Science Section III: the nitty gritty (p.56-67)

What affects the preferences of what animals eat? List of 3:

Environment, development, and individual personality

How does the endangered California condor differ from the turkey vulture in foraging?

California condor doesn't smell and uses its visual system; Turkey vulture uses its sense of smell

How does the endangered California condor differ from the turkey vulture in reproduction?

Turkey vultures breed at a much hire rate

How does the endangered California condor differ from the turkey vulture in size?

Turkey vultures are smalelr than California condors

How does the turkey vulture differ from the endangered california condor in terms of adapting to human effects?

Turkey vultures have expanded diet to include roadkill and trash; California condors have been impacted by human factors such as lead and pesticide poisoning = large decline in their population (which is why they are endangered)

Search phase in foraging

Animal uses sensory systems to detect prey

What do hawks rely on to find prey?

Vision

What do bears rely on to find prey?

Their sense of smell

Pursue stage in foraging

Hunting down

Handling stage in foraging

Consuming food

How do herbivores handle food?

Complex digestive systems, makes them required to chew food for a long time

How do carnivores handle food?

Spend time removing skin and cannot digest bones

Foraging can be negative to the individual as it can cause

Stress which makes it vulnerable

How do orchid mantis or chameleons maximize foraging success?

Mimic shape, color, and movement of plants to hid and ambush prey

How do mexican milk snakes maximize their foraging success?

Hide in plain sight by using same bright colors as venemous snakes

How do desert-dwelling animals like kangaroo rats forage successfuly?

They wait until night to forage because of hot tempuratures

Parasites, in terms of ecological niche, have a

Narrow ecological niche; they are specialists

Raccoons, in terms of ecological niche, have a

Broad ecological niche; they are generalists

Downside to being a generalist

More competition = more brain power needed to adapt to it

Downside to being a specialist

If the environment changes quickly, the specialists can go extinct

Foraging theories are relatively...

Simplistic

Blue whales weigh up to...

200 tons

Blue whales eat...

Small animals, tiny marine crustaceans called krill

How long do blue whales dive to obtain food?

Avg: 15 minutes

For blue whales, a successful dive could provide up to ____ times the amount of energy used

80

Blue whales' foraging strategy is an example of...

Optimal Foraging Theory

Foraging behavior of grizzly bears

Fish that migrate upstream are eaten, NOT ALL.

The brain, eggs, and skin of the fish are targeted since they are highest in fat, the rest is discarded

Evolutionary game theory is based on...

Economic theories

Evolutionary game theory was developed...

to explain why cooperation has evolved

Evolutionary game theory was developed by....

John Maynard Smith and George Price

Evolutionary game theory was developed during the year...

1973

A model describing evolutionary game theory is...

Hawk-Dove game

When both animals choose to fight for the resource, according to evolutionary game theory, results in...

The resource is split and injury is involved

Sharing, according to evolutionary game theory, results in...

No injuries, but time wasted figuring if the other party will fight

What is the best outcome of the dove hawk game?

All animals vary, a mix of both hawks and doves

Spatial memory, learning from past experiences, and decision making all require...

Cognitive abilities

There is evidence showing foraging can advance...

Cognitive abilities

What animals hide their food and retrieve it later, making sure to watch others' food and also make sure others don't see where they put theirs?

Red squirrels and scrub jays

These animals can thrive in human environments....

Coyotes

These animals eat grasses and other forms of vegetation, but supplument their diet (ex. cuttlebone)

Western grey kangaroos

Cuttlebones come from

Hard calcified structure in cuttlefish that have died and washed ashore

Cuttlebones are asource of

Calcium

These animals require salt in their diets... List of 3:

Horses, sheep and parrots

Salt is necessary for...

Regulating amount of water within cells

Nerves to function

Why do animals in captivity still prefer to search for food

The brain releases neurotransmitters

An animal engaging in the communication behavior

Sender

The animal perceiving the communication

Receiver

What animals can understand a lot of human language

Dogs

What animals can pick up the body language of humans?

