Quiz 51: Animal Behavior

What probably explains why coastal and inland garter snakes react differently to banana slug prey? A) Ancestors of coastal snakes that could eat the abundant banana slugs had increased fitness. No such selection occurred inland, where banana slugs were absent. B) Banana slugs are camouflaged, and inland snakes, which have poorer vision than coastal snakes, are less able to see them. C) Garter snakes learn about prey from other garter snakes. Inland garter snakes have fewer types of prey because they are less social. D) Inland banana slugs are distasteful, so inland snakes learn to avoid them. Coastal banana slugs are palatable to garter snakes. E) Garter snakes learn to eat what their mother eats. Coastal snake mothers happened to prefer slugs.

A) Ancestors of coastal snakes that could eat the abundant banana slugs had increased fitness. No such selection occurred inland, where banana slugs were absent.

How do altruistic behaviors arise through natural selection? A) By his/her actions, the altruist increases the likelihood that some of its genes will be passed on to the next generation. B) The altruist is appreciated by other members of the population because their survivability has been enhanced by virtue of his/her risky behavior. C) Animals that perform altruistic acts are allowed by their population to breed more, thereby passing on their behavior genes to future generations. D) Altruistic behaviors lower stress in populations, which increases the survivability of all the members of the population. E) All of the options are correct.

A) By his/her actions, the altruist increases the likelihood that some of its genes will be passed on to the next generation.

Fred and Joe, two unrelated, mature male gorillas, encounter one another. Fred is courting a female. Fred grunts as Joe comes near. As Joe continues to advance, Fred begins drumming (pounding his chest) and bares his teeth. Joe then rolls on the ground on his back, gets up, and quickly leaves. This behavioral pattern is repeated several times during the mating season. Choose the most specific behavior described by this example. A) agonistic behavior B) territorial behavior C) learned behavior D) social behavior E) fixed action pattern

A) agonistic behavior

Listed below are several examples of types of animal behavior. Match the letter of the correct term (A-E) to each example in the following questions. A. operant conditioning B. agonistic behavior C innate behavior D. imprinting E. altruistic behavior Through trial and error, a rat learns to run a maze without mistakes to receive a food reward

A) operant conditioning

A cage containing male mosquitoes has a small earphone placed on top, through which the sound of a female mosquito is played. All the males immediately fly to the earphone and go through all of the steps of copulation. What is the best explanation for this behavior? A) The males learn to associate the sound with females. B) Copulation is a fixed action pattern, and the female flight sound is a sign stimulus that initiates it. C) The sound from the earphone irritates the male mosquitoes, causing them to attempt to sting it. D) The reproductive drive is so strong that when males are deprived of females, they will attempt to mate with anything that has even the slightest female characteristic. E) Through classical conditioning, the male mosquitoes have associated the inappropriate stimulus from the earphone with the normal response of copulation.

B) Copulation is a fixed action pattern, and the female flight sound is a sign stimulus that initiates it

Pair-bonding in a population of prairie voles can be prevented by A) the ensuing confusion caused by introducing meadow voles. B) administering a drug that inhibits the brain receptor for vasopressin in the CNS of males. C) administering a drug that turns on ADH receptor sites in male voles. D) dying the coat color from brown to blond in either male or female prairie voles. E) allowing the population size to reach critically low levels.

B) administering a drug that inhibits the brain receptor for vasopressin in the CNS of males.

A type of learning that can occur only during a brief period of early life and results in a behavior that is difficult to modify through later experiences is called A) insight. B) imprinting. C) habituation. D) operant conditioning. E) trial-and-error learning

B) imprinting.

In Belding's ground squirrels, it is mostly the females that behave altruistically by sounding alarm calls. What is the likely reason for this distinction? A) Males have smaller vocal cords and are less likely to make sounds. B) Females invest more in foraging and food stores, so they are more defensive. C) Females settle in the area in which they were born, so the alarm is warning kin. D) The sex ratio is biased. E) Males forage in areas separate from females; therefore, alarm calls are useless.

C) Females settle in the area in which they were born, so the alarm is warning kin.

Which of the following examples describes a behavioral pattern that results from a proximate cause A) These immigrants make up for the deaths of individuals, keeping the other populations' size stable. B) Young reproductive males tend to stay in their home population and are not driven out by other territorial males. C) These immigrants provide a source of genetic diversity for the other populations. D) Those individuals that emigrate to these new populations are looking for less crowded conditions with more resources. E) Gradually, the populations of ground squirrels will move from a clumped to a uniform population pattern of dispersion

C) These immigrants provide a source of genetic diversity for the other populations.

A chemical produced by an animal that serves as a communication to another animal of the same species is called A) a sign stimulus. B) an inducer. C) a pheromone. D) an imprinter. E) an agonistic promoter.

C) a pheromone.

Animals that help other animals of the same species A) have excess energy reserves. B) are bigger and stronger than the other animals. C) are usually related to the other animals. D) are always male. E) have defective genes controlling their behavior.

C) are usually related to the other animals.

Displays of nocturnal mammals are usually A) visual and auditory. B) tactile and visual. C) olfactory and auditory. D) visual and olfactory. E) tactile and auditory

C) olfactory and auditory.

Although many chimpanzees live in environments containing 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. E) members of different populations differ in manual dexterity.

C) the cultural tradition of using stones to crack nuts has arisen in only some populations.

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 limited to invertebrate animals. D) They are expressed in most individuals in a population. E) They occur in invertebrates and some vertebrates but not mammals

D) They are expressed in most individuals in a population.

A guinea pig loves the lettuce kept in the refrigerator and squeals each time the refrigerator door opens. What term best applies to this behavior? A) sign stimulus B) cognition C) imprinting D) classical conditioning E) operant conditioning

D) classical conditioning

The central concept of sociobiology is that A) human behavior is rigidly predetermined. B) the behavior of an individual cannot be modified. C) human behavior consists mainly of fixed action patterns. D) most aspects of our social behavior have an evolutionary basis. E) the social behavior of humans is homologous to the social behavior of other social animals.

D) most aspects of our social behavior have an evolutionary basis.

Scientists have tried raising endangered whooping cranes in captivity by using sandhill cranes as foster parents. This strategy is no longer used because A) fostered whooping crane chicks did not develop the necessary cues for migration. B) the fostered whooping cranes' critical period was variable such that different chicks imprinted on different "mothers." C) sandhill crane parents rejected their fostered whooping crane chicks soon after incubation. D) none of the fostered whooping cranes formed a mating pair -bond with another whooping crane. E) sandhill crane parents did not properly incubate whooping crane eggs.

D) none of the fostered whooping cranes formed a mating pair -bond with another whooping crane.

Listed below are several examples of types of animal behavior. Match the letter of the correct term (A-E) to each example in the following questions. A. operant conditioning B. agonistic behavior C innate behavior D. imprinting E. altruistic behavior Upon observing a golden eagle flying overhead, a sentry prairie dog gives a warning call to other foraging members of the prairie dog community.

E) altruistic behavior

The mating system in which females are more ornamented than males is A) monogamy. B) promiscuity. C) polygamy. D) polygyny. E) polyandry

E) polyandry

The color of throats of males in a population of side -blotched lizards is determined by A) the frequency of homozygous recessive genotype. B) ambient temperature—blue = cold; orange = normal; yellow = hot. C) stage of development/maturity. D) their receptiveness to mate. E) the success of the mating behavior of each of the throat color phenotypes.

E) the success of the mating behavior of each of the throat color phenotypes.