social evolution

Question 1

what do eusocial societies include?

give 2 insects and 1 mammal that are eusocial.

Answer 1

caste of sterile workers, either permanently or conditionally

2 insects:
- ants/termites
- bees/wasps

mammal: naked mole rats

Question 2

define eusocial

Answer 2

a social system where cooperative care of young and a reproductive division of labor occur within multigenerational group

Question 3

a colobopsis ant ruptures its abdomen spilling toxic goo onto enemy, killing both enemy and itself. this demonstrates that eusocial insects usually do what?

Answer 3

eusocial insects display altruistic self-sacrifice in many cases, to defend nest and social group

Question 4

what is altruism?

Answer 4

hurting yourself to help others

Question 5

inndividual vs group selection

Answer 5

Group selection – Groups that have altruistic behavior are more likely to survive than groups lacking altruistic individuals.

Individual selection – Individuals that are better at surviving and reproducing are more likely to pass on their genes, even if it means acting in their own self-interest.

Question 6

which selection, group or individual, has much stronger effect on evolution than the other?

Answer 6

individual selection

Question 7

natural selection can act on 3 levels. what are they?

Answer 7

between groups within a population
between individuals within a group
between genes within an individual

Question 8

what is direct and indirect fitness? what about inclusive fitness?

Answer 8

direct fitness - measure of reproductive (genetic) success based on number of offspring that live to reproduce

indirect fitness - measure of genetic success of an altruistic individual based on number of relatives that they help to survive and thus reproduce

inclusive fitness - measure of individual’s total contribution to genes (direct + indirect)

Question 9

______ are similar to jellyfish and includes the man of war.

they are not a single organism, but comprised of multicellular _____ with different functions.

operate much like a _____ insect colony.

Answer 9

siphonophores

zooids

eusocial

Question 10

slime mold - the social amoeba

this amoeba is a ______ that cooperates and behaves altruistically towards ________

during food _______, they aggregate into ______

they form _____ stalks with a _____ body

only the amoeba in the ______ reproduce while the ones on the stalks are _______ so they can better disperse the spores

Answer 10

protozoan; relatives

scarcity; slug-like colonies

reproductive; fruiting

fruiting body; altruistically supporting them

Question 11

portuguese man of war has a gas filled float that plays a role in positive buoyancy and used as a sail to catch wind. what’s this structure called?

Answer 11

pneumatophore

Question 12

the only zooid that ingests food, unigue to the man of war, is called?

Answer 12

gastrozooid

Question 13

a polyp that has tentacles, unique to man of war. what’s it called? what’s it for?

Answer 13

tentacular palpon

to capture prey

specialises in nermatocyst production

Question 14

this is a structure in the man of war that is released from the colony of zooids when they mature. it is ________.

Answer 14

gonodendron. it includes:

1) gonophore - medusa containing female/male

2) palpon - derived gastrozooid

3) nectophore - medusa used for locomotion

4) jelly polyp - reduced nectophore, function unclear

Question 15

hymenopterans (wasps, bees, and ants) have ___________ males which have ____ set(s) of chromosomes instead of ___. this means they have ___ allele(s) at each genetic loci. (females are diploid)

males are produced via __________ from unfertilised eggs (they only inherit mtoher’s DNA). this makes ______ in the same generation more related to each other compared to other species.

Answer 15

haploid; 1; 2; 1

parthenogenesis; females

Question 16

what is the haplodiploidy hypothesis?

Answer 16

relatively higher relatedness of full sisters in haplodiploid populations promotes altruism among siblings and consequently, the evolution of eusociality

Question 17

does the haplodiploidy hypothesis fully explain eusociality?

Answer 17

no

Question 18

what is the monogamy hypothesis in eusociality?

Answer 18

lifetime monogamy ensures siblings are highly related, making obligate sterile workers, and thus eusociality more likely to evolve

Question 19

caste variation in eusocial societies is influenced by which 2 factors mainly?

Answer 19

social and ecological influences

Question 20

how do ants and wasps remove reproductive conflict within their eusocial colony?

Answer 20

ants - hold workers with developing ovaries captive, or queen marks competitors and workers hold them captive

wasps - remove workers’ eggs

Question 21

define collective behavior in animals.

