Animal Behavior Final Exam Part 2

Front 1

why do humans like spices

Back 1

they have little caloric value, cost is high, difficult to acquire

Possibly because they have antimicrobial properties. They reduce levels of dangerous bacteria in food. amount of spices used is a function of the relative risk of contamination (climate)

Front 2

pathology hypothesis of dirt eating

Back 2

dirt/ clay eating is an aberrant behavior of no functional significance

Predicts that relatively few individuals will eat dirt or clay (yet it is common in some cultures)

Front 3

the adaptationist hypothesis of dirt eating

Back 3

dirt is consumed to detoxify certain foods to improve their nutritional value

Front 4

why do some cultures eat dirt/ clay

Back 4

because they eat a lot of things with alkaloids or tanins that cause GI problems. dirt/ clay stops these GI problems

Front 5

round dance in honey bees

Back 5

i found food fairly close to the hive (less than 50 meters)

Front 6

waggle dance

Back 6

I found food that is more than 50 meters away. The waggle is at the same angle from the sun's polarity that the food source is. waggling straight up the comb means that food is found by flying toward the direction of the sun, waggling straight down the comb means food is directly away from the comb. waggling at a degree to the right or left of the sun means food is that degree away to that side of the sun. waggle duration is proportional to distance from food source (1 second of waggling means 1 kilometer)

Front 7

what is a source habitat and a sink habitat

Back 7

source habitat means it is a habitat that is allowing growth and a sink habitat means there is a population decline

Front 8

gall position

Back 8

aphids fight for up to 2 days to secure a good spot for their gall on a leaf. This is important because their offspring eat the nitrogen rich leaf and the closer it is to the leaf's base, the higher quality food for the offspring. The saliva used to make the call tricks the leaf to release more nitrogen similar to an inflamatory response

Front 9

piping response

Back 9

response in honey bees once threshold has been reached to decide where to live. this response is a warm up for the flight and a way to coordinate the group flight.

Front 10

parthogenesis

Back 10

asexual reproduction. aphids can do this to make their offspring

Front 11

viviparous

Back 11

live young that are created through asexual reproduction by aphids in spring. in late summer, they produce males too through sexual reproduction, but these aren't called viviparous

Front 12

oviparous

Back 12

egg-laying females that are created in late summer through sexual reproduction by aphids.

Front 13

aphid/ ant mutualism

Back 13

aphids are producted by colonies of ants that eat the carbohydrate secretion from the aphids. ants sometimes stroke the aphid with the antena to "milk" them. mostly mutual because ants protect aphids which give the ants food back, but sometimes the ants gnaw off the wings of aphids to keep them trapped there. Also they will sometimes put a chemical on the aphids feet to make them move slowly so they can be herded (also marks territory). If they detect a fungus, the ant will quarintine the area

Front 14

territoriality in australian magpies

Back 14

frequently attack humans (about 90% of males say so and 72% of females). females observe this behavior and will not think that the males are very good if they don't defend their territory.

Front 15

surgeonfish territoriality

Back 15

they chase away rivals 1900 times a day which decreases their life span because of risk of injury. Testosterone mediates this. This is an example of how territoriality can be costly to the animal.

Front 16

how can testosterone decrease lifespan?

Back 16

more testosterone leads to more territoriality which means they are expending more energy (30%). when given testosterone and increased amount of food (Yarrow lizards), they lived longer than the control though which says that the biggest reason for decreased life is the increased energy used

Front 17

eunichs life span

Back 17

live longer than other males. testosterone is associated with higher quality of life, less depression, and better cognitive functions

Front 18

why is the "resident always wins" hypothesis not supported

Back 18

because in other species besides butterflies territoriality is based on physical characteristics and strength, not residency. in butterflies, the resident doesn't always win, also.

Front 19

floaters

Back 19

non-territorial individuals that hang around the territories of other males. if challenged they will always concede defeat. If resident disappears they are ready to assume control of a vacant territory. generally have lower testosterone

Front 20

why do residents have better success

Back 20

they have more to fight for when the fitness payoff for holding a territory increases over time. also may have a dear enemy effect

Front 21

dear enemy effect

Back 21

sometimes neighbors combine forces to repel intruders that would affect both of them. also aggressive newcomers fight a lot with their neighbors, but over time they will have a stronger understanding of where the borders are so will fight less

Front 22

tarantula hawk wasp territoriality

Back 22

extremely aggressive type of wasp. when caught with a cooler and then released the resident after a newcomer had taken over the males would fight for a long time. they have one of the most painful wasp stings of all north american wasps.

