failed attmpt

Describe the major mating systems

monogamy - one partner, can be either seasonal or for life

single male polygyny - single male, multiple females

solitary polygyny - multiple females with overlapping males and females hold their own home ranges

multi-male polygyny - multiple males and multiple females

Explain the differences between optimal male and female mating strategies

Generally, males are limited in their \# of offspring by the \# of matings they can obtain, whereas females are limited by the number of eggs they can produce. Moreover, females produce offspring more slowly than males, so polygyny (system in which one male can inseminate several females) tends to be favoured

What are the main forces influencing the different mating systems (+examples)

differential investment between sexes (in males - number of mates, in females limited number of eggs produced)

ecological factors (uniform resources - little polygamy potential, single male can't monopolise a group of females; clumped resources or high predation risk - high polygamy potential)

certainty of paternity (males certain of paternity-monogamy; uncertain - polygyny - males who are more certain will invest more in parental care)

dependence of the young and impact of care (in monogamy off-spring will be more dependent and more investment is needed

What does polygyny/polyandry mean for males?

reduced opportunity to mate or no mating opportunities

what are the consequences of mating systems?

large intra and inter sexual competition between males - development of secondary sexual characteristics

female defense polygyny

a form of polygyny that occurs when groups of females are guarded by males

resource defense polygyny

males defend territories rich in resources that are used by and attract females

scramble competition polygyny

males competing with each other trying to get to females that are widely distributed (eg. gorund squirrels - search increases during mating season)

Lek polygyny

aggregation of males that display females - sometimes fight - females get no resources

Why form leks (females)?

for females it is easier to secure good quality genes from high quality males by comparing them - one male can monopolise a whole mating season

Why form leks (males)?

hot spot hypothesis - males cluster around places often visited by females

hot shot hypothesis - subordinate males gather around attractive dominance males

female preference hyp - males cluster because females prefer sites with more males

evidence for hotspot hypothesis

four different species of birds in Costa Rica used the same location to lek - hotspot

evidence for hotshot hypothesis

in European sandpiper, removing dominant male from the lek caused subordinates to disperse - removing subordinates did nothing

Mate guarding hypothesis (monogamy)

monogamy is adaptive (produces more offspring) when female left by one male readily mates with another male (remains receptive and is difficult to locate)

mate assistance hypothesis (monogamy)

Males will remain with a single partner to help rear their offspring in environments in which male parental care can greatly promote infant survival often in altricial species (californian mouse)

Female-enforced monogamy hypothesis

suggests that females stop their male partners from being polygynous - females attack the males if they try and attract other females to the carcass where the eggs were laid (burying beetles)

social monogamy

a pair bond that is not sexually exclusive - females engage in extra-pair copulations to find better quality males to have higher quality offspring but remain in pair with the mate who's good enough to provide care

Why live in groups?

communal roosting, cooperative hunting, aggregated resources, reduces risk of predation

how does living in groups influence defence?

reduced investment in vigilance, dilution, confusion, communal defence

what increases with group size?

competition for resources

what decreases with increasing group size?

predation risk

what does resource competition lead to?

leads to conflict and determines relationships within the groups

what determines the hierarchy in a group?

ability to monopolise resources - dominance hierarchies occur when monopolisation is possible and more egalitarian groups occur where individuals cannot monopolise resources

females are more dependent on.... and more sensitive to....

food; predation

what is better in dominant males?

cardiovascular health - higher difference between systolic and diastolic BP

wound healing

which individuals in a group have the highest level of cortisol?

highest (constantly challenged) and lowest ranking (low probability of getting food and mating)

what does increased levels of adrenaline and corticosterone mean in terms of health?

decreased immune function and reproduction, high blood pressure and heart rate

what are the coping mechanisms to reduce aggression in a group?

intervention, reconciliation

why do some mid ranking individuals experience high levels of stress?

uncertainty and instability of the position in the group

how does social integration influence the fitness?

better integrated females have more offspring than those poorly integrated, females that have stronger bonds within the group live longer

what is reproductive suppression in cooperative breeders?

dominants supress reproduction of subordinates - correlates with higher estrogen and prolactin levels in breeding individuals; while oxytocin and prolactin are higher in helpers

what is the reason for menopause in animals?

older females know the environment and predation risks best, also help rear the offspring of the still reproducing females

What is cooperation?

cooperative behaviours involve: cooperator pays a cost (c) and recipient gets a benefit (b) - where costs and benefits are measured in terms of fitness

if cooperation is the problem, what are the solutions?

direct benefits: reproductive success of the cooperator is increase

indirect benefits: reproductive success of individual sharing the cooperators genes is increase

what is direct reciprocity

increase in the fitness of the cooperating individual and the recipient of the behaviour (requires repeated interactions) - both individuals end up with increased fitness

how can apparent altruism be explained?

continued interactions over a long period of time (vampire bats and blood sharing - typically between relatives - repeated interactions)

In vampire bats cost of sharing is much smaller than the benefit the recipient receives

what is indirect reciprocity?

apparent altruistic behaviours where the benefits come later (I help you, someone else helps me)

how does indirect reciprocity influence reputation of the cooperator?

cooperators gain reputational benefits which makes the altruistic behaviour worthwhile in the long term

what is kin selection?

