BIOL354: Animal Behavior: Exam 4 Review: Iowa State University: Fall 2019: Dr. Amy Toth

An experiment in which the researcher presents an animal with a sound or signal that is thought to be used in animal communication, the better to understand the function of that signal in nature, is referred to as what?

A playback experiment

Which of the following is required for communication to occur?

A. There must be at least one signaler and one receiver.

B. The signaler and receiver must be in very close proximity to one another.

C. The signaler and receiver must be conspecifics.

D. Signals must be directed at a particular receiver.

A. There must be at least one signaler and one receiver.

Define: Zahavi's handicap principle

If a trait is costly to produce, it may be used as an honest signal because only those individuals that can pay the cost will typically adopt the signal in question.

In the waggle dances of honeybees, the direction to environmental resources is communicated to workers by what?

the angular orientation of the waggle phase in the dance's "waggle run," which communicates the direction foragers should orient from the current position of the sun.

Define: Communication

the transfer of information from AT LEAST one signaler to one receiver.

What are the main reasons animals communicate?

1. Foraging

2. Predation

3. Mating

Define: Cooperative signaling (also called "classic cooperative signaling")

Both signaler and receiver benefit from the communication and should be honest with neither party trying to deceive the other. (e.g. ground squirrel alarm calls)

Since signaling is costly, what should natural selection favor with regards to it?

Low energy, inconspicuous signals, which are sometimes called "conspirational whispers".

Why does natural selection favor "conspirational whispers"?

1. least amount of precious energy used.

2. reduces chance of detection by predator

Where are "conspirational whispers" most often found?

in kin groups where interests of signaler and receiver are aligned.

Define: Dishonest signals.

When the signaler attempts to manipulate the behavior through deceiving signals.

When are dishonest signals most likely?

When the interests of the signaler and receiver are not aligned.

Are dishonest signals always believed by the receiver?

not always. Sometimes the receiver will try to "mind read" to figure out which parts of the message are true and which are not.

Why might a signaler deceive a receiver?

To benefit the signaler.

With regards to dishonest signaling, what is an arms race?

Two organisms co-evolve adaptations to either be a better deceiver or to help better identify dishonest signals. Each tries to stay one step ahead of the other for survival or reproductive advantage over the other.

What can be a product of a signaling evolutionary arms race?

Exaggerated signals

In a mating context of dishonest signals, what should a female select for?

Honest signaling (particularly on areas that cannot be faked such as a deeper voice in males which smaller males physically cannot make).

What is intersexual selection? How is it communicated?

One sex trying to attract a member of the opposite sex.

1. visual signals or displays

2. Songs

3. Pheromones

What is intra sexual selection? Examples?

Members of the same sex communicating with each other in a context of mating.

1. coordinating lek efforts

2. Fighting or dominance displays

What has been noticed about birds in general regarding mate selection?

Females tend to prefer males with more complex or longer songs.

Define: Sexual Dimorphism

when traits of male and females of the same species are different.

In birds with larger sexual dimorphism what can usually be predicted about their mating?

stronger sexual selection will be present

Define: Multimodal signaling

When a signal is targeted toward many different senses such as auditory, visual, smell and, tactile. (example used in class was the peacock jumping spider)

An interesting example of communication in class was that of the water strider. How did they communicate with one another?

Through different vibrational ripples created by beating the water surface. Different patterns communicate different things.

In the example of vervet monkeys, what do different calls signal?

Different types predators.

What was something that vervet monkeys did with predator alarm signals?

Deceptively used them (sounded predator alarm when there was no predator) to break up fights ("hey guys quit fighting! there's a snake!) or to get aggressive groups to flea.

Define: Deceptive communication

Falsely use signals out of context (sounding predator alarm when there is no predator) to fool other individuals into a certain behavior. (e.g. male barn swallow sounding alarm to flush his female out of another males nest)

What is an issue that can arise from deceptive alarm calls?

Animals learn to ignore them. "The boy who cried wolf"

Define: Symbolic communication

Communication of environmental information that has been coded and transmitted to a receiver.

What qualifies communication as symbolic?

1. Communication is separated in time and space from the action on which its based and the behaviors it will guide.

2. Need for receiver to "translate" signal so it can be used.

What three animal groups have been known to form "sophisticated" symbolic communication?

1. Humans

2. Some other great apes

3. Honey bees.

What famous philosopher wrote about his observations of bee communication via dancing in 330 B.C.E?

Aristotle

Who was Karl Von Frisch?

