Term
Cooking in clay pots or actually consuming clay is adptive in some human diets because
a. clay has anti-microbial properties
b. clay contains nutrients otherwise not available in these diets
c. clay absorbs toxins like tannins that are found in acorns |
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Definition
| c. clay absorbs toxins like tannins that are found in acorns |
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Term
Female Priapella olmecea fish prefer to mate with male P. olmecea that had extensions artificially placed on their otherwise naturally short tail fins. This best supports which hypothesis listed below?
a. pre-existing sensory bias
b. payoff asymmetry
c. puntuated equilibrium |
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Definition
| a. pre-existing sensory bias |
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Term
True or False? The interspecific high-pitched 'seet' call by birds to warn of the presense of predators tends to result in mobbing the predator.
a. True
B.False |
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Definition
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Term
Figure A refers to the left- and right jawed scale eating cichlids. This is an example of
a. payoff asymmetry
b. frequency dependent selection
c. a conditional strategy by the scale eating cichlids |
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Definition
| b. frequency dependent selection |
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Term
Which statement applies to sensory exploitation based on examples presented in class and in the text?
a. sensory exploitation explains the development of a type of communication between animals of the same species.
b. sensory exploitation explains the development of a type of communication between animals of two or more different species.
c. sensory exploitation always results in a decrease in fitness for one animal and an increase in fitness for the other. |
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Definition
| a. sensory exploitation explains the development of a type of communication between animals of the same species. |
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Term
Which of the following examples is most consistent with a conditional strategy based on gaining more experience as animals age?
a. resident vs. migrant European blackbirds
b. grizzly bears, often very territorial, congregate at salmon streams.
c. oyster catchers only select the largest mussels even though they have barnacle on them |
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Definition
| a. resident vs. migrant European blackbirds |
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Term
See Fig. B: Which is the correct statement regarding the experiment design associated with this figure?
a. Frog voices were surgically altered
b. Frogs were prevented from calling via rubber bands and taped calls were played
c. Plastic models of frogs were tested to see if frog size influenced a potential attacker. |
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Definition
| b. Frogs were prevented from calling via rubber bands and taped calls were played |
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Term
Based on Fig. B, which frog received the greatest number of attacks?
a. small defender with high pitch call
b. larger defender with high pitch call
c. small defender with low pitch call |
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Definition
| a. small defender with high pitch call |
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Term
Consider the situation where, after mating, a male butterfly transfers a substance to the female butterfly. She is less appealing to other males. This is a deceptive signal to assure the male's paternity if
a. the female has fertilized her eggs and is no longer receptive to other males
b. the female has not fertilized all her eggs and is still receptive to other males
c. the male also inserts a plug into the female to temporarily prevent additional matings |
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Definition
| b. the female has not fertilized all her eggs and is still receptive to other males |
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Term
[On day one of an experiment, thirty ravens were collected from a roosting site (groove of trees) that contained 100 ravens. Then 30 ravens were captured and taken to a holding facility and marked with numbered leg bands. On that same day, the investigators placed a road-kill moose 2 miles 2 miles due east of the roost. On day two, 15 of the 30 ravens were released at the original roosting site (group A), and the other 15 ravens (group B) were released 2 miles due east of the moose. On day 3 the investigators observed all 15 group A birds at the moose, along with dozens of unbanded ravens. None of the Group B raven were seen at the moose.]
The experimental results regarding ravens at the moose support the hypothesis that
a. some birds find prey primarily by odor
b. some birds communicate information about food at the roost
c. individual birds are attracted to flocks of birds at a feeding site |
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Definition
| b. some birds communicate information about food at the roost |
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Term
[On day one of an experiment, thirty ravens were collected from a roosting site (groove of trees) that contained 100 ravens. Then 30 ravens were captured and taken to a holding facility and marked with numbered leg bands. On that same day, the investigators placed a road-kill moose 2 miles 2 miles due east of the roost. On day two, 15 of the 30 ravens were released at the original roosting site (group A), and the other 15 ravens (group B) were released 2 miles due east of the moose. On day 3 the investigators observed all 15 group A birds at the moose, along with dozens of unbanded ravens. None of the Group B raven were seen at the moose.]
