Social Behaviour Flashcards

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1
Q

What are the benefits of living in a social group?

A

Individual risk of predation diluted by joining a group
Groups can tackle larger prey than individuals
Grouping confuses predators, making it harder for them to target prey
Huddling in groups help thermoregulation
Energetic advantages to swimming or flying in a group through ‘slipstreaming’

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2
Q

What are the costs of living in a social group?

A

Greater risk of contracting disease
Greater chance of mistakenly feeding someone else’s offspring
Investment in foraging, courtship, or other activities exploited by other group members
Young may be cannibalised by neighbours
Greater risk of inbreeding

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3
Q

What is social hierarchy?

A

A social hierarchy is a rank order within a group of animals consisting of a dominant and subordinate members

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4
Q

How is conflict reduced in social hierarchy?

A

In a social hierarchy, dominant individuals carry out ritualistic (threat) displays whilst subordinate animals carry out appeasement behaviour

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5
Q

How do animals increase social status within a group in a social hierarchy?

A

Animals often form alliances in social hierarchies

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6
Q

How does social hierarchies benefit species?

A

increase the chances of the dominant animal’s favourable genes being passed on to offspring

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7
Q

What is cooperative hunting?

A

a group of animals working together to find and catch prey

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8
Q

What is the benefit for cooperative hunting?

A

Cooperative hunting benefits all members of a social group, including lower ranking individuals as the subordinate animals may gain more food than by foraging alone. This means that even those organisms at the bottom of the social hierarchy (subordinate individuals) obtain food.
Group hunting also allows larger prey animals to be hunted meaning all individuals gain more food than they would by foraging alone.
By working as a group, less energy is used per individual in obtaining the prey, this maximizes energy gain.

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9
Q

What is social defence?

A

Staying together in large groups offer protection from predators and increase chance of survival eg some animals watch as other eats

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10
Q

What is altruism?

A

In some cases an animal will behave in a manner which is harmful to itself but beneficial to another individual.

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11
Q

What is reciprocal altruism?

A

Reciprocal altruism is a behaviour whereby an organism (donor) acts in a manner that temporarily reduces its fitness while increasing another organism’s (recipient) fitness with the expectation that, the roles of donor and recipient later reverse

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12
Q

What is kin selection

A

Behaviour that appears to be altruistic can be common between a donor and a recipient if they are related (kin). The donor will benefit in terms of the increased chances of survival of shared genes in the recipient’s offspring or future offspring.

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13
Q

Examples of social insects?

A

Bees, wasps, ants and termites

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14
Q

What are the benefits of only some animals contribute to reproduction?

A

This benefits the species as a whole, because the ‘workers’ become specialised in performing their function; although they are not directly involved in the reproductive process, the tasks they complete ensure the survival of the species.

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15
Q

What is queen bee responsible for?

A

queen is solely responsible for laying eggs

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16
Q

What are the drones resposibilty?

A

fertilising queen bee

17
Q

What are sterile worker bees jobs?

A

workers for gathering food and performing sundry duties in the hive such as defending the hive, collecting pollen and carrying out waggle dances to show the direction of food.

18
Q

How is dominance established in primates?

A

Dominance always involves the threat of physical displacement or attack, even though it is rarely observed once rank is established

19
Q

What is an example of a friendly interaction between primates?

A

Moving and resting together, inviting grooming or offering to groom another

20
Q

How to reduce conflict in social primates?

A

Ritualistic display involves one individual asserting its dominance over another by displaying aggressive behaviour. Appeasement behaviours include grooming, submissive facial expressions/body posture and sexual presentation. Sexual presentation as an appeasement gesture is very common in baboons and chimpanzees and is often made by females towards a dominant male.

21
Q

Why do primates provide long periods of parental care to their young?

A

Gives an opportunity to learn complex social behaviours and to establish networks among other individuals in the troop.