eeb 100 practice questions behavior

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An individual that decides to move to a habitat that has fewer resources and less competition for those resources rather than a location with a high amount of resources and a much higher level of competition is employing what concept: A. Ideal free distribution B. Group selection C. Optimal foraging theory D. Frequency-dependent selection E. This would not be observed in nature

Female bluegill sunfish choose males with an attractive nest to deposit their eggs, after which males will externally fertilize the eggs. Male Bluegill sunfish come in three varieties: (1) territorial males that guard a nest in hopes of attracting and mating with a female, (2) small sneaker males that wait for an opportunity to slip between a spawning pair, releasing his sperm when the territory holder does in hopes of fertilizing some of the eggs, and (3) a satellite male with the body coloration of a female that hovers above a nest before slipping between the territorial male and his mate when the female spawns. What best describes this mating behavior? A. Sperm competition B. Intersexual selection C. Parental care D. Fisherian runaway selection E. None of the above

Francisco Sánchez (2006) wanted to know how fruit bats exploit food patches that differ in food amount. To test this, Sánchez created three feeding containers with different amounts of food and recorded the giving-up densities of bats for all feeders each day for three days (Figure 1). What data indicate that the bats were attempting to maximize their energy intake rate while feeding on the three types of artificial feeders? Figure 1: GUD (±SE) of the three feeders (patches) on each day. A. The GUDs were equal for each of the three feeder types on each day. B. They did not experience diminishing returns in each of these feeders so they were able to consume all food in each of the feeders. C. The GUDs were greater for the feeder with the most food relative to the feeder with the least food. D. It is not possible to conclude that the bats were attempting to maximize their energy intake rate.

If a population is subject to frequency-dependent selection, then: A. Two alternative forms of a trait can persist indefinitely in the population. B. The rarer of two forms of a trait will become somewhat rarer in the next generation. C. The frequency of an adaptation will become greater over time, depending on the extent to which individuals with that trait out-reproduce individuals with the alternative attribute. D. Neither form of the trait is considered an adaptation but instead these forms are kept in the species in order to provide flexibility should the environment change.

If a species is polygynous, which of the following statements is true: A. Usually females care for offspring. B. Only females can have greater than one mate. C. Both males and females can have greater than one mate. D. Usually males care for offspring.

Innate (unlearned) behaviors are genetic. T/F

False, innate does NOT equal genetic

Under the assumptions of the marginal value theorem, patches have equal giving-up densities. T/F

True

Calculate the inclusive fitness of each of the following altruist in genetic units and show your math. Altruist 2: Helps full sister raise 4 offspring and later raises 3 offspring on its own. Without help, the sister would have produced only 1 offspring.

(4-1)*.25 + 3*.5 = .75 + 1.5 = 2.25

Calculate the inclusive fitness of each of the following altruist in genetic units and show your math. Altruist 1: Helps parents raise 4 full-sib offspring and later raises 3 offspring on its own. Without help, the parents would have produced only 2 offspring.

(4-2)*.5 + 3*.5 = 1 + 1.5 = 2.5

Calculate the inclusive fitness of the following altruist in genetic units and show your math. Altruist 3: Helps unrelated pair raise 4 offspring and later raises 6 offspring on its own. Without help, the pair would have produced only 2 offspring.

0 + 6*.5 = 3

In a herd of gazelles, an individual gives several alarm calls that ultimately save the lives of two siblings as well as three offspring of another sibling. However, during the individuals final alarm call, she is exposed to risk of attack from predators and is killed by a cheetah. As a result, the alarm individual does not live to produce any offspring of her own. Had she lived, she would have produced four offspring. What is the benefit to the alarm individual of her altruism in terms of indirect fitness? Show your work.

0.5*2 + 0.25*3 = 1.75

Question text In a herd of gazelles, an individual gives several alarm calls that ultimately save the lives of two siblings as well as three offspring of another sibling. However, during the individuals final alarm call, she is exposed to risk of attack from predators and is killed by a cheetah. As a result, the alarm individual does not live to produce any offspring of her own. Had she lived, she would have produced four offspring. What is the cost to the alarm individual of her altruism in units of direct fitness? Show your work.

0.5*4 = 2

1. It is difficult to learn a dialect, which enables females to mate with only those males with good dialects so as to improve the breeding stock of the species. 2. White-crowned sparrows evolved from an ancestral species that possessed the capacity for song learning. 3. Males in different populations have different forms of certain genes that influence the development of the song system. 4. The ability to sing the local dialect enables a bird to form bonds with others in the area so that they can adjust their total reproductive output, reducing the risk of local overpopulation. 5. Males in different populations are exposed to different songs, an experience that influences the kind of song that the birds learn. 6. The differences among dialects are environmentally determined, not genetically controlled. Which of the above hypotheses are based on group selection theory?

1 & 4 are correct because both describe a scenario where some individuals perform a costly behavior to enhance the reproductive fitness of other unrelated group members.

In a herd of gazelles, an individual gives several alarm calls that ultimately save the lives of two siblings as well as three offspring of another sibling. However, during the individuals final alarm call, she is exposed to risk of attack from predators and is killed by a cheetah. As a result, the alarm individual does not live to produce any offspring of her own. Had she lived, she would have produced four offspring. What is the inclusive fitness of the alarm individual? Show your work.

1.75 - 2 = -0.25

In a group of meerkats, a male gives a number of alarm calls that in total save the lives of two sisters as well as three offspring of another sibling. But by giving these alarm calls, the male is exposed to risk of attack from predators and eventually is killed by a hawk. As a result of a shortened life, he does not produce three surviving offspring that he otherwise would have had. The alarm calling behavior of the male was: A. Adaptive B. A costly by-product of an adaptation. C. Maladaptive D. It is not possible to make this conclusion based on the information provided.

Olson et al. (1995) compared the spatial and non-spatial learning abilities of four members of the crow family that vary in their predisposition to store food and the ecological niche they occupy. In the first task, researchers required birds to remember the location of a circle on the screen (a spatial task, Figure A). In the second task, researchers required the birds to remember the color of a circle on a screen (a non-spatial learning task, Figure B). What is the best conclusion that can be drawn from these results? A. The birds have not evolved all-purpose learning abilities, rather their learning skills are designed to promote success in solving ecologically relevant problems. B. Overall, birds from the crow family will do better with non-spatial learning tasks. C. Clark's nutcracker would likely outcompete all three other species if they all came to occupy the same territory. D. None of the above are reasonable to conclude from the data provided.

Pogonomyrmex ant mate in groups. They form huge brief mating aggregations on hilltops where there are so many of them that dragonflies and birds can not possibly consume them all. Based on the information provided, what best describes this behavior? A. Dilution effect B. Mobbing C. Predator confusion D. Alarm calling E. Selfish herding

When predation on their tadpoles from snakes is strong, female frogs should be selected to: A. lay eggs in large aggregations. B. hatch only when disturbed by a predator. C. form large social groups. D. hatch later in the season.

Which of the following is an indication of Darwinian fitness? A. Cheetahs run faster than the gazelles they prey upon. B. Some species of birds sing louder than other species. C. Stronger baboons can supplant weaker baboons from a group of females. D. Insects are ubiquitous because of their ability to fly.

A and possibly C if by this you think that selection acts on males to be strong.

When a tropical moth of the genus Automeris is touched on the thorax it lifts its forewings up abruptly, exposing its brightly colored hindwings. What causes the moth to behave this way? For each explanation, first identify whether it focuses on a proximate or ultimate cause. Then label each explanation as A. genetic-developmental B. sensory motor C. evolutionary history D. adaptive value The moth's genes influence the way the adult animal's nervous system forms connections between its muscles and its wings.

A or B, proximate.

Below are hypotheses about why male white-crowned sparrows sing dialects. For each one, decide whether it is: A. a genetic-developmental explanation B. a sensory motor explanation C. an adaptive value explanation D. one relating to evolutionary history Young white-crowned sparrows are primed hormonally during a particular stage of their life to record acoustical information from singing males of their own species.

A or B, this is a proximate explanation however it can be attributed to either a behavioral development or sensory-motor mechanism (how hormones modulate the behavior).

A or B, this is proximate and can either be described as genetic-developmental or physiological-psychological.

Unlike domesticated European bees, African bees are prone to attacking large animals that approach their hives. Even experienced beekeepers have trouble working with African bees safely. African bees were introduced to South America and are rapidly spreading northward and hybridizing with domesticated European bees along the way. The "Africanized" hybrids are almost as aggressive as the fully wild African bees. What is a proximate explanation for the difference in behavior between European and African bees?

A proximate explanation is that African and European bees have different levels of an aggression-inducing hormone.

Hospitals group infected people together such that the rate of disease co-infection increases. A. Increase the virulence B. Decrease/have no effect on the evolution of virulence

A, Because there are multiple competing strains and pathogens together and overuse of antibiotics.

Suppose a robin named Jane gives up her chance to mate and have offspring of her own in order to help her sister raise five offspring. Without Jane's assistance, the sister would have only had two offspring. Had Jane had chicks of her own, she would have had two surviving offspring. What is the cost (in units of direct fitness) of Jane's altruism? A. 1 B. 1.5 C. 2 D. 3

A, Cost = offspring lost * relatedness C = 2 * 0.5 = 1

It makes sense to separate the results of an experiment from the scientific conclusion of a research project because: A. The data were collected not as an end in and of themselves but to help evaluate a hypothesis. B. The scientific conclusion should refer to what ought to have been collected in the way of data, not the actual data themselves. C. The dictionary defines a scientific conclusion as a proven result, and the results of an experiment are rarely completely certain. D. It is good to keep all the experimental items, the design of the experiment, the methods used, the expected results and the actual data collected, in one single category.

A, Experiments are built around a testable hypothesis that is addressing a larger scientific theory. Results should always be interpreted to explain what new information this study tells us about a deeper scientific question.

"The activity of N2RB gene declines in older mice and causes a decline in learning ability." Some have suggested that this is beneficial because it means older mice cannot forage as efficiently as they once did, which frees up resources for the next generation. This hypothesis is based on group selection because: A. The trait of interest is said to cause individuals to sacrifice some reproductive opportunities in order to help another generation of mice to grow and reproduce. B. Individuals with this gene have already reproduced. C. It deals with two populations, older and younger mice, rather than one species as a whole. D. The trait of interest is said to have features that reduce the reproductive success of some individuals.

A, Group selection hypotheses must involve a trait that appears selfless to benefit the survival of the species as a whole.

A parent-offspring regression for a particular phenotypic trait yields a regression line of y = 0.5x + 0.4 (with an r2 = 0.6). A selection experiment on the same trait gives a predicted response to selection of 0.6, and a selection differential of 2. Given these facts which of the following is true? A. The parent-offspring regression results in a higher estimate of heritability than does the selection experiment. B. The parent-offspring regression results in a lower estimate of heritability than does the selection experiment. C. The parent-offspring regression results in an equal estimate of heritability to the selection experiment. D. None of the above are true.

