Lecture 17 Flashcards
What is parental behaviour?
1 pt
Behaviour expressed by parents towards their offspring - providing food, shelter, warmth and social contact
What is the parent-offspring conflict theory?
1 pt
Parental cost is huge, offspring benefit
“offspring are evolutionarly selected to demand more resources than the mother is selected to provide”
What are some reproductive strategies?
3 pts
- Litter size (large litter, increase population)
- Developmental stage of young (altricial vs precocial)
- Parental investment - non (salmon), single parent, pair-bond
Oligotocous vs polytocous
2 pts
- Oligotocous: one or few young at each birth
- Polytocous: large litter at each birth
Which animals are altricial, precocial, oligotocous, and polytocous?
4 pts
Altricial Oligotocous: Primates
Precocial Oligotocous: Sheep, horse, cattle
Altricial Polytocouus: Carnivores, rodents
Precocial Polytocous: Pigs, chickens, ducks
Predator vs prey, single vs multiple, pair-bond vs polygamous for parental care
2 pts
- Predators tend to be altricial (leave offspring to hunt)
- Prey need to follow the herd, safety in numbers
- Single offspring tend to be precocial (most herbivores)
- Pair-bonds tend to be altricial
What are thetwo evolutionary strategies forpopulation growth (r vs K selection)?
10 pts
“r” strategist (mice) - polytocous
* Unstable environment
* Small size
* Low reproductive input - many offspring
* Fast maturing - short life expectancy
* Boom and bust cycles - opportunists
“K” strategist (elephant)
* Stable environment
* Large size
* High reproductive input - few offspring
* Slow to mature - long life expectancy
* Slow and stable population growth
What do gulls do with nesting?
1 pt
Remove egg shells to avoid predators
How does birth affect bonding?
1 pt
- Releases oxytocin - “cuddle hormone”
- pituitary gland - stimulate uterine contraction, milk letdown, social bonding
What are the two styles of care that precocial ungulates follow?
2 pts
- Hiders (leave offspring) - deer, cattle
- Followers - sheep, goats
What is nursing, suckling, and sucking?
3 pts
- Nursing - action of the mother, providing milk
- Suckling - action of offspring to obtain nutrients
- Sucking - action of offspring directed to non-teat
What is ethology?
1 pt
emphasizes studying animals in their natural environment
What are behaviours at parturition in ewes?
4 pts
- Ewes separate from flock to give birth
- Form strong bond with lamb
- Return to flock with lamb within a few hours
- Follower species
How do ewes use shelter at parturition?
4 pts
- Provided either ‘gunny sack’ or grass hedges in lambing paddock
- Ewes would give birth in close proximity to the hedges
- ‘Sheltering’ behaviour increased if ewes were recently shorn
- Hedges improved lamb survival
What is “mismothering”?
1 pt
Pregnant ewe steals offspring of another ewe, then when she has her lambs, she ignores her own