Austrian ethologist best known for his extensive studies of honeybee communications and the famous bee waggle dance, winning a Nobel Prize for his work.

What are the main dance types used by honey bees to communicate information regarding foraging locations?

1. Round dance

2. Waggle dance

Define: Scout

an individual bee who finds new food sources and dances to communicate to other hive mates.

Define: Recruit

individual bees that follow the scouts dances and then forages with that information.

When is the "round dance" used by bees?

When a food source is nearer to the hive (less than 50 meters)

When is the "waggle dance" used by bees?

When the food source is further away (more than 50 meters)

What shape does the waggle dance form? Round dance?

Figure 8; circular

How does a honey bee communicate the direction of food in the "waggle dance"?

by dancing at an angle that correlates with the angle the food is from the sun as viewed from the hive.

What information does the waggle dance provide other bees about a food source?

1. Angle between food source and sun (which direction food is).

2. Distance of food source from hive

3. Food quality

4. Taste/smell of food

How does a honey bee communicate the distance of food in the "waggle dance"?

by the length of the waggle part of the dance and how vigorous the waggle is. (slow waggle = further; longer run = further)

How does a honey bee communicate the quality of food in the "waggle dance"?

by the duration of the dance itself, how of many repetitions of the figure 8 they do.

How does a honey bee communicate the taste and smell of the food?

By giving free samples to observers.

How did Von Frisch test if bees were actually communicating with the dances?

by placing a food source at some distance at a set direction and quality and having other food sources present at different distances, directions and qualities to see if the hive mate bees would favor the food source the initial bee found (which would indicate communication). Result = supported dance as a way of communication.

Who objected Von Frisch's theory on bee communication? What hypothesis did he propose to explain the concept?

Adrain Wenner; Olfactory map hypothesis.

Define: Wenner's olfactory map hypothesis

Bees use smells and tastes from

returning foragers to locate food

sources.

Upon Wenner's objections and hypothesis, what experiment did James Gould do in 1975?

Painted the scouts ocelli (simple eyes that detect direction of light) and allowed it to dance but in incorrect orientation to the sun (using an artificial light source) to see if the recruits followed the incorrect directions, or used olfactory cues to locate food.

Results - recruits went to where the scout incorrectly directed them to rather than finding the food patch.

How are bees able to relay information via dance in the total darkness of the hives?

Through wing vibrations picked up by tactile sensory inputs.

How do bees measure distance?

"optic flow" of landscape. How fast they are flying by seeing how fast stationary landmarks move from their perspective.

Define: Habitat

The natural environment that surrounds a species

Define: Microhabitat

small-scale physical requirements of a particular organism

Define: Habitat choice

How animals distribute themselves in space and time with respect to resources in that environment.

What factors go into an organism's habitat selection?

1. Predators

2. Prey (food)

3. Mates

4. Temperature

5. Parasites

What is the difference between a home range and a territory?

A home range is an area where an animal lives and travels, but other animals can come and go whereas territories are actively defended areas that have resources needed by the organism.

Define: Nomad

individuals that are constantly wandering and have no territory, but do have a home range

What is the ideal free distribution model? (IFD)

a way in which animals distribute themselves among patches of resources in which the number of individuals is proportional to the amount of resources available. (example used in class: trick or treaters and candy distribution in neighborhoods)

The ideal free distribution model allows the prediction of what?

1. How many individuals should first settle into a patch

2. How many individuals should be in each patch when it reaches equilibrium.

If there are 6 individuals in a group of animal species x, and one area has twice as much food as then another, how would we expect the six individuals to distribute themselves with regards to IFD?

4 animals to the higher source and 2 to the lower source. (pretty straightforward)

Define: Migration

when animals periodically move long distances from one region to another then usually return back to origin at a later time.

What are some possible reasons for animal migration?

1. Avoid harsh weather

2. Move towards more abundant resources

3. Move to areas more appropriate for breeding/rearing offspring

What are the two stages of migration?

1. Preparatory stage (when animals start to prepare for migration e.g. fattening up, migratory restlessness)

2. Initiation stage (actual onset of movement)

What proximate factor can induce migration?

1. Photoperiod

2. Weather conditions

3. Physiological condition (fat levels, reduced gonad development and hormone levels)

True or false: migration behavior can be genetic and can be acted upon by natural selection.

True

What does the "evolutionary precursor" hypothesis state?

smaller scale movements can predecess larger migration behavior.

What examples discussed in class might trigger an evolutionary precursor behavior?

