BBC Short answer questions

Questions with PA) infront of them are from a past exam, those without are from the lecture slides

What are the main types of behaviour?

Foraging, Mating, Predator-Prey interactions and Migration

What is the scientific methods

Observations to Questions to Hypotheses to Test hypotheses to balance weight of evidence to Theory

What questions might you ask before studying a wild animal (3)

Are they social or solitary

What are there sensory capabilities

has any prior learning taken place

What is observer bias, can you give three examples

How our perception may change our results, 

1 our own sensory capabilities

2 how tired we are

3 out ability to recall information 

What methods (sample types) might you use to collect animal behaviour (3)

Descriptive sample - describe the differnet samples

Interval sample - record the type of behaviour for a duration of time at set time intervals

Point sample - record the type of behaviour at a set time interval

What is the future of behavioural monitoring (3)

Citizen science and public engagement

AI in behavioural captured analysis

Realtime data transmissions from biologging and ctd tagging

What is galileo’s cube law

The law that defines the changes when an objects size is changed but not the shape, area increases to the power 2 and volume increases to the power 3

What scaling rule dictates the mechanical strength of an organism

Galileos cube law, mechanical strength is determined by the cross sectional area of the skeleton, it increases to the power 2

As an organism gets bigger, what DOES NOT scale linearly (3)

size of red blood cells

capillary diameter

muscle strength (per unit cross sectional area)

how is metabolic rate affected by body size?

Metabolic rate generally decreases with an increasing body size

How do organisms change in shape and size (2)

The can scale allometrically (relationship between size and shape will change with age and growth) or isometrically (geometric similarity of an organisms remains the same with growth)

Name 4 mechanisms of chemoreception

1. olfactory

2. Gustation

3. SCCs

4. Chemesthesis

Give me 2 examples of olfactory stimuli

1. Pheromones

2. Blood

Give me three examples of fish behaviour associated with chemoreception

1. feeding

2. mating

3. predator avoidance

What is an osphradium

the olfactory organ (epithelial patch) found in gastropods and bivalvess,

Give 2 examples of invertebrate behaviour associated with chemoreception

1. feeding

2. predator avoidance

Explain what is meant by the ‘olfactory imprinting hypothesis’

The hypothesis describes hwo salmon recognise the smell of their native river that they imprinted on during the smolt stage of the life cycle, it is this imprinting behaviour that allows them to return to the same river when the spawn as an adult

How would you test the OIH

Transplant experiments

Why is Richard Dawkin’s book called the selfish gene?

Argues that organisms reproduce not to continue a species but to preserve their own genes, suggesting that natural selection happens at a gene level

Name 2 semelparous species, define it

Semelparous species reproduce only once,

1. Coho salmon

2. Octopus

Name 2 itaparous species, define it

Reproduce at intervals throughout their lives

1. virtually all mammals (elephants)

2. Most molluscs (Mussels)

Name 3 different life history strategies to finding a mate, and give an example

1. Group spawning - coral

2. Courtship - octopus

3. Sexual hangers on - anglerfish

Is photoperiod more likely to be a seasonal cue for reproductive development in temperate or tropic species, why?

Temperate, larger variation in daylength which can be a trigger

What is the name of the axis along which reproduction is regulated in vertebrates? Do invertebrates have it?

The hypothalmic-pituitary-gonadal axis, no they do not

What do endogenous and exogenous mean?

Endogenous - is internal triggers, the brain

Exogenous - is external triggers, the environment

What factors are important when considering buoyancy in the water? (3)

1. Relative Mass

2. Generating buoyancy

3. Density

What 3 adaptations do marine organisms have to control buoyancy

1. Ion exchange

2. Gas bladders

3. Modifications to skeletons

What role does ionic mass play in the buoyancy of marine organisms? Can you give an example

Some ionic bonds weigh more than others so by exchaning ions and forming differnet bonds an organisms can control its relaitve mass. Magnesium is heavier than chlorine

Lipid storage is a useful density reduction mechanisms, what other roles do lipids play?

They are rich in protein metabolites and can act as an energy source

What role does the skeleton play in the buoyancy of fish and marine organisms?

The reduction of bone, decreases density - the bones of whales have a honeycob like structure than can be filled with lipids. Sharks and rays use a less dense cartilage instead

Explain the difference between physoclist and physostome fish

Physoclist - have an air bladder that is inflated with manufactured air

Physostome - have an air bladder that is inflated by gulping air at the surface

how does the rete mirabile work in gas secretion?

It is where oxygenated blood comes in so that the oxygen can be passed into the gas gland

what behavioural limits are there to being a physoclist fish? (2)

1. ability to change depth is severely limited

2. ascending too fast can cause barotrauma

How do cuttlefish maintain their buoyancy?