Which of the following conditions would most likely select for the general type of behavior observed in the raven-moose experiment?
a. food that is generally abundant most of the time
b. food that is uniformly distributed in an area
c. food that is available in small areas for short periods of time |
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Definition
| c. food that is available in small areas for short periods of time |
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Term
In another experiment where a resident pair made no calls at a moose carcass, but a lone raven came in and began calling, the investigators concluded that...
a. a solo raven was giving a predator warning call so as to trick the residents to fly away
b. the solo raven called to bring in other non-residents to take over the carcass
c. the solo raven called to attract a large scavenger to come scare the residents away |
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Definition
| b. the solo raven called to bring in other non-residents to take over the carcass |
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Term
Recalling the examples from the video on communication, although the sexes of many birds species look the same to us, males and females within some species distinguish sexes by
a. odor
b. visual markers observed only with tail feathers spread out
c. detection of feathers color/patterns in the UV portion of the light spectrum
d. detection of feather color/patterns in the infra-red portion of the light spectrum |
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Definition
| c. detection of feathers color/patterns in the UV portion of the light spectrum |
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Term
Data were collected on crows trying to crack open the shells of whelks and are represented in Fig.C. Based on optimal foraging theory the crows should
a. select the smallest whelks and drops them from a height 5 meters
b. select the largest whelks and drop them from a height of 5 meters
c. select the smallest whelks and drop them from a height of 15 meters
d. select the largest whelks and drop them from a height of 15 meters |
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Definition
| b. select the largest whelks and drop them from a height of 5 meters |
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Term
American crows open walnuts by dropping them on hard surfaces. Typically, they first drop the walnuts from 3-4 meters, but with successive drops they only fly up 1-2 meters to drop the walnut. However, in the presence of other crows, they never fly higher that 1-2 meters, even on the first drop. Which of the following statements best applies to the process of cracking open walnuts?
a. successive drops are required until the walnut hits just the right spot to crack the walnut
b. successive drops gradually weaken the walnut until it cracks
c. dropping from 3-4 meters (instead of 1-2 meters) reduces the risk of a walnut being stolen by another crow |
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Definition
| b. successive drops gradually weaken the walnut until it cracks |
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Term
Despite the fact that scout honeybees may obtain less calories per unit time searching for food than recruits. The scout bee benefits because...
a. recruit bees bring food back to the scout
b. scouts and recruits are siblings, so scout's indirect fitness is enhanced
c. scout bees have a different morphology that decreases the cost of flight |
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Definition
| b. scouts and recruits are siblings, so scout's indirect fitness is enhanced |
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Term
Oystercatchers select mussels of certain sizes based on the caloric benefit relative to the cost associated with opening the mussel. Why don't the oystercatchers select mussels approximately 10 mm in length, even though they are the most abundant size available as shown in Fig. D?
a. the profitability is low, as illustrated in Fig. E
b. the smaller mussels have more barnacles
c. the smaller mussels are harder to open |
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Definition
| a. the profitability is low, as illustrated in Fig. E |
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Term
Larger mussels fed to oystercatchers in laboratory conditions have the highest profitability. However, the data shown in Fig. D shows that oystercatchers in the wild do not select the largest size classes of mussels. The discrepancy is explained by
a. larger mussels in the wild tend to have barnacles, making them more difficult to open
b. larger, sexually mature mussels in the wild have lower tissue weights because they have lost energy during reproduction (i.e., put energy into making eggs and sperm)
c. larger mussels in the wild are buried deeper in the substrate, making them more difficult to extract. |
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Definition
| a. larger mussels in the wild tend to have barnacles, making them more difficult to open |
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Term
| Which model, A or B as shown in Fig. E, best represents the data collected from field observations of oystercatchers eating mussels? |
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Definition
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Term
Stanley Weckers's studies on habitat selection in deer mice indicated that the tendency somewhat diminished (i.e., the mice were less likely to choose grassland habitat). The explanation for this progressively declining genetic influence was
a. inbreeding of the lab population
b. genetically based habitat selection was likely reinforced by imprinting.