A, Heritability in the regression is the slope of the line (=0.5). Heritability in the selection experiment = R/S = 0.6/2 = 0.3

Suppose a robin named Jane gives up her chance to mate and have offspring of her own in order to help her sister raise five offspring. Without Jane's assistance, the sister would have only had two offspring. Had Jane had chicks of her own, she would have had two surviving offspring. What is the cost (in units of inclusive fitness) of Jane's altruism? A. 1 B. 1.5 C. 2 D. 3

A, Inclusive fitness cost = direct + indirect There is no indirect cost to Jane's altruism so: 2 * 0.5 = 1

Which of the following is true about mating systems? A. Male reproductive success is limited most by access to females, not food. B. Female dispersion is directly correlated with resource dispersion which does not take predation into account. C. If resources are patchy, females will aggregate in certain areas and polyandry will most likely arise as the mating system. D. In uniform female dispersion, monogamy is unlikely to occur. E. None of the above.

A, Male reproductive success is most limited by females so they should distribute themselves according to the dispersion of females.

Which of the following statements about evolution is true? A. Natural selection cannot change the phenotype of existing individuals. B. Natural selection is a consequence, not a cause, of evolutionary change. C. Natural selection leads to steady progress toward increasingly advanced life forms. D. None of the above.

A, Natural selection can impact the phenotype of future individuals because only those that survive to reproduce will pass their genes to the next generation.

Cover influences the ability of a kangaroo rat to detect the sounds of predators. A. Proximate B. Ultimate

A, Proximate. This is a sensory-motor mechanism.

A researcher observes that the size of a group of birds often increases after a predator is spotted. What antipredator behavior best explains this observation? A. Dilution effect B. Selfish herding C. Predator confusion D. Mobbing

A, The dilution effect states that the probability of being killed declines as group size increases.

If we modeled moose food selection and discovered that moose forage at the location of the arrow, we would infer: A. moose maximize their salt intake subject to rumen constraints B. moose are not foraging optimally C. moose maximize their energy intake subject to rumen constraints D. none of the above explain moose foraging behavior

A, This arrow is the furthest away from sodium constraints. For whatever reason, the moose need/want/desire salt. See lecture slides for more details about this scenario.

Schneider et al. (2003) found that male mice are highly likely to attack their own litters, rather than caring for their young. If, however, the progesterone receptor gene is removed from their genome, the mice cannot detect progesterone in their bodies and they do not exhibit infanticidal behavior toward their offspring. A. Activational effects B. Organizational effects

A, This is an activational effect because the immediate response to progesterone (or lack thereof) determines whether the males will be infanticidal.

Lemmings leave where they are living when population densities get very high because as the dispersing lemmings die off, they leave the species in the hands of the best survivors, which enables selection to work, resulting in a more adapted lemming species as a whole A. for group selectionist hypothesis B. for Darwinian natural selectionist hypothesis C. for other

A, This is group selection because the scenario assumes the dispersing lemmings are leaving to ensure the survival of the remaining population.

Lemmings leave where they are living when population densities get very high because high densities threaten the survival of the local population, which favors a reduction in the number of lemmings present there. A. for group selectionist hypothesis B. for Darwinian natural selectionist hypothesis C. for other

A, This is group selection because the scenario assumes the dispersing lemmings are leaving to ensure the survival of the remaining population.

Lemmings leave where they are living when population densities get very high because the fighting that takes place at high densities threatens to injure the males and females of highest genetic quality, which is harmful to the gene pool. A. for group selectionist hypothesis B. for Darwinian natural selectionist hypothesis C. for other

A, This is group selection because the scenario assumes the dispersing lemmings are leaving to ensure the survival of the remaining population.

Which of the following scenarios is an example of parental investment? A. The donation by a mother elephant seal of special nutrients and biochemicals other than DNA to her eggs. B. The elaborate ornaments that a male bird of paradise possesses without which he will not attract a mate. C. The transfer of large quantities of sperm to a female, which increases the probability that one of these sperm will fertilize the eggs. D. The production and transfer of chemicals (in a male ejaculate) to a female fruit fly that increase the probability that the sperm transferred to her at the same time will fertilize her eggs. E. None of the above.

A, This is parental investment because this act improves the chances of survival for the mother's current offspring yet reduces the mother's ability to invest in future offspring (because she is expending precious resources on the current offspring)

A researcher decides to train mice to climb to the into a protective shelter when a cat is released into the cage. Before releasing the cat in the cage, every time the researcher plays Beethoven's 5th Symphony. Eventually the mice learn to head to their protective cage when they hear Beethoven's 5th Symphony before they even smell or see the cat. What kind of learning is this an example of? A. Classical conditioning B. Operant conditioning C. Latent learning D. Sensitization E. Habituation

A, This is the correct answer because the conditioned stimulus comes before the unconditioned stimulus to elicit the unconditioned response.

The male black-winged damselfly penis has lateral horns and spines that enable him to scrub out a female's sperm storage organ before passing his own sperm to her. What best describes this mating behavior? A. Sperm competition B. Intersexual selection C. Parental care D. Fisherian runaway selection E. None of the above

A, This scenario describes competition among males with respect to the fertilization success of their sperm. Sperm competition involves morphological and behavioral traits which may include adaptations to remove sperm.

Several-hundred male bees will sometimes gather to sleep on the dried stems of a shrub. A predatory assassin bug sometimes visits the bees and kills some as they are settling down. Suppose you decide to test a dilution effect hypothesis, which of the following would present a piece of evidence that would enable you to reject this hypothesis. A. Larger sleeping groups attract proportionately more predators, so that the risk of dying is the same no matter what the size of the group. B. The bees do not disperse after settling down to sleep even when some of their fellow bees are under attack. C. The bees do not jostle or compete for the safer central positions within the group. D. None of the above.

A, This would reject a dilution effect hypothesis because a larger group of bees does not reduce the per capita risk of predation.

Vaccines created such that they are most effective against the most common strain of a pathogen, and not the most currently virulent. A. Increase the virulence B. Decrease/have no effect on the evolution of virulence

A, To reduce virulence, should vaccinate against the most virulent strains, not necessarily the most common.

If female cockatiel birds with orange cheeks produce more eggs than females with yellow checks then orange cheeks is an evolved adaptation. This statement is: A. False, because females with yellow cheeks could still have more offspring that live to reproduce than females with orange cheeks. B. False, because there is no guarantee that females with orange cheeks are the best for the long-term preservation of this species. C. True, because there is variation in this species, which is a critical requirement for the evolution of adaptations by natural selection. D. We cannot conclude one way or the other because we are not told whether orange cheeked females outnumber yellow cheeked females. We cannot conclude one way or the other because we are not told whether orange cheeked females outnumber yellow cheeked females.

A, because fitness is determined by the number of offspring that survive to reproduce. It is possible that yellow cheeked females are producing less eggs but more of those eggs are surviving and having chicks of their own. For B, natural selection acts on the individual rather than the species. For C, true but this does not answer the question of whether orange cheeks are an adaptation. For D, this is irrelevant because selection natural selection is acting on the individual, not the population.

Below are hypotheses about why male white-crowned sparrows sing dialects. For each one, decide whether it is: A. a genetic-developmental explanation B. a sensory motor explanation C. an adaptive value explanation D. one relating to evolutionary history Males in different populations have different forms of certain genes that influence the development of the song system.

A, behavioral genetics.

Below are hypotheses about why male white-crowned sparrows sing dialects. For each one, decide whether it is: A. a genetic-developmental explanation B. a sensory motor explanation C. an adaptive value explanation D. one relating to evolutionary history The differences among dialects are environmentally determined, not genetically controlled.

A, genetic-developmental mechanism. Although the trait is not genetic, this still explains how the trait arose (environmental factors).

Below are hypotheses about why male white-crowned sparrows sing dialects. For each one, decide whether it is: A. a genetic-developmental explanation B. a sensory motor explanation C. an adaptive value explanation D. one relating to evolutionary history Males in different populations are exposed to different songs, an experience that influences the kind of song that the birds learn.

A, genetic-developmental mechanism. Explains how the trait arose.

A. Phylogenetic or historical. B. Functional advantage or benefit. C. Ontogenetic or developmental. D. Expression triggering Male parental care is common in fish species, but rare in mammal species.

A, male parental care is a trait shared by many fish relatives but not by many mammalian relatives.

When a Wildebeest starts walking in the wrong direction it will bump into other wildebeest in the herd and learn which direction it needs to walk. A. Proximate B. Ultimate

A, proximate. Learning within the animals lifetime/ developmental

Wildebeest orient to the sun to determine their migration pattern. A. Proximate B. Ultimate

A, proximate. The sun is the mechanism that triggers/determines their choice. Or they are navigating to the sun.

Three sympatric butterfly species A, B and C have very similar black and yellow color patterns. Species A and B sequester plant toxins and are unpalatable to birds. Species C does not sequester plant toxins and is palatable to birds. If the abundance of species C increases, would this be expected to (A) increase or (B) decrease the rate at which birds attack species A?

A, since species C is not toxic, an increase in its numbers will make more predators think that the black and orange color pattern is not dangerous which means predation will increase for the other species. Remember Batesian mimicry is frequency dependent meaning it will only work if there are few mimics relative to models so that predators usually encounter models first. Models suffer higher rates of attack because of mimics.

A, this answers HOW the behavior was performed, the behavioral development/ontogeny.

A. Phylogenetic or historical. B. Functional advantage or benefit. C. Ontogenetic or developmental. D. Expression triggering All primates appear to fear snakes or snake-like objects before ever encountering a real snake.

A, this is sensory bias that originates from shared primate ancestry.

The tusk of the male narwhal A. Male-male competition sexual selection B. Female choice sexual selection C. Male parental investment D. Female parental investment

A, tusks are used to establish dominance and display to females.

If an experimenter is able to select for increased barking in a population of domesticated dogs over four generations, then: A. There must have been genetic variation relevant to the development of barking in the initial population in the experiment. B. Barking is probably very important to the reproductive success of dogs. C. We have proof that natural selection and artificial selection are somewhat different. D. The experimenter has shown that if dogs were to return to the wild, the population would evolve toward a higher level of barking in nature as well.

A., Artificial selection requires that there is preexisting genetic variation for the trait being selected and that the trait is heritable. Each generation the experimenter can then choose to breed dogs that bark the most and over a number of generations the artificially selected line will have an increased bark.

Discuss the following statement: An altruist can have a higher fitness than the non-altruists within its group. When discussing this, be sure to define altruism and to explain it in terms of the different types of fitness.

Altruism is a behavior that benefits others at a personal cost to the altruist. Evolutionarily, we do not expect true altruism to evolve. However, apparent altruism is a common strategy. The solution to this quandary is that animals can obtain fitness directly, through producing their own offspring, or indirectly, by helping relatives produce offspring. Because relatives share genes, helping relatives can help increase the helper's genetic representation in future generations. Thus, the statement means that altruists (e.g., a helper) can have higher fitness than non-altruists specifically because their actions allow them to obtain both direct and indirect fitness.

