Mammalogy Lecture Exam 3

biogeography

studying animal distributions (animal geography)

Alfred Russell Wallace

father of biogeography/animal geography

co-discoverer of theory of natural selection

endemism

restriction of a species geographic range to a circumscribed area

often due to being unable to leave

disjunct distribution

a gap in the range of related species or clades

species richness

number of species within a defined area

typically due to an increased diversity of resources

faunal realms

zoogeographic realms

world divided into 6 regions/realms to help explain distributions

Palearctic

Largest region by land area

Includes Europe, north Africa, much of Middle East, most of Asia (except south-southeastern Asia)

Diverse biomes: polar ice (N) to desert (S), high species diversity

42 mammal families (gray wolf, tiger, caribou, Norway rat, polar bear)

0 endemic families

Nearctic

Most of North America, Greenland

Latitudinal biome diversity similar to Palearctic; polar ice (N) to desert and subtropical (S)→ high diversity

37 mammal families (peccary, polar bear, pronghorn antelope, musk ox, porcupine)

2 endemic families (aplodontidae, antilocapridae)

Neotropical

Southern hemisphere New World (South America, Central America, southern Mexico)

Tropical (N) to desert (S); altitudinal diversity with mountains

50 mammal families (sloth, howler monkey, tapir, capybara)

19 endemic families (most of all regions) (bats, primates, xenarthrans, rodents)

Ethiopian 

Madagascar, sub-saharan Africa, south tip Middle East

Savanna, tropical rainforest

52 mammal families (most of all regions) (gorilla, African elephant, giraffe, aardvark, lemur species, viverrids

18 endemic families (Giraffidae, Lemuridae)

Oriental

India, south China, Indochina, portions of Indonesia

Tropical forest; deserts in western portion

separated from paleoarctic by mountains (still growing)

50 mammal families (Malay tapir, Indian tiger, water buffalo, Indian elephant)

4 endemic families

Australian

Australia, Tasmania, portions of Indonesia

Tropical forest to savanna to desert island realm

28 mammal families (wombat, kangaroo, bandicoot, echidna)

17 endemic families (marsupials, monotremes, bats, Tasmanian wolf)

Oceanic

major oceans of Earth and isolated island (New Zealand)

marine mammals (walrus, dolphins, whales, seals), bats, some rodents

Continental drift

theory postulating that Pangea split and resultant land masses drifted over Earth

Plate Tectonics

theory that Earth’s outer shell is made up of large slabs that move over the mantle

Pangea

supercontinent made up of all of Earth’s land masses around 200 MyBP during the triassic period

Gondwana

southern land mass/supercontinent containing South America, Africa, Australia, India, Antarctica, and Madagascar when Pangea split 65 MyBP during the Jurassic period

Laurasia

northern land mass/supercontinent containing North America, Europe, and Asia (except India) when Pangea split 65 MyBP during the Jurassic period

Passive dispersal

is usually not intended; with commodities shipped, things in them go too

animals hitches a ride

Active dispersal

animal moves on their own accord

pathways: corridor route, filter route, sweepstakes route

Corridor route

faunal interchange where there is minimal resistance to the passage of mammals between 2 geographic locations

normal pathway

Filter route

faunal interchange where only certain species move between land masses because of some type of barrier

harder pathway

Sweepstakes route

dispersal route in which some unusual occurrence carries an organism or group of organisms across a dispersal barrier into a previously unoccupied area

really hard pathway

Peninsular gradient

species richness decreases as you go toward the tip of a peninsula due to isolation

Latitudinal gradient

species richness increases as you get closer of the equator

Elevational gradient

species richness tends to decrease as elevation increases, up to a certain point, creating a "diversity bulge" at middle elevations

Ecosystem

all abiotic and biotic factors interacting in one area at a given time

Fundamental niche

the resources and area that an animal could use

Realized niche

the resources and area that an animal actually uses

n-dimensional hypervolume

purposed by Hutchinson

concept where each axis represents a different variable and the ‘volume’ is the conditions where the animal can live

Grinnell

physical and abiotic environment a species requires to survive and reproduce

Elton

species' functional role in its community, emphasizing its relationships with food and enemies, or its position within the food web

Hutchinson

n-dimensional hypervolume where each axis represents an environmental factor, such as temperature, humidity, or prey availability

Gause

proposed the Competitive Exclusion Principle

Competitive Exclusion Principle

2 species cannot occupy the same niche at the same time in the same place

Niche Partitioning

process by which different species divide and utilize resources to reduce competition

commonly done by character displacement (affect adaptations due to increase or decrease of competition) or specialization

Specialist

species with a narrow ecological niche relying on a specific resource to survive and reproduce

Generalist

species with a broad ecological niche that does not rely on a specific resource to survive and reproduce

Keystone Species

an organism that has a disproportionately large effect on their environment relative to their population size

crucial to maintaining structure and stability of the ecosystem

Keystone Predator

a top-level predator that has a disproportionately large impact on its ecosystem by controlling populations of prey species

Trophic Cascade

the predator affects herbivores which affects the plant community

top-down cascade!!

