Ubc - Biol 310

Front 1

what is behaviour?

Back 1

- an activity -> voluntary or involuntary
- predictable action
- occurs in response to external or internal stimuli
- highly diverse

Front 2

What are tinbergen's four questions?

Back 2

what mechanism are responsible for the behaviour?
(causal mechanism)

how do these mechanisms develop within individuals
(ontogeny and development)

what is the function or adaptive value of the behaviour?
(adaptive value)

how did the trait originate and become modified over the evolutionary time?
(evolutionary history and phylogeny)

Front 3

what is the different btwn proximate and ultimate explanations?

Back 3

proximate: causal and developmental factors. explain how an individual comes to behave during its lifetime

ultimate: influence adaptive advantage and evolution. explains WHY and HOW the individual has evolved the behaviour

Front 4

what are behaviour examples

Back 4

- learning
- sleeping
- foraging
- hiding
-hunting
- inking

Front 5

transition diagrams

Back 5

each outputs must add up to 1

- dinner -> 0.8 FB
- 0.2 HW

Front 6

methods to watch groups

Back 6

- ad lib sampling (write down what you see )

- focal animal sampling (focusing on certain individuals)

- scan sampling (group categories over periods of time)

- instantaneous sampling (using photography to analyze behaviour)

Front 7

define: adaptation

Back 7

trait or integrated suite f traits that enables (or enhances probability of) an organism surviving and reproducing

Front 8

Darwims's 4 postulates ***

Back 8

1.) Turnover: There needs to be a populations that undergoes death and reproduction

2.) Variabilty: there must be variability among the units

3.) differential survival: diff reproductive success (some organisms more likely to survive than others)

4.) Heritable: variations must be passed from parents to offspring

Front 9

How do genes affect behaviour? example?

Back 9

- expression of trait, eg. sitters vs rovers flies


- behaviours are shaped by natural selection as adaptations to particular environments
- many genes influence a behaviour
- some behaviours involve learning (which is also an evolved trait)

Front 10

Define: Heritability

Back 10

measures the proportion of the total phenotypic variance among indidivudals in ap ovulation that is due to the difference in their genes

0 hereitabitlty = all differences come from the environment
1 = all differences are due to genes

( can be estimated from slope of regression line)

Front 11

How do you measure heritability (+ formula)

Back 11

Hertability = R/S


S = selection differential: difference between the breeding mean and the populate mean

R = response to selection: difference between new mean and old mean

Front 12

Hertiability allow you to predict ______...

Back 12

allows you to predict whether a population will respond to natural or artificial selection

Front 13

Note- broad vs narrow-sense

Back 13

- narrow sense accounts for additive effects

Front 14

Limitations of natural selection (4)



red queen...

Back 14

natural selection is a tinker
eg. panda's thumbs which are really weirdly evolved wrist bones

- "red queen hypothesis" eg. parasites on trees
proposes that organisms must constantly adapt, evolve, and proliferate not merely to gain reproductive advantage, but also simply to survive while pitted against ever-evolving opposing organisms in an ever-changing environment.

- not every feature is an adaptation eg. african rhinos vs other rhinos, one species just has an extra horn

- phenotypes are/reflect compromises eg. giraffe. tall neck for (mating/eating) but hard to get a drink of water

Front 15

Genetic Drift
responsible for _____ (evolution of what?)

- could cause _____

- more powerful in ______ (type of population)

Back 15

- reponsible for evolution of neutral alleles (molecular)

- could cause random fixation

- more powerful in small populations

Front 16

Inter-observer reliability
- cons
- pros
- actions to improve

Back 16

Cons: no agreement

Pro: new ideas
range of expertise
- attention to diff details

Improvement: standardize observational definitions

Front 17

TYPES OF STUDIES:

