lecture 13

Question 1

alturism equation

Answer 1

c < (r)b

c = fitness cost to actor
r = coefficient of relatedness
b = fitness benefit to recipient

Question 2

alturism

Answer 2

helpful behavior that increases the direct fitness of the receiver, but lowers the giver’s direct fitness

Question 3

degree of relatedness

Answer 3

parent can only give half of their genes to their child

parent - (.5) - child

parent - (.5) - child - (.25) - grandchild

Question 4

alarm calling in ground squirrels

Answer 4

female ground squirrels give alarm calls more often because they are surrounded by kin as females stay in their natal area (female philopatry)

Question 5

direct reciprocity

Answer 5

when the receiver of altruistic acts then turns around and becomes the giver to the animals they received it from

A helps B, B helps A

ex: vampire bats

Question 6

indirect reciprocity

Answer 6

when the giver of an act gets help from a different individual other than the receiver of the act

A helps B, then C helps A

ex: long-tailed manakin birds

Question 7

kin selection

Answer 7

a strategy whereby an organism will help relatives survive and breed (sometimes to their own personal determent)

Question 8

2 tenets of kin selection

Answer 8

1. help kin over non kin
2. help close kin over distant kin

Question 9

inclusive fitness

Answer 9

direct fitness + indirect fitness

Question 10

direct fitness

Answer 10

have your own offspring

Question 11

indirect fitness

Answer 11

help offspring of blood relatives

Question 12

7 signals

Answer 12

1. specific signal
2. general signal
3. discrete signal
4. graded signal
5. metacommunication
6. medley signal
7. contextual signal

Question 13

specific signal

Answer 13

signal specific to a conspecific

ex: sex pheromone on silk moth

Question 14

general signal

Answer 14

signal picked up by different species

ex: bird gives alarm, deer looks up

Question 15

discrete signal

Answer 15

signal that goes on or off

ex: firefly lantern

Question 16

graded signal

Answer 16

along a continuum, may reflect level of excitement or motivation

ex: step on a mouse and it screams

Question 17

metacommunication

Answer 17

tells the receiver what else may follow

ex: playface on a dog, play to follow

Question 18

medley signal

Answer 18

2 signals together are different when apart

ex: ears and mouth on a horse

Question 19

contextual effect

Answer 19

the context in which signal given lends the signal to different meanings

ex: rooster side-stepping to female or male (mate vs fight)

Question 20

ritualization

Answer 20

when a behavior that may have had another purpose becomes more exaggerated, stereotyped, and serves as attention - getting

Question 21

competition

Answer 21

aggression typically occurs when fighting for necessities of life

Question 22

dominance hierarchies

Answer 22

a social hierarchy that forms when animals interact

Question 23

linear rank

Answer 23

dominance hierarchy that is found in male baboons and male common chimps

Question 24

grouped in a rank

Answer 24

dominance hierarchy found in female baboons and common chimps

Question 25

territorial behavior

Answer 25

an area defended by an individual animal or social group of animals from other conspecifics

Question 26

types of territorial behavior

Answer 26

1. physical fighting 2. scent marking 3. auditory 4. visual

Question 27

peacemaking

Answer 27

important signal to end the aggression if there was none the aggression would continue appeasement follows aggression

Question 28

game theory

Answer 28

an animal needs to chose a strategy based on the strategy of its rival. there is an interdependence. 1. strategy is an inheritable trait/behavior 2. payoff in fitness units 3. players are members of a population, all competing to leave more descendants

Question 29

hawk and dove

Answer 29

each individual animals could act like a hawk or act like a dove

Question 30

costs of killing a rival

Answer 30

1. cost in time and energy 2. if you killed every individual you came into contact with in a discriminating way, you could make the situation better for one of your rivals (you might even kill a distant relative) 3. need to fight in a discriminating way, wait until you have an advantage so that chances of winning are high

Question 31

female aggression in shorebirds

Answer 31

shorebirds fight other shorebirds to gain access to male mates, high quality females can have 2-4 male partners

Question 32

female aggression in hyenas

Answer 32

females fight other males and they have feeding priority, testosterone are high in females and they have masculinized genitalia only aggressive females have surviving offspring