biology Exam 2

indirect fitness

the result of altruistic behavior

In mammals, as well as many other species, males generally compete for females, whereas females mate with only one or a few males. The best explanation for this phenomenon is:

females have higher parental investment. -Females produce a limited number of viable gametes and typically contribute more to raising their offspring. As a result, they have a lot more to lose than males who can mate with many females.

Natural selection favors behaviors that might be risky for an individual but beneficial for their close relatives because of:

inclusive fitness

In a polyandrous mating system:

individual females mate with multiple males.

An older female Belding's ground squirrel has been transplanted from her home colony to a new colony; therefore, she has no close kin nearby. Nevertheless, she risks her life to make an alarm call, warning the colony of an approaching predator. This is an example of:

maldaptive behavior

When black widow spiders mate, the male breaks off his sexual organ inside the female, preventing her from ever mating again. This is an extreme example of:

mate guarding

The situation in which males and females are physically and behaviorally similar is called sexual ____________.

monomorphism -In this situation, the sexes are nearly indistinguishable. Not only do males and females appear alike, they also behave similarly.

The sex with the greater energetic investment in reproduction will be ___________________ when it comes to mating.

more discriminating -The sex with the greater energetic investment has "more to lose," so to speak, than the sex with little energetic investment.

Of the approximately 10,000 species of birds, ______________ appear to be monogamous.

more than 90%

Which statement about prepared learning is accurate?

It occurs easily in nearly all individuals.

Which of the following is one of the four general rules of female choosiness in mate selection?

Mate after subjecting a male to a courtship ritual. Mate with a male who contributes a large nuptial gift up front. Mate only with a male who controls valuable resources. Mate only with a male who has superior physical characteristics.

Female hanging flies will only mate with males who bring them large offerings of food, or nuptial gifts. Which one of the general rules of female choosiness in mate selection does the example illustrate?

Mate only with a male who contributes a large parental investment up front

Which of the following statements about group selection is true?

Selfish behavior is favored over group selection. -Behaviors that reduce the fitness of an individual compared to others in the population are not likely to evolve, even at the cost of species extinction.

Under what conditions would an allele increase in a population?

The allele leads to deceptive behavior that increases individual fitness.

You discover a new species of bird in which the females have bright, extravagant plumage whereas the males are very small and drab. What predictions can't you make about this new species?

The males must be providing the larger gamete.

During breeding season, the sight of a red belly on a male stickleback fish will trigger an antagonistic response in other males. This is an example of:

a fixed action pattern.

An example of chemical communication in animals would be:

a silkworm moth releasing pheromones.

Kin selection is:

a type of selection that can lead to the evolution of altruistic behavior toward close relatives. -An individual may risk reducing their fitness to benefit a close relative who shares many of the same genes.

A gene will increase in a population, even if it causes an individual's fitness to be immediately decreased, if:

an individual's "sacrificial" behavior leads to reciprocity and an overall fitness increase for that individual

direct fitness

an individual's total reproductive output

A Belding's ground squirrel sounds an alarm to warn of an approaching predator. This squirrel is most likely:

an older female in the colony in which she was born.

Mate guarding:

applies to situations in which males provide parental care.

Which of the following is not considered a maladaptive behavior?

arachnophobia anarchy ideals smoking charitable donations to third world countries

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

at least one of the sexes must not disperse, so that some individuals live near their kin. -Reciprocal altruism occurs in unrelated individuals and does not require them to be closely related.

Truly altruistic behavior:

conflicts with the theory of natural selection. -True altruism is rare in nature because it does not increase an individual's odds of survival and reproduction.

A young child seems to acquire language skills almost overnight. Children do not talk until they are a year old, but by the age of three, they understand most rules of sentence construction. What behavioral concept best describes this?

prepared learning

If a young goose sees only a human in the first several days after birth, it will follow that human around as if it were its mother. What behavioral concept best describes this?

prepared learning

The energy that a parent puts into the growth, feeding, and care of offspring is called:

reproductive investment

Which of the following is not considered to be an animal behavior?

respiration

Polygyny is often positively correlated with:

sexual dimorphism and variation in male reproductive success.

An optimal strategy for an animal in procuring food would involve all of the following except:

spending any amount of energy as long as it gets the nutrients it needs.

Sexual dimorphism is a good predictor of mating systems because:

the degree of sexual dimorphism and the type of mating system present in a species are both determined by the difference in parental investment between the male and female; therefore, when one is known, the other can be inferred.

Inclusive fitness is:

the sum of an individual's indirect and direct fitness.

Under what circumstances does reciprocal altruism appear in unrelated individuals?

when there are repeated interactions with opportunities for all individuals to be the donor and recipient of the altruistic act

The sex with less energetic investment in reproduction:

will compete among themselves for access to the higher-investing sex.

Why do human taste preferences exist?

Human feeding choices influence energy intake and, consequently, fitness.

Which of the following explanations best supports the following statement: "Humans and other animals don't consciously try to maximize their reproductive success, but their behaviors would suggest otherwise."

An animal that experiences pleasure when it has sex has the incentive to seek out additional opportunities to experience that pleasure, without seeking a reproductive outcome.

Which statement about honest signals is true?

An honest signal is only given when the individual making the signal and the individual receiving the signal share the same interests.

Animal taste preferences and feeding behaviors:

Animals' taste preferences directly influence their evolutionary fitness. Also, their feeding behaviors affect the number of offspring they can produce. -Consequently, natural selection can shape feeding behaviors in the same way it can bring about changes in physical structures in organisms.

_______ encompasses any and all of the actions performed by an organism.

Behavior

Nearly every type of canine, including dogs of both genders, walks in a tight circle before lying down. This circling behavior occurs wherever the dog is, including on a kitchen or concrete floor. How might this behavior have evolved?

Circling in nature may better prepare a "bed" and serve as a check for predators.

Which of the following best explains the age-old idea that a male should court and/or compete for a female?

For males to be most successful, in terms of reproduction, they need to find and gain access to mating opportunities with additional females.

prepared learning

behaviors that are learned easily and by all (or nearly all) individuals.

Organisms perform behaviors that maximize their chances of reproductive success because:

behaviors that lead to the outcome of reproductive success are favored by natural selection

Communication:

can be shaped by natural selection. -Natural selection plays an important role in shaping communication and signaling.

Deceptive communication signals:

can increase fitness

Evolution would tend to favor:

greater clarity and unambiguous communication.

When evolution leads to behaviors that are good for a species or population but detrimental to the individual exhibiting the behavior, this process is called:

group selection

A signal that cannot be faked and carries the most accurate information about a situation or individual is known as an ______ signal.

honest

The theory of kin selection holds that an altruistic-appearing individual maximizes its own "inclusive fitness" by helping other individuals with whom it shares genetic material. In which species is such altruistic-appearing behavior most likely to evolve?

honey bees, which live in a hive of mostly sisters from the same mother queen bee

Behaviors and other traits that are not evolutionarily adaptive can occur:

when the environment changes more quickly than the populations can evolve.