Back 17

observational studies

experimental/manipulative

comparative

Front 18

Statistical tests and when to use them

Back 18

Linear Regression: continous vs continous
- allows to view correlation\

anova:
categorical vs continous
alows for 3> categorial factors

t-test: comparing categorical vs continous
- 2 categories

Chi-squqre: catergorical vs. categorical

Logistic regression: catergorical vs continous

Front 19

Profitability formula

Back 19

Ei/hi

Ei= energy gaines from prey its, i

hi = handling time of prey item i

Front 20

average rate of energy intake

Back 20

Eave/(Save + Have)

Eave = aerate energy gained from diet
Save = average search time
Hav = average handling time

Front 21

Item 2 hold be eaten IF (profitability)

Back 21

E2/h2 > E1/S1+ h1

Profitability of 2nd item > average rate of energy intake of item 1

The choice to eat the less profitable prey (item 2) depends on the ABUNDANCE of the more profitable prey (item 2)

* being a generalist is best for predator

Front 22

Optimal Foraging Assumptions

Back 22

- eat entire prey
- random localization of food (not clumped)
- only accounting for caloric intake
- predator does not improve with experience

Front 23

Marginal Value Theorem
+ reasons to leave food patch

+ conclusions

Back 23

- model where animals experience diminishing returns (resource depression)
- used to predict how much an animals foraging for itself will spend in each site before moving to the next

Reasons to leave patch:
- depletion
- prey are evasive
- predators less likely to search some areas

Conclusions: predators would be generalists in unproductive environments and should be specialists in productive ones

Front 24

risk averse

Back 24

when requirements are less than what yu are getting

Front 25

risk-prone

Back 25

when requirements are higher than what you are getting

Front 26

define: batesian mimicry and example

Back 26

- a non-dangerous species resembles a dangerous species in morphology and behaviour

eg. coral snakes and harmless milk snakes resemble one another

Front 27

define: mullerian mimicry
+ example

Back 27

- multiple dangerous species resemble one another in their morphology and behaviour

eg. poison frogs (brightly coloured)

Front 28

Predator Distaction:
- issue
- solution

Back 28

Issue:
attacrts attention
- credible bahviour

Solution
- multiple callers
- protections
- good performer
- automizing structure (lizard whose tails regenerates)

Front 29

camouflage
- issues
- solutions

Back 29

- requires unchanging environments
- restricts individuals to matching habitat
- complex adaptation (behaviour and morphology)
- could be costly (energy)
- predator may develop a search image
- difficult to ding mates


Solutions:
- coevolve with morphology
- remain in matching environment
- change with seasons or with microhabitats (octopus)
- polymorphism of pattern in population
- prey may have escape of distraction alternative

Front 30

define: polymorphism

Back 30

several different forms or types of individuals among the members of a single species

Front 31

Aposematism (warning colorations)
- issues
- solutions

Back 31

- bright coloration makes individual more visible to predators
- toxcity and warning colourations need to be associated
- adaptations are energetically costly
- it may take time for predators to learn aposematics pattern

Solutions & Evoltuion
- predator may have novelty phobia
- pattern recognized as toxic
- individual only gets injured on attack, not killed

- bright colorations may have evolved for another reason (mating)
-

Front 32

Issues with bayesian mimicry
+ solutions

Back 32

- predators may unlearn to avoid the pattern (teaching may not occur from previous generations)
- subject to negative frequency dependent selection
- mimics need to occupy same habitat as models
- complex trait that requires multiple loci and coevolution with model species


Solutions:
- should be rare and not clustered
- may copy difference model species
- mutations at multiple level favours as they improve resemblance to model

Front 33

Issues with mullerian mimicry
+ solutions

Back 33

Issues:
- learning period required
- need to converge on similar pattern
- strength in numbers (positive density-dependent selection)
- need to occupy and remain in shared environment
- open to cheating due to cost of toxicity
- could lead to problems of species recognition (mating)

Solutions:
- start with similar pattern and maintain same predators
- occupy same envinrment
- similar with warning coloration (patter may be universally recognized as toxic)
- species should avoid polymorphism, purifying selection against mutatnst that look difference

Front 34

define: life-dinner principle

Back 34

eg. while a rabbit is running for its life the fox is only running for its dinner

(do or die type of situation)

Front 35

Prey adaptations to avoid predation examples

Back 35

- hard shells
- fast running
- hide
- mimicry
- predator distraction

Front 36

define: Ideal Free Distribution
- how is it colonized?