Answer 21

non-independent behavior - individuals coordinating and synchornising their actions

Question 22

pulling vs anchoring

Answer 22

pulling - successfully guiding others along new path

anchoring - failing to guide others, return to group

Question 23

an animal that demonstrates pulling, anchoring and “voting” on the routes is the _____ baboon.

Answer 23

olive

Question 24

in polistes dominula bees, subordinates gain ___ than dominant helpers, but they ___ more in future by inheriting nest and its helpers. this is a risk worth taking because ___.

Answer 24

less; more

finding a nest is risky and usually starts off w low chances of reproductive success

Question 25

in lazuli buntings, _____ plays an impt role in territory settlement and pairing. by permiting the browner-colored birds into their group, dominant males gain by _______.

Answer 25

coloration fertilising more eggs and having someone care for them

Question 26

reciprocal altruism hypothesis

Answer 26

altruism btwn non-kin mcan evolve where compensation for altruistic actions are delayed or returned later which balances out costs and benefits

Question 27

in clownfish, subordinate males wait around territories awaiting them to vacate. the territorial male has no ___ or ____, thus it is tolerated.

Answer 27

gains; losses

Question 28

an animal that practises reciprocal altruism is the ____

Answer 28

bat

Question 29

in wild turkeys and _______ manakins, males form pairs to _____ females. in wild turkeys, the pair are usually __________.

Answer 29

long-tailed; brothers

Question 30

kin selection hypothesis

Answer 30

indirect fitness benefits explain why some individuals delay independent breeding, become nonbreeding helpers, or aid others to survive and reproduce.

Question 31

_________ give alarm calls when an aerial predator is spotted. this brings greater danger to themselves due to exposure. this is more performed when they are in the presence of close _____. in taking survival risk to ensure sirvival of kin, they gain _______ fitness instead of _______ fitness.

Answer 31

ground squirrels; kin inclusive; individual

Question 32

siberian jay males in ________ groups emit more _____ calls when in groups consisting of ____.

Answer 32

breeding; mobbing; kin

Question 33

across 44 breeding bird species, it was shown that inidviduals will offer more helping effort when there is high probability of ________. If not, they help less and predominantly (mainly) direct their helping to their ____.

Answer 33

inheriting the territory; kin

Question 34

what is the group augmentation hypothesis?

Answer 34

individuals survive better by living in groups

Question 35

what is the pay-to-stay hypothesis?

Answer 35

parents allow non-kin to stay in group if they help lighten the load of parental care

Question 36

in a type of cichlid, non-related kin offer _____ help to stay in a group to gain ___________ and increase likelihood of ____________.

Answer 36

parental; defense; inheriting territory

Question 37

from 1959 to 1990, population of seychelles warblers on Cousin Island _________ due to conversation efforts, _____ hypothesis and ______ hypothesis.

Answer 37

increased; ecological constraints; life history

Question 38

define ecological constraints hypothesis

Answer 38

when resources become limited, young will delay dispersal and remain in antal territory to help raise relatives

Question 39

when resources become limited, young will delay dispersal and remain in antal territory to help raise relatives. what hypothesis is this?

Answer 39

ecological constraints hypothesis

Question 40

life history hypothesis

Answer 40

high survival rates create surplus of individuals leading to habitat saturation which can drive cooperative breeding where individuals work together to raise offspring, making sure that more young survive even if resources are limited

Question 41

what is the benefits of philopatry hypothesis?

Answer 41

benefits of delaying dispersal are outweighed by costs of dispersing

Question 42

in meerkats, females evicted from groups suffer _______ and ________, causing likelihood of conception to _____. they can reutrn to become ______ helpers to _____ females.

Answer 42

severe stress; reproductive suppression; extinguish; cooperative; dominant

Question 43

a study experimentally manipulated reproductive suppression in female _____ by injecting ________. treated females becomes _______ helpers and were: 1) less _____ by dominant females 2) less likely to be completely ____ from group overall, this produced more helpers per pup

Answer 43

meerkats; contraceptives subordinate/cooperative attacked evicted

Question 44

evolution of cooperation is large the result of natural selection on ______ instead of ______.

Answer 44

individuals; groups