays un-horned offspring

Question 12

HV-VT-PE: Post-Birth

Answer 12

• GRIFFITHS et al (1999); sparrow fathers; those w/large song repertoires produced small repertoire offspring; small rep father produced large rep offspring

Question 13

HV-VT: Social Learning

Answer 13

• differs from self-learning as heritable (ie. rats who’s parents/kin/social circle ate chocolate will prefer it to control)
• one should learn from the nearest/related/experienced/loudest/most successful
• includes:
  SONG LEARNING/GENETIC TEMPLATES via…
  VERTICAL TRANSMISSION (FATHER/SON)
  HORIZONTAL TRANSMISSION (TERRITORIAL NEIGHBOURS)
  TEACHING

Question 14

HV-VT-SL: Song Learning Via Vertical Transmission

Answer 14

• ie. zebra finch; father teaches sons song; first (healthy) son replicates neatly along kHz frequency; second (deaf) son only briefly replicates end

Question 15

HV-VT-SL: Song Learning Via Horizontal Transmission

Answer 15

• ie. song sparrows; differentiate song elements from territorial neighbours’; when the start is similar, later aspects will be unshared for variation

Question 16

HV-VT-SL: Teaching

Answer 16

1. Individual A modifies behaviour only in presence of naive individual B.
2. A incurs cost/derives no immediate benefit.
3. B acquires knowledge/skills more rapidly/at all due to A’s display.

Question 17

HV-VT-SL: Teaching (Example)

Answer 17

1. 1950s macaques in dense forest.
2. Primatologists lue them to forest edge w/sweet potatoes.
3. Potatoes left on beach so sandy.
4. Imo (young female) washes them in sea.
5. Sea wash includes salt in diet.
6. Now fed w/wheat; difficult sand extraction.
7. Imo threw wheat into sea for separation.
8. Habit spread to young (adult males slow).
9. Young used to sea/salt (ie. playing/bathing)
10. Ate discarded fish; collected own shellfish/fish.
11. Imo dies; teaching lives.

Question 18

HV-VT: Symbolic Representation

Answer 18

• REFERENTIAL SIGNALING: represents/refers to subject/concept; permits info transmission w/o situation requiring relevant context
• MANSER (2001); meerkats have different signals for aerial/terrestrial/recruitment predators; frequencies differ in length according to urgency (short = low, etc.); rep of threat type/level = animal language

Question 19

SUMMARY

Answer 19

• behaviour can be transmitted/inherited via non-genetic mechanisms
• parental effects are always vertical; slow and easily confused w/genetic effects
• social learning is horizontal/vertical; medium; may involve imitation/conceptual learning
• symbolic representation is horizontal/vertical/skips gens; potentially rapid; rare in nature