Define evolutionary altruism. What, specifically, is the problem that true altruism poses to evolutionary theory. What was Hamilton's solution to this problem?

Altruism occurs when an action by one individual increases the direct fitness of another individual but decreases the direct fitness of the actor. The problem is that we would not expect true altruism to evolve by natural selection. Hamilton's solution was that individuals could acquire fitness both directly (by raising their offspring) and indirectly (by helping other relatives survive).

Hymenoptera (ants, bees, and wasps) are eusocial meaning their colonies consist of one female (occasionally more depending on the species) whose sole job is to reproduce (queens), sterile females who do all other tasks in the colony (workers), and males who die immediately after mating (drones). These insects are haplodiploid meaning females have two sets of chromosomes (diploid) while males only have one (haploid). New queens will go on a mating flight where she will mate with one or more males and store approximately 30 million sperm in a special organ for the rest of her life. The mated queen will then found a colony and can control the sex of her offspring by choosing to fertilize the egg with the sperm she has stored to create females or keep the egg unfertilized to create males. Since males only have one set of chromosomes, they pass all of their genes on to their daughters, which means sisters have an identical set of genes from their father. As a result, sisters have a relatedness of 0.75, sisters are related to brothers by 0.25, and queens are related to their offspring by 0.5. Given this information answer the following question: If a honey bee stings a predator trying to break into the hive, the act of stinging will kill the honey bee. Is this an act of mutualism or altruism? Why?

Altruism. The bee is protecting its queen and siblings, which are genetic kin.

Male Red Backed spiders are dwarfed by their female counterparts. After mating, males will sometimes summersault into the mouth of the mated female where he is devoured. Why has copulatory suicide evolved in redback spiders? Is there a potential cheater problem? Which hypothesis is more likely to explain the above scenario?

An individual selection hypothesis will best explain why copulatory suicide has evolved in redback spiders (see cheater problem in next question).

Unlike domesticated European bees, African bees are prone to attacking large animals that approach their hives. Even experienced beekeepers have trouble working with African bees safely. African bees were introduced to South America and are rapidly spreading northward and hybridizing with domesticated European bees along the way. The "Africanized" hybrids are almost as aggressive as the fully wild African bees. What is an ultimate explanation for the difference that incorporates both artificial and natural selection?

An ultimate explanation is that high aggressiveness is selectively advantageous in the wild because aggressive workers more effectively repel potential predators from the hive. Domesticated European bees may be more docile than wild African bees because beekeepers destroyed the hives of bees that attacked them, and thereby artificially selected less aggressive bees.

A Taylor's swift is foraging in a patch where it can encounter two types of prey. For Prey Type #1, the average energy content is 80 calories, the average handling time is 8 minutes. For Prey Type #2, the average energy content is 120 calories, the average handling time is 15 minutes. Assume the bird makes its decisions as predicted by Optimal Foraging Theory (OFT). Explain the two major ways that antipredator adaptations can cause predators to switch to a different prey species and provide examples.

Antipredator adaptations can increase either search time or handling time and reduce the profitability of the prey to predators, which may cause the predator to switch to other prey species. Examples of increasing search time include crypsis, mimicry, background selection, etc. and examples of increasing handling time include use of protective spines, mis-directing an attack (e.g. tail flip in krill), startling displays, etc.

As completely as you can, describe two of the models that have been proposed to explain how female mate preferences for male secondary sexual characters evolve.

Any two of the following (other reasonable alternatives also accepted): Under the direct benefits version of the indicator model, female preferences evolve for male traits that are indicators of the non-genetic benefits that females could received from males by being choosy. The female preference evolves because choosier females produce more offspring or offspring that have a non-genetic survival advantage. Under the good genes version of the indicator model, female preferences evolve for male traits that are indicators of male genetic quality. The starting conditions for this process are 1) genetic variation in male quality (higher quality males have more viable offspring), 2) genetic variation in an incipient female preference for a male trait correlated with male quality. The female preference evolves because choosier females leave more surviving offspring. Under the Fisherian model, female preferences evolve as a correlated response to the sexual selection they cause on male characters. The starting conditions for this process are 1) genetic variation in a beneficial male trait, 2) genetic variation in an initial female preference for the male trait, and 3) offspring of both sexes inherit genes for the preference and the male trait. This leads to a positive feedback loop between the male trait and the female preference because choosier females have "sexier" sons and their sons pass on genes for the preference. Under the sensory bias model mate preferences evolve as a pleiotropic effect of selection on the sensory system in some other context (e.g. prey detection). The preference or sensory bias evolves before the male trait which later evolves to exploit it.

A dog encounters a new smell on the ground and decides to roll in it. Immediately after, the dog's skin begins to uncontrollably itch and doesn't go away until his owner bathes him later that night. The next day, the dog encounters the same smelling substance on his walk and decides not to roll in it this time. What type of learning is this an example of? A. Classical conditioning B. Operant conditioning C. Latent learning D. Sensitization E. Habituation

In a group of meerkats, a male gives a number of alarm calls that in total save the lives of two sisters as well as three offspring of another sibling. But by giving these alarm calls, the male is exposed to risk of attack from predators and eventually is killed by a hawk. As a result of a shortened life, he does not produce three surviving offspring that he otherwise would have had. What was the cost to the male in units of inclusive fitness for his alarm call altruism? A. 0 B. 1.5 C. 1.75 D. 2.5 E. 3

In culture X, men sometimes paint their faces with white mud and insert a large pig tusk through their noses; in culture Y, males regularly shave their beards but do not adorn their faces with paints. Which of the following statements about this phenomenon can not possibly be correct? A. Some of the differences among males in their facial grooming behavior might be caused by genetic differences among them. B. The facial grooming behavior (a phenotype) of a man is purely environmentally determined by the cultural tradition of his society. C. Some of the differences among males in their facial grooming behavior might be caused by environmental differences among them. D. The development of facial grooming in man from culture X is the product of an interaction between his genes and his environment.

Ratcliffe et al. (2003) hypothesized that generalist feeders, that run the risk of consuming dangerous, toxic items, should quickly form taste aversions to illness-inducing items. In contrast, dietary specialists, which concentrate exclusively on one of a very few safe foods, should be unable to acquire taste aversions in this manner. To test this hypothesis, researchers fed various liquid foods to four species of bat. Three of these species are generalists feeding on a range of different insects while one species, the vampire bat, is a blood-feeding specialist. If bats choose to consume liquids with novel flavors (e.g. cinnamon), researchers would immediately inject them with a toxin that caused gastrointestinal distress. Two control groups were also used in the experiment, one in which the consumption of the novel food was paired with a harmless injection of saline, and another in which the toxin was injected but not in conjunction with feeding on the fluid. This type of learning study is an example of: A. Classical conditioning B. Operant conditioning C. Latent learning D. Sensitization E. None of the above.

Several-hundred male bees will sometimes gather to sleep on the dried stems of a shrub. A predatory assassin bug sometimes visits the bees and kills some as they are settling down. Which of the following would be considered a selfish herd hypothesis for the antipredator value of these sleeping aggregations? A. More bees = more eyes = sooner detection of bug = faster dispersal of bees from danger. B. The bees aggregate in order to use other individuals as living shields behind which to hide. C. The bees aggregate in order to lower the risk of being a rare unlucky victim of the assassin bug on a given evening. D. None of the above.

The transfer of large quantities of sperm to a polyandrous female fruit fly by a male. A. Male-male competition sexual selection B. Female choice sexual selection C. Male parental investment D. Female parental investment

Three sympatric butterfly species A, B and C have very similar black and yellow color patterns. Species A and B sequester plant toxins and are unpalatable to birds. Species C does not sequester plant toxins and is palatable to birds. If species A and B are closely related, would this (A) strengthen or (B) weaken the hypothesis that the resemblance between them is an example of protective mimicry?

When someone says that there is a gene for a behavior, they must really mean that: A. The gene is solely responsible for the development of that behavior. B. Individuals with different forms of that gene exhibit different behaviors. C. The role of the environment in affecting the development of the behavior is relatively small. D. The behavior is unlikely to respond to selection since there is no variation in the species.

Which of the following equations provides the correct relationship between phenotypic, genetic, and environmental variation (VP, VG, and VE respectively)? A. VG = VP + VE B. VP = VG + VE C. VP = VG - VE D. VG = VE - VP E. VP = VE - VG

Which of the following is FALSE about conspecific attraction? A. Conspecific attraction is used in both hunting and conservation tactics. B. Conspecific attraction is a strictly visual cue. C. Animals use conspecific attraction as a cue that an area is suitable to settle. D. Conspecific attraction is a non-independent habitat choice. E. None of the above.

Which of the following is FALSE about the polygyny threshold model? A. Although primary and secondary female fitness should be similar at the polygyny threshold, this is rarely observed in nature. B. The model represents the tradeoff females face between selecting an already mated male occupying either a high- or a low-quality territory. C. Mating with a male occupying a low-quality territory can sometimes be more advantageous for the female than mating with a male occupying a high-quality territory. D. All of the above are true.

How can the intensity of a stimulus be measured? A. The strength of the stimulus will be reflected in the intensity with which a neuron fires each time. B. Multiple neurons firing all at once. C. The same neuron firing repeatedly at a fast rate. D. B & C E. All of the above.

B & C, Neurons will either fire or not depending on whether the stimulus is above a certain threshold. If the neuron is triggered to fire, it will be the same signal each time regardless of whether the stimulus was extremely strong or just made it above the firing threshold.

If an adaptation is the product of natural selection, the trait will: Select one: A. Provide a net reproductive gain for individuals that possess the attribute. B. Raise the reproductive success of individuals more than any other alternative that has appeared in the species over evolutionary time. C. Enhance the survival of the fittest individuals in the species. D. Help preserve the species as a whole against the risk of extinction. E. Maximize the survival chances of family members within the species.

B is correct, it is important to remember that adaptations are RELATIVE to other alternatives in the population. A is not necessarily wrong, but it is not the best choice compared to answer B. For C, survival of the fittest is an incorrect measurement of success. The most successful individuals are those that pass on the most genes. For D and E, natural selection acts on the individual level, not the group level.

Suppose a robin named Jane gives up her chance to mate and have offspring of her own in order to help her sister raise five offspring. Without Jane's assistance, the sister would have only had two offspring. Had Jane had chicks of her own, she would have had two surviving offspring. What is the benefit (in units of inclusive fitness) of Jane's altruism? A. 0.5 B. .75 C. 1.5 D. 3

B, (5-2) * 0.25 = 0.75

Which of the following is FALSE about HIV evolution? A. HIV is the most rapidly evolving organism. B. Drugs, such as AZT, effectively kill the virus. C. HIV changes so rapidly that the human immune system cannot keep up. D. Condom use can select for less virulent HIV strains. E. HIV is likely to have come from non-human primates.

B, AZT kills most forms of the virus however any resistant mutant forms will rapidly replace the susceptible ones which is why AZT only prolongs the lives of people with HIV.

