Mammalogy Exam 3

lectures 9-12

What is perceptual/primary consciousness? What organisms have it?

the basic, immediate awareness of sensory information, such as sights, sounds, without the ability to reflect on it, most mammals are capable of this, ex. a cat understanding that you are initiating play time when you show their toy

What is reflective consciousness? What organisms are capable of it?

the ability to think, experience feelings, self-awareness, humans are the most notable, however mammals that pass the mirror test (maybe reflective?) include elephants, apes, and dolphins

Is there evidence of reflective consciousness in cats? (4)

-do not pass the mirror test, but show other forms of self awareness

-spatial awareness, problem-solving, memories, object permananence

What are significant characteristics of Family Felidae? (6)

-vibrissae

-clavicles anchored in bone

-obligate carnivores: unable to synthesize amino acids that are only found in meat

-crepuscular

-tapetum lucidum

-FRAP

What is FRAP?

frenetic random activity period aka zoomies!

What types of consciousness behavior studies have been done on cats? (6)

-name awareness

-object permanence

-paired attachment (to human owners)

-body language, vocalizations, emotional state

-learning

-social referencing

What is object permanence?

the understanding that objects continue to exist even when they can't be seen, heard, or touched

Why do cats meow and purr?

-most likely in order to communicate with humans

-purring is thought to mimic the frequency of a human baby cry

What is classical conditioning?

-a type of learning where an involuntary response to a natural stimulus becomes associated with a previously unrelated, or neutral, stimulus

-associating an involuntary response with a new stimulus

-ex. pavlovs dogs - learned to drool at the sound of the dinner bell

What is operant conditioning?

-a learning process where behavior is controlled by the consequences that follow it, such as reinforcements or punishment

-associating a voluntary behavior with its consequence (a reward or punishment)

-ex. clicker training - if i do this behavior, i get a snack! ill do it again

What is counterconditioning?

-replacing an undesirable emotional response to a stimulus with a new, positive one by pairing the stimulus with a high-value reward

-ex. using treats to change a cats fear of the vacuum

What is significant of cat social referencing?

-there is evidence that cats can read and contextualize human expressions and their responses to stimuli

ex. if you’re scared of a new object, your cat will too

How has evolution shaped the behavior of domestic cats? (3)

-climbing behavior

-preference for enclosed spaces and ambush predation

-dislike being picked up or handled from above - fear of aerial predators

When were cats domesticated? (2)

-first thought to be 4000 years ago in Egypt

-could be as early as 10000 from paleontological evidence in Cyprus associated with the rise of agriculture

What are cultural/environmental differences between cats that live in the US vs Japan? (2)

-US cat culture focuses on individualism and household pets,

-Japanese cat culture incorporates felines into public life, with environmental differences in housing and stray cat management

Why has homosexuality evolved? (4)

-”evolutionary paradox”, can’t reproduce naturally, so what’s the point?

-there is plenty of gay stuff happening elsewhere in the animal kingdom, ex. in giraffe and sheep mating, males prefer males!

-has a genetic component! many hypotheses

-one is that alleles coding for gay behavior may boost an individuals ability to form social bonds - survival over reproduction

What is significant of dolphins learning abilities and communication? (6)

-observational learning: using tools to imitate human behaviors, like using a seagull feather to scrape algae from an underwater window

-rate of learning: captive dolphin learning a new trick every day to receive food

-have “signature whistles” to differentiate each other

-aiding behavior: help other dolphins that are injured

-some understanding of word-like signals

-pass the mirror test

What is significant of primate learning abilities and communication? (3)

-recognition of other individuals

-can learn to use human tools

-experiments with ASL

What is sensitization?

-an increase in a response to a neutral stimulus when it occurs after a rewarding or punishing stimulus

-ex. pavlovs doggies

What is habituation?

-desensitization

-a reduction in previously displayed response when no reward or punishment follows

-ex. cat not giving a fuck about being sprayed with water

What is communication? (4)

-process in which a sender uses a specifically evolved signal to modify the behavior of the reciever

-sender benefits from making the signal

-receiver may benefit, hindered, or unaffected

-always evolved for the benefit of the sender, but not for the reciever

What is the difference between a signal and a cue?