Dogs

What animals cooperate to gain honey and pollinate?

The greater honeyguide has a distinct call and wing flapping leading honey badgers to bee hives

In some cases, honeyguides call for humans

What animals cooperate to flee danger?

Diana monkeys in Africa have alarm sounds for hawks versus leopards

Yellow-casqued hornbills flee for hawk alarm, less for leopard alarm

What animals can mimic some human words

Whales and dolphins

Researchers have attempted to teach animals to communicate their internal feelings through...

Vocalizations, modified sign language, and assisted technologies

What is the name of a dog that has been able to express herself using buttons?

Bunny

What strategy was taught to Bunny to learn to express herself through button pressing?

Classical conditioning

How do dogs and cats recognize words made by humans?

Association

What bird was able to pronounce over a hundred words, correctly label objects, express his needs, and understand the concept of zero?

The grey parrot Alex

Critics said that the grey parrot Alex learned through which strategy?

Operant conditioning

This term is both honest and reliable, and benefits both the sender and receiver

Signal

Dart frogs signal that they are...

Poisonous through their bright colors

This term only benefits the receiver, and can be intentional or not

Cue

Physical landmarks are considered

Cues

Pretending to look or behave in a way that does not represent reality is...

Signaling through mimicry

Bee flies are an example of

Signaling through mimicry

The larger an animal tries to look, the more ___ they are

Aggressive

How do naked mole rats use body language without presenting it visually?

Their sensitive mouths and sensory body hairs are used to communicate in dark underground tunnels

These animals pin their ears back when acting aggressively or when feareful

Horses, dogs, and cats

These charts quantify the amount of pain an animal may be experiencing based on the animal's body language

Grimace scales

Who developed the feline grimace scale?

Université de Montréal

Who developed grimace scales?

Veterinarians

What score in a grimace scale begins to consider pain medication?

4 or more

What are the 5 action units of cats?

Ear position, orbital tightening (eyes), muzzle tension, whiskers change, and head positioning

Birds use songs to...

Attract a mate, alert fellow birds to danger, signal claimed territory

Birds can make complex sounds, allowing them to...

Produce 2 notes at once

Do all birds learn to produce songs?

No, some have innate ability, some have to learn

Song sparrow attraction:

Male sparrows who sing a larger variety of songs are more likely to attract a female

Why don't song sparrows learn infinite number of songs

Energy spent would be too much, more neural connections are needed, more food is needed

They experience high levels of stress too, causing a low ability to learn songs

When animals intentionally or unintentionally transmit a shared behavior between generations

Cultural transmission

The process by which cultural transmission occurs

Social learning

How do animals learn behaviors from others? (3)

Imitation, interaction, or observation

When several members of a group all share a similar behavior not found in other groups

Cultural trait

African bush elephant cultural transmission

Single female matriarch leads group: Teach others how to care for their young

Orcas cultural trait:

Orcas perform beaching behavior to hunt, its only in specific family groups where they teach each other

Cultural transmission in great tits:

Songs from close proximity can form neighborhood dialects, where birds from outside of the hood can learn the new dialect

Recent research has suggested that migratory species of ___ and _____ such as ____ can experience cultural transmission

Fish, invertebrates, honeybees

What animals detect vibrations with specialized nerve cells in their feet, determining the presence of a predator, and also communicate through low frequency vibrations in the ground?

African elephants

Bats and dolphins use _____ to communicate

Echolocation

Echolocation is a form of

Auto-communication

How does echolocation work

Sound signals are sent out that reflect on the environment to map out environment without using eyes

How do cephalopods communicate

Special cells called Chromatophores produce rapid color changes

How do insects communicate

Chemical signals, using tase and smell to identify mates and rivals

Male house sparrows hormonal color changes:

Black patch on chest during breeding szn, the larger the patch, the more testosterone, more attractive

How can bat's echolocation be disrupted?

Moths can create ultrasonic noises disrupting signals

Downside to coloration

Animal can stand out more