c. the tendency for individuals (especially males) to disperse from their birth area |
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Definition
| b. genetically based habitat selection was likely reinforced by imprinting. |
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Term
Which of the following most likely explains the tendency for male belding ground squirrels to disperse?
a. the need to avoid inbreeding
b. dominance hierarchy that forces young males out of the colony
c. high population density (i.e. not enough resources to support the population) |
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Definition
| a. the need to avoid inbreeding |
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Term
The hognose snake uses several strategies in sequence to avoid being eaten (as seen in the video). The correct order is
a. excrete a foul smelling substance, play dead, hiss and puff up
b. hiss and puff up, play dead, excrete a foul smelling substance
c. play dead, hiss and puff up, excrete a foul smelling substance |
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Definition
| b. hiss and puff up, play dead, excrete a foul smelling substance |
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Term
Shrikes eat relatively large prey but do not have powerful feet and claws to assist in tearing apart prey. Which of the following best describes the evolution of shrike foraging behavior?
a. their ancestors had powerful feet and claws, but shrikes no longer needed them
b. their ancestors lacked powerful feet and claws, but shrikes evolved an alternative strategy to dismember prey
c. this is a case of divergent evolution, where shrikes took on characteristics very different from their hawk-like ancestors |
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Definition
| b. their ancestors lacked powerful feet and claws, but shrikes evolved an alternative strategy to dismember prey |
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Term
How does a male water mite behave in order to get a female mite to mate with them?
a. create water currents near the female that mimic her prey
b. attach decorations to his back to make him appear more fit
c. change color patterns to mimic her prey |
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Definition
| a. create water currents near the female that mimic her prey |
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Term
Which of the following is a correct statement about the study described in 'Men's voices and 'women's choices'?
a. comparisons of a female's judgments to other females' judgments about male body characteristics based on voices rarely agreed
b. more accurate judgments of body characteristics were made after listening to tapes of males enunciate consonants as compared to enunciating vowels
c. the investigators found no correlation between actual acoustic features of male voices and actual body measurements of the male subjects |
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Definition
| c. the investigators found no correlation between actual acoustic features of male voices and actual body measurements of the male subjects |
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Term
Which of the following is a correct statement about the study described in 'Men's voices and Women's choices'?
a. females were able to predict males' weights by listening to male voices
b. females were not able to predict any of the physical characteristics of males based on male voices
c. females judged males with lower frequency harmonics as less attractive and younger |
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Definition
| a. females were able to predict males' weights by listening to male voices |
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Term
Hawks in North America rely on what tactics to ensure a successful migration to central and south America?
a.prevailing winds from cold fronts
b. thermals produced by warm ari rising
c. avoiding long over-water flights
d. all of the above
e. both b and c are correct |
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Definition
| e. both b and c are correct |
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Term
See Fig. F. Researchers measured certain characteristics of black-winged damsel fly winners and losers after battles, but Fig. F shows that thorax weights of winners are just as likely to be greater or lower that those of losers. This is best explained by...
a. the resident always always wins
b. the thorax of a loser can be larger, but the loser still tends to have lower fat reserves
c. winners have larger wings, and therefore can fly with more power |
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Definition
| b. the thorax of a loser can be larger, but the loser still tends to have lower fat reserves |
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Term
Which one of the following describes a Batesian mimic?