Front 23

difference between bees and wasps

Back 23

bees are fury, have thick back legs so they can stick to the plant better. wasps don't have fur, and have a thin abdomen. the actual body size of bees and wasps are about the same

Front 24

japanese giant hornets and european honeybees

Back 24

can desomate a hive in about 3 hours. a scout hornet will tell the rest of the hive where the nest is and then they will all attack at once. they can't do this with japanese honey bees though because they have learned to mob the scout hornet and move their wings to overheat the hornet.

Front 25

hyena communication

Back 25

clans are formed to hunt and defend territory. females are dominant and form dominant hierarchy and their social status is associated with fitness and amount of young she will have and how well the young survive. the mom will protect the young and the mom aggressively hunts for food. dominant female gets access to food first. daughter of highly dominant female will have a very high social status. This social status is correlated with an increase in testosterone. mother doses fetus with testosterone during pregnancy.

Front 26

genital sniffing in hyenas

Back 26

have large externalized genitalia called pseudopenis, that is used for communication. this is a costly phenotype because fetus has a hard time passing through when giving birth. about 10% die during birth and about 60% of first born pups die.

Front 27

spotted vs. striped hyenas

Back 27

spotted live in middle/ southern africa and are more aggressive & vocal. striped live in northern africa

Front 28

hormonal side-effect hypothesis of the pseudopenis

Back 28

increased testosterone which increases social status leads to the side effect of the pseudopenis. failed to address why females dominate the males and didn't answer why selection didn't favor a smaller pseudopenis. Also, when testosterone is blocked, they still have a pseudopenis that is about the same size.

Front 29

communication hypothesis of the pseudopenis

Back 29

genital sniffing enhances cooperation because information is transmitted that affects dominance interactions with the females. enables dominants to monitor hormonal status of their clan members. dominants benefit by knowing whether a challenge is likely and subordinantes benefit by being allowed to remian in the pack

Front 30

free-tailed bats

Back 30

are one of the most vocal mammals. use about 20 syllables to create calls and each male has a unique courtship song to impress females. these vocalizations are used to define social status, repel intruders, instruct offspring, recognize individuals, announce mating territories.

Front 31

difference between raven and crow

Back 31

ravens have a curved bills and can have thick and shaggy throat feathers, crows have a sharper bill. crows make a cawing sound and have a repertoire of rattles, click,s and bell-like sounds, ravens have a croaking and gronking call

Front 32

raven feeding

Back 32

lone raven flies by, notices the carcass and returns at dawn with a flock to feed and will yell upon feeding. This is to gang up on territorial residents. the resident territory owner won't yell, but non residents will yell.

Front 33

deceit & cross species communication with ravens

Back 33

they frequently pick on other animals to test them for aggression and steal their food. they also can follow human gaze for clues, and use gestural signaling to direct another raven's attention to something

Front 34

false alarm calls in chickadees

Back 34

if many birds are at a feeder, chickadees give false alarm calls for a predator so they can have better access to the food.

Front 35

sentinels

Back 35

they have good vision and detection

Front 36

shrikes

Back 36

they are sentinel birds that call when they spot bird-eating hawks but give false alarm calls to dupe foraging competitors. cache food by impaling it on thorns. they also use this to signal boundaries of their territory and to signal success to potential mates. this also allows time for toxins to degrade in their prey

Front 37

honest communication in toads

Back 37

toads will sometimes try and pull other males from females when they are mated. when touched, the mounted male will immediately croak which tells the intruding male honest signals about their size.

Front 38

honest communication with red deer

Back 38

rutting. males compete to remain with female herds during fall (mating season) by rutting. rutting and calling. aggression rarely escalates to this because the signals are pretty honest, but if they are equally matched, they will rut and the stronger, larger male will win

Front 39

steps to competition in red deer

Back 39

they will first roar and compare the loudness, if they have an equally loud roar they will move on to the next step and preform parallel walks to assess size. if they are equally matched in this, they will lock antlers to assess each other's relative size and strength

Front 40

what triggers rutting

Back 40

testosterone and daylength. shorter daylength triggers rutting.

Front 41

velvet antlers

Back 41

vascular skin that covers the antlers and allows growth. dissappears when they start rutting

Front 42

odontoceti

Back 42

toothed whales

Include: dolphins, beluga, porpoises, sperm whale

Front 43

mysticeti

Back 43

baleen whales (eat plankton). have larger jaws used to filter feed and have unique dentation involving baleen plates of keratin (hair like structures). consume fish and plankton near the waters surface. Lunge forward to ingest water which gives them the nick name lunge-feeders.

