Societies and organization of work - part 1

Question 1

Categories of synergistic benefits of sociality

Answer 1

• Assured fitness returns
• Increased predictability of food acquisition
• Division of labor

Question 2

define assured fitness returns

Answer 2

Gain of fitness within a society after an individual’s death, due to successful offspring rearing by remaining group members

Question 3

how do groups increase the predictability of food acquisition

Answer 3

they do it through decreasing the variance in the amount of food gathered

Question 4

Synergistic benefits of sociality - what does increased predictability of food acquisition allow

Answer 4

Allows more consistent investment in offspring, and greater reproductive output per capita (via direct and inclusive fitness gains)

Question 5

increased predictability of food acquisition - example

Answer 5

Allodapine bee species

Question 6

increased predictability of food acquisition - Allodapine bee species

Answer 6

variance in cumulative food gathering decreased as group size increased, resulting in less variable brood weights.

Question 7

define division of labor

Answer 7

specialization on a subset of group tasks that contribute to the collective output of the group

Question 8

division of labor - where do the synergistic benefits come from

Answer 8

the “efficiency of the production line”

Question 9

division of labor - what does a subset of tasks typically form

Answer 9

• an identifiable role
• such as “forager”, and “defender”

Question 10

division of labor - determining factors

Answer 10

• Reproductive status.
• Sex.
• Age.
• Social rank (e.g. position in dominance hierarchy).
• Social phenotype (manipulated and/or adaptive).

Question 11

division of labor by reproductive status

Answer 11

• simplest way in which non reproductive labor is divided
• and a natural consequence of reproductive division of labor

Question 12

division of labor by reproductive status - A change in reproductive status usually marks what

Answer 12

a key transition in division of labor for both males and females.

Question 13

division of labor by sex

Answer 13

• After mating, males are more willing to protect their fitness in unborn and juvenile offspring
• they become more expendable than females,
• and do not undergo physical changes that hinder fighting and foraging abilities

Question 14

division of labor by age

Answer 14

• Within non-reproductive individuals, the risk of the specialization that is adopted often tracks the individual’s trajectory of fecundity
• fecundity can increase or decrease with age

Question 15

division of labor by social rank

Answer 15

• Dominance rank can have a cascading effect on the subset of tasks that different individuals perform.
• In some species, dominance interactions function as an efficient mechanism for assigning individuals to non-reproductive tasks.

Question 16

division of labor by social rank - example

Answer 16

Odontomachus “snap-jaw” ants

Question 17

division of labor by social rank - “snap-jaw” ants

Answer 17

dominant individuals keep subordinate individuals out of an area creating areas with different tasks for individuals of different rank

Question 18

division of labor by social phenotype - how can phenotypic specialization be established

Answer 18

via parental manipulation and subsequent adaptive diversification

Question 19

Fitness gains from division of labor - reduction of task transfer delays

Answer 19

A sequence of tasks performed by one individual results in loss of efficiency simply because of the delays between tasks caused by manipulation and tool switching.

Question 20

fitness gains from division of labor: reduction of task transfer delays - Most roles require a _________________ of tasks to be completed ______________________ for successful completion.

Answer 20

• set sequence
• in the correct order

Question 21

fitness gains from division of labor: reduction of task transfer delays - Each task in the sequence may require _______________________ or a ______________________ to be used in the ______________________________________.

Answer 21

• object manipulation
• new set of “tools”
• transition from one task to the next

Question 22

fitness gains from division of labor: redundancy and robustness - series-parallel system

Answer 22

A division of labor can be more tolerant of error and failure, due to the interchangeability of parts in the production line.