Social Behaviour

Question 1

Many animals live in social groups and have behaviours that are adapted to group living such as….

Answer 1

• social defence
• social hierarchy
• co-operative hunting

Question 2

Describe social hierarchy?

Answer 2

• Social hierarchy is a rank order within a
  group of animals consisting of a dominant
  and subordinate members. In a social
  hierarchy, dominant individuals carry out
  ritualistic (threat) displays whilst
  subordinate animals carry out
  appeasement behaviour to reduce
  conflict.
• Social hierarchies increase the chances of
  the dominant animal’s favourable genes
  being passed on to offspring. Animals
  often form alliances in social hierarchies
  to increase their social status within the
  group.

Question 3

Describe co-operative hunting?

Answer 3

Co-operative hunting may benefit
subordinate animals as well as dominant
ones, as they may gain more food than by
foraging alone. Less energy is used per
individual. Co-operative hunting enables larger prey to be caught and increases the chance of successful hunting.

Question 4

Describe social defence strategies?

Answer 4

Social defence strategies increase the
chance of survival as some individuals
can watch for predators whilst others can
forage for food. Groups adopt specialised
formations when under attack protecting
their young.

Question 5

Describe altruism and kin selection and it’s influence on survival?

Answer 5

• An altruistic behaviour harms the donor
  individual but benefits the recipient. -Reciprocal altruism, where the roles of
  donor and recipient later reverse, often occurs in social animals.
• 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 kin selection in
  terms of the increased chances of survival
  of shared genes in the recipient’s
  offspring or future offspring.

Question 6

State the 2 social insects which contribute reproductively to their society?

Answer 6

Queens & drones.

Question 7

State the 4 other social insects?

Answer 7

• Bees
• Wasps
• Ants
• Termite

Question 8

Describe the worker roles?

Answer 8

• Most members of the colony are sterile workers who co-operate with close relatives to raise relatives. Sterile workers raise relatives to increase survival of shared genes.
• Other examples of worker roles include defending the hive, collecting pollen and carrying out waggle dances to show the direction of food.

Question 9

Describe primates and parental care?

Answer 9

Primates have a long period of parental care to allow learning of complex social behaviour.

Question 10

Describe this complex behaviour?

Answer 10

Complex social behaviours support the
social hierarchy. This reduces conflict
through ritualistic display and
appeasement behaviour.

Question 11

State examples of this complex behaviour?

Answer 11

• Grooming
• facial expression
• body posture
• sexual presentation

Question 12

Describe alliances?

Answer 12

Alliances form between individuals, which
are often used to increase social status
within the group.