(Individuals of several small species of song birds) will jointly mob and drive away predatory hawks and snakes from their nesting sites. A. Selfish B. Mutualistic C. Altruistic D. Spiteful - from the perspective of the (parentheses) individual(s).

B, All the birds share in the cost and receive the benefit of lessened predation.

Suppose female lizards with reddish throats produce more eggs than females with orangey throats. Why might the females with orangey throats persist in the population, is it possible that the orangey throats are an evolved adaptation? A. No, because the orangey throats are a byproduct of the need for variation in this species, a critical requirement for the evolution of adaptations by natural selection. B. Yes, because females with orangey throats could still have more offspring that live to reproduce than females with reddish throats. C. No, because there is no guarantee that females with orangey throats are the best for the long-term preservation of this species. D. We cannot tell because we are not told whether reddish females outnumber orangish females in this species.

B, Fitness is determined by the number of offspring that survive to reproduce. It is possible that females with orangey throats are producing less eggs but a larger proportion of those eggs are surviving. Also remember that natural selection acts on the individual rather than the species.

If a trait has "adaptive value," then it: A. Enables individuals to adapt to changing environments. B. Confers a reproductive advantage on individuals. C. Has spread because of group selection. D. Must increase the life span of individuals.

B, Fitness is measured in terms of reproductive success so a trait that increases the survival of an individual's offspring would be considered adaptive. For C, group selected traits can be adaptive however group selection is unlikely to provide the best explanation for an adaptation. For D, all that matters is the number of surviving offspring. If an animal produces 10 offspring and then dies at the age of 2, that animal's fitness is still considered higher than an animal that lives to the age of 20 but only produces 3 offspring. For A, this may be true but fitness is measured in terms of reproductive success so this is not the best answer here.

If transmission of Zika virus becomes mostly from human-to-human contact rather than vectored by mosquitos. A. Increase the virulence B. Decrease/have no effect on the evolution of virulence

B, If the Zika virus is transmitted only between humans, it will need humans to become less virulent so the infected human will have more opportunities to infect others. In its current form, Zika is vectored by mosquitoes so it can rapidly kill its human host without sacrificing the potential of future human infections since this is carried out by mosquitoes.

Elizabeth Adkins-Regan (2005) found female zebra finches treated with the steroid hormone, estradiol, as nestlings behave like males as adults. A. Activational affects B. Organizational effect

B, Organizational effects during development can cause permanent behavioral changes.

Mansukhani et al. (1996) demonstrated that estradiol-treated female nestlings will grow up to have a masculinized song system. A. Activational effects B. Organizational effects

B, Organizational effects during development can cause permanent behavioral changes.

Johnsson & Kjällman-Eriksson (2008) wanted to know how cryptic prey coloration affects predator foraging efficiency. They designed an experiment to test whether prey that matches their background will be harder for predators (trout in this case) to detect and whether predator hunting efficiency will increase with experience. To do this, they set up two test aquaria that were identical except for the color of the aquarium bottom: one was brown covered with brown grains, and the other was green covered with green grains. They placed a single prey (a maggot, which is cryptic on the brown background and conspicuous on the green background) on the bottom of each aquarium and recorded the amount of time until the predatory trout found the maggot. They repeated the trial several times with each predator. What conclusions can be drawn about search image formation from the results in Figure 1? Figure 1: Median search time (±SE) for conspicuous prey and cryptic prey over the course of six trials. A. Individuals found cryptic prey faster than conspicuous prey. B. Predatory search efficiency for cryptic prey can increase over time. C. Background color matching is unlikely to benefit prey. D. Search times to find prey increased with experience.

B, Predators appear to increase their search efficiency over time as they learn how to discover cryptic prey. Search images illustrate counter-adaptations predators have against cryptic prey. Here the researchers found that the average time it took predators to find cryptic prey decreased over the course of the six trials.

African cichlid fish lay their eggs on lake bottoms in depressions made by males. Females brood their eggs and young fry in their mouths. Females pick up her eggs and the male releases sperm into her mouth. Male cichlid fish have several orangey dots on their dorsal fin that appear to attract females. One hypothesis is that the dots resemble eggs and these dummy eggs on the fin mimic freshly laid eggs. Researchers examined different closely related species to see if they too had an affinity for the orange spots. They found that non-mouthbrooding species as well as females of a basal and spot-less species prefer males with artificial colored spots. What can reasonable conclusion(s) can you draw from these results? A. Suggests all related species have an innate mouth-brooding preference and will eventually evolve to brood their eggs in their mouths. B. Suggests it is not the affinity for eggs that led to this color dot preference. C. Suggests color spots on the male dorsal fin are an arbitrary preference. D. All of the above.

B, Since females of other species that either do not brood their eggs in their mouths or do not have colored spots preferred to mate with males with artificial color spots, this suggests the spots are not exploiting a pre-existing sensory bias for eggs. It is more likely a sensory bias for something all related species have in common - such as an orangey food preference.

Many butterflies create tightly packed groups when drinking from mud puddles, where they may be securing fluids high in nitrogen or sodium. Buger and Gochfeld (2001) wondered if these groups of brightly colored butterflies would be more likely to be spotted by butterfly-eating birds. The researchers recorded the number of butterflies present and the number of butterflies captured by predators at different puddles. Based on the results below, what type of antipredator response Fig = predation risk goes down with increasing group size A. Mobbing B. Dilution effect C. Selfish herding D. Predator confusion

B, The dilution effect states that the probability of being killed declines as group size increases. The figure shows that individual butterflies that puddle in large groups experience a lower risk of predation than those that suck up fluids from the ground by themselves or in small groups.

Lemmings leave where they are living when population densities get very high because the risk of inbreeding increases at high population densities, which favors males and females that disperse to find genetically dissimilar mates in other areas. A. for group selectionist hypothesis B. for Darwinian natural selectionist hypothesis C. for other

B, The lemmings in this scenario are making decisions motivated by their individual reproductive potential.

Lemmings leave where they are living when population densities get very high because they have better chances of reproducing in places where the population density is lower. A. for group selectionist hypothesis B. for Darwinian natural selectionist hypothesis C. for other

B, The lemmings in this scenario are making decisions motivated by their individual reproductive potential.

Which of the following scenarios is an example of parental investment? A. The time and energy expended by a male sage grouse while displaying on the lek. B. The risk to a male song sparrow of being killed by a predator while incubating eggs he has fertilized. C. Multiple mating by a female ground squirrel. D. Sperm storage by female dragonflies. E. None of the above.

B, This is a parental investment because the male is expending time and energy to ensure the survival of his own offspring.

Drosophila larvae come in two genetically different forms, active rovers and sedentary sitters, which differ in how far they maneuver through fruit fly medium in search of food. Fitzpatrick et al. (2007) recorded the fitness of both active rovers and sedentary sitters in an arena where food was made scarce. Based on the results below, what can you conclude about these two fly types. A. They are under positive frequency-dependent selection. B. They are under negative frequency-dependent selection. C. This population suffers from high rates of kleptoparasitism. D. The odds that an individual of the rarer phenotype will survive to pupation are less than the corresponding odds for the more common type in the population.

B, This is true because if one type of larva did even slightly better on average than the other, the genes specifically associated with that trait should spread and replace any alternative alleles linked to the less effective food-acquiring behavior.

Given what you know about antipredator behavior, which is more likely to experience stronger selection, predators or prey? A. Selection acts more strongly on predators because according to the life-dinner principle, selection for counter-defenses is stronger than selection for defenses. B. Selection acts more strongly on prey, which generally have shorter generation times than their predators. C. Selection acts on predators and prey equally because predator and prey species evolve directly in response to each other. D. Selection is cyclical, acting more strongly on predators until they develop an improved predation tactic and then acting more strongly on prey until they develop improved counter-defenses and so on.

B, True, thus adaptations are able to spread more rapidly in a population.

The incubation of eggs by a male starling. A. Male-male competition sexual selection B. Female choice sexual selection C. Male parental investment D. Female parental investment

C, males are investing in the survival of their offspring.

What is one possible ultimate explanation for the question, why do all male songbirds in a population learn to sing the same song? A. Young males have the genetic predisposition to learn the species typical song from older male tutors in the neighborhood B. Males who sing the local dialect are more successful at defending their territory and attracting mates C. All males in the same population develop the same complex neural system controlling song learning D. A & C

B, Ultimate explanations in the functional category have to do with the adaptive value of traits. The adaptive value of a trait refers to how the trait influences survival or reproduction. A is proximate, where the males LEARN the song from other individuals. C is also proximate, describing an internal state (brain structure).

Helpers at the nest receive higher fitness than non-helpers. A. Proximate B. Ultimate

B, Ultimate. Adaptive utility of the trait.

Meerkat sentinel behavior is a selfish act. A. Proximate B. Ultimate

B, Ultimate. Adaptive utility of the trait.

Groups of wildebeest that can organize their migration in this manner will eat the most food and eventually produce the most offspring. A. Proximate B. Ultimate

B, Ultimate. Relative fitness is going to be higher for individuals having this trait.

Male lions kill infants because sexually-selected infanticide is a trait shared with other felids. A. Proximate B. Ultimate

B, Ultimate. This explains the historical/ evolutionary basis for the trait.

Kangaroos perceive safety in the open because they can better detect predators and therefore increase their chance of survival. A. Proximate B. Ultimate

B, Ultimate. This is the adaptive utility of the trait.

The disease shifts from being spread by contaminated water to being spread directly by human to human contact. A. Increase the virulence B. Decrease/have no effect on the evolution of virulence

B, Water vector = higher virulence; person to person = lower virulence

When a tropical moth of the genus Automeris is touched on the thorax it lifts its forewings up abruptly, exposing its brightly colored hindwings. What causes the moth to behave this way? For each explanation, first identify whether it focuses on a proximate or ultimate cause. Then label each explanation as A. genetic-developmental B. sensory motor C. evolutionary history D. adaptive value The behavior is the product of a special set of muscle contractions.

B, answers how the nervous system detects and affects the behavior.

Deceptive signaling is widespread in nature with, for example, certain orchids luring pollinator wasps to them with flower petals that smell like receptive female wasps. This case is a Darwinian puzzle because: A. The proportion of orchid flowers that fruit as result of successful pollination is actually pretty small. B. Natural selection ought to favor discriminating behavior on the part of male wasps so that they do not waste time, energy, and even sperm on orchid flowers. C. Time and energy spent on orchids reduces the capacity of the wasp population to grow, since the deceptive plants slow the ability of male wasps to fertilize all the eggs of their females. D. It is next to impossible to figure out how orchid flowers evolved to smell like the females of certain wasps.

B, because it is an individual level selection explanation for why the trait is adaptive.

The group selection hypothesis that lemmings will commit suicide when population densities are high (to leave shelter and food for those who stay behind) is: A. Likely true, this behavior is adaptive on the individual level. B. Unlikely to be true, distinctive alleles possessed by the suicidal types would be immediately eliminated. C. Unlikely to be true, natural selection favors "for-the-benefit-of-the-group" selection. D. None of the above.