1. Tropical birds in habitats with variable resources may begin making short seasonal migration.

2. Could've began with tropical birds moving to temperate areas during warm season, then moving back.

What cues do animals use for navigation while migrating?

1. Position of sun/stars

2. Earth's magnetic field

3. Physical landmarks

4. Odors

What animal was used as an example for sun compass navigation?

Monarch butterflies

What experiment was done to test monarch's reliance on the sun for navigation cues?

Clock shift experiment (raised butterflies in various simulated light/dark daily cycles and gauged how it affected their movements).

Define: Celestial navigation

using stars to orient the individual.

Many birds migrate at _____.

Night

What do birds use for navigation at night?

constellations and particular stars. (was experimented with birds in planetariums.

What human caused problem impacts birds who rely on celestial navigation?

Light pollution

Which of the following is NOT a function of victory displays such as that shown by the fall field cricket winning the aggressive contest in this video clip?

Attract potential competitors while primed for aggresion.

In the aggressive interaction between the male crickets shown in this video clip, individuals predictably escalate through a series of acts, commencing with antennal contact and progressing through physical pushing and ultimately biting with their mandibles until a clear victor emerges. The consistent appearance of a predictable series of escalating acts constitutes one of the two predictions of the sequential assessment model of aggression. A second prediction is that:

more evenly matched opponents will engage in more escalated contests.

The difference between a territory and a home range is that:

A territory is aggressively defended, whereas a home range is not

The factors involved in the economic model of territoriality are:

Territory size, and costs of the territory holding, and benefits of the territory holding.

Conspecific cueing in the context of territoriality refers to:

When individuals use the choices of others to determine the quality of a potential territory (e.g. a child not caring about a toy until another child wants it.)

In class, a hypothetical experiment was set up to test the whether conspecific territory preferment held true in bronze anoles. What did the data show?

That bronze anoles prefer habitats that have been inhabited by other anoles but only if they physically see the other individual in the territory.

Define: Satellite individuals

Individuals that do not hold territories of their own but share the territory of another, at least temporarily.

What was the example used for satellite individuals in class?

The three morphs of male side blotched lizard (blue, yellow, and orange). analogous to rock paper scissors. See slide 20 of the Nov 13 lecture.

When and why do some animals allow satellites?

It could be economically less expensive to allow them to encroach. Factors are cost of resources that the satellite takes, how costly it would be to defend resources, and potential benefit of allowing satellite in like they might help defend the territory.

True or false: Having. satellite can be both costly and beneficial.

True.

When are satellites most often tolerated?

When resources are plentiful.

What territorial behavior in chimps is thought to be a rudiment of tribal behavior?

Some troops will "raid" other troops. They do this silently and will kill rival members (even cannibalize) and capture females.

Define: Territorial Dynasty

Territories that are passed down through generations of family members.

Define: Territorial budding

the process of cooperatively acquiring a larger, expanded territorial area.

Define: optimal skew theory

theory that models the distribution of breeding within a group, taking into account both cooperation and conflict (bee eaters were used as example and their propensity to try and keep sons around after they mature to be "helpers" with raising other chicks)

What in the brain has been shown to be the proximate (how) causation of territoriality?

Biogenic amines

Define: Biogenic amines

An amine-containing chemical produced by an organism; in behavior chemicals released in the brain that can modulate the activity of neurons.

What biogenic amines are associated with aggression?

serotonin and noradrenaline

Define: Pleiotropy

when a gene influences several distinct traits

Define: Agonistic behavior

when animals send threatening signals and/or engage in physical combat

True or False: Aggression is shown only in territoriality.

False. Aggression can present itself in many contexts such as mating and feeding.

Define: dominance hierarchy

rank ordering of individuals within a social group based on the results of parities aggressive interactions.

What is unique about hyena dominance hierarchy?

Matriarchal with high levels of testosterone in females creating a significantly enlarged clitoris considered a "pseudopenis" to display dominance...they also give birth through it.

Define: Fight or Flight

Response to a threat that involves the sympathetic nervous system, priming the animal to either fight, or flee the situation.

Which portion of the nervous system is involved in the fight or flight response?

The sympathetic (Brain/brainstem) nervous system.

True or false: The fight or flight response includes physiological changes to the animal involved.

True. This includes increased heart rate and respiration, decreased digestion, etc.

What 3 types of hormones are associated with dominance/subordinance in hyenas? (and other species too)

1. Androgens ( e.g. testosterone)

2. Stress hormones (e.g. glucocorticoids)

3. Neurotransmitters (e.g. serotonin)