the process by which traits are favoured due to their beneficial effects on the fitness of relatives

what is indirect fitness benefit?

helping relatives allows cooperators to spread their genes without having to reproduce themselves

quote Hamilton's rule

rB-C\>0

cooperative genes will increase in frequency when the benefits (B) of cooperating are greater than the costs (C), depending on the level of relatedness (r)

how do animals recognise kin?

environmental cues: familiarity with each other or shared environment (acoustic cues, smell, appearance)

phenotype and self-referent (odour) matching (looks like me, must be related)

"green beard effect" - a marker that signifies the cooperator is present

Explain cooperative courtship in turkeys

male turkeys court as solitary males or in coalitions consisting of a dominant and subordinate male (often brother or close relative) - only the dominant male mates with females

- dominant males mate more than solitary males,

- subordinate males pay a reproductive cost by not mating

- there is a net benefit (+1.7 offspring) to the subordinate male who doesn't mate

what is cooperative breeding?

a social system where individuals provide care for offspring that are not their own at the cost of their own reproduction

what are the examples of cooperative breeders?

meerkats, naked mole rat (GINA), dwarf mongoose, superb starling, splendid fairy wren, long tailed tit

are there many cooperatively breeding vertebrates?

not really (3% of birds, 2% of mammals, 0.1% of fish)

who are helpers?

care for young that are not their own, at the cost of their own reproduction - can be related or unrelated

what influences the choice of who to help? (cooperative breeding)

the discrimination between kin is greater when the benefits of helping are greater or when the helpers are paying a higher cost - they are more likely to help the closest kin

why is promiscuity bad for cooperation?

it reduces offspring relatedness (relatedness drops from 0.5 to 0.25 when we go from siblings to half siblings); cooperation is more common in less promiscuous species

what are the constraints that the helpers face?

life history constraints: delayed maturity, low adult mortality (few vacant breeding positions), no or limited dispersal, low reproductive rate

ecological constraints: shortage of territories, shortage of mates, high dispersal costs, low success in breeding alone (turkeys)

what is habitat saturation model?

cooperation starts only after all available territories were taken - too many birds for the territory \= cooperativeness

if .... are limited, individuals are forced into helping strategy

breeding

when .... increase, cooperation evolves

ecological constraints

what do breeders gain from cooperation?

increased offspring survival

how do helpers increase offspring survival?

increase food delivery, number of feeds per hour increases, parents input decreases

what do helpers gain by helping breeders?

indirect fitness benefits (by helping relatives-failed breeders become helpers), direct fitness benefits (group membership, breeding experience, territory or mate inheritance, participate in reproduction) - pay to stay theory

what influences helpers' attempt to mate?

levels of relatedness (less likely to breed with close relatives), competitive ability (how easily can the helper be excluded from the group), constrains on independent breeding (can helper make it on their own)

what are reproductive skew models?

models that describe how social dynamics can regulate helper reproduction in a group

reproductive concession

helpers do breed, breeders give incentives (reproduction) to helpers to stay in the social group

reproductive restraint

helpers do not breed (serious punishment for breeding, only relatives arounds)

what is behaviour?

the internally coordinated responses (actions or inactions) of whole living organisms (individuals or groups) to internal and/or external stimuli - excluding responses more easily understood as developmental changes (Levitis et al. 2009)

Provide examples that illustrate the importance of animal behaviour research

1. aquaculture: AB research helps reduce post-release mortality

2. resolving human-wildlife conflict (e.g., elephants in Mozambique used to destroy crops; chili fences are now used to protect them)

3. conservation: maximizing survival chances of animals in captivity after re-releasing them in the wild.

4. AB research contributes to neuroscience

5. Public engagement (documentaries increase education and awareness for animal behaviour research)

Ethogram

A comprehensice list, inventory or description of all the behaviours of an organism

What kind of data can we record in animal behaviour research? Describe them briefly

- events (behaviours of short duration; generally counted, not timed)

- states (behaviours that occur for an extended duration)

Name all 5 sampling protocols

1. Ad libitum

2. Focal animal

3. All occurrences

4. Binary

4. Scan sampling

Describe ad libitum sampling protocol

researcher records individual/group behaviours, with little or no reference to specific, well-defined methods; good for initial observations/ethograms and question formation, limited in quantity and quality of data (can't analyse statistically)

Describe focal animal sampling protocol + compare its advantages/limitations to ad-libitum sampling

observations of one focal animal. all behaviours OR all occurrences of specific behaviour(s) of interest during a set period of time are recorded. Provides data on specific behaviours and is more reproducible than ad-libitum

Describe all occurrences sampling protocol

all occurrences of one or more specific behavioural events are recorded within the animal group.

useful to determine rate, frequency or synchrony of occurrence of specific behaviours

Describe binary sampling protocol

records whether specific behaviours did (1) or did not (0) occur during observation of individual or group during a set period of time.

limited usefulness bc info is lost by categorising occurrence of behaviours so rigidly (can be useful for very specific questions though)

Describe scan sampling protocol

record instantaneous activity or behavioural state of all animals in the group at a predetermined time interval (e.g. per minute). useful to understand the frequency with which all animals in the group display certain behaviours (not good for rare events, more useful for states)

HIghlight some challenges of animal behaviour research

- antrhopomorphism (applying human qualities to non-human animals/things