B, because only individuals that did NOT commit suicide during times of high population densities would be left and their alleles would predominate in the population. Additionally, natural selection typically trumps "for-the-benefit-of-the-group" selection in causing evolutionary change.

Below are hypotheses about why male white-crowned sparrows sing dialects. For each one, decide whether it is: A. a genetic-developmental explanation B. a sensory motor explanation C. an adaptive value explanation D. one relating to evolutionary history Males in different populations have song systems in their brains that operate slightly differently.

B, explains the physiological mechanism behind the trait.

The presentation of a diamond ring to a woman by her husband-to-be. A. Male-male competition sexual selection B. Female choice sexual selection C. Male parental investment D. Female parental investment

B, females use the ring as a signal of mate quality.

Three sympatric butterfly species A, B and C have very similar black and yellow color patterns. Species A and B sequester plant toxins and are unpalatable to birds. Species C does not sequester plant toxins and is palatable to birds. If the abundance of species B increases, would this be expected to (A) increase or (B) decrease the rate at which birds attack species A?

B, species A and B are an example of Mullerian mimicry, which means both species are toxic. If one of these species increases, more predators will come to associate the black and yellow color pattern as dangerous which means predation should also decrease for the other species.

A. Phylogenetic or historical. B. Functional advantage or benefit. C. Ontogenetic or developmental. D. Expression triggering Wearing expensive and obvious jewelry demonstrates a person's access to resources.

B, this describes the adaptive utility of wearing expensive jewelry.

Below are hypotheses about why male white-crowned sparrows sing dialects. For each one, decide whether it is: A. a genetic-developmental explanation B. a sensory motor explanation C. an adaptive value explanation D. one relating to evolutionary history Young adult white-crowned sparrows are motivated to match their song as closely as possible to that of their neighbors.

B, this provides a psychological explanation for the trait.

All other species in the same genus organize their migration in the same clockwise fashion. A. Proximate B. Ultimate

B, ultimate. This is a legacy of phylogeny from what a common ancestor did.

Why is Fisherian Runaway selection more likely to evolve sexual ornaments in males rather than females?

Because eggs intrinsically cost more than sperm, there is an initial bias for females to have higher parental investment. Therefore, they are more likely to be choosy about mating. This increases the variance in reproductive success among males (only the more attractive males may mate). Therefore, the males are more likely to be the sex with the higher variance and any 'attractive' mutation increases a male's fitness far more than a female's. Hence these mutations accumulate in males.

Explain why polygynous mating systems are much more common in nature than are polyandrous mating systems.

Because eggs intrinsically cost more than sperm, there is an initial bias for females to have higher parental investment. Therefore, they are more likely to be choosy about mating. This increases the variance in reproductive success among males (only the more attractive males may mate). These attractive males will have multiple mates (= polygyny).

Conservation biologists are studying patch use and using GUDs to examine how humans affect other species. As humans expand into previously uninhabited areas, for example, they modify the environment by adding artificial lights. Many nocturnal species perceive high light levels to be risky and in response, reduce their feeding behavior. Brittany Bird, Lyn Branch, and Deborah Miller (2004) studied how different light levels change the feeding response of nocturnal beach mice. At four sites, Bird and colleagues established two transects with equal amounts of food, one with a light source nearby (light), and the other with a light source placed more than 20 m away (dark). What broader implications does this study have for conservation research in terms of human land development?

Because human dwellings often have high levels of nighttime illumination, urbanization can negatively affect nocturnal species.

Why do the genetic traits for male ornament size and the preference in females for ornamented males become genetically linked and coevolve in Fisherian Runaway selection?

Both ornament and preference have to be genetically influenced. Thus the offspring of ornamented fathers and females showing mating preferences will have the genes for both ornaments and choosiness. Therefore, they will co-occur in all offspring of such matings and be genetically inherited together. Mutations that increase the ornament size or the strength of the preference will be favored by FRS and similarly become rapidly genetically linked.

African cichlid fish lay their eggs on lake bottoms in depressions made by males. Females brood their eggs and young fry in their mouths. Females pick up her eggs and the male releases sperm into her mouth. Male cichlid fish have several orangey dots on their dorsal fin that appear to attract females. One hypothesis is that the dots resemble eggs and these dummy eggs on the fin mimic freshly laid eggs. Researchers examined different closely related species to see if they too had an affinity for the orange spots. They found that non-mouthbrooding species as well as females of a basal and spot-less species prefer males with artificial colored spots. What is this mate choice an example of? A. Fisherian runaway selection B. Good genes C. Sensory bias D. Handicap principle

Females of a species of fly form swarms in which several dozen individuals gather together to fly about in circles. When a male enters the swarm, females inflate their abdomens and move toward the male, who carefully selects one of the many females as his partner. What is there about this species that constitutes a Darwinian puzzle? A. The means by which females manage to enlarge their abdomen, which requires a special and still-mysterious abdomen-inflating device. B. The fact that the members of one sex have evolved a truly bizarre display to induce the opposite sex to mate with them. C. The fact that females have to persuade apparently choosey males to mate with them. D. The fact that many females have to wait for a mate, which reduces the reproductive potential of the species

If we find that the African great pelican's flight behavior is explained by optimality theory, we can conclude that: A. They cannot fly with less expenditure of energy. B. Every attribute of this species is an adaptation. C. The flight decisions made by a pelican should generate a better benefit-to-cost ratio than reasonable alternatives. D. The benefits of flight exceed the costs.

In a group of meerkats, a male gives a number of alarm calls that in total save the lives of two sisters as well as three offspring of another sibling. But by giving these alarm calls, the male is exposed to risk of attack from predators and eventually is killed by a hawk. As a result of a shortened life, he does not produce three surviving offspring that he otherwise would have had. What was the benefit to the male from his altruism in terms of indirect fitness? A. 0 B. 1.5 C. 1.75 D. 2.5 E. 3

Loyau et al. (2007) studied a large peafowl lek. Males with sites near the primary feeding location had the highest display rates, attracted the most females, and had a high mating success rate; they also mated polygynously. Males further from the feeding location did obtain some matings but their success rate was much lower. To examine the two lek hypotheses, the research team removed males and observed how the remaining males and females responded. They found when a male with a territory was removed, a floater male (who did not previously hold a territory) quickly settled on the vacated sites and began displaying at a similar rate to that of the previous site owner. Based on visitation rates, females found these males just as attractive as the previous settlers and continued to mate with males whose territory was closest to the feeding location, regardless of male identity. Which of the following can you reasonably conclude from these results? A. These results support the hotshot hypothesis. B. The removal of the best males should affect remaining male behavior. C. Removal of a more reproductively successful male should not impact female mate choice. D. Low-ranking males should aggregate around high-ranking males with greater reproductive success. E. None of the above.

Suppose a robin named Jane gives up her chance to mate and have offspring of her own in order to help her sister raise five offspring. Without Jane's assistance, the sister would have only had two offspring. Had Jane had chicks of her own, she would have had two surviving offspring. Jane's decision was: A. Adaptive B. Adaptable C. Maladaptive D. It is not possible to determine this based off the information provided.

Suppose you are taking money out of an ATM in a dangerous neighborhood. Which of the following anti-predator behaviors should you employ? A. Under-estimate the amount of risk in the current circumstance, so you do not expend energy maintaining costly antipredator behaviors B. Create a highly specific defensive skill to thwart a certain type of attacker. C. Reduce risk by limiting exposure or by being vigilant. D. Treat all signals equally so you do not miss an important indication of approaching danger. E. All of the above.

We observe variation in a population of lizard with respect to how fast individuals can run. We attempt to select for the ability to run slowly, not quickly. After six generations of selectively breeding only the slowest with the slowest, the mean running speed of the lizards does not change. What is the appropriate scientific conclusion based on this work? A. After six generations of artificial selection, the frequency of slow runners in the population has remained unchanged. B. After six generations of artificial selection, the frequency of slow runners in the population has increased. C. The differences between the lizards in running speed in the original population were not caused by genetic differences among them. D. The results are invalid because the researchers failed maintain enough variation in running speed in their selected lineage, so that evolutionary change was impossible.

What is wrong with the following statement: "An adaptation is a trait whose fitness benefits (B) exceed its costs (C)." A. An adaptation can have higher C than B if the trait helps the species survive. B. The benefits associated with an adaptation must be greater than the costs, and in addition the trait must help individuals to survive. C. The benefits associated with an adaptation must be greater than the costs, and in addition the difference between B and C must be greater than that associated with any other alternative trait. D. The benefits associated with an adaptation must be greater than the costs, and in addition the trait must be more common than any other alternative trait in the population.

Which of the following does NOT help to explain why lekking species are more likely to be sexually dimorphic than non-lekking species? A. In lekking species, females can fairly rapidly see and choose between a lot of males. B. Male reproductive success is highly variable. C. The less there are differences in variance in reproductive success across the sexes, the more likely dimorphism will evolve. D. Bateman's rule. E. All of the above.

Which of the following is an altruism hypothesis for the question, "why do lions hunt together"? A. Each member of the team gains more meat per individual per day as a result of combining forces to capture prey. B. Although some individuals lose temporarily by helping their companions in the capture of dangerous prey, they are repaid when those they helped pay them back at a time when the helper is in special need of food. C. Some individuals take risks that reduce their fitness, such as tackling dangerous prey to help their companions, with the consequence that the fitness of these other individuals is raised. D. Some lions simply follow others that do the actual risk-taking and energy-expending when capturing prey; these individuals in effect parasitize the efforts of their companions.

Which of the following is not a component of handling time? A. Prey location time B. Digestion time C. Attention time D. Time required to chew

Which of the following is not a reason why we expect prey to evolve antipredator behavior. A. the life-dinner principle B. generation time effects C. genetic linkage D. predators run faster than prey

Which of the following is true about the polygyny threshold model? A. The fitness of the first female is equal to the fitness of the second female on a low quality territory. B. The fitness of the first female is equal to the fitness of the second female on a high quality territory. C. The fitness of the second female is the same as the fitness of a solitary female on a low quality territory. D. The fitness of the second female is the same as the fitness of a solitary female on a high quality territory.

Which of the following would most likely occur during scramble competition? A. Males will defend particular resources in an effort to attract females. B. Females will actively seek males holding the best territory to mate. C. Males will actively seek out females and try to mate with whomever they encounter. D. Males will compete for small, resource-free display courts. E. None of the above.

When a tropical moth of the genus Automeris is touched on the thorax it lifts its forewings up abruptly, exposing its brightly colored hindwings. What causes the moth to behave this way? For each explanation, first identify whether it focuses on a proximate or ultimate cause. Then label each explanation as A. genetic-developmental B. sensory motor C. evolutionary history D. adaptive value The behavior is a modified version of wing movements that ancestral moths probably used to raise their body temperature in order to begin flying.

C or D, the evolutionary history of the trait OR the adaptive value.

