Deck 10: Social Behaviours

Question 1

Animals that live in groups have a reduced individual probability of predation. This is known as

A) dilution effect.
B) a lek.
C) altruism.
D) cooperation.

Answer 1

A

Question 2

Which of the following is NOT a strategy that leaf cutter ants use to avoid parasitoid flies specialized to hunt large ants?

A) Small ants forage during the day, when the flies are active.
B) Large ants forage at night, when the flies are inactive.
C) Small ants guard larger ants during the day, when the flies are active.
D) Small ants perform all foraging tasks for the ant colony.

Answer 2

D

Question 3

In the example of the ruff (Philomachus pugnax), researchers found that males in leks had more success in

A) attracting females.
B) copulating with females.
C) attracting females and copulating with females.
D) none of the above

Answer 3

C

Question 4

Which of the following is NOT a benefit of a dominance hierarchy?

A) organization of conspecifics to reduce intraspecific competition
B) quick resolution of conflicts
C) group defence of ephemeral resources
D) aggregation of individuals to increase probability of mating

Question 5

Pack animals such as wolves establish an order that dictates social behaviour. This is an example of

A) territoriality.
B) spitefulness.
C) a dominance hierarchy.
D) a lek.

Question 6

An area defended by one or more individuals against intrusion by others is

A) a dominance hierarchy.
B) a lek.
C) a home range.
D) a territory.

Question 7

Researchers found that as the flock size of European goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis) increased, the time needed to find new food patches also increased because large populations

A) have high per capita food consumption.
B) are forced to live in lower-quality habitat.
C) have more aggressive individuals.
D) face increased competition for food.

Question 8

Territoriality develops when

A) a resource can be defended.
B) the benefits of defending a resource outweigh the costs.
C) fitness is increased by having the territory.
D) all of the above

Question 9

A lek is the location of an aggregation of animals

A) to reduce the rate of predation.
B) for hunting.
C) for feeding.
D) for mating displays.

Question 10

Group living _____ individual risk of predation and _____ the predation risk of the group.

A) increases; increases
B) increases; decreases
C) decreases; increases
D) decreases; decreases

Question 11

Which of the following is NOT a cost of living in groups?

A) decreased likelihood of mating
B) increased transmission of pathogens
C) increased predation
D) increased competition

Question 12

Topic: living in groups
Difficulty: easy
Which of the following comes closest to constituting a true social group?

A) flies attracted to a dung pat
B) cattle attracted to a desert watering hole
C) oak seedlings aggregated because they have not dispersed
D) goldfinches flocking to feed on seed heads of plants growing in open fields

Question 13

You discover a small reef fish species in the Great Barrier Reef off the Australian coast. You study its ecology and discover that many midsized and large predatory fish consume the new species. Further, you find that this species consumes the same prey as many other species of similar-sized fish. However, many of those other small species tend to live in large schools, whereas individuals of this newly discovered species live alone. Propose a general ultimate hypothesis to explain what ecological conditions could cause a small species to live alone rather in a large school.

Question 14

What is a lek? How is it beneficial?

Question 15

Which of the following is NOT a tactic that animals living in groups use to reduce the overall probability of predation?

A) group defence used to protect from predators
B) many individuals looking out for predators at any given time
C) group attack used against predators
D) avoidance of predation by scattering

Question 16

Increased competition for food among individuals living in groups may lead to increased

A) movement between habitats in search of food.
B) time dedicated to locating food by individuals.
C) aggression between group members.
D) all of the above

Question 17

Researchers found that fish on coral reefs that are fished have fewer parasites than fish on coral reefs that exclude fishing. What explains this observation?

A) Fishing eliminated fish with inferior genetics, which were more susceptible to parasites.
B) Fish from unfished reefs had larger populations that made them subject to more transmission of parasites.
C) The unfished site had more parasites than the fished site.
D) none of the above

Question 18

Social behaviour in animals is

A) inherited.
B) learned.
C) random.
D) acquired.

Question 19

When leaf cutter ants age and become less efficient at their tasks, they

A) are killed.
B) change tasks.
C) are evicted from the colony.
D) are eaten by other colony members.