-signal: behavior that has evolved specifically to convey information to a receiver and alter that receiver's behavior in a way that benefits both the sender and the receiver

-cue: behavior that provides information to a receiver, but the trait itself has not evolved for that specific communication purpose, and it primarily benefits the receiver, not necessarily the sender.

What is the difference between unforced and forced honesty?

-unforced: sender and receivers interests are the same

-forced: sender and receivers interest could be different, sender cannot send dishonest signals

What is multimodal/multisensory communication?

communication that uses multiple sensory channels, like visual and auditory

What is the significance of the Flehmen response and the vomeronasal organ?

-vomeronasal organ detects chemicals related to social and reproductive behaviors

-located in lower part of nasal septum embedded in vomer bone

-key part of accessory olfactory system

-helps organisms smell more intensely, seen in cats

What is a spectrogram?

visual representation of sound that can be used to study sounds made by animals, used a lot in bats

How is the content of information in a communication signal determined?

-first stage: physical description of signal typically using a spectrogram

-second stage: context of the signal, can vary greatly between receivers

-third stage: deeper analysis of the mechanism of information transfer (proximate causation) or of the forces of natural selection that shaped the signal (ultimate causation) or both!

What are the major problems in animal communication? (2)

-correlation does not equal causation: response may not be caused by signal

-animals do not always respond quickly

What is the function of rods and cones in the eyes?

-rods: used in low-light conditions

-cones: color!

What are the key questions in mammalian ethology? (2)

-what is the message?

-what is the meaning?

Are bonobos grooming each other an example of forced or unforced honesty?

unforced - individuals interests are the same

Are dolphins using echolocation within their social group to hunt prey an example of forced or unforced honesty?

unforced - individuals interests are the same

Are male cats spraying urine and pheromones to demonstrate they are sexually receptive an example of forced or unforced honesty?

forced - behavior cannot be “faked”

Why is multimodal communication so common in mammals?

requires higher levels of cognition which is a mammalian characteristic

Are mating signals typically forced or unforced honesty?

forced, cannot be dishonest

How are the movement patterns of mammals studied? (3)

-playback studies - audio

-video cameras

-telemetry tags - a device used to track the location, behavior, and environment of an animal or asset by collecting and transmitting data

What is the conservation purpose of studying the movement of animals?

to access the functional connectivity of a landscape, evaluation of conservation projects such as corridors

What is dispersal?

one way movement away from known areas

What is the difference between immigration and emigration?

-immigration: moving into a new area

-emigration: leaving an area

What is migration?

movement back and forth between ranges

What is homing?

ability of an animal to return to an original location through unfamiliar areas

What is philopatry?

breeding near the place the individual was born

What is the term for movement back and forth between ranges?

migration

What is the term for the ability of an animal to return to an original location through unfamiliar areas?

homing

What is the term for breeding near the place an individual was born?

philopatry

What are reasons for dispersal? (

-avoidance of inbreeding depression

-reduction of competition for food, shelter, or mates

Are males always the sex that disperses?

no, examples include pikas and african wild dogs

What are the patterns of space use? (4)

-nomadism: move around in unpredicted ways

-home range

-home range with core area

-territory

What are home ranges?

-areas which is used by an animal in its daily activity AND in which the animal spends most of its time, ex. food gathering, mating, caring for young

What is territory?

-area exclusively occupied by an individual, pair, or group and defended by overt aggression

What are variables that can affect home range size? (4)

-resource availability

-human disturbances

-habitat quality

-population density

What is economic defendability? What are the key variables? (4)

-benefits of establishing and defending a territory must outweigh the costs

-size of territory

-benefits accrued from territory

-costs of defending territory

What are examples of dominance and spatial dynamics? (4)

-despot dominance

-pecking order/dominance heirarchy

-triangular dominance

-coalition and alliances

What is despot dominance?

social hierarchy where a single individual or a small group has absolute or near-absolute control over subordinates, seen in mice

What is pecking order/dominance heirarchy?

social structure where dominant individuals have priority access to resources like food and mates, which helps maintain order and reduce conflict by saving individuals the energy of fighting over resources, seen in baboons and macaques

What is triangular dominance?

circular or non-transitive dominance relationships in animal social structures, for example A may dominate B, B may dominate C, but C may dominate A, seen in some primates, generally rare

What are coalition and alliances?

cooperative alliances formed by two or more individuals for competitive or defensive purposes, seen in chimps