By ion exchange, often by reducing the sulphate ions nad increasing chloride ions

Explain the mechanism of how lift is generated in large fish/sharks during swimming

Using pectorail lift, up thrust, tail lift and body lift they create low pressure zones above their bodies

How do small organisms reduce sinking rates?

they have a low reynolds number, rely on langmuir circulation to stay near the top though

What are the relative advantages of studying light sensitivity and vision with behavioural, electrophysiological, and molecular approaches? Why choose one over the other

Wider spread of understanding, each can affect the other

ease of studying, someones particular experties, relevance

Name 3 categories of sound you can hear in the sea

Anthropophony - human caused

Biophony - animals

Geophony - caused by the earth; eathquakes

what is near and far field

terms relating to the closeness that a sound originated in relation to a certain location

what is a neuromast and how does it function?

A group of cillia cells that stick into hearing media, protected by jelly, they bend with sound waves and send off nerve signals

What are the webarian apparartus of carps and why might they have it?

They are modified cephalic ribs that transmit vibrations from the swim bladder to the inner ear, these can detect pressure waves

With what structures do fish produce sound? (4)

1. teeth

2. swim bladder

3. spines

4. bodies

Approximately what are the lowest and highest frequencies of sound in air that humans can hear?

20 to 20,000 hz

Why dont most marine mammals have an external ear like terrestrial mammals do

sound waves are transported through the jaws and fatty tissues instead

what three types of sounds do delphinids produce

1. clicks

2. whistles

3. burst pulse sounds

how might sound be useful for coral restoration

By playing the sounds of a healthy reef, it can encourage the coral polyps to settle

what is the c-start response and how might it be evoked

an escape response (reflex), provoked by sound, light, touch and electricity

how do copepods detect potential predators

Use mechanoreceptive setae to detect motion or shear

how is jet propulsion used in invertebrates escape responses

Used by cephalopods and other molluscs

Why is the reaction time to a sound stimulus more rapid than to a visual stimulus

There is a direct connection between the audotory organ and the Mauthner cell, which is a brain neuron respoponsible for reflex responses

what do mussels do when they detect a predator?

clumping behaviour - safety in numbers

what remarkable mechanism do cephalopods use to confuse their prey

they use an ink cloud

Outline the main feeding groups in marine animals

Primary Producers - phytoplankton

Primary Consumers - Zooplankton

Secondary Consumers - small fish

Tertiary consumers - big fish

Quaternary consumers - apex predators

What are the main feeding types? (4)

1. Suspension feeders

2. deposit feeders

3. Grazing feeders

4. Shredders, Engulfers and piercing feeders

When would an organisms change feeding mode, give an example

When it is no longer the most efficient method of feeding, ie crabs

What is suction feeding?

Bu controlling flow speed and volume of the water infront of them they suck their target prey into their mouths, large mouth bass

Explain how archer fish uses a targetted water spout to effectively dislodge its prey to within reach

The archer fish forms a tube in its mouth using a groove in the top of its mouth and a ridge on its tounge. Water is pumped through under intense pressure by rapidly closing gill covers

what parameters can influence feeding behaviour

light

What organs do sharks and rays have to find prey using electricity?

Ampullae of Lorenzini

What is an s-strike

foraging technique that is found in most teleosts, using a coiled body (s shape) they strike forwards with velocity determined by distance to prey

What 2 filaments make up the basic muscle structure

actin and myosin

What happens when muscles contract

The sarcomere shortens as the two filaments slide together

What are the main types of locomotion behaviour in marine invertebrates and how are they suited to the medium in which they live?

Locomotion is dependent on size, with a low reynolds number the medium is viscous - plankton use cillia and muscles whilst larger organisms can walk etc 

Why are fish said to posses just two gears (or is it engines)?

Two types of muscels - red and white. White is used for short energy burst such as for fleeing a predator and uses an inefficient oxydative phosphorylation pathway. Red muscles are for normal use and use an efficient oxydative phosphorylation pathway

What are myosepta?

special epithelial cells that produce mucus allowing muscles to slide over each other

What sort of backbone do you need if you are a fast fish or shark?

Thunniform

How do some fish increase the efficiency of their muscles? (2)

1. elevated core temperatures

2. heat exchangers

Describe the generic pathway to predator/prey interaction from detection to prey escape/capture

Detect to encounter to identify to Select feeding mode to attack to prey response to prey escape/capture

Give an example of predatory ‘arms race?

Crabs and murex snails

How can alternative prey sources be stabilising or destabilising in a population of predators?