Question 20

Large groups are particularly vulnerable to epidemics because they

A) have low numbers of resistant individuals.
B) can cause pathogens to mutate and become more dangerous.
C) can rapidly become infected by a single individual.
D) decrease the likelihood of immunity developing.

Question 21

Altruism is likely to evolve when

A) B/C > r.
B) C/B > r.
C) C/B < r.
D) C/B = r.

Question 22

The coefficient of relatedness measures

A) the probability of an individual and its relatives carrying copies of the same genes from a recent common ancestor.
B) the degree of relatedness between individuals in a population.
C) indirect fitness as the benefit given to a recipient relative by the donor individual.
D) the direct fitness cost of altruistic behaviour to a recipient by the donor.

Question 23

What is another term for kin selection?

A) indirect selection
B) direct selection
C) natural selection
D) sexual selection

Question 24

C/B describes the ratio of

A) donor benefits to recipient costs.
B) donor costs to recipient benefits.
C) indirect fitness costs to direct fitness benefits.
D) direct fitness costs to indirect fitness benefits.

Question 25

Why would evolution favour a social structure that relies on dominance hierarchies rather than individual territories?

Question 26

For calculations of the indirect fitness benefit of altruistic behaviour and kin selection, r is the

A) coefficient of relatedness between the donor and recipient.
B) benefit given to a recipient relative.
C) direct fitness cost to the donor.
D) indirect fitness cost to the donor.

Question 27

Fitness that an individual gains by passing on copies of its genes to its offspring is favoured by _____ selection.

A) indirect
B) direct
C) natural
D) sexual

Question 28

A hummingbird guarding a hummingbird feeder is an example of

A) dominance hierarchy.
B) altruism.
C) territoriality.
D) selfishness.

Question 29

Why is altruistic behaviour an evolutionary problem?

A) It does not lead to an increase in direct fitness.
B) It does not lead to an increase in indirect fitness.
C) It does not lead to an increase in fitness.
D) It decreases fitness.

Question 30

Indirect fitness is favoured by _____ selection.

A) natural
B) sexual
C) kin
D) direct

Question 31

In the wattled jacana (Jacana jacana), a species of tropical wading bird, all brood care is performed by males. Females protect nests and defend territory. Females sometimes attack and kill chicks cared for by a male. The male then fertilizes the female attacker and cares for the resulting young. This type of social interaction is an example of

A) cooperation.
B) selfishness.
C) spitefulness.
D) altruism.

Question 32

Based on the coefficient of relatedness, to which of the following relatives would a donor be most likely to provide altruism?

A) parent
B) cousin
C) half sibling
D) full sibling

Question 33

The evolution of altruistic behaviour is most likely to be between

A) parent and offspring.
B) identical twins.
C) cousins.
D) half siblings.

Question 34

Which statement about social interactions is TRUE?

A) The recipient is the individual who directs behaviour toward another individual, the donor.
B) Donors and recipients direct behaviours toward one another.
C) The donor is the individual who directs behaviour toward another donor.
D) The donor is the individual who directs behaviour toward another individual, the recipient.

Question 35

Which social interaction is best described as the opposite of altruism in terms of its effect on donor and recipient fitness?

A) cooperation
B) selfishness
C) spitefulness
D) dominance

Question 36

A social interaction in which both the donor's fitness and the recipient's fitness are increased is called

A) cooperation.
B) altruism.
C) spitefulness.
D) selfishness.

Question 37

Which equation calculates the indirect fitness benefit of altruistic behaviour and kin selection?

A) C × r
B) B × r
C) B ÷ r
D) B + r

Question 38

The equation C < B × r describes conditions under which a(n) _____ behaviour will _____ in the population.

A) altruistic; increase
B) altruistic; decrease
C) selfish; increase
D) selfish; decrease

Question 39

In the social interaction of altruism, the donor receives a(n) ?????_____ in fitness and the recipient receives a(n) _____ in fitness.

A) decrease; increase
B) decrease; decrease
C) increase; increase
D) increase; decrease

Question 40

Based on fitness effects on donors and recipients, which type of social interaction is expected to occur LEAST often?

A) altruism
B) cooperation
C) selfishness
D) spitefulness

Question 41

In haplodiploid societies a _____ produces female gametes by _____.

