Theories/Paradoxes/Rules Etc Flashcards

(49 cards)

0
Q

ESS - Evolutionarily Stable Strategy

A

If all the members of the population adopt it, no mutant strategy can do better

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1
Q

Game Theory

A
  • Fitness consequences of a behavioural strategy
  • Costs and benefits of an action depend on other members of the population’s actions
  • Effects so social competition within species & how it shapes the evolution of traits
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2
Q

Hawkes & Doves

A
  • Hawks always fight to kill
  • Doves display never engage
  • Mix of hawks and doves when average payoff for hawk = average payoff of dove
  • ESS established in 2 ways:
    1.) 7/12 hawks in population and 5/12 doves
    2.) Individuals playing hawk 7/12 of the time and acting dove 5/12 of the time.
    Examples in nature - narwhals are hawks, lions are doves
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3
Q

Reciprocity

A
  • Benefit of altruism to recipient is greater than cost to donor
  • Due to time delay, vulnerable to cheating
  • Can be stable evolutionarily
  • Donors must recognise and refuse cheats
  • Sufficient interactions to allow net benefits to all donors
  • Benefit of aid must outweigh cost of donating
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4
Q

Anisogamy & Bateman’s Principle

A

AKA Heterogamy
Sexual reproduction by fusion of dissimilar gametes
(Differ in size, form etc.)
Sperm & Egg
Female eggs - large, nutritious, immobile
Male sperm - small, DNA only, mobile
- Causes eagerness in males and passivity in females

Bateman’s Principle

  1. Sperm outnumber eggs, males compete & success depends on number of mates
  2. Eggs are large, nutritious and more costly than sperm. Females should be choosy and success depends on parental care
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5
Q
Fisher Process (sexy sons) 
Runaway selection
A
  • Mothers choose mate via arbitrary attractive traits
  • Traits may reduce survival, higher reproductive success
  • Trait & preference linked –> positive feedback
  • Elaborate traits favoured.
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6
Q

The Lek Paradox

A
  • If all females prefer same traits they will become the fixed traits in the population
  • All males becoming identical would decrease value of female choice
  • Genetic diversity is maintained by:
    Deleterious mutations
    Parasite host coevolution
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7
Q

Hamilton’s Rule

A

rbB > rcC. (B is benefit C is cost)
3 nephews survive = 0.25 x 3 = 0.75
1 offspring dies = 0.5 x 1 = 0.5
–> net gain of 0.25 units through Altruism therefore altruistic behaviour spreads

According to Hamilton’s rule, kin selection causes genes to increase in frequency when the genetic relatedness of a recipient multiplied by the benefit to the recipient is greater than the reproductive cost to the actor.

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8
Q

Eusociality

A
  • Ants - worker, soldier, male, queen
  • Cooperative care of young
  • Sterile castes
  • Overlap of generations

Fortress defenders and life defenders

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9
Q

What are Timbergen’s four questions?

A
  1. Development - How does the behaviour develop?
  2. Mechanism - What stimulates the behaviour short term?
  3. Function - What is the behaviour for? How does it promote survival?
  4. Evolution - Where has the behaviour come from?
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10
Q

What happens when there is a failure of mutations to occur?

A

Persistence of non-adaptive traits
E.g. Arctic squirrels react to “snakes” even though they are not usually present anymore (this behaviour remains from their ancestors)

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11
Q

What is pleitropy?

A

Where genes have multiple developmental effects (not usually beneficial)

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12
Q

What is optimality theory?

A

Greatest benefit related to cost

Most likely to see in population

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13
Q

What is convergent evolution?

What is divergent evolution?

A

Convergent evolution:
Distinct ancestry, shared behaviour

Divergent evolution:
Shared ancestry, divergent behaviour

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14
Q

What is a male biased operational sex ratio?

A

Means there are more sexually competing males that are ready to mate than sexually competing females ready to mate

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15
Q

What are the consequences of parental care?

A

Increased offspring survival
Decreased ability to produce more offspring

It is more beneficial to females as they gain less from further copulation

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16
Q

What are secondary sex characteristics?

A
Enhanced traits involved in mating / sexual selection e.g.
Weaponry 
Body size
Sensory/locomotive apparatus
Dominance hierarchies
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17
Q

Why do males develop friendships with females?

A

They help protect her offspring

She rewards them by mating with them

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18
Q

Direct benefits of female selection

A

Parental care
Food
Territories (quality and size)
Spermatophore (nutritional)

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19
Q

Genetic benefits of polyandry

A

Fertility insurance hypothesis - mating with several males decreases risk that some eggs remain unfertilised

Good genes hypothesis - mate with several males as social partner may have decreased genetic quality compared to others

Genetic compatibility theory - several males, increased sperm variety, good chance sperm will be a good match for eggs

20
Q

Material benefits of polyandry

A

More resource hypothesis - more mates = more resources revived from sexual partners

More care hypothesis - more mates = more caregivers for offspring

Better protection hypothesis - more mates = more time with protesters to stop sexual harassment

Infanticide reduction hypothesis - more mates = more confusion about offspring paternity - less infanticide

21
Q

What is the alternative name for intra-sexual selection?