a. a moth appears to look like a broken wing
b. a caterpillar can puff up and look like a snake
c. a poisonous insect has the same color pattern as several other species of poisonous insect |
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Definition
| b. a caterpillar can puff up and look like a snake |
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Term
Which of the following describes a Mullerian mimic?
a. a moth appears to look like a broken wing
b. a caterpillar can puff up and look like a snake
c. a poisonous insect has the same color pattern as several other species of poisonous insect |
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Definition
| c. a poisonous insect has the same color pattern as several other species of poisonous insect |
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Term
Which of the following observations of a Thompson's gazelle in the presence of cheetahs best supports the unprofitability advertisment hypothesis?
a. a solitary gazelle stots
b. stotters direct their white rump patch towards other gazelles
c. grouped gazelles stot |
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Definition
| a. a solitary gazelle stots |
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Term
Which of the following observations of a Thompson's gazelle in the presence of cheetah's best supports the alarm signal hypothesis?
a. a solitary gazelle stots
b. stotters direct their white rump patch towards other gazelles
c. stotters direct their white rump towards the cheetah |
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Definition
| b. stotters direct their white rump patch towards other gazelles |
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Term
Based on the video clip, which hypothesis regarding how males attract females for mating applies to the genetically modified farm-raised salmon that grow faster than wild-type salmon?
a. good genes hypothesis
b. chase-away hypothesis
c. genotype matching |
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Definition
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Term
[As always, choose the best possible answer and keep in mind this involves genetic tinkering, which may 'break the rules' regarding some explanations of behavior]. A model developed to explain what might happen to a population of the genetically modified (GM) salmon resulted in the prediction that the population would crash. This could be best explained by the fact that female salmon (females that are not GM) may select less fit but larger male GM-salmon due to
a. sensory exploitation
b. pre-existing sensory bias
c. conditional strategy |
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Definition
| b. pre-existing sensory bias |
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Term
The payoff asymmetry hypothesis refer to
a. the longer an animal has occupied a territory, the harder it will defend against intruders
b. the higher the energy reserves, the harder an animal will defend against intruders
c. animals with symmetric features appear more fit
d. animals with asymmetric features appear more fit |
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Definition
| a. the longer an animal has occupied a territory, the harder it will defend against intruders |
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Term
(refer to test, #36)The strategy most closely associated with the behavior of the social mutant type is called
a. the selfish herd
b. dilution effect
c. vigilance |
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Definition
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Term
(refer to same thing as #36)If social fitness payoff quantity 'B' is greater than the social cost 'C', which behavior should eventually dominate the population?
a. social
b. solitary
c. neither would dominate (50:50) |
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Definition
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Term
(refer to above #36) The term '-B/2' represents
a. the fitness taken away from a social mutant because another social mutant is using the shield strategy
b. the cost of using the shield strategy for any social mutant
c. the cost of being a social type in the presence of solitary animals |
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Definition
| a. the fitness taken away from a social mutant because another social mutant is using the shield strategy |
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Term
The comparison of 'black-headed gulls' mobbing behavior to the failuer of kittiwakes to exhibit mobbing, even though both species nest in colonies, illustrates a case of
a. convergent evolution
c. the dilution effect |
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Definition
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Term
Which of the following statements is true about the 'pseudopenis' found in female hyenas?
a. it provides great advantages in communicating social rank with little cost
b. it is rarely found on dominant female hyenas
c. attempting birth through the pseudopenis results in 10-20% of females dying |
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Definition
| c. attempting birth through the pseudopenis results in 10-20% of females dying |
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Term
In the 'food producer' (i.e. individuals seek out food patches such as a school of fish) versus 'scrounger' (exploits producer) scenario presented in Chp. 7 which explanation is least likely?