Community Succession

process of sequential change in species composition and abundance in a community over time

location, time, space, disturbance all affect the successional stage of an ecosystem

Animal Fitness

ability to survive and reproduce

Darwinian Fitness

genes ability to get passed on

big antlers, body size, etc.

Anisogamy

variation in gamete size

Females: produce few, large, immobile, and energetically-expensive ova → limited resource

Males: produce many, small, motile, and energetically-inexpensive sperm

Intersexual Selection

1 sex selects traits of the other sex

ex: female chooses male with big antlers

Intrasexual Selection

1 sex battles it out

dominant males get the ladies

Dimorphism

physical differences between sexes or ages

K-selected

lots of care, less offspring, increased survival

Type I curve

r-selected

little care, more offspring, less survival

Type III curve

Monogamy

association between 1 male and 1 female at a time

exclusive mating relationship between members

rare, only <9% of mammal species

Polygamy

multiple marriages/partners

includes polygyny, polyandry, and promiscuity

Polygyny

male monopolizing multiple females in 1 season

most common at ~90% of mammal species

gradient effect!!

Types of Polygyny

1. Resource defense: attract the females

2. Female defense: follow the females

3. Male dominance: show off/compete to impress the females

4. Scramble competition: hustle to get there first

Polyandry

female monopolizing multiple males in one season

very rare in mammals (rodents like the naked mole rat and African wild dogs)

Promiscuity

no prolonged association between individuals

John Maynard Smith

studied Game Theory, the strategies that animals use to be successful in survival and reproduction

Sneaky breeders

subordinate individuals (usually males in polygynous systems) that sneak copulations with females without direct competition with dominant males. This could be while dominate males are absent or fighting, or it could be a body type that subordinate males look more like females and so dominant males doesn’t see them as a threat. This happens in some pinnipeds

E.O. Wilson

studied and came up with Sociobiology in 1975

behavior

it is everything an animal does

communication

passing information from 1 organism to another; need a sender and reciever

olfactory

odor: long range, slow transmission rate, can travel around objects, can be used at night, slow fade-out time, difficult to locate the sender, low cost to send signal

cervids, carnivores

auditory

sound: long range, fast transmission rate, can travel around objects, can be used at night, fast fade-out time, varied to locate sender, high cost to sender

bats and whales echolocate to communicate, canids, elephants

visual

vision: medium range, fast transmission rate, can travel around objects, cannot travel around objects, little use at night, fast fade-out time, easy to locate sender, medium cost to send signal

white-tail deer (tail goes up as warning), lions (prevent altercation)

tactile

touch: short range, fast transmission rate, cannot travel around objects, can be used at night, fast fade-out time, easy to locate sender, low cost to sender

primates (picking parasites), star-nosed moles

aggression

behavior intended to cause harm

could be for resources, mates, or avoid altercation

exploitation competition

indirect, it is using a resource before another animal can

interference competition

direct, it is the direct competition of a resource

infanticide

killing babies, you want to pass on your genetics

Bruce Effect

new dominant animal causes abortion in females

Siblicide

killing siblings because you want resources

Home Range

an area that an animal goes and uses, typically measured annually or seasonally

Core Area

space in the home range that is used the most

Territory

area that is defended

Dominance

social rank where certain individuals have a higher status

Altruism

going out of ones way to protect another

there is no benefit to the organism protecting the other

Alarm-Calling

vocalization by an animal in the presence of a predator or other threat to warn others

often thought of as altruistic

Eusociality

single female breeds, all others raise the young

naked mole rat is an example of this

Allee Effect

any negative effect of having a small population

Group Selection

generally disregarded now

it is wanting the group or herd to be successful for the benefit of the group, not the individual

V.C. Wynn-Edwards

coined group selection in 1962 and expanded on it in 1986

Selfish Herd

every individual wants to be a part of the herd because it benefits them

Kin Selection

animals protect their kin because it helps pass along ‘their’ genetics

Inclusive Fitness

the idea that kin or related animals have similar genetics

Dispersal

individual or social group moving somewhere else and do not come back to the original spot

Migration

individual or social group going somewhere else and then returning

Natal Dispersal

juveniles moving away

Breeding Dispersal

moving away to breed or find a mate, can be old or young individuals

Philopatry

‘loving parents’

animals stay close to their parents or do not disperse at all

Habitat

an area with resources an animal needs to survive and reproduce

Use

signals that an animal was there

poop, beddings, GPS/VHF transmitting, blood, camera

Selection

ratio of how much an animal uses an area vs how often it is available

use/availability

Temporal

type of multi-scale process

study of how behavior, ecology, or ecological processes occur and interact over a range of different times 

Spatial

type of multi-scale process

studying how environmental factors, animal behavior, and ecological processes interact differently depending on geography

Availability

how much of something is there

if you have a lot of something, there will be less competition for it

Intraspecific Competition

struggle for a resource among 1 species

causes a species to generalize

Interspecific Competition

struggle for a resource among multiple species

causes a species to specialize

Patch Selection

an animal determining where it will eat and for how long it will it there

Marginal Value Theorem

animals must decide when to leave a patch

depends on energy efficiency

Optimal Foraging Theory

predicts animals will look for food in a way that maximizes their energy intake while minimizing energy and time expenditure