Include: humpback, gray whale, blue whale

Front 44

difference in sound production in odontoceti and mysticeti

type, function, mechanism

Back 44

odontoceti have high frequency clicks and whistles. single clicks are used for echo-location and multiple clicks is used for communication. use air to produce sound

mysticeti have longer, lower-frequency sound that is primarily used for communication. the mechanism isn't clear, but probably use larynx. difference between odontoceti is that they don't require exhalation

Front 45

hunting in humpback whales

Back 45

bubble- netting: release bubbles as they spiral upwards. work in teams to loop circles of bubbles to corral krill.

coordinated so need good communication

Front 46

blue whale communication

Back 46

very loud because they communicate across very very long distances. use thermocline to amplify their calls. this is done to signify important food resources or meet potential mates.

have distinct dialects based on geography

Front 47

odontoceti sound production

Back 47

sound is generated by "phonic lips on top of their head. they are then focused through a sound lens in the "melon" (above their eye). prey will reflect the sound waves back to them which will be received and channelled under the jawbone

Front 48

possible roles of spermaceti

Back 48

bouyancy, battering ram, diving cushion, sonar

Front 49

beluga whale communication

Back 49

also called sea canaries because they are extremely vocal. Produce the largest variety of sound of any whale.

Chirping, bleating, and vowels are play

chirping and whistling is sex behavior

Front 50

difference between communication in humans and non-human primates

Back 50

non-human primates communicate about the present moment and humans communicate in all tenses. humans also use complex symbolic systems and rely heavily on order of words

Front 51

washoe

Back 51

first non human primate to learn ASL. Did this through watching humans from her trailer window

Front 52

Koko

Back 52

Penny Patterson claimed to have taught her 1,000 words, and claims to report on her dreams, gossip, and blame others for events. also refuses to show this live and teach is really skeptical about it

Front 53

sarah

Back 53

learned symbol-based language using tokens and a magnetic board. used all reward based conditioning.

Front 54

Nim Chimpsky

Back 54

taught ASL through Dr. Terrace who was trying to show that chimps could learn ASL if raised like a normal human. Then was shuffled from caretaker to caretaker due to biting incidents. Learned about 125 signs, but was claimed to not really understand language because he would only do it for reward.

Front 55

Kanzi

Back 55

bonobo chimpanzee. Used symbols for the animal to figure out language. Understood if/then logical progressions and analogy. generated new word combinations and spontaneous language.

Front 56

difference between chimpanzee and bonobo (dominance, aggression, sex behavior, appearance)

Back 56

bonobos are female dominant, have little aggression, have close female-female bonds, sex behavior is flexible and an important part of their culture.

chimpanzees are male dominant, intensely aggressive between groups, have high rates of infanticide, sometimes have civil wars, have cooperative tool use and hunting, sex behavior is monopolized by high ranking males

difference between how they look is female bonobos have smaller and black faces. chimpanzees have light colored faces

Front 57

difference and similarities in anatomy of vocalization in humans and birds

Back 57

birds have similar neural (broca and wernicke) areas as humans that are used in vocalization. difference is that birds have a syrinx instead of larynx

Front 58

why do african grey birds vocalize

Back 58

because they live in large flocks that separate into pairs for breeding season. need to coordinate behaviors with mates to defend nest. also need this for communication of dominance.

Front 59

lyrebird

Back 59

imitate sounds from their environment. also have very huge tail. the syrinx of the bird has a lot of very complex muscle coordination.

Front 60

bowerbirds

Back 60

build bowers to show females how good of a mate choice they are. frequently spend about 8 months constructing each bower and defending it.

the ultimate hypothesis is that an original bower builder conveyed useful info about his mate quality & females mated with him. this predicts that mate mating success correlates with bower features and it actually has been proven that they are less likely to carry parasites and diseases.

Another hypothesis that has been proven is that bowerbirds that have plenty of food as they were growing have better brains and this helps them construct better bowers. also proven

Front 61

biased operational sex ratio

Back 61

leads to more competition for mates. means that the ratio of receptive males and receptive females is skewed in one direction.

Front 62

what is the main competition strategy for males

Back 62

ornamentation

Front 63

traumatic insemination

Back 63

when male bed bugs try to forcefully inject sperm into the abdominal cavity of the female. results in infanticide, sexual harassment, and the transfer of damaging ejaculate. the females frequently get sick and die from this

Front 64

spermalege

Back 64

female development in bed bugs that is a specialized area that collects the sperm so it doesn't damage her abdomen, but will instead hold it there. if they are healthy, more eggs will be kept but if it is contamenated, she will kill off more of the eggs.

Front 65

sexual co-evolution in ducks

Back 65

males have evolved to have corkscrew penises to deposit the sperm further than rivals. females countermeasured this with vaginas that are long and twisted with dead ends that can be selectively closed off depending on stress level.

Front 66

female counterdefense in dunnocks

Back 66

if a female mates with a male and then decides that the other mate is of higher quality than a previous male, she can expell the sperm of the previous partner (normally watched to make sure of this by the potential partner).