Deck 9: Evolution and Behavior

Question 1

Why do human taste preferences exist?

A) They are culturally generated; consumers are influenced by suggestive advertising.
B) Human feeding choices influence energy intake and, consequently, fitness.
C) Humans can extract energy from a variety of non-food sources, so taste preferences cause us to focus on foods that are more plentiful in our environment.
D) Fats actually do taste better than sugars.
E) Vitamins and minerals give foods unusual tastes, which causes us to seek them out.

Answer 1

Just as physical traits are affected by evolution, behavioral traits are also affected. Remember that evolution occurs because of mutations to an organism's deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA); therefore, anything that is coded for in the DNA can be affected by evolution. Also remember that the traits that remain and are passed on to successive generations are those that give the organism a reproductive advantage.
Taste preferences would exist because they drove the organism to consume food that made it more fit to produce offspring. Human taste preferences would exist for the same reason. This does not mean, however, that we always follow what our genetic coding tells us. As humans, we have the ability to choose what we eat.
The correct Answerto this question is b) Human feeding choices influence energy intake and, consequently, fitness.
Our taste preferences are coded in our DNA and would drive us to eat the foods that would make us the most fit to reproduce; however, our free will allows us to be influenced by advertising and choose other foods. The Answerto a) is incorrect.
Humans cannot extract nourishment from non-food sources. The Answerto c) is incorrect.
Studies have shown that humans prefer sweet foods over fatty foods. The Answerto d) is incorrect.
Most people cannot taste vitamins or minerals; and, if we do, we usually don't like the taste. The Answerto e) is incorrect.

Question 2

Female moorhens are larger and more aggressive than males. They also compete among themselves for access to the smaller, fatter males. Which sex do you think provides more parental care? Explain your answer.

Answer 2

Not Answered

Question 3

From an evolutionary perspective, behavior can best be viewed as:

A) a trait that arises by learning, not by natural selection.
B) non-heritable.
C) a trait subject to drift and mutation, but not natural selection.
D) part of the phenotype.
E) All of the above are correct.

Answer 3

Just as physical traits are affected by evolution, behavioral traits are also affected. Remember that evolution occurs because of mutations to an organism's deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA); therefore, anything that is coded for in the DNA can be affected by evolution. Also remember that the traits that remain and are passed on to successive generations are those that give the organism a reproductive advantage.
The correct Answerto this question is d) part of the phenotype.
Behavioral traits, just as physical traits, can be inherited in the genotype and are subject to natural selection. Therefore, the answers to a) and b) are incorrect.
The mutation of DNA sequences is what drives natural selection; therefore, if the trait is subject to mutation, it is also subject to natural selection. The Answerto c) is incorrect.
Since the answers to a), b), and c) are incorrect, the Answerto e) is incorrect.

Question 4

Why is it so much easier for an infant to learn a complex language than for a college student to learn biology?

A) Language involves memorization only, without the need for understanding rules, while biology involves both.
B) Language is a feature with great evolutionary relevance for humans.
C) Learning biology was not a behavior with evolutionary relevance for humans.
D) Biology involves much more vocabulary than learning a complex language.
E) Both b) and c) are correct.

Question 5

Babies in the United States quickly and easily develop a fear of snakes. Yet they don't easily develop a fear of guns. Why?

A) Humans cannot develop fears of inanimate objects.
B) Evolution can be slow in producing populations that are adapted to their environments.
C) Babies are more likely to encounter snakes than guns as they develop in the United States.
D) Fewer individuals are killed by guns than by snakes in the United States each year.
E) All of the above are correct.

Question 6

In Belding's ground squirrels, why are females much more likely than males to engage in altruistic behavior by sounding alarm calls?

A) Belding's ground squirrels have a sex ratio that is biased toward females.
B) Females invest more in foraging and food storage, so they are more likely to lose their lives or their food if a predator attacks.
C) Belding's ground squirrels have a sex ratio that is biased toward males.
D) Females tend to remain in the area where they were born, so the females that call are warning their own kin.
E) Males forage alone, so their alarm calls are useless.

