Intraspecific Relationships Flashcards
(16 cards)
Aggressive
Behaviour intended to assert dominance, defend territory, or secure resources, often characterised by confrontational or violent actions towards others.
Agnostic
A term describing a non-aggressive interaction between individuals, often involving displays of dominance or submission without physical conflict, such as a “threat display”.
Alpha/Beta
Alpha: The dominant individual in a group, often with the most access to resources and mates.
Beta: The subordinate individual or individuals who are ranked just below the alpha in the hierarchy.
Cooperative Interactions
Interactions between individuals or species that benefit all parties involved, often through mutual assistance or shared resources, such as in mutualism or group hunting.
Courtship
Behavioural displays or actions performed by an individual to attract a mate, often involving visual displays, vocalisations, or specific rituals that demonstrate the individual’s fitness as a mate.
Dominance
The social position of an individual within a group, indicating their ability to control access to resources, mates, or territory, often established through aggressive or assertive behaviours.
Hierarchy
The social structure within a group of animals or organisms, where individuals are ranked according to their dominance or status, typically forming a “pecking order”.
Home Range
The area in which an animal lives and moves regularly, but does not defend as its territory. It can overlap with the home ranges of other individuals of the same or different species.
Intraspecific Relationship
Interactions that occur between individuals of the same species, such as competition, cooperation, or social relationships.
Kin Selection
A type of natural selection where an individual may sacrifice its own reproductive success to help relatives, thus ensuring the survival of shared genes.
Monogamy
A mating system in which one male and one female form a long-term pair bond, usually exclusive, and typically share the responsibility for raising offspring.
Parental Care
Behavioural investment by one or both parents in the survival and development of their offspring, which may involve feeding, protection, teaching, or other forms of nurturing.
Reproductive Effort
The energy and resources invested by an organism into producing and raising offspring, including courtship, mating, gestation, and care for the young.
Sexual Dimorphism
The distinct differences in size, colour, shape, or other physical traits between males and females of the same species, often linked to sexual selection.
Submissive
Behaviour indicating a lower social status or a willingness to defer to a more dominant individual
Territory
A defended area occupied and used by an individual or group, often for purposes such as mating, feeding, or shelter.
