Ch 5 + 6

Question 1

general environmental cues for behavior

Answer 1

light
temperature
density of other individuals
availability of resources

Question 2

endogenous clock hypothesis

Answer 2

an internal timing mechanism with a built-in schedule acts independently of any cues from an animal’s surroundings to control change in priorities over time
ex. jet lag

Question 3

environmental stimulus hypothesis

Answer 3

animals use feedback information from the surrounding environment (exogenous information) to modulate behaviors and priorities

Question 4

endogenous vs exogenous control hypotheses are

Answer 4

non-mutually exclusive

Question 5

adaptive value of endogenous clock

Answer 5

enables individuals to alter the timing of their cycles without having to constantly check the environment
ex: crickets under 24h light still call on a regular basis for several hours each day, but fine-tune their cycles on a normal 12h/12h schedule

Question 6

environment-dependent element of a clock allows

Answer 6

individuals to adjust their cycles in keeping with local conditions

Question 7

most organisms’ rhythms are:

Answer 7

endogenous, but using environmental stimuli to “reset” the clock

Question 8

predictable behavior cues

Answer 8

photoperiod
circadian cycle
circannual rhythm
lunar cycles
tidal cycles

Question 9

photoperiod

Answer 9

hours of light in 24 hours

Question 10

unpredictable behavior cues

Answer 10

summer rains dictating food availability
food intake
presence of mates
severe weather events

Question 11

example: circannual rhythm of golden-mantled ground squirrel

Answer 11

animals held in a constant darkness and temperature still entered hibernation at the same time as their wild conspecifics
indicates an environment-independent timer for circannual behaviors

Question 12

example: lunar cycle foraging of kangaroo rats

Answer 12

rats only active on nights with no moon in winter months - less light, they couldn’t be spotted by predators
with seed shortage, they forage all night and all day, despite visibility to predators

Question 13

example: testis size in red crossbill

Answer 13

months with a shorter photoperiod -> larger testis size, to maximize mating success during short days?

Question 14

example: effect of unpredictable summer rainfall on mating singing in sparrows

Answer 14

sizes of HVC and RA in the sparrow increase following monsoon thunderstorms
-> increase in singing after monsoons start
could be due to birds waiting for more rainfall -> more foot for their offspring

Question 15

biological clock mechanisms work with neural and hormonal systems enable individuals to -

Answer 15

shift behaviors with periodic environmental changes

Question 16

hormones produced by _______ will set in motion ________

Answer 16

endocrine organs; cascade of physiological changes, esp. for breeding season or changing environment/social

Question 17

species use the _______ environmental cues to fine-tune endogenous behavior cycles

Answer 17

most relevant

Question 18

approaches to explore behavioral adaptations for survival

Answer 18

optimality theory vs. game theory

Question 19

optimality theory

Answer 19

better vs best strategy
cost/benefit ratio analysis
individual strategy

Question 20

game theory

Answer 20

conditional on strategy of others
different competing strategies
frequency dependent selection with the rarer strategy being most adaptive

Question 21

solitary avoidance of predators looks like

Answer 21

blending in
standing out
deterrence signals

Question 22

blending in/camouflage

Answer 22

organisms can have cryptic shapes, colors, body position
trade-off: if you’re hiding you can’t move or forage

Question 23

standing out

Answer 23

warning coloration/aposemitism
mimicry of aposemitic species, either by other poisonous species (Mullerian) or non-poisonous species (batesian) (ex. of code breaking)

Question 24

deterrence signals

Answer 24

startling predators (ex. eye-like markings)
diverting attacks (ex. tail markings, tail falls off)
pursuit deterrence (lizards do pushups to show they can endure running away from snakes)

Question 25

stotting in gazelles

Answer 25

pursuit/attack deterrence to predators, shown by various predictions and alternative hypotheses (signal to conspecifics, signal to predators, etc)

Question 26

defense in groups can be

Answer 26

active or passive

Question 27

active social defense in groups

Answer 27

mobbing in seagulls, improved vigilance in meerkat troops etc

Question 28

passive social defense in groups

Answer 28

dilution effect, confusion effect, selfish herd these hypotheses are non-mutually exclusive

