Question 1

Female spotted sandpipers aggressively court males and, after mating, leave the clutch of young for the male to incubate. This sequence may be repeated several times with different males until no available males remain, forcing the female to incubate her last clutch. Which of the following terms best describes this behavior?
A) polygyny
B) polyandry
C) promiscuity
D) certainty of paternity

Accepted Answer

Polyandry is the mating system where one female mates with multiple males and the males take care of the offspring. This behavior, where the female spotted sandpiper mates with multiple males and leaves the clutch for the male to incubate, is an example of polyandry.

Question 2

Behaviors are diverse and important for survival and reproduction. Some behaviors are learned, such as the species-specific song of a yellow warbler that is different from the song of a blue-winged warbler. Other behaviors are innate, such as a female cat in heat urinating more often and in many places to attract a mate or the honeybees' "dance" that indicates the distance and direction of a food source when they return to their hive. Which of the following statements supports the idea that behaviors are important in survival and therefore affect natural selection?
A) Learned behaviors always increase fitness.
B) Innate behaviors are the result of selection for individual survival and reproductive success.
C) All behaviors are survival mechanisms that increase reproductive fitness by increasing mutation rates.
D) Both innate and learned behaviors are entirely based on genes inherited from parents.

Accepted Answer

Innate behaviors, such as the female cat in heat urinating more often, and learned behaviors, such as the yellow warbler's species-specific song, are important for survival and reproduction. This is because behaviors that enhance an individual's ability to survive and reproduce will be passed on through natural selection, resulting in increased reproductive fitness. Innate behaviors are the result of natural selection for survival and reproductive success, as those individuals who possess traits that aid in these goals are more likely to pass on their genes to the next generation.

Question 3

Which of the following is true of innate behaviors?
A) Their expression is only weakly influenced by genes.
B) They occur with or without environmental stimuli.
C) They are expressed in most individuals in a population.
D) They occur in invertebrates and some vertebrates but not mammals.

Accepted Answer

Innate behaviors are genetically hardwired and are expressed in most individuals within a species, regardless of environmental variations.

Question 4

A vampire bat sharing blood with another bat that is not its kin is an example of ________.
A) optimal foraging behavior
B) reciprocal altruism
C) learned behavior
D) agonistic behavior

Accepted Answer

Sharing blood with a non-kin bat is not advantageous for the vampire bat in terms of immediate survival or reproduction. However, if the recipient bat is also a blood donor in the future, there is a possibility of reciprocal blood-sharing which would benefit both bats in the long term. This is an example of reciprocal altruism, where behavior that seems selfless has eventual benefits for both parties involved.

Question 5

A region of the canary forebrain shrinks during the nonbreeding season and enlarges when breeding season begins. This change is probably associated with the annual
A) addition of new syllables to a canary's song repertoire.
B) crystallization of subsong into adult songs.
C) sensitive period in which canary parents imprint on new offspring.
D) elimination of the memorized template for songs sung the previous year.

Accepted Answer

The enlargement of a region in the canary forebrain during the breeding season is associated with the addition of new syllables to a canary's song repertoire, as this is a time when canaries are more vocal and their songs become more complex to attract mates.

Question 6

A male stickleback fish will attack other male sticklebacks that invade its nesting territory. It will only attack male fish, which display the red belly characteristic of the species. Why has natural selection favored this behavior?
A) The behavior reduces competition between species, which gives the male stickleback access to more food.
B) The behavior allows the male stickleback to attract females with its aggressive display.
C) The behavior allows the male to establish a defined space for breeding with female sticklebacks.
D) The behavior is a mechanism to reduce predation and resource competition.

Accepted Answer

The behavior of a male stickleback fish attacking other male sticklebacks with a red belly characteristic is to establish a defined space for breeding with female sticklebacks. This behavior is a form of sexual selection, which ensures that the male has exclusive access to potential mates and increases its chances of passing on its genes to the next generation.

Question 7

Which of the following is not required for a behavioral trait to evolve by natural selection?
A) In each individual, the form of the behavior is determined entirely by genes.
B) The behavior varies among individuals.
C) An individual's reproductive success depends in part on how the behavior is performed.
D) Some component of the behavior is genetically inherited.

Accepted Answer

It is not necessary for the form of the behavior to be determined entirely by genes for the trait to evolve by natural selection. The other options are all important requirements for natural selection to act on a behavioral trait.

Question 8

Although many chimpanzees live in environments with oil palm nuts, members of only a few populations use stones to crack open the nuts. The likely explanation is that
A) the behavioral difference is caused by genetic differences between populations.
B) members of different populations have different nutritional requirements.
C) the cultural tradition of using stones to crack nuts has arisen in only some populations.
D) members of different populations differ in learning ability.

Accepted Answer

The fact that only a few populations of chimpanzees use stones to crack open oil palm nuts suggests that this behavior is not genetically encoded. Instead, it is more likely that the behavior has developed as a cultural tradition within specific populations.

Question 9

According to Hamilton's rule,
A) natural selection does not favor altruistic behavior that causes the death of the altruist.
B) natural selection favors altruistic acts when the resulting benefit to the recipient, corrected for relatedness, exceeds the cost to the altruist.
C) natural selection is more likely to favor altruistic behavior that benefits an offspring than altruistic behavior that benefits a sibling.
D) the effects of kin selection are larger than the effects of direct natural selection on individuals.

Accepted Answer

Hamilton's rule states that natural selection favors altruistic behavior when the benefits to the recipient, valued by the degree of relatedness, outweigh the cost to the altruist. This means that altruistic behavior is more likely to be favored if the recipient is a close relative, such as a sibling or offspring, rather than a distant relative or unrelated individual. The rule also implies that altruistic behavior that causes the death of the altruist is unlikely to be favored by natural selection.

Quiz 51: Animal Behavior

Which of the following is true of innate behaviors?

A vampire bat sharing blood with another bat that is not its kin is an example of ________.

A region of the canary forebrain shrinks during the nonbreeding season and enlarges when breeding season begins. This change is probably associated with the annual

A male stickleback fish will attack other male sticklebacks that invade its nesting territory. It will only attack male fish, which display the red belly characteristic of the species. Why has natural selection favored this behavior?

Which of the following is not required for a behavioral trait to evolve by natural selection?

Although many chimpanzees live in environments with oil palm nuts, members of only a few populations use stones to crack open the nuts. The likely explanation is that

According to Hamilton's rule,