unit 3 KA6 - social behaviour

Question 1

what are social behaviours that are adapred to group living?

Answer 1

• social hierarchy
• co-operative hunting
• social defence

Question 2

what is meant by social hierarchy

Answer 2

a rank order within a group of animals consisting of dominant and subordinate members. in a social hierarchy, dominant individuals carry out ritualistic (threat) displays whilst subordinate animals carry out appeasement behaviour to reduce conflict

Question 3

what do social hierarchies increase the chances of?

Answer 3

the dominant animal’s favourable genes being passed on to offspring.

Question 4

why may animals form alliances in social hierarchies?

Answer 4

to increase their social status within the group

Question 5

why is cooperative hunting beneficial

Answer 5

• it may benefit subordinate animals as well as dominant ones as they may gain more food than by foraging alone
• less energy is used per individual
• enables larger prey to be caught and increases the chances of success

Question 6

why is cooperative hunting good for increasing food findings?

Answer 6

less energy is used per individual

Question 7

why do social defence strategies increase the chance of survival?

Answer 7

some individuals can watch for predators whilst others can forage for food

Question 8

what may groups do if their young are at risk?

Answer 8

adopt specialised formations when under attack to protect them

Question 9

what is altruistic behaviour

Answer 9

unselfish behaviour that is detrimental to the donor and beneficial to the recipient

Question 10

when is behaviour that appears to be altruistic most common

Answer 10

between a donor and a recipient who are related (kin)

Question 11

what is reciprocal altruism

Answer 11

this is where the roles of the donor and the recipient later reverse. this often occurs in social animals

Question 12

how does the donor benefit in kin selection

Answer 12

they benefit in terms of the increases chances of survival of shared genes in the recipient’s offspring or future offspring

Question 13

what are examples of social insects

Answer 13

• bees
• wasps
• ants
• termites

Question 14

which members of a social insect society contribute reproductively in terms of bees

Answer 14

queens and drones

Question 15

what are most members of the bee colony

Answer 15

they are sterile workers who cooperate with close relatives to raise relatives

Question 16

what are example of worker bee roles

Answer 16

• defending the hive
• collecting pollen
• carrying out waggle dances to show the direction of food

Question 17

why do sterile workers raise relatives

Answer 17

to increase the survival of shared genes

Question 18

what is kin selection

Answer 18

this is when individuals reduce their net lifetime production of offspring in order to help their relatives reproduce

Question 19

why do primates have a long period of parental care

Answer 19

to allow learning of complex social behaviour

Question 20

why is complex social behaviour important

Answer 20

it supports the social hierarchy

Question 21

how is conflict reduced in primate social hierarchies

Answer 21

• ritualistic display

- appeasement behaviour

Question 22

what are appeasement behaviour examples

Answer 22

• grooming
• facial expression
• body posture
• sexual presentation

Question 23

how are alliances that are formed between the individuals used

Answer 23

to increase social status within the group

Question 24

what is a primate

Answer 24

primates are a group os placental mammals, further defined as possessing dextrous hands and feet, opposable thumbs, stereoscopic vision and a highly developed brain

Question 25

what are examples of primates

Answer 25

• humans
• chimpanzees
• gorillas
• lemurs

Question 26

what is involved in parental care of primates

Answer 26

• feeding them
• keeping them clean
• keeping them warm/cool
• transporting them

Question 27

why do higher animals go to great lengths to reduce conflict in the primate social hierarchies

Answer 27

because fighting could result in the death of one primate and the serious injury of the other