a. producers seek out food and communicate about it for the good of the group
b. a conditional strategy by scroungers due to inexperience or poor health
c. frequency dependent selection, where a large increase in scroungers would result in too few producers to find the food. |
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Definition
| a. producers seek out food and communicate about it for the good of the group |
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Term
Unprofitability and advertising (via red tails) in tadpoles was initiated by
a. a tadpole being eaten and releasing a chemical that stimulates other to grow red tails
b. chemical cues released from the skin or predator tiger salamanders
c. a rapid rise in water temperature |
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Definition
| a. a tadpole being eaten and releasing a chemical that stimulates other to grow red tails |
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Term
A cost of growing large red tails in tadpoles for unprofitability advertising is
a. it takes longer for them to become frogs
b. they require larger prey items to eat, and these are in short supply
c. they attract larger predators like herons to the pond |
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Definition
| a. it takes longer for them to become frogs |
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Term
Flying in V-formation (e.g. geese, pelicans) is an advantage to birds in the rear of the flock because
a. they can see past the other birds for navigational purposes
b. they spend less energy flying because they are drafting behind the wing tips of the forward birds
c.they are less vulnerable to predation |
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Definition
| b. they spend less energy flying because they are drafting behind the wing tips of the forward birds |
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Term
The observation of the parrot-like Kea eating baby birds was attributed to
a. divergent evolution related to the lack of see and fruit bearing plants in their habitat
b. convergent evolution of other predatory birds in the same environment
c. a conditional strategy in which they resort to meat eating on a seasonal basis |
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Definition
| a. divergent evolution related to the lack of see and fruit bearing plants in their habitat |
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Term
| Quail tend to form conveys of ~11 birds which can be associated with certain quantifiable benefits (B) and costs (C). Explain why having greater than 11 birds per covey starts to decrease the value of B-C. Be clear about how B and/or C each tend to go up or down as the number of birds increase. |
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Definition
(she got half credit for this)
"The value of B will decrease with more than 11 birds because there would not be enough resources available and the competition for mates will increase. The C of having great than 11 birds will increase because the bird would have to fight for resources more. B would increase due to vigilance/dilution effect but >11 benefits increase at a lower rate. |
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Term
| List 3 environmental cues that serve as a compass reference for migration and/or homing in birds: 2 that require a sense of time of day and/or season and a third that requires no sense of time or season |
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Definition
1 - sun (day)
2 - stars (night)
3 - magnetic field (anytime) |
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Term
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Definition
| When prey closely approach and attempt to harass a predator. |
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Term
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Definition
| tests hypothesis on the possible adaptive value of a particular trait. (does it raise fitness?) |
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Term
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Definition
| a measure of the genes contributed to the next generation by an individual, often stated in terms of the number of offspring produced by the individual. |
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Term
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Definition
| the genes contributed by an individual via personal reproduction in the bodies of surviving offspring |
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Term
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Definition
| the genes contributed by an individual indirectly by helping nondescendant kin, in effect creating relatives that would not have existed without thehelp of the individual. |
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Term
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Definition
| method for studying the adaptive value of alternative traits based on the recognition that phenotypes come with fitness costs and fitness benefits. |
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Term
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Definition
| refers to the positive effect of a trait on the number of offspring produced and the number of alleles that pass on to the next generation |
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Term
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Definition
| refers to damaging effects of a trait on the measures of individual genetic success. |
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Term
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Definition
| involves testing predictions about the evolution of an interesting trait by looking at species other then the one whose characteristics are under investigation |
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Term
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Definition
| the independent acquisition over time through natural selection of similar characteristics in two or more unrelated species |
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Term
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Definition
| the evolution by natural selection of differences amoung closely related species that live in different environments and are therefore subject to different selection pressures. |
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Term
Stotting
Alarm signal hypothesis |
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Definition
| stotting might warn conspecifics , particularly offspring, that a predator is dangerously near. This signal could increase the survival of the signalers of the signaler's offspring and relatives, thereby improving the stotter's fitness. |
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Term
Stotting
social cohesian hypothesis |
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Definition
| stotting might enable gazelles to form groups and flee in a coordinated manner, making it harder for the predator to cut any one of them out of the herd. |
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Term
| Stotting confusion effect hypothesis |
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Definition
| by stotting, individuals in a fleeing herd might confuse and distract a following predator, keeping it from focusing on one animal. |