A ground squirrel has two daughters. It helps save the life of one neighboring full-sibling sister by giving a timely alarm call, and it keeps a niece alive through cooperative defense of a territory. What is this individual's inclusive fitness? A. 0.5 B. 1.25 C. 1.75 D. 2.25 E. none of the above

C, 3*0.5 + 0.25 = 1.75

When we say that mutations in the BRCA1 gene are associated with breast cancer, what does this mean? A. Women that have this gene mutation will inevitably develop breast cancer. B. It does not make a difference if a woman has a mutation in the BRCA1 gene because breast cancer is caused by environmental factors and, as a result, is not heritable. C. It means the person is statistically more likely to develop breast cancer than someone who has a different allele at this locus. D. None of the above.

C, About 12% of women in the general population will develop breast cancer sometime during their lives. By contrast, about 72% of women who inherit a harmful BRACA1 mutation will develop breast cancer by the age of 80.

In a group of meerkats, a male gives a number of alarm calls that in total save the lives of two sisters as well as three offspring of another sibling. But by giving these alarm calls, the male is exposed to risk of attack from predators and eventually is killed by a hawk. As a result of a shortened life, he does not produce three surviving offspring that he otherwise would have had. What was the benefit to the male in units of inclusive fitness for his alarm call altruism? A. 0 B. 1.5 C. 1.75 D. 2.5 E. 3

C, Benefit = (# of sisters survived) * (relatedness to sisters) + (# of offspring from another sibling that survived) * (relatedness to those offspring) B = 2 * 0.5 + 3 * 0.25 = 1.75

Which of the following traits is least likely to be considered a Darwinian puzzle? A. Monogamy in male songbirds. B. Altruism in worker ants. C. Camouflaged color patterns in grasshoppers. D. Blood donation by college students. E. Siblicide in brown boobies.

C, Camouflage is clearly an adaptation to grasshoppers as it allows them to avoid predators. All other answers are Darwinian puzzles because they are behaviors that initially appear to be costly to the individual.

Most behavioral biologists are skeptical about group-benefit group selection because: A. This hypothesis is an untested theory for the time being. B. The theory has been proven to be false. C. If hereditary characteristics benefit a group but harm an individual's chances of reproducing, they will be eliminated over time no matter how good they are for the group. D. No one has been able to show how traits that increase a group's chances of surviving could ever spread through a population by group selection.

C, Individuals who sacrifice their fitness for "the good of the group" will have lower reproductive success than those who act selfishly and will thus eventually be eliminated from the population. Also remember that scientific studies support or negate hypotheses. Theories are not proven one way or the other. (Although most studies do not support this theory)

A. Phylogenetic or historical. B. Functional advantage or benefit. C. Ontogenetic or developmental. D. Expression triggering Mary does not like dogs because her parents hated dogs and throughout her childhood and always said bad things about them.

C, Mary's dislike of dogs was shaped during development.

Which of the following statements are proximate in nature? Male white-throated sparrows sing in the spring because: I. That is when their testosterone levels are high. II. Singing males attract mates in the spring. III. They learn the song from older males in their neighborhood. IV. Males want to learn the song by listening to others at this time. V. The ancestors of present-day male white-throated sparrows that sang in the spring had the most descendants. A. I, III, V B. III, IV, V C. I, III, IV D. II, III, V E. II, IV, V

C, Proximate explanations explain biological functions in terms of immediate physiological or environmental factors while ultimate explains traits in terms of the evolutionary forces acting on them. Proximate causes answer how the trait arises in development or what triggers the expression of the trait while ultimate causes explain why the trait exists. Option II explains the trait's functional advantage (to attract females and increase reproductive success). Option V answers what the evolutionary history (phylogeny) of the behavior is.

The hypothesis that lemmings disperse at high population densities for the good of all individuals in a population is what kind of selection hypothesis? A. Kin selection B. Habitat selection C. Group selection D. Sexual selection E. Survival selection

C, Remember though that group selection is an unlikely explanation given that the altruistic gene causing them to disperse would usually fail to spread in a population.

Testosterone is apparently a very costly hormone for males to produce and use. Why then, has natural selection resulted in the males of many species investing in the production and use of this hormone? A. Because natural selection cannot override the effects of shared ancestry; because male animals share a common ancestor that used testosterone adaptively, they continue to do so today. B. Because testosterone helps insure that males will be motivated to search for and to find all the receptive females of their species, thereby increasing the odds that the females will all be able to produce some offspring. C. Because under a variety of circumstances, the hormone makes is possible for males to be either aggressive or sexually motivated in highly adaptive ways. D. Because males that are able to pay the price for producing and using testosterone are demonstrating that they are able to overcome this handicap, which means that they are genetically worthy members of the breeding stock for their population.

C, Testosterone can come into play in mate competition, territorial defense, etc. Traits will only persist and be considered adaptive if they provide a reproductive advantage to the individual possessing the trait. Thus, it is irrelevant what the advantages are to other females in the population.

Which of the following is false about the "umwelt": A. Knowledge of the "umwelt" concept can be critically important for the conservation of species B. Every species possesses a different "umwelt". C. The "umwelt" describes the resources a species needs to survive. D. None of the above.

C, The "umwelt" is a perceptual world that each species lives in. Increasingly, applied work has focused on how all species can be better managed through knowledge of sensory systems, which is how most animals gather information about their environment.

Pairs of brother lions will fight other males to take over and protect a pride of females. The (subordinate brother) will allow his dominant brother to be the father of all the lion cubs. A. Selfish B. Mutualistic C. Altruistic D. Spiteful - from the perspective of the (parentheses) individual(s).

C, The brother is helping his genetic kin reproduce, while sacrificing his own direct reproduction.

In a developing human embryo, (cells located between what will become the fingers of the hand) will deliberately die (i.e., commit suicide) in order that the hand forms properly. A. Selfish B. Mutualistic C. Altruistic D. Spiteful - from the perspective of the (parentheses) individual(s).

C, The cells are dying so that other clones (e.g., all the other cells in the body) can produce a viable individual that has a chance to survive and reproduce.

Male nursery web spiders, Pisaura mirabilis, give females a prey item wrapped in white silk as a nuptial gift prior to mating. Females are very receptive to these gifts which made researchers wonder whether males wrap prey in silk to make them look like the white, silk-covered egg sacs that females will make and protect in their jaws until spiderlings hatch. What theory was the researcher using to explore this species' courtship behavior? A. Sexy son hypothesis B. Runaway selection C. Sensory exploitation D. Good genes

C, The white silk-covered prey is exploiting a pre-existing sensory bias or hidden preference that the females have to guard their egg sacs.

A. Phylogenetic or historical. B. Functional advantage or benefit. C. Ontogenetic or developmental. D. Expression triggering A baby Bieber bird has to hear adult Bieber birds singing in the 1st month of its life in order to learn its species-specific songs.

C, explains how the trait arose from genetic-developmental mechanisms.

The lizard, Sceloporus virgatus, lacks the large blue abdominal patch that many other members of its genus have. Males in the Sceloporus genus that do have the blue abdominal patch use them in a threat posture in dominance displays. Although this signal has been lost in S. virgatus researchers were curious what would happen if they artificially imposed this signal by painting the abdomen of males either with white patches, black dots, or blue patches. The researchers then recorded the response of males that encountered these artificially painted males. Given the results below, what type of signal is the blue patch? A. Honest signal B. Handicap signal C. Sensory exploitation signal D. A & C E. All of the above

C, it was artificially manipulated

Three sympatric butterfly species A, B and C have very similar black and yellow color patterns. Species A and B sequester plant toxins and are unpalatable to birds. Species C does not sequester plant toxins and is palatable to birds. Which species, B or C, is most likely to be a Batesian mimic of species A?

C, species C looks like the toxic species, A but is not itself poisonous

Below are hypotheses about why male white-crowned sparrows sing dialects. For each one, decide whether it is: A. a genetic-developmental explanation B. a sensory motor explanation C. an adaptive value explanation D. one relating to evolutionary history The ability to sing the local dialect enables a bird to form bonds with others in the area so that they can adjust their total reproductive output, reducing the risk of local overpopulation.

C, this explains how the trait ultimately affects reproductive fitness.

Below are hypotheses about why male white-crowned sparrows sing dialects. For each one, decide whether it is: A. a genetic-developmental explanation B. a sensory motor explanation C. an adaptive value explanation D. one relating to evolutionary history By being able to sing the local dialect, a male is able to communicate territorial ownership of a breeding site to rival males more effectively.

C, this explains the current utility of the trait.

A. Phylogenetic or historical. B. Functional advantage or benefit. C. Ontogenetic or developmental. D. Expression triggering A dog makes a better pet if it is raised within a human family.

C, this insinuates that dogs raised in the wild will not behave as we would want them to as pets. Thus, their pet-like behavior is shaped by genetic-developmental mechanisms.

Below are hypotheses about why male white-crowned sparrows sing dialects. For each one, decide whether it is: A. a genetic-developmental explanation B. a sensory motor explanation C. an adaptive value explanation D. one relating to evolutionary history It is difficult to learn a dialect, which enables females to mate with only those males with good dialects so as to improve the breeding stock of the species.

C, this is an ultimate hypothesis that explains utility of the trait.

Which of the following antipredator scenarios is an example of convergent evolution? A. Almost all species of noctuid moths have ears that respond to ultrasound. B. Some diurnal moths have ears but are incapable of hearing ultrasound. C. Lacewings and praying mantises fly at night and have ears that detect .ultrasound and lead to anti-bat defensive behavior. D. None of the above.

C,Convergent, unrelated insects have evolved analogous traits as a result of predation by bats at night.

Consider two sister blue jays that could potentially cooperate to build a joint nest. If they do not cooperate, each blue jay will raise 10 offspring. If they cooperate, they will raise 25 offspring together. One of the cooperating blue jays is dominant and the other is subordinate. What percentage of the extra offspring would have to be the subordinate's in order for the subordinate's cooperation to have equal fitness to being alone? Show your work.

Cost = 10 offspring lost * relatedness = 10 * 0.5 = 5. Gain = proportion of extra offspring * # of extra * r + prop. to half sister * # * r = Cost (P * 15 * 0.5) + (1-P)(15)(0.25) = 5 Solving for P = 0.333 or 33%

Hermit crabs protect themselves with gastropod (snail) shells. Before a crab outgrows its shell, it needs to find a larger one. To predict whether a crab should "stay or go" when it finds a vacant shell of a particular size, a researcher constructed an optimality model. When the shell preferences of hermit crabs were tested, their decisions did not match the predictions of the model. Which of the following are possible reasons for the mismatch? A. The optimality model is based on one or more faulty assumptions. B. The behavior of the crabs is not optimal. C. The methods used in the shell preference study disrupted the behavior of the crabs and caused them to behave sub-optimally. D. All of the above. E. A and C only

In flocks of six pelicans, the bird in position _______ does not provide the slightest Darwinian puzzle for an observer. A. 1 B. 2 C. 3 D. 4 E. 5

Ratcliffe et al. (2003) hypothesized that generalist feeders, that run the risk of consuming dangerous, toxic items, should quickly form taste aversions to illness-inducing items. In contrast, dietary specialists, which concentrate exclusively on one of a very few safe foods, should be unable to acquire taste aversions in this manner. To test this hypothesis, researchers fed various liquid foods to four species of bat. Three of these species are generalists feeding on a range of different insects while one species, the vampire bat, is a blood-feeding specialist. If bats choose to consume liquids with novel flavors (e.g. cinnamon), researchers would immediately inject them with a toxin that caused gastrointestinal distress. Two control groups were also used in the experiment, one in which the consumption of the novel food was paired with a harmless injection of saline, and another in which the toxin was injected but not in conjunction with feeding on the fluid. What conclusions can be drawn from these results? A. Bats are capable of learning that consumption of an unusual-tasting fluid will lead to gastrointestinal distress. B. This study supports the idea that taste aversion learning is an evolved response to the risk of fluid poisoning. C. The changes associated with learned behavior are worth the cost only if they confer a net fitness benefit on individuals capable of modifying their behavior in a particular way. D. B and C E. All of the above.

