Primatology Quiz

Thrifty genes

Thrifty phenotype hypothesis: individuals who experiences deprived environments during key developmental periods will have higher BMI, lower metabolic rate, and decreased energy expenditure

predictive adaptive response

developmental plasticity where the response is not immediately advantageous but is used later in life

collectivism vs. individualism (disease outbreaks)

collectivism - needs of a group over the needs of an individual

individualism - needs of the individual over the needs of the group

collectivist societies have more major disease outbreaks than individualist societies

social brain hypothesis

part of social intelligence hypotheses

the relationship between social complexity and domain-general cognitive ability

positive relationships between measures of brain size and sociality in ungulates and primates

average group size for humans

120

Machiavellian intelligence hypothesis / social intelligence hypotheses

tactical deception or manipulation to get what you want from an individual (cooperation and competition)

low-ranking capuchins use deceptive alarm calls to disperse groups and steal the food resources

bigger brains evolved with increasing cognitive complexity

platryrrhine infraorder qualities

flat noses and faces (compared to strepsirhrini)

dry noses

decreased reliance on olfaction

postorbital ENCLOSURE

larger brains and body size

cebidae and callitrichae

strepsirhine suborder qualities

wet nose

snout-like nose

heightened olfaction

grooming claw

dental comb

postorbital BAR

folivore paradox

folivores live in smaller groups than expected based on the increased competition for resources

possible explanation: infanticide risk, male harassment

calatricids

maromosets and tamarins, platyrrhines

pair bonded

primate suborders

strepsirrhini and haplorhini

cararrhine infraorder

cercopithecoidea and hominoidea superfamilies

cercopithecoidea subfamilies

cercopithecines - cheek pouches, multi-male groups and female sexual swellings

colobines - leaf eating, specialized stomachs, single-male groups

dentition of frugivores vs. folivores

frugivores have large incisors and flat molars

folivores have small incisors and large molars

home ranges

folivores have smaller day and home ranges

home range tends to increase with body size but also depends on group size

dispersal patterns

prosimians - no confirmed male philopatric species

cercopithecines - male-biased dispersal with extended largely restricted to these

dispersal by both sexes - prosimians, callitrichids, colobines

socioecological model

focus on females first (reproductive asymmetry)

1. group living is a strategy to reduce vulnerability to predation

2. females group around resources and groups are better at defending resources than individuals

3. but, group living leads to feeding competition

4. the type of feeding competition determines the nature of female social relationships

5. males distribute themselves according to the distribution and defensibility of females (upper and lower limits on group size)

optimal foraging theory

biological model - forage such that some currency could not be improved with an alternative strategy (usually focused on protein or energy maximization)

major models of primate nutritional ecology

1. energy maximization

2. protein maximization

3. avoidance or regulation of secondary metabolites

4. limitation of dietary fiber

5. nutrient balancing

behavioral adjustments to seasonality

1. switching foods

2. changing ranging patterns

3. changing grouping patterns

mate defense hypothesis

contests should escalate more when fertile females are present, the male-female ratio is high, and males should herd females

male resource defense hypothesis

male responses should vary with territory quality and location in the range

resource holding potential

the ability of an animal to win a contest if other participants adopt the same strategy (usually based on size, health, strength)

territorial holders are more likely to win even with equal RHP to a competitor

parallel dispersal

dispersing into groups with former group mates

may attenuate aggression that comes with dispersal

conspecific attraction

preference to disperse during mating season

local mate competition hypothesis

the sex that competes more for mates should disperse

inbreeding avoidance hypothesis

dispersal in polygynous species is generally male biased because local resources are important for female reproduction and male competition is strong

resource competition hypothesis

animals disperse to find areas with less competition for resources

group size paradox

collective action problems are more pronounced in larger groups

solving collective action problems

exploitation of the great by the small - most collective action will be undertaken by a small number of individuals who will receive the most benefits with the least costs

consensus decision making - members of a group choose between two or more actions with the aim of reaching a consensus

leadership in NHA

1. motivation

2. temperament

3. knowledge

4. dominance status

Social bonds can help with

1. reproductive rate

2. offspring survival

3. longevity - social support and buffering

most cooperative behavior and bonds in NHP can be ascribed to

1. kin selection

2. reciprocity

3. mutualism

ecological risk aversion hypothesis

1. juveniles are less efficient foragers than adults

2. juveniles position themselves near conspecifics to avoid predation

3. therefore, they experience high levels of intragroup feeding competition and develop more slowly