Question 7

Gestational diabetes is thought to be the consequence of:

A) pregnant women decreasing their average daily amount of activity.
B) a mother withholding investment in future offspring in order to invest more in the current pregnancy.
C) a mother consuming too much sugar during gestation.
D) conflict between the mother and fetus with respect to how much food the fetus should be given; the mother is equally related to the fetus and to any future offspring, while the fetus is not equally related to itself and any subsequent siblings.
E) physiological constraints on the amount of insulin a mother can provide for the fetus.

Question 8

Vampire bats:

A) sometimes regurgitate blood into the mouth of another bat that is close to starving, but the likelihood is a function of whether the individuals are genetically related.
B) are unusual in that they are one of the few animal species that exhibit kin selection.
C) sometimes regurgitate blood into the mouth of an unrelated bat that is close to starving.
D) exhibit reciprocal altruism but not kin selection.
E) There are no such things as vampire bats; they're found only in a Dracula novel.

Question 9

Altruistic behavior in animals may be a result of kin selection, a theory maintaining that:

A) genes promote the survival of copies of themselves when behaviors by animals possessing those genes assist other animals that share those genes.
B) aggression within sexes increases the survival and reproduction of the fittest individuals.
C) companionship is advantageous to animals because, in the future, they can recognize those that have helped them and provide help to those individuals.
D) aggression between the sexes increases the survival and reproduction of the fittest individuals.
E) companionship is advantageous to animals because, in the future, they can recognize those that have helped them and request help once again.

Question 10

All of the following conditions are necessary for reciprocal altruism to evolve in a species except:

A) the ability to recognize different individuals.
B) the ability to punish cheaters who do not reciprocate.
C) repeated interactions with the same individuals.
D) at least one of the sexes must not disperse so that some individuals always live near their kin.
E) None of the above is necessary for the evolution of reciprocal altruism.

Question 11

In a situation in which males guard eggs and care for the young without help from the female, which of the following statements would most likely be correct?

A) Males are large and more brightly colored in order to attract the very best females.
B) Males and females are equally brightly colored, but males court females aggressively.
C) The population is monogamous with no sexual dimorphism.
D) A single male controls a harem of females to which he has exclusive reproductive access.
E) Females are more brightly colored than males and court males aggressively.

Question 12

In mammals, as well as many other species, males generally compete for females. The best explanation for this phenomenon is:

A) males are more aggressive.
B) males, on average, have higher fitness.
C) females have a higher parental investment.
D) males are choosy.
E) females are better looking.

Question 13

Mate guarding is a reproductive tactic that functions to:

A) reduce paternity uncertainty.
B) increase the female's investment in offspring.
C) reduce the male's reproductive investment.
D) reduce the female's fitness.
E) increase the number of mates to which a male has access.

Question 14

Relative to birds, more mammalian species are:

A) polygynous.
B) monogamous.
C) polyandrous.
D) hermaphroditic.
E) sexually monomorphic.

Question 15

In a species such as pigeons, in which males are almost indistinguishable in appearance from females, the most likely mating system is:

A) monomorphism.
B) monogamy.
C) polygyny.
D) polyandry.
E) It is impossible to predict the mating system with only this information.

Question 16

If you find a species of fish in which males are much more brightly colored and larger than females, what might you infer about their mating system?

A) The degree of sexual dimorphism does not give any information about the mating system.
B) They are simultaneous hermaphrodites.
C) They exhibit parallel monogamy.
D) They are serially monogamous.
E) They are polygynous.

Question 17

Polygynous species:

A) usually employ external fertilization.
B) are usually sexually dimorphic, with males larger and more highly ornamented.
C) are usually sexually dimorphic, with females larger and more highly ornamented.
D) usually have males and females that are physically indistinguishable.
E) are more commonly found among birds than among mammals. Short-Answer Question