The coefficient of relatedness is important for biologists studying the evolution of altruism because: A. Without it, one cannot accurately calculate the costs and benefits of altruism. B. Measures of inclusive fitness are based in part on the degree to which two individuals are related. C. The genetic consequences of helping for an individual depend on the helped individual's coefficient of relatedness with the helper. D. All of the above.

Which of the following is NOT an example of inter-sexual selection: A. Good genes B. Pre-existing biases C. Non-genetic, direct benefits D. Sperm competition E. Fisher's runaway selection

Which of the following is an example of crypsis? A. A bright red and black butterfly flying through the air. B. A male bluegill fish that looks and acts like a female. C. A fly that looks like a wasp. D. A bright pink preying mantis sitting on a flowering bush. E. None of the above.

Which of the following statements is FALSE about Fisherian and Good Genes models of sexual selection? A. Good Genes models are more advantageous to females because they make it easier to discern good male genotypes from poorer ones. B. In the Handicap model the absolute size to which an ornament can evolve is likely set by its negative impacts on the trait bearer's survival. C. Good Genes and Handicap models can apply to both intra- and intersexual selection. D. Fisherian Runaway selection is an alternative hypothesis to the theory of Natural Selection for explaining the evolution of ornaments. E. None of the above.

You read that a foraging tactic is "optimal" only if it is the most efficient way of acquiring calories from the environment. You would _______ because _______. A. Agree; this will enable the species to grow and avoid extinction. B. Agree; selection favors traits that have large benefits. C. Disagree; species that collect food too efficiently run the risk of destroying the resource base needed for that species. D. Disagree; sometimes animals gain more fitness by sacrificing some foraging efficiency in order to better avoid predators.

Which of the following two statements are clearly Darwinian puzzles? I. Salmon can smell a few molecules of chemicals in the stream in which they were born. II. Adult birds scream when caught by a predator because of the pain. III. If you add two or three eggs to the nests of some birds, the adult birds rear them successfully along with the young from eggs they laid. IV. Bats can catch moths in complete darkness. V. Female lions often nurse offspring that are not their own. A. I, IV B. II, V C. III, IV D. III, V E. IV, V

D, A Darwinian puzzle is a trait that appears to reduce the fitness of those that possess it. I, II, and IV are all adaptations that clearly help the individual survive and reproduce. In the case of the salmon, they return to their native mating grounds to spawn and provide a safe habitat for juveniles to hatch. Adult birds might scream to shock the predator into releasing them. Bats have developed echolocation to capture their prey at night. On the other hand, it appears maladaptive to rear chicks that do not have any genetic relatedness to you and or nurse offspring that are not your own. This takes away energy and resources that you could be putting into rearing your own offspring.

Darwin developed the theory of sexual selection to explain why: A. species with costly traits have not gone extinct. B. females prefer males with particular traits. C. males usually compete for females instead of the other way around. D. secondary sexual characters exist. E. all of the above.

D, Although all of these answers are true about mate choice, Darwin was only puzzled by the existence of sexual characters (behavioral and morphological differences between the sexes) that often have costs associated in terms of energy or survival. Remember Darwin's paradox leading to his theory of sexual selection was: how do secondary sexual characters evolve and why do they persist?

When an experimenter can artificially select for increased howling in wolves over the course of five generations, then this means: A. If the wolves were to continue to naturally breed in the wild following these experiments, the population would continue to evolve toward a higher level of howling in nature. B. The experimenter has proved that artificial selection produces different results from natural selection. C. Howling is likely to be very important to the reproductive success of wolves. D. In the original population, there must have already been natural variation in the development of howling.

D, Artificial selection requires that there is preexisting genetic variation for the trait being selected and that the trait is heritable. Each generation the experimenter can then choose to breed wolves that howl the most and over a number of generations the artificially selected line will have an increased howl.

Starlings sometimes assemble in large flocks that, in the evening, rise up in whirling flight together for 15 or 20 minutes in what looks like some kind of display. Professor Wynne-Edwards has suggested that this behavior is indeed a display that enables individual birds to assess just how many fellow starlings are living in the area so that they can adjust their breeding effort in the upcoming breeding season. In this way, they can avoid producing too many chicks and thereby avoid overpopulating their home range. This a group selectionist hypothesis because: A. The idea is that starlings could evaluate the size of their local population or group. B. The flight behavior of the flock is something that cannot be explained in terms of any benefits to individuals and thus, must be beneficial for the group. C. Starlings do breed in such a manner as to avoid overpopulation. D. The suggestion is that the birds engage in costly behaviors in order to make decisions that are advantageous for other unrelated starlings.

D, D is true because it highlights an important point about group selection theory, the behavior must appear to be selfless or costly to the reproductive fitness of the individual. For A, the size of the group is irrelevant to group selection theory. For B, group selection hypotheses explain seemingly costly traits as beneficial to the survival of the species. This answer would be a poor explanation for a group selection hypothesis. For C, although this would likely be part of the group selection argument, it does not explain why this behavior would be costly to the individual, which is essential to the group selection theory.

Garter snakes only recently invaded California and have evolved the ability to eat slugs since that recent invasion. This tells us definitively that: A. Evolution acts to expand the diets of animals to buffer the species against changes in food supply that might lead to extinction. B. The early slug-accepting garter snakes must have survived better on average than those that lacked this ability in the early populations in California. C. Every slug-accepting garter snake had higher reproductive success than all the slug-rejecting snakes generation after generation, until there were no more slug-rejecters in California. D. None of the above.

D, Evolution cannot predict what traits will be most useful down the road. Additionally, natural selection only favors traits that confer the greatest reproductive advantage relative to others given the PRESENT environment.

All mayflies in an area emerge from aquatic nymphs into adults at relatively the same time on the same day. Sweeney and Vannote (1982) wondered if this synchronous transition by mayflies minimized their predation risk as a group. The researchers counted the number of mayflies emerging at on various days and the number of mayflies that were captured by predatory trout. Based on the results below, what type of antipredator response are the mayflies employing? A. Predator confusion B. Selfish herding C. Mobbing D. Dilution effect

D, Predator confusion requires mass prey movements that interfere with the predator's ability to catch individual prey. Although this may occur as individuals assemble, this is not the best choice given the information provided.

In order for Darwinian natural selection to cause evolutionary change, a population must contain individuals that differ hereditarily in some characteristic because A. In a population without this kind of variation, the species is doomed to extinction. B. When all individuals have the same genes, then all individuals are exactly alike in all respects. C. Uniform populations are evolutionary dead ends. D. Unless there is variation of this sort, parents cannot pass on their advantageous attributes to their offspring.

D, Selection does not work unless there is variation in a trait and that trait is heritable.

Cowbirds are a brood parasite that lays its eggs in the nests of other bird species. The historical range of cowbirds overlaps with robins however due to deforestation, its territory has shifted and now overlaps with sparrows as well. Robins identify and reject cowbird eggs while sparrows will actually give cowbird chicks preferential treatment over their own. What explains the presence of this maladaptive trait? A. Paradox of altruism B. Group selection C. Exaptations D. Evolutionary lag time

D, Since the sparrows do not share a long evolutionary history with cowbirds, they have not had enough time to evolve adaptations that will allow them to differentiate their own eggs from the cowbird eggs. Evolution takes time. When environmental conditions change it takes time for a population to adapt to the new environment. The term "lag" refers to this delay.

Rintamäki et al. (1995) divided a black grouse lek into 100-square-meter sectors and recorded the total number of copulations in each sector over a 5-year period. Rather than finding that the same position in the lek was consistently occupied by the most successful male, they found the area of the preferred position where males had the highest reproductive success shifted each year. What is the best conclusion you can draw about black grouse leks from these results? A. The shifts in the preferred territory suggest male attractiveness plays a key role in reproductive success. B. The position of a male's territory held in the lek does not contribute to that male's reproductive success. C. The findings support the hotshot hypothesis in this species. D. All of the above.

D, The shifts in the preferred territory suggest that male attractiveness, rather than the territory itself, plays the key role in reproductive success in this species, as required by the hotshot hypothesis.

What significance can we attach to the fact that the verbal ability scores of adopted children are more similar to their biological parents' scores than to their adoptive parents' scores? A. The fact shows the importance of early experience in shaping a child's behavior. B. The fact demonstrates that environment is not that important in the development of a person's verbal abilities. C. The fact constitutes a scientific conclusion, namely that the correlation between verbal ability scores of biological parents and the children that have been reared by others is about 0.35. D. The fact is contrary to the following prediction: Persons experiencing different environments should exhibit different behaviors.

D, These findings suggest environment is not that important however they do not demonstrate that environment does not play a role in the development of a person's verbal abilities.

Which of the following is NOT an assumption of the "good genes" model? A. Females base their mate choice on characters that they like. B. Characters indicate something about the male's overall genetic quality. C. The female gains sons that might be better equipped to carry large sexual ornaments. D. Females gain nothing from this choice except sons that are likely to have the same character that their mothers liked. E. None of the above.

D, This describes Fisherian runaway selection where females base their mate choices on some arbitrary character that they like.

Which of the following is FALSE about A1 and A2 receptors in moths hunted by bats? A. A2 is sensitive only to louder ultrasound. B. A1 fires more often as the sound intensity increases. C. A2 is only triggered if an attack is imminent. D. A1 receptors are responsive to all types of noise. E. All of the above.

D, This is an example of stimulus filtering where the A1 receptor is most receptive to pulses of ultrasound as created by echolocating bats but is not responsive to long pulses of sound which would presumably represent a form of environmental noise to them.

Monogamy in male animals is a Darwinian puzzle because: A. Darwin never figured out how monogamy benefits the typical animal species. B. Males can only secure superior reproductive success by mating with more than one female. C. Females should generally prefer to mate with several males, not just one, in order to increase their chances of securing some exceptional genes for their offspring. D. Males generally have sufficient sperm to fertilize a great many eggs, which ought to favor males that mate with a great many egg producers.

D, This is the real Darwinian puzzle because in a monogamous pairing, the number of sperm a male possesses will vastly outnumber the number of eggs the female mate can produce.