support for ERA

1. faster growth rates with better nutrition

2. folivores sometimes have faster life history

needing to learn hypothesis

correlation between brain size and delayed maturation because essential skills are learned during development and required as adults - more opportunities for extensive socialization and long-term relationships

support for NTL

limited in mammals b/c offspring generally reach adult-level skills before maturity

many species keep growing until right before onset of reproduction, suggesting that timing of maturity is limited by time to reach adult body size

why NHP have delayed maturation and low fertility

1. survival and fertility are frequently size dependent and it takes time to grow

2. delaying maturity increases generation time and allows individuals to spread risk over longer time period

why primates have an elongated juvenile period

1. social skill development

2. needing to learn

3. ecological risk aversion

ecological intelligence hypotheses

ecological challenges in food acquisition selected for larger brains

cognitive buffer hypothesis

large brain size evolved to allow animals to adjust their behavior in response to variable environmental conditions (resource availability and seasonality)

dunbar’s number

as brain size increases, so does group size

theory of mind

the ability to attribute mental states to oneself and others and to understand that others have mental states and perspectives that are different from one’s own

cultural intelligence hypothesis

suggests that what is heritable and therefore under natural selection is the ability to learn and invent effective solutions (the solutions are what provide the fitness benefit)

developmental component - opportunities to learn skills socially during development

grandmother hypothesis

as females hit menopause, they start to redirect their energy back into their offspring’s offspring to ensure the survival of their genes and enhance their social network

hypotheses for alloparental care

1. nepotism - directing alloparenting toward kin

2. learning to mother - especially in care provided by young females

3. buying time - to learn skills in the safety of a group until breeding opportunities are available

4. reciprocal altruism

conditions favorable to alloparenting

1. mothers must think safe

2. social species

3. altricial offspring with long dependency

4. collective and extractive foraging

5. unpredictable climates

variability selection hypothesis

major features of evolution were ways that human ancestors became more adaptable

cooperation in hunter-gatherers

1. band-wide food sharing

2. division of labor

3. daily cooperative food acquisition, construction, maintenance of living spaces

4. high levels of allomaternal childcare

cooperative breeding hypothesis

prosocial and other-regarding behavior arose from cooperative breeding

culture criteria

1. innovation

2. dissemination

3. standardization

4. durability

5. diffusion

6. tradition

describing animal culture without geography

characterizing behaviors associated with social learning

local enhancement

model draws attention to some aspect of the environment by the action it takes there

social facilitation

presence of the model, regardless of what it does, is thought to facilitate learning

social learning

emulation - observation of a model interacting with objects in the environment causes the learner to become more likely to perform any actions that bring about the same effect

imitation - when a learner performs a task in the same way as the model

teaching

required active role in learning process by the model

key periods of primate social learning

1. from mother/primary attachment figure

2. selective learning in expanding social world

3. learning from residents after migration

types of cultural transmission

horizontal - transmission between members of same generation

vertical or oblique - transmission from previous generation to new generation

vertical transmission phases

1. mother

2. outward facing with learning biases (perceived success/knowledge, older/higher ranking models, bias towards a sex, conformity)

components of communication

1. signal

2. motivation

3. meaning

olfactory communication

pheromones

facial coloration and group size

platyrrhine species with smaller groups - more coloration

catarrhine species with larger groups - more coloration

no relationship in strepsirrhines

language criteria

1. spoken

2. semantic - study of the meaning of linguistic expressions

3. phonemic - distinct units of sound that form words

4. grammar

5. syntax - the way in which linguistic elements are put together into phrases

social causation hypothesis

social interactions directly affect health outcomes (aka predisposing risk factors)

developmental origins of health and disease hypothesis

impact of deprivation during development increases risk of adult disease

sensitive period hypothesis

early life social adversity effects later life health in a manner that is only partially modifiable by later life experience

predictive adaptive responses hypothesis

natural selection favors changing an individual’s phenotype to environmental cues they experience in early life (short-lived species)

developmental constraints hypothesis

early life effects evolve because they allow immediate survival, but this comes at the cost of long-term success and development (long-lived species)