Stabilising - when both species experience small oscillations in number

destabalising - one species stays stable whilst the other is hunted to extinction

What is predatory ‘top down forcing’? Give an example

When animals from a high trophic level feed on animals much lower, Killer whales eating smaller marine mammals as their main prey was killed off during the whaling season

What’s a keystone predators? Give an example

A keystone predator is on predator that has a disproportionately large influence on an ecosystem such as the sea star in the East Pacidic intertidal community

What are trophic cascades? Give an example

The waterfall effects seen in an ecosystem with the removal of a keystone predator

Details what you know about Types 1-3 functional predator/prey responses

Type 1- predators will keep consuming prey at a constant rate if prey number keep increasing

Type 2 - At high levels of prey density (without increasing predaor numbers) then saturation occurs (only a certain amount of prey can be eaten by a single predator)

Type 3 - the relationship of the number of prey consumed at low densities is an accelerating function ie. Hard to find at first, then exponential, then saturation

What is optimal foraging? Give an example

the balance between the nutritional value of a prey item and the energy required to get it, ie glaucus winged gulls and mussels

Name a migratory bird and marine animal and why they migrate

albatross - migrates for breeding

great white shark - migrates to eat

Name the main costs of migrations and the solutions to mitigate for them (3)

Duration - pause longer at good refueling stations

Energy Risks - increase fat reserves

Predation risks - refuel in safe habitats

Describe how turtles use electromagnetic navigations (EN) to circumnavigate entire oceans

They orient to the magnetic field (geomagnetic imprinting), and would use it to find their way home again using isoclinics

what are isoclinics

magnetic field line inclinations

Explain geomagnetic imprinting and how natural changes in the earths magentic field may affect migration routes

• Imprinting to the particular geomagnetic signal of a particular area

• over time the geomagentic signals may shift such as further northward or converge

• animals may not return to exactly the same place but the new place will have the same magnetic signature

What were the main findings of the famous behaviouralists Lorenz, Tinbergen and von Frisch?

Lorenz - Concept of fixed action patterns (FAP) and imprinting

Tinbergen - Researched to find what the stimulus that caused a FAP

von Frisch - Waggle dance of the bees

What are the characteristics of fixed action patterns in behaviour? (4)

1. Critical behaviour - happens during sensitive period

2. Rapid and often Irreversible - Like Imprinting

3. Species recognition

4. Stimulus - object does not have to be parent

In simple terms how is behaviour influenced by the genotype?

Chemical changes in the genome can prevent expression of genes (such as hormones which will impact behaviour) and if occured in gametes the changes can be inherrited.

What are the roles of behaviour at the community level? (3)

• To find food

• To find mates

• to warn about predators

What is epigenetics?

“heritable changes in expression of specific genes that are not attributed to changes in DNA sequence

How might cultural selection bring about new ecotypes and in time new species?

It may bring about new ecotypes as some hunting methods are selected as more advantagous, this will create an evolutionary pressure towards developing adaptations to improve that hunting methods, this may eventually lead to a new species

What is sexual selection and what might the trade-offs be?

The evolutionary process that favours traits that increase reproductive success, this can make the organism an easier target for predators - bright colours or loud mating songs

How have animals responded to rapid environmental change as brought about by anthropogenic activity? (3)

Changes in

1. breeding

2. development

3. migration timing and routes

PA) Give one example, other than skeletal mass, of something which
scales dependently of size. (1)

Heart Weight

PA) Photoperiodism involves measuring what? (1)

Measuring the response of an organism to changes in the environmental photoperiod

PA) In which organism would you find osphradia? (1)

Gastropods and Bivalves

PA) The terms “cycle” and “rhythm” have fundamentally different meaning when we refer to the expression of biological clocks - explain? (4)

Cycle - activity seen in wild (exogenous)

Rhythm - activity seen in wild (endogenous)

PA) Where in the mammal brain do you find the master clock? (1)

Super Chiasmatic Nucleus

PA) Tidal friction is a powerful force that has caused the planet to what over evolutionary time? (1)

Slow its rotation

PA) What is the main hypothesis to explain how salmon migrate back to their natal streams and rivers? (2)

The olfactory imprinting hypothesis; salmon chemicaly imprint on the home river so they can recognisse it when they return to spawn

PA) How do loggerhead and leatherback turtles migrate when in the open ocean? (2)

Electromagnetic Navigation, using the isoclines to orient themselves

PA) What are the hypothesised two main drivers of zooplankton diel vertical migration? (2)

Light levels, predator avoidance

PA) List four types of animal “personality”. (4)

Boldness, Shyness, Dominance, Sociality

PA) Marine organisms of all sizes need to maintain their position in the water column. What three main adaptations can they use? (3)

Gas bladder, Density reduction via ions, lipids

PA) What structure is used in buoyancy control in cuttlefish? (1)

The cuttle bone, density reduction via ions, sulphate and chloride