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28 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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What is feature detection? What is its significance? |
Feature detection is how behaviours are triggered by the external environment. Feature detectors are specialized sensory receptors/groups of receptors that respond to important signals. |
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What are some examples of feature detectors? |
Chemoreceptors, mechanoreceptors, the eyes, nose, ears, etc. are all different nervous system feature detectors. Frogs have mechano receptors in their ears that help them differentiate between suitable mates and not suitable mates. |
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What is the difference between afferent neural pathways and efferent neural pathways? |
Afferent pathways are ascending towards the CNS - usually sensory. Receptor cell -> Spinal cord -> Brainstem -> Higher brain areas Efferent pathways are exiting the CNS - usually motor. Higher brain areas -> Brainstem -> Periphery (effector) |
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What are hormones and how do they affect behaviour? |
Hormones are chemical substances that are secreted in one part of the body and cause changes in other parts. They provoke longer lasting and more widespread responses than the nervous system. They play a role in animals coming into heat. |
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Where do hormones come from? |
The endocrine glands - ductless glands that generally produce multiple hormones to be carried by the blood to their (distant) targets. |
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What is one type of experiment we can do to study how hormones influence behaviour? What is an example of this type of experiment? |
We can conduct castration experiments. One such experiment was conducted with lizards. Males that were castrated did not perform their regular mating behaviour. When injected with testosterone, they did. So we know testosterone is the active hormone here, since it 'rescued' the behaviour. |
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What is artificial selection? Why do we do it in science? |
Artificial selection is when we selectively breed an organism by only allowing individuals with specific alleles to reproduce. We do it to test the effects of genes on behaviour. |
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Recall the fox domestication example given in class. How did they undergo artificial selection? |
The foxes were bred for their social behaviour. Within 40 years, the experiment produced foxes that were highly social and interacted with humans in a playful, friendly manner. Also produced animals with higher colour variation, animals that had blue eyes sometimes, floppy ears sometimes, animals that could bark. |
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What did the side effects of breeding foxes for tameness tell us about the genes? |
It told us that the genetics that were involved with tameness were also involved with the animals colour. Scientists believe now that melanin and adrenaline are connected - when you select for less 'fight or flight', you also end up with more colour variation and sometimes animals with blue eyes. |
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What is pleotropy? |
When one gene affects many different traits. |
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What is background selection? |
When you select for one gene on a chromosome, you get all the other genes on that chromosome too, especially the ones close to the gene you were selecting for. |
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Recall the sitting and roving larvae experiment. What was it?
Why did we observe what we did? |
Feed larvae on patches of yeast on plates. Rovers move between patches, sitters do not. This behaviour is decided by one gene, but both behaviours persist in a population. This is so that the population can respond effectively to different situations. Say food is not abundant, then rovers are more successful. Say risk of being eaten by a wasp is high, then sitters might be less likely to be eaten. |
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How do species decide where to live (habitat selection)? Two factors to consider: |
Resource Availability: can be an important aspect of habitat quality. Food, mates. Number of Individuals in the Habitat: can indicate level of competition for resources. |
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What is migration? What is a species that migrates? |
Movement from one location to another, and back - round-trip movement, short or long distance, daily or seasonal. Penguins, march out for food and back to where their young are safe from predators. |
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What is dispersal? What is interesting about dispersal as it relates to the genders of a species? |
Dispersal is a one time permanent movement from one area to another - relatively short distance. Often one sex disperses more than the other, like with birds, the female disperses more than the male. |
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Why do animals disperse? HINT: (R)CH |
(Resource) Competition Hypothesis Dispersal decreases competition for resources, especially among you and your relatives. Goshawks will disperse more the more sparse food resources are. |
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What is natal loyalty? |
When animals stay where they were born. |
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Why else do animals disperse? HINT: IAH |
Inbreeding Avoidance Hypothesis Dispersal decreases chances of breeding with close kin. Been studied in ground squirrels, males will disperse much further than the females. |
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Why else do animals disperse? HINT: MCH |
Mate Competition Hypothesis Competition for mates drives dispersal. Been studied in lions, male-male competition is fierce, are only the mating male of a pride for about two years. Young males will leave after two to three years if they aren't kicked out. Male-male competition is a proximate cause for dispersal. |
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In the example of lions dispersing because of the mate competition hypothesis, what other hypothesis also fits? |
Inbreeding avoidance. Females stay in a pride for life, males are kicked out. They avoid breeding with their daughters this way. Males born there are kicked out even sooner. |
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What is the Win-Stay Lose-Shift Hypothesis? |
That past breeding success drives dispersal. Been studied in Kittiwakes, if they were successful in breeding the year before then they are more likely to return to the same breeding site, instead of seeking out a new one. Even if they themselves were not successful, if the colony was, they are more likely to exhibit site fidelity. |
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What two issues do long-distance migrants face? |
Orientation - The process of determining and maintaining a proper direction. Can use many environmental cues to provide direction info. Navigation - The process of determining a particular location and moving towards it. Most animals use multiple clues. |
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What are some compass systems that animals may use to help them orient themselves? |
They may use visual, auditory, or chemical cues. Compass systems include: -Sun compass -Star compass - if they migrate at night -Geomagnetic compass Biological clocks may also provide clues. |
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How are biological clocks produced? |
By interacting proteins that cycle on their own to create regular rhythms. |
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What are some clock examples and their timescales? |
The circadian clock is a daily cycle. The lunar clock is based on the moon's orbit - important for tidal species. The annual clock measures yearly or multiyearly cycles. |
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How do monarch butterflies orient themselves to get to Mexico in the winter? How do we know this? |
They use a sun compass, and therefore must also have a biological clock to always know what time of day it is. We know they do this because we have clock-shifted them, and changed what time they think it is. It screws them up. |
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What is bicoordinate navigation? |
When an animal can identify their location relative to a goal. These animals are using a 'map'. If these animals are moved over, they can still find their original destination, unlike the orienters. |
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What was discovered when we studied navigation in homing pigeons? |
We temporarily blinded the birds, we attached magnets to their heads, we clock-shifted them. If we did any of those in isolation, the bird was fine. If they are clock-shifted on sunny days, they go astray, same if we glue magnets on cloudy days. This says they primarily use a sun compass, and secondarily a geomagnetic compass. Some evidence they also use chemical cues. |