A

Sperm competition

22
Q

What is the alternative name for inter-sexual selection?

A

Cryptic female choice

23
Q

What does pre-copulatory sexual selection consist of?

A

Male male competition and female choice

24
What does post-copulatory sexual selection consist of?
Sperm competition and cryptic female choice
25
What are requirements for sperm competition?
``` Mating with multiple males Sperm storage (ejaculates to overlap) ```
26
Adaptations for avoidance of engagement in sperm competition
``` Physical barriers of female remating Chemical barriers of female remating Mate guarding Takeover avoidance Genetic morphology Copulation duration Testes size Sperm characteristics ```
27
Examples of cryptic female choice
``` Preventing full copulation Influence sperm transport/storage Selective sperm use Selective egg laying Differential allocation of eggs Selective abortion Mating plug removal Remating ```
28
Costs of social living
Conspicuous Increases disease and parasite transmission Increases food competition Time and energy expenditure of subordinates increases (dealing with dominant companions) Males are vulnerable to cuckoldry Females are vulnerable to egg tossing and reproductive interference
29
Benefits of social living
Dilution effect - defence against predators Others can assist when dealing with pathogens Subordinates remain safely in group Males can cuckold others They can toss/dump eggs and decrease others reproductive success
30
What is mutualism?
Shared direct fitness gain (e.g. Lion pride prey capture) Mutual dependence is necessary to social well being Symbiosis - beneficial to organisms involved
31
What is obligate altruism?
Permanent direct fitness loss (potential for indirect gain) | E.g. Honey bee workers forage for colony
32
What is facultative altruism?
Temporary direct fitness loss with potential for indirect gain followed by repro E.g.florida scrub jay helps nest gaining parental territory
33
What is altruism?
Acting to increase another individual's lifetime number of offspring at cost to ones survival and reproduction
34
What is kin selection?
There is no difference between gene copies produced by helping offspring of siblings. (Increase your own fitness this way) natural selection in which an apparently disadvantageous characteristic (especially altruistic behaviour) increases in the population due to increased survival of individuals genetically related to those possessing the characteristic.
35
What does inclusive fitness consist of?
Direct fitness + Indirect fitness
36
What is haplodiploidy?
Sex determination system Males develop from unfertilised eggs & are haploid Females develop from fertilised eggs and are diploid (This determines sex of all members of insect order Hymenoptera - bees, ants, wasps)
37
What do fortress defenders do?
E.g. Aphids, termites Nest and feed inside protected home Favoured if nest is defendable and can hold many or if finding a new nest is hard
38
What do life defenders do?
E.g. Ants, wasps and bees Forage outside the nest risking predation Grouping, ensuring loss of dependent brood
39
Differences in parental care between short and long lived birds
Short lived birds (N.america) Spend more time & energy protecting offspring as may be their only chance. Nest predators - short lived birds stopped feeding to protect offspring Long lived birds (S.america) Minimise risk to themselves as they will have future chances to breed Adult predators - long lived birds stopped feeding to protect themselves
40
What is polygamy?
One member/sex mates multiple times (other sex doesn't)
41
Types of communication and their subtypes
Auditory - songs, calls, drumming Chemical - pheromones, scent, taste Visual - coloration, ornamentation Tactile - grooming, nuzzling
42
Selection on signallers
Maximise detectability - physical environment and audience E.g.rufous collared sparrows sing slower trills in forest than grassland Minimise costs Energetic costs - displays when competing for food (display depends on level of hunger B>C) Northern fulmar, low cost - wing raising, high cost - ramming from behind Detection by predators - great tit alarm calls (mobbing call = call to arms! sweet call alerts co specifics but less chance of detection)
43
What is signallers aim?
Manipulate receiver behaviour in a way that benefits signaller
44
How do signals maintain honesty?
Physical constraints on deceit Handicap principle
45
How does worker behaviour develop in bees?
Different task performance rates peak at different ages. | E.g. Foraging peaks in older bees whereas feeding larvae peaks in young bees.
46
Single gene effects
FosB - maternal care in mice Oxt - social amnesia Drosophila - sister and rover phenotypes
47
What do homeobox genes do?
Control genes in embryogenesis | They are homologous across animals
48
What does chase away selection do?
Exploits pre-existing sensory bias | No benefit to female