Question 29

swamping/dilution effect

Answer 29

bigger groups may attract more predators, but the individual predation risk decreases ex. all wildebeest give birth during a 2-week period, so the hyenas can't eat ALL the babies

Question 30

emergence synchronicity

Answer 30

type of dilution effect - extreme example is periodic cicadas, with all individuals emerging at intervals of 13 or 17 years

Question 31

swamping - confusion effect

Answer 31

movement of large groups of individuals together makes it difficult for predators to single out any single individual

Question 32

selfish herds/optimal group size

Answer 32

individuals "selfishly" join groups for their own benefit, not of others, as benefits outweigh the costs of group living group size will not exceed the optimal number in terms of resource sharing etc

Question 33

optimality theory assumption

Answer 33

organisms will attempt to maximize benefits while minimizing costs

Question 34

optimal rate of prey capture

Answer 34

takes optimal searching time to get the optimal number of prey caught more prey -> increase in time spent -> suboptimal

Question 35

accurate measurements of costs and benefits ->

Answer 35

we can predict the behavioral choices of organisms

Question 36

optimal behavior

Answer 36

becomes an adaptation

Question 37

optimality in bobwhite quail flocks

Answer 37

benefit - anti-predator, birds scan for predators more, with up to 10 members cost - increased competition for food among flock members

Question 38

group costs

Answer 38

larger groups can locate food but then they have to share it large groups also have to spend more time moving between foraging areas

Question 39

optimal foraging theory predicts

Answer 39

maximum calorie intake, based on food type, travel time, search time, handling time

Question 40

foraging efficiently makes you ______

Answer 40

sexy! female crossbills can assess the feeding ability of males and use it to decide whether to mate with them -> better foraging, better mating prospects

Question 41

adding more realistic factors to models -

Answer 41

increases their accuracy ex. inaccurate model - only considers energy available from food divided by time required for acquiring, while accurate model considers diminishing cost after certain size/trait of the acquired food

Question 42

animals do not always optimize foraging efficiency due to

Answer 42

animals require other things from food, such as critical nutrients, in addition to energy predators can shape the evolution of an animal's foraging behavior

Question 43

risk-sensitive foraging

Answer 43

animals' time spend foraging will decrease when probability of predators in the area increases

Question 44

cognition and finding food

Answer 44

finding food often requires sophisticated cognitive systems food-caching (remembering where it hid the food - squirrels, nutcracker bird) tool use (new caledonian crow, using tool to extract beetles)

Question 45

cognitive tools for foraging - trade off

Answer 45

can be adaptive, but brain power requires lots of energy and nutrients

Question 46

evolutionary game theory is used to

Answer 46

determine which among a series of behavioral strategies is likely to evolve in a given context or population

Question 47

Hawk-Dove model

Answer 47

created by John Smith and George Price hawk vs dove strategy to determine whether individuals share or fight over food resources

Question 48

hawk strategy

Answer 48

individual first displays aggression, then escalates into a fight until they either win or lose 2 hawk strategies result in (benefit - cost)/2 for both hawks hawks always get full benefit when fighting doves

Question 49

dove strategy

Answer 49

individual first displays aggression - retreats if there is an escalation, shares resources if not 2 doves will each get the benefit/2 doves will get 0 cost or benefit when against a hawk

Question 50

evolutionary stable strategy (ESS)

Answer 50

strategy which cannot be invaded by any competing alternative strategy hawk is a pure ESS when benefit > cost hawks and doves coexist at a mixed ESS when cost > benefit

Question 51

most often, natural populations have _____ ESS

Answer 51

mixed

Question 52

frequency-dependent selection

Answer 52

fitness of an inherited strategy is a function of its frequency relative to another inherited behavioral trait/strategy often negative

Question 53

negative frequency-dependent selection

Answer 53

selection will select against the frequent type, and favor the rare type leads to periodic fluctuations in the frequencies of both phenotypes as they switch from more common to less common and back

Question 54

frequency-dependent selection allows

Answer 54

mixed behavioral strategies to coexist in a population

Question 55

an "optimal" foraging tactic will

Answer 55

supply a fitness benefit to individuals

Question 56

cryptic species that blend into their backgrounds always _____ to stay inconspicuous

Answer 56

use behaviors, i.e. staying motionless