Back 36

Animals colonize patches proportional to patch value. This results in more competitors in rich and fewer in poor patches, so resources per capita are the same


*assuming animals recognize value of patches and may move freely btw them. competitors cannot be excluded

How is it colonized?
- richer habitat is occupied first, but as # of competitors increases, resources per capita decrease

Front 37

Define: Ideal despotic Distribution
- how is it colonized?

Back 37

- more competitive animals are able to exclude competitors who are forced to occupy poorer patches or to become floaters. resource distribution is uneven.

How is it colonized?
- rich habitat occupied first
- new comers at some point are forced to occupy poor habitat

Front 38

Define: Home range

Back 38

area or volume in which an animal spends most of its time

Front 39

define: territory:

Back 39

area or volume defended and used exclusively by an individual, pair, family, or group

Front 40

divisible resources - example

Back 40

eg. food. The more you have the more offspring you can produce

Front 41

non-divisible resource example

Back 41

eg. nest-site. if you have one, you reproduce. if you don', you don't reproduce

Front 42

group foraging benefits

Back 42

- group hunting: capture of large or difficult prey

- information exchange: individuals learn of food location via information centers ( bees, naked molerats)

- local enhancement: watching others locate food (vultures)

Front 43

group anti-predator tactics

Back 43

predator dilution: probability of an one individual being attacked decreases with group size

vigilance: more individuals watching for danger

predator confusion: can have a grater effect when prey are similar-looking

alarm-calling

mobbing : ex. sea gulls

Front 44

getting the competitive edge

Back 44

- jouveniles ravens steal arcasses from territorial pairs
- larger multiple queen ant associations outcompete smaller ones

Front 45

Types of Cooperative breeding:

Back 45

- plural breeding: ex. female lions all breed and share care of young, social spiders

- helpers who delay reproduction ex. wolves

- eusociality: non reproductive workers. eg. naked mole rats

Front 46

Types of Social Interactions (4)

Back 46

Actor Recipient

- selfish + -

- Cooperative + +

- Altruistic - +

- Spiteful - -

Front 47

hypothesis for evolution of cooperation and altruism

Back 47

- mutualism: both benefit
- manipulation: forced to by others (e.g. parents)
- reciprocity : they will get the favour returned later
- kin and group selection: help based on relatedness

Front 48

Hamilton's Rule (formula)

Back 48

rB -C > 0

if this holds then [costly] altruism should spread

r: relatedness of actor to recipient
B: benefit to recipient
C: cost to actor

Front 49

if cooperation is costly, then why don't freeloaders/cheaters rake over the populations?

Back 49

b.c there is only a certain amount of freeloaders/cheaters that can be maintained in a group before the group becomes unproductive and suffers

Front 50

under which conditions can btw group selection be an effective evolutionary force ?

Back 50

1.) group variation must form btw groups (Datwins 4 postulates come in here)

2.) then group selection can begin. cooperation will evolve readily when there is no cost associated to it, and will evolve less readily as cost increases

Front 51

kinship increases the _______ - group total variance

Back 51

between group.

this results in the evolution of greater levels of cooperation.

Front 52

what is Hamilton's r?

Back 52

the ratio of the between group over the total variance

Front 53

define: anisogamy

Back 53

late female gametes and small males ones.

*implies that females invest more in reproduction

Front 54

Bateman's principle

Back 54

"males have greater reproductive success than females, so that by having more mats, males increase the number of offspring they have"

Front 55

Sex Roles RULE
(as in the the rule of sex roles, not they that sex roles are awesome)

Back 55

The sex whose typical parental investment is grater will become the limiting resource for the opposite sex.

* females (who invest more time are the limiting resource to males)
male persistence and female resistance

Front 56

define: OSR (operational sex ratio)

Back 56

ratio of receptive males to females

Front 57

- changes in OSR may lead to what?

