Animal Behavior — Sample Lecture Exam 2

Question 1: Behavior development is entirely independent of environmental experience.

False

Question 2: Imprinting occurs during a restricted developmental window called the:

Critical Period

Question 3: Locomotor movements such as running, leaping, and acrobatics without a specific immediate goal are classified as:

Body Play

Question 4: The process whereby young animals learn species-specific recognition cues is known as:

Filial imprinting

Question 5: Social play differs from solitary play primarily by involving:

Conspecific interaction

Question 6: Environmental effects on gene expression without altering DNA sequence are termed:

Epigenetic

Question 7: The transition from juvenile behavior to adult reproductive behavior is regulated by:

Hormones

Question 8: Deprivation experiments in behavioral development test for the role of:

Innate vs. learned components

Question 9: Song development in white-crowned sparrows requires exposure to an adult tutor during a:

Sensitive Period

Question 10: Which developmental window(s) exhibit heightened plasticity for learning specific traits?

Both the Critical and Sensitive Period

Question 11: Cross-fostering experiments are primarily used to study the relative effects of:

Genetics and environment

Question 12: The gradual waning of a behavioral response to a repeated, irrelevant stimulus is:

Habituation

Question 13: Play behavior that involves objects or items in the environment is called:

Object Play

Question 14: Which cost is most commonly associated with engaging in play behavior?

Energy expenditure and injury risk

Question 15: The surplus theory of play suggests that animals play to:

Burn off excess energy

Question 16: An organism that specifically targets or depends on eggs for its reproductive strategy is termed an:

Ovophile

Question 17: Developmental homeostasis refers to:

The ability to develop normally despite minor environmental perturbations

Question 18: Murine pups isolated from mothers show deficits due to a lack of:

Maternal tactile stimulation

Question 19: The adaptive significance of play is generally thought to involve:

Skill practice for adult life

Question 20: Monogamous pair-bond formation in prairie voles is mediated by which neurohormone?

Oxytocin and vasopressin

Question 21: An endogenous rhythm with a period of approximately 24 hours is called:

Circadian

Question 22: Environmental cues that synchronize endogenous biological clocks are known as:

Zeitgebers

Question 23: The process of resetting a biological clock to match local environmental time is:

Entrainment

Question 24: Rhythms with a period significantly shorter than 24 hours are:

Ultradian

Question 25: Biological rhythms synchronized with the lunar tidal cycle are referred to as:

Circalunal

Question 26: Rhythms with a period of approximately one year are known as:

Circannual

Question 27: Free-running rhythms occur under conditions of:

Constant environmental conditions

Question 28: What is the master pacemaker of the mammalian circadian system located in the hypothalamus?

Suprachiasmatic

Question 29: Melatonin is primarily secreted by which gland in response to darkness?

Pineal gland

Question 30: The master circadian clock in insects is located in the:

Optic lobes

Question 31: Phase-response curves measure the effect of a stimulus on:

Circadian clock shifting

Question 32: Circadian rhythms persist in constant conditions because they are:

Endogenously generated

Question 33: A rhythm that cycles in tune with tidal variations is:

Circatidal

Question 34: The molecular feedback loop of circadian clocks typically involves clock genes such as:

Clock and Period

Question 35: Seasonal breeding in many temperate birds and mammals is triggered by changes in:

Photoperiod

Question 36: The physiological state of dormancy or metabolic depression during winter is:

Hibernation

Question 37: Many nocturnal and diurnal animals use what celestial or atmospheric cue for time-compensated orientation?

Polarized Light

Question 38: Suprachiasmatic nucleus lesions in rodents result in:

Loss of circadian rhythmicity

Question 39: The circadian rule states that biological clock periods:

Are temperature-compensated

Question 40: Entrainment ensures that an organism's internal clock remains synchronized with:

Local solar time

Question 41: Movement along a predetermined compass bearing without regard to landmarks is:

Compass orientation

Question 42: The ability of an animal to return to a specific home site after displacement is:

Homing

Question 43: True navigation requires both a compass and a:

Map sense

Question 44: Olfactory navigation in homing pigeons relies heavily on detecting:

Atmospheric odorants

Question 45: Sun compass orientation in bees requires compensation for:

Time of day

Question 46: Sea turtles and migratory birds detect Earth's geomagnetic field for orientation using what sense?

Magnetic

Question 47: The one-way movement of an animal from its natal site to a new breeding site is:

Dispersal

Question 48: Natal dispersal is typically male-biased in which major vertebrate group?

Mammals

Question 49: Natal dispersal is typically female-biased in which major vertebrate group?