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Term
| Stotting pursuit deterrence hypothesis |
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Definition
| stotting might announce to a pursuing predator that the individual is in excellent condition and is therefore unlikely to be captured, which, if true, would favor predators that stopped casing that gazelle |
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Term
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Definition
| an evolutionary theory based on the assumption that the attributes or organisms are optimal, i.e., better that others in terms of the ratio of fitness benefits to costs; the theory is used to generate hypotheses about the possible adaptive value of traits in terms of net fitness gains |
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Term
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Definition
| an evolutionary approach to study of adaptive value in which the payoffs to individuals associated with one behavioral tactic are dependent on what the other members in the group are doing |
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Term
| frequency dependent selection |
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Definition
| a form of natural selection in which those individuals that happen to belong to the less commmon of two types in the population are theones that are more fit because of their lower frequency in the population |
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Term
| ideal free distribution theory |
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Definition
| the theory that animals will, if given the chance, distribute themselves spatially in ways that maximize their reproductive success. |
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Term
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Definition
| the regular movement back and forth between two relatively distant locations by animals that use resources concentrated in these different sites. |
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Term
| 4 stages of predator avoidance |
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Definition
| avoid detection reduce attacks avoid capture avoid consumption |
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Term
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Definition
| a gene that effects more that one phenotypic trait (including behaviors) |
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Term
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Definition
| species interactions provide selection pressure for both species *predators change strategy; prey counters in defense |
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Term
| All strategies have a ________. |
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Definition
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Term
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Definition
| detect attack capture consume |
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Term
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Definition
| mimic something else harmful |
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Term
|
Definition
| mimic something harmful when you are not harmful |
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Term
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Definition
| competition density dependent issue(parasites/disease) attract predators |
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Term
|
Definition
| chemicals pee/poop snake musk amphibian slime |
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Term
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Definition
| getting the biggest fitness bang for your buck |
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Term
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Definition
| 11 is optimal group size. they move less because there is not as much competition for food, which leads to less energy use. big enough to have high vigilance. |
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Term
| variables in measuring calories |
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Definition
| food calorie content nutritional value tied to fitness energy expended risk of exposure/death |
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Term
| basic process of foraging (depends on species) |
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Definition
| detect or lure select which things to eat communicate to others in group capture handle |
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Term
| compass sense; Day reference |
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Definition
| the sun! challenge - the sun moves throughout the day |
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Term
| compass sense; night reference |
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Definition
| the stars! challenge - moves also, revolves around the North star |
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Term
| Compass Sense; Anytime Reference |
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Definition
| the magnetic field of the Earth challenge - it is not strong |
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Term
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Definition
| the use of landmarks in navigation |
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Term
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Definition
|
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Term
|
Definition
| less time to forage risk of injury energy(calories) put into effort |
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Term
|
Definition
| not sharing a limiting resource attract mates prevent access to mates by rivals |
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Term
|
Definition
|
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Term
|
Definition
| the evolution of signals that happen to activiate established sensory systems of signal recievers in ways that elicit responses favorable to the signal sender |
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Term
|
Definition
| a rough 24hr cycle of behavior that expresses itself independent of environmental changes |
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Term
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Definition
| an individual that listens to the signals of others, thereby gaining information that it uses to reduce the fitness of the signaler |
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Term
|
Definition
| an individual that produces signals that may deceive others into responding in ways that reduce the fitness of signal receiver |
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Term
| constraints on adaptive perfection |
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Definition
| 1. failure of appropriate mutation to occur 2. pleitrophy 3. co-evolution |
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Term
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Definition
| The hypothesis that evolutionary development is marked by isolated episodes of rapid speciation between long periods of little or no change. |
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