Back 57

- sex role reversal

Front 58

define: sexual selection

Back 58

- selection for traits that increase mating success (often involving male0male competition and female choice)

Front 59

Types of male competition
+ examples

Back 59

pre-copulatory:
- territorial defence
- combat

post-copulatory
- mate guarding
sperm competition

post-fertilization
-infanticide

Front 60

sexy son hypothesis
- limitations

Back 60

females choose the best looking male (based on looks alone)

limitations:
the trait will evolve so much that it eventually affects survival and stops evolving further

Front 61

good genes hypothesis
- assumptions

Back 61

females use exaggerated traits as an indicator of male quality (handicap principle)


Assumptions

Front 62

Sexual Conflict
the sexes often disagree with respect to ...

Back 62

mating decisions: since females lose more if they mate with the wrong/inappropriate partner

offpsring care: both sexes would benefit from NOT taking a parental role

infanticide: the female loses all her investment

multiple mating: females usually gain little from this, whereas males gain much more [fitness]

Front 63

what's an example of an antagonistic co-evolution of sexual conflict?

Back 63

ex. ducks reproductive organs are actually opposing in females from males. (coil the opposite way)

Front 64

What are the 4 types of mating systems?

Back 64

promiscuous: FFF x MMM

monogamous: M X F

polygyny: M xFFFF

polyandry: F x MMM

Front 65

Why are males some species monogamous?
(be able to discuss hypotheses and support them)

Back 65

H1: biparental care needed (not supported)

H2: spatial distribution of females makes it difficult to be promiscuous. (supported)

Front 66

with what type of territory does "resource defines polygyny" occur?
when does it happen?

Back 66

small defendable territory behaviour

when: usually a single female to protect/guard

Front 67

when does monogamy occur (n terms of territoriality)

Back 67

when there is a medium sized exclusive area to guard/protect

Front 68

when does scramble competition polygyny/promiscuity (in terms of territory) occur?

Back 68

happens with non-defensible ranges of territory

Front 69

what do males do when neither females nor resources are defensible?

Back 69

they form leks

Front 70

define: leks

Back 70

male aggregations where each male defends a small territory and they display there features

Front 71

Why do leks form?
- give hypotheses and supporting evidence for them

Back 71

H1: hotspot hypothesis -> leks forming in areas which are popular/common for females to gather in. In this case females may have certain 'mating sites'

H2: hot-shot Hypothesis -> where males aggregate around the 'fittest' male in the lek. So if maybe female can't mate with her #1 choice, she will mate with her #2 choice

H3: Predator Dilution- are able to defend/get away/scare off predators when in groups

H4: Increased female attraction -> able to attract females form wider range/distance

H5: female preference hypothesis -> males cluster because females prefer large groups of available males so that they can compare their choices/mates

Suppoting Evidence:
suport H3-4 ( frogs croaking: loud enough for females to hear but have a large enough group to scare away predators)

Front 72

Why do females in some species mate multiply

Back 72

H1: gentic diversity -> minimize risk of inbreeding. have a larger diversity in offspring. create a higher chance of getting "sexy genes" /"good genes"

H2: fertility insurance make sure they are fertilized. ex. monogamous species may have less probability of always being fertilized

H3: material benefits -> their offspring have better chance and more resources to survive

Front 73

Why do females accept sharing male care and/or resources in polygynous species?

Back 73

they may be better off sharing than alone in a low quality habitat

* refer and explain Polygyny Threshold Model

Front 74

In birds: who will care for the offering (parental care)

Back 74

- both: higher chance of bringing enough food

Front 75

in mammals: who will care for the offspring

Back 75

females: usually have much higher association to the offspring

Front 76

in fish: who will most likely care for the offspring

Back 76

males: higher associalblity (eggs are probably layer in their territory and so they guard it)
- this sully also occurs in externally reutilized scenarios

Front 77

Why do females often care more than males?
(explain with RULE)

Back 77

Rule: sex in which parental care produces the least fitness disadvantage should do the care.

* since males would lose a lot more not going off and reproducing, females therefore do most of the care.