Birds

Question 50: The primary ultimate benefit of natal dispersal is the reduction of:

Inbreeding depression

Question 51: Movement between distinct seasonal ranges is:

Migration

Question 52: Piloting differs from true navigation because it relies on:

Familiar landmarks

Question 53: Vector navigation is commonly observed in:

Juvenile migratory birds on their first migration

Question 54: The cranium-based iron-containing receptors used in magnetoreception are rich in:

Magnetite

Question 55: Stellar navigation in indigo buntings is learned by observing:

Rotation around the North Star

Question 56: The cost of dispersal includes high rates of:

Predation and mortality during movement

Question 57: In-flight orientation using coastal contours or river valleys is an example of:

Piloting

Question 58: Emlen funnels are experimental apparatuses used to study:

Bird migratory orientation

Question 59: Zugunruhe refers to:

Migratory restlessness in caged birds

Question 60: The magnetic compass of migratory birds is primarily a:

Inclination compass

Question 61: A parasite that is completely dependent on its host for completion of its life cycle is:

Obligate

Question 62: Optimal foraging theory assumes that animals maximize:

Net energy intake per unit time

Question 63: Marginal value theorem predicts how long a forager should stay in a:

Patch of food

Question 64: Risk-sensitive foraging occurs when an animal's energy budget dictates choices regarding:

Variance in food reward

Question 65: Search image formation helps predators to:

Detect cryptic prey more efficiently

Question 66: Handling time in optimal foraging models refers to the time spent:

Pursuing, capturing, and consuming prey

Question 67: Diet breadth models predict that as profitable prey items become more abundant, a predator's diet should:

Narrow

Question 68: A kleptoparasite is an animal that:

Steals food captured by another animal

Question 69: Food-storing behavior is an adaptation against:

Seasonal food scarcity

Question 70: Scatter hoarders typically store food in:

Many widely distributed individual caches

Question 71: Larder hoarders differ from scatter hoarders by storing food in:

A single centralized location

Question 72: An anatomical adaptation for processing tough plant material in herbivores is an enlarged:

Cecum or rumen

Question 73: Predators or parasites that lure prey by mimicking harmless or attractive stimuli exhibit:

Aggressive Mimicry

Question 74: Frequency-dependent selection on prey morphs often maintains:

Polymorphism through search image limitations

Question 75: Optimal patch use is determined by the intersection of energy gain curves and:

Travel time between patches

Question 76: A generalist forager is favored when:

Preferred food items are scarce or unpredictable

Question 77: The energetic cost of foraging includes both search costs and:

Handling costs

Question 78: Parasites that manipulate host behavior to increase transmission success are exhibiting:

Extended phenotype effects

Question 79: Facultative foragers can switch tactics depending on:

Current environmental conditions

Question 80: Stoat and weasel foraging strategies often reflect high metabolic rates requiring:

Frequent high-calorie meals

Question 81: Cryptic coloration functions to reduce detection by:

Blending into the background

Question 82: What are the primary selective advantages of grouping for prey animals?

All are benefits

Question 83: Aposematic coloration signals to potential predators that the prey is:

Unpalatable or toxic

Question 84: Batesian mimicry involves a palatable species mimicking an:

Unpalatable model species

Question 85: Mullerian mimicry occurs when multiple unpalatable species evolve:

A shared warning coloration

Question 86: Thanatosis is the behavioral strategy of:

Feigning death

Question 87: Deimatic displays are sudden, threatening postures used to:

Startle or deter predators

Question 88: The dilution effect in animal groups refers to:

Lower per-capita risk of predation

Question 89: The many-eyes hypothesis suggests that group living improves predator detection because:

More individuals scan the environment

Question 90: Confusion effect in predator-prey dynamics describes how dense prey groups:

Impair predator targeting and tracking

Question 91: Pursuit-deterrence signals communicate to predators that:

The prey is fit and hard to catch

Question 92: Protective coloration featuring a dark dorsal surface and light ventral surface is known as:

Countershading

Question 93: Vigilance behavior in groups typically results in individual animals spending:

Less time scanning and more time feeding

Question 94: Alarm calls given by group-living species can be classified as either selfish or:

Altruistic

Question 95: Chemical defense involving noxious secretions is common in:

Bombardier beetles and skunks

Question 96: When prey animals collectively harass and drive away a predator, it is called:

Mobbing

Question 97: Confusion and distraction markings include false eyespots located on the:

Posterior parts of the body

Question 98: Predator swamping occurs when prey emerge synchronously to:

Saturate predator consumption capacity

Question 99: Monarch butterflies acquire cardiac glycosides for defense by feeding on:

Milkweed plants

Question 100: Collective defense and coordinated harassment of predators by prey is termed:

Mobbing