What is the definition of habitat?

physical and biological surroundings of where an organisms lives

What is the definition of landscape?

large area that comprises more than one type of habitat distributed in multiple patches

What is the term for an area that is used by an animal in its daily activities/where it spends the most time?

home range

What is the term for an area exclusively occupied by an individual or group that is defended by overt aggression?

territory

What is the term for a social hierarchy where a single individual or a small group has absolute or near-absolute control over subordinates?

despot dominance

What is the term for a social structure where dominant individuals have priority access to resources like food and mates, which helps maintain order and reduce conflict by saving individuals the energy of fighting over resources?

pecking order/dominance heirarchy

What is the term for a circular or non-transitive dominance relationships in animal social structures

triangular dominance

What is the term for cooperative alliances formed by two or more individuals for competitive or defensive purposes

coalition and alliances

Why is it beneficial to study habitat selection?

helps set conservation priorities

How is habitat selection influenced? (6)

-abiotic factors

-dispersal ability

-behavioral patterns

-predation

-competition

-habitat quality

What is the ideal free distribution hypothesis? (3)

theory that predicts how individuals should distribute themselves in a habitat to maximize their fitness

-assumes that individuals are "ideal" because they have complete knowledge of resource availability and are "free" to move to the best patch without cost

-core prediction is that individuals will distribute themselves in a way that equalizes fitness across all habitats, meaning that the number of individuals in each patch will be proportional to the resources available there

What are the two major determinants of habitat preference?

-genes and the environment

-tradition

What is tradition?

something passed from generation to generation through the process of learning

What is significant of Wecker’s study on grassland habitat preference in deer mice? (4)

-three study groups: wild-caught in grasslands, offspring of wild-caught individuals raised in lab, and raised in lab for 20 generations

learned that:

-choice of grassland environment is predetermined genetically

-early grassland experience can reinforce this innate preference

-confinement for many generations resulted in a reduction of hereditary control over habitat selection response

What is the term for something passed from generation to generation through the process of learning?

tradition

What is an ecological trap?

a situation where an animal is attracted to a habitat that, due to changes from its natural state, is of poor quality and reduces its chances of survival and reproduction, ex. tourist attractions, airfields

What is a perceptual trap?

a situation where an organism avoids an area that is actually high-quality habitat, due to a misperception of risk or a lack of positive selection cues, rare in mammals

What is the term for a situation where an organism avoids an area that is actually high-quality habitat, due to a misperception of risk or a lack of positive selection cues

perceptual trap

What is the term for a situation where an animal is attracted to a habitat that, due to changes from its natural state, is of poor quality and reduces its chances of survival and reproduction

ecological trap

What are three mechanisms for why populations fall into ecological traps?

-adding a preferred cue to a poor habitat

-habitat quality reduced in process

-reduction of habitat in process

What are conservation implications of spatial dynamics? (5)

-consideration of sources, sinks, and traps

-applications to restoration conservation and continued monitoring

-manipulation of habitat cues and consideration of effects on non-target species

-designation of protected areas and corridors

-empirical research: need to understand the behavior of recognizing cues before employing management

What mammals migrate? (4)

-bats

-cetaceans

-pinnipeds

-ungulates

What are considerations in migration? (2)

-timing

-stopovers

What are stopovers?

locations where migratory animals pause their long-distance travel to rest, eat, and seek shelter

What is the great mammal migration?

the annual movement of over a million wildebeest, along with zebras and gazelles, across the Serengeti plains in Africa, a journey of around 3,000 km in pursuit of fresh grazing and water

What is obligate migration?

migration that occurs every year, ex. many bat species

What is facultative migration?

migration done some years depending on weather events, resource availability, etc.

What is partial migration?

some individuals in a population migrate, others do not, ex. European Roe deer

What is the term for an animal that migrates every year?

obligate migration

What is the term for an animal that migrates every few years depending on weather and resources?

facultative migration

What is the term for some individuals in a group migrating while others do not?

partial migration

Which mammals migrate the longest distances world-wide?

ungulates

How do mammals orient themselves and navigate to new locations? (4)

-using landmarks

-mental maps

-use sun as compass

-magnetic compass, ex. cetaceans

What is productive communication?

any exchange of signals that facilitates survival and reproduction, using methods like vocalizations, body language, touch, and scent