A) diploid female; mitosis
B) haploid female; meiosis
C) haploid male; mitosis
D) haploid female; mitosis

Question 42

In haplodiploid mating systems, nonqueen females are

A) haploid and fertile.
B) haploid and infertile.
C) diploid and fertile.
D) diploid and infertile.

Question 43

How many castes do bees have?

A) four
B) three
C) two
D) five

Question 44

Which does NOT have a haplodiploid mating system?

A) ants
B) bees
C) termites
D) wasps

Question 45

What prevents nondominant mole rats from reproducing?

A) Nondominant mole rats are born sterile.
B) Haplodiploid sex determination means that sibling mole rats are more related to each other than to their parents.
C) Harassment by the dominant members prevents nondominant mole rats from breeding.
D) Once nondominant mole rats reach sexual maturity, they leave form new colonies.

Question 46

Which group does NOT contain a eusocial species?

A) corals
B) termites
C) ants
D) mammals

Question 47

The worker caste in bees consists entirely of

A) reproductive females in an arrested stage of development.
B) reproductive females.
C) reproductive males in an arrested stage of development.
D) reproductive males.

Question 48

In hymenoptera, there is a strong asymmetry in the genetic relatedness of siblings. What is the coefficient of relatedness between female workers?

A) 1.0
B) 0.5
C) 0.75
D) 0.25

Question 49

This table shows fitness data for 2 years in a population of kingfishers. Calculate the total inclusive fitness of the primary helper, secondary helper, and delayer for both years. Which strategy would be favoured?

Question 50

Which is NOT a characteristic of a eusocial species?

A) reproductive dominance by many individuals
B) cooperation in nest building and brood care
C) several adults living together in a group
D) sterile individuals

Question 51

Which of the following is NOT an ecosystem process associated with eusocial insects?

A) pollination
B) consuming detritus
C) herbivory
D) nutrient cycling

Question 52

Eusociality exists

A) in a few species.
B) in a few lineages.
C) in many species.
D) because of a single mutation.

Question 53

If the direct fitness cost to a donor is 6 and the indirect fitness benefit to the recipient is 30, is altruistic behaviour likely to evolve between cousins? Is the altruistic behaviour likely to evolve between full siblings?

Question 54

Wild turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo) perform mating displays at leks alone or in coalitions of related males. In the coalitions, only dominant males copulate with females. Why do nondominant males join coalitions?

A) A nondominant male obtains greater inclusive fitness by helping a brother mate than by mating on his own.
B) A nondominant male obtains greater direct fitness by helping his brother mate than by mating on his own.
C) A nondominant male obtains less indirect fitness by helping his brother mate than by mating on his own.
D) A nondominant male may eventually become the dominant male in a coalition.

Question 55

How do termites prevent individuals other than the king and queen from reproducing?

A) Individuals are pressured not to reproduce by and king and queen.
B) Individuals are prevented from reproducing by the haplodiploid mating system.
C) Individuals do not reproduce because they are sterile.
D) Individuals do not reproduce because they stay sexually immature unless the queen dies.

Question 56

Why would an individual in a social group of a diploid species help to rear the young of its siblings rather than reproducing itself? Describe the expected relative importance of direct and indirect fitness benefits and explain your answer.

Question 57

In haplodiploid mating systems, males are

A) haploid and fertile.
B) haploid and infertile.
C) diploid and fertile.
D) diploid and infertile.

Question 58

In haplodiploid societies, which would be expected to show most cooperation?

A) all-male group
B) all-female group
C) mixed male and female group
D) All of these groups would show equal cooperation.

Question 59

In termite colonies, which of the following does NOT reproduce?

A) drone
B) soldier
C) king
D) queen

Question 60

The sex determination system in hymenopterans such as ants, bees, and wasps is

A) triplodiploid.
B) haplodiploid.
C) diplohaploid.
D) haplotriploid.

Question 61

What evidence do we have that eusociality appeared to evolve independently, many times?

Question 62

The term henpecked in chickens refers to chickens pecking at injured spots on other chickens, exacerbating the original injury. How did researchers overcome the problem of henpecked chickens?