D, answers what is the current utility of the trait.

D, crypsis increases search time

Below are hypotheses about why male white-crowned sparrows sing dialects. For each one, decide whether it is: A. a genetic-developmental explanation B. a sensory motor explanation C. an adaptive value explanation D. one relating to evolutionary history White-crowned sparrows evolved from an ancestral species that possessed the capacity for song learning.

D, describes the evolutionary history of the trait.

A developer begins to build a large building near the den of a long-time resident fox. The fox beings to hear various loud sounds over the course of the next few days which elicits a startle response each time. Eventually she decides to leave the area in search of a new den. What type of learning is this an example of? A. Classical conditioning B. Operant conditioning C. Latent learning D. Sensitization E. Habituation

D, his is when individuals learn to increase responsiveness to a particular stimulus or class of stimuli.

Which of the following is not a reason why we see altruistic behavior? Select one: A. it's only apparent altruism because animals gain both indirect and direct fitness B. it's a form of parental care whereby animals gain direct fitness only C. the costs of discrimination are high D. rb - c < 0

D, rb-c > 0 would favor altruism. The equation presented in (d) suggests that relatedness * benefits will be less than costs which would NOT favor altruism.

If a foraging tactic is "optimal," then this behavior: A. Helps to maintain the population at a level likely to promote the long-term survival of the species. B. Supplies a fitness benefit to individuals. C. Is an efficient way to collect food. D. Confers more fitness on individuals than any other alternative trait in the population.

D, the optimal behavior must also have the greatest fitness benefit relative to other behaviors

Suppose we want to artificially breed a population of really fast ostriches. The population we are starting with already has natural variation in speed so we select only the fastest ostriches to breed over 10 generations however the average running speed does not change. What is the best conclusion you can make from this study? A. After 10 generations, the frequency of fast runners has increased. B. After 10 generations, the frequency of fast runners has remained unchanged. C. The researchers failed to maintain adequate variation in speed during their selection experiment which made evolutionary change impossible. D. The differences in speed are not caused by genetic differences among individuals in the original population.

D., Even in artificial selection, we should still see variation in the trait. What will change is the MEAN of the variation. So there should still be faster and slower runners in every generation but if speed is heritable and we are trying to select for the fastest runners, the slowest runner in the current generation should always be faster than the slowest runner in the previous generation.

A ground squirrel lives in an area with four full sisters, its mother, two nieces, and two daughters. It helps save the life of one sister by giving a timely alarm call, and it keeps a niece alive through cooperative defense of a territory. What is this individuals inclusive fitness?

Direct fitness: 2 (daughters) x 0.5 = 1 unit Indirect fitness: (1 sister x 0.5) + (1 niece x 0.25) = 0.75 Inclusive fitness: 1 + 0.75 = 1.75

Which of the following are TRUE about the Marginal Value Theorem (MVT)? A. MVT does not apply to situations where patches are non-depleting. B. If patches do not deplete, the forager should choose the best patch and never leave. C. In MVT an animal cannot do better by going anywhere else. D. MVT predicts when a forager should leave a patch that can deplete. E. All of the above.

Which of the following explains how a handicap can provide an "honest signal" for a female choosing potential mates? A. If an ornament is a handicap only males in good condition can make the ornament. B. The ornament should advertise the overall quality of the male's genes. C. Only males in good condition can survive predators while showing off the ornament. D. Males with handicaps are less likely to have been sick, parasitized or injured. E. All of the above.

Which of the following explains why hospitals have the most virulent pathogens? A. More abiotic rather than biotic vectoring. B. Multiple competing strains & pathogens together. C. Aggressive treatment where only the most virulent strains 'escape' before elimination. D. Overuse of antibiotics. E. All of the above.

Which of the following is NOT a current threat to biodiversity? A. Over-fishing B. Habitat fragmentation C. Invasive alien species D. Nutrient loading E. All of the above are current threats to biodiversity.

Which of the following is an example of Mullerian mimicry? A. Margay cats imitating the call of their prey, the tamarin monkey. B. Octopus changing their appearance to look like a toxic flatfish. C. Caterpillars mimicking the sound of ant queens to receive preferential care from workers. D. All of the above. E. None of the above.

Which of the following is true about testosterone? A. Testosterone compromises the immune system. B. Testosterone is found in males and females. C. Testosterone may interfere with behaviors outside of reproduction, like parental care. D. Testosterone is often associated with territorial defense. E. All of the above.

Which of the following is NOT a plausible reason for the behavior of an animal to be suboptimal for survival? A. Evolutionary time lag. B. Sexual selection. C. Developmental constraints. D. The environment recently changed. E. Evolution has stopped.

E, Evolution is an ongoing process. Additionally, traits that worked well in the past might not be optimal in the newly altered habitat.

A researcher places a cardboard cutout of a wolf amongst a heard of sheep every morning and observes each sheep's response. For the first five days, all sheep quickly migrate to the furthest point in their pen away from the cardboard cutout. By day ten however, the sheep do not appear to modify their behavior at all in the presence of the wolf cutout. What type of learning is this an example of? A. Classical conditioning B. Operant conditioning C. Latent learning D. Sensitization E. Habituation

E, Habituation is when an animal learns to not respond to benign stimulus.

Which of the following is NOT a potential benefit of extra pair copulation (EPC)? A. Infanticide reduction B. Increased resources C. Genetic compatibility D. Fertility insurance E. All of the above are potential benefits of EPC

E, More mates means greater confusion about paternity and therefore less likelihood of losing offspring to infanticidal males.

Dingemanse et al. (2002) hypothesized that exploratory behavior in great tits birds has a genetic component. To test this, the researchers placed individuals in an aviary that contained five artificial wooden trees. They then recorded the number of flights and hops the birds made in the aviary in the first two minutes as an index of exploratory behavior. Separate tests measuring exploratory behavior were carried out for both parents and their offspring. Based on the researchers results below, what can you conclude? Figure 1: Parent-offspring regression. Relationship between the mean ±se exploratory score of offspring and mother in great tits. Size of circles indicates number of individuals. Exploratory behavior has a genetic component. Exploratory behavior is largely influenced by the environment. There is no correlation between parent and offspring exploratory behavior. Exploratory behavior is a heritable trait. Exploratory behavior can evolve in a population of great tits. Select one: A. I B. II C. II, III D. I, II E. I, IV, V

E, Results show there is a positive correlation between a parent's exploratory behavior and that of its offspring. This suggests exploratory behavior has a genetic component and is a heritable trait. Since exploratory behavior is heritable, it can evolve in a population of great tits.

To which of the following examples is the polygyny threshold model likely to apply? A. Male baboons dispersing from their natal troop into a neighboring troop and challenging the resident alpha male. B. Female dunnocks copulating with two different males and obtaining parental help from both of them. C. Female jacanas competing for male parental investment by destroying each other's nests. D. Female frogs arriving at a breeding pond to lay eggs, in a species in which males provide no parental care. E. None of the above.

E, The polygyny threshold model explains how the fitness of a 2nd female sharing a male on high-quality territory is equal to the fitness of a female mated with a monogamous male on a low-quality territory.

Recently hatched baby gulls will peck at the tip of their parent's bill, which has a red dot. This behavior induces the adult gull to regurgitate a half-digested fragment of fish for the chick to enthusiastically consume. Tinbergen set up an experiment where he quantified the effectiveness of different visual stimuli (as shown in the figure below) in triggering the begging behavior of young gulls. Based on the results below, which of the following is true? Figure 1: From left to right: two-dimensional cardboard cutout of full gull head with red dot, bill cutout only with red dot, full gull head cutout without red dot, red stick with contrasting color on end. This is an example of an innate behavior. A model of a gull head without the red dot is far less effective stimulus than is an unrealistically long "bill" not attached to a head with contrasting bars at the end. This is an example of a learned behavior. This experiment suggests chicks ignore almost everything except the shape of the "bill" and the color contrast at the end of it. A model of the gull bill alone with a red dot is not much more effective than a model of the full gull head without a red dot. A. I, II, V B. I, III, IV C. I, III, IV D. II, III, V E. I, II, IV

E, This is an innate behavior. When a young gull sees a pointed object with a contrasting dot at the tip, the resulting sensory signals reach the brain where other neurons eventually generate the motor commands that cause the chick to peck at the stimulus - whether its located on its parent's bill or a piece of cardboard or the end of a stick.

Which of the following is true about sexual selection? Select one: A. The result of sexual selection is that males in all species have the sexual ornaments. B. Fisher showed that "Runaway" sexual selection is possible only when females favor and choose traits that give their offspring good genes for survival. C. Good genes models of sexual selection differ from Runaway models in that female mate choice occurs only with Runaway models. D. The handicap hypothesis predicts that survival for males in good condition is not affected by the cost or size of their expressed sexual ornament. E. In humans, the clothes and jewelry we choose to wear could reflect a Zahavi handicap for sexual selection.

E, the trait preferred by females does not have any fitness advantage

In the presence of females, male wolf spiders with engage in a courtship display that involves repeated front leg raises. Hoefler et al. (2009) wanted to know if male wolf spider leg raises provide an accurate signal to females. They first tested whether male condition affects leg-raising rate. They did this by raising half of the spiders in a low-condition (LC) treatment where they were only fed two crickets per week, and the other half in high-condition (HC) treatment where spiders were fed eight crickets per week, then measured the male courtship rate (Figure 1). They then wanted to know if high display rates in males indicates high quality. To test this, the researchers mated females with males that had either high leg display rates or low leg display rates and measured the number of spiderlings that their survival (Figure 2). What can the authors conclude from this study? I. HC males displayed at higher rates than LC males. II. Females mated to males with a high display rate had more spiderlings and higher offspring survival than females mated to males with a low display rate. III. Mate condition affects male courtship display rate. IV. Mate condition did not affect the number of spiderlings produced. V. Females that mate with males exhibiting higher display rates experience a higher reproductive fitness. A. I, II, V B. I, III, V, IV C. II, III, IV D. II, III, V E. I, II, III, V

A researcher wants to know if a female Fairy Wren has had any extra pair copulations. The researcher collects DNA from the mother, the offspring, a male holding a neighboring superior territory, and the male nestmate (alleged father) and runs a microsatellite gel (below, in the order as described). Based on these results, in general, why are extra pair copulations costly to females?

EPCs can be costly to females because they risk losing paternal investment if their male nest mate discovers he is not the father of the offspring he is helping to raise. Additionally, EPCs substantially increases the risk of sexually-transmitted diseases.

In a species of fish, males have bright orange spots, a long, sword-like extension on their tails, and very energetically swim and display to females. All three traits must be present for females to choose a male as a mating partner. In the context of sexual selection, explain why energetic courtship displays may result from good genes.

Energetic courtship display is the best choice for good genes because healthy males are likely the most physically robust and therefore able to do the most courtships. This indicates that they are also likely to have the best overall genotype for resisting disease and parasites or avoiding injuries.

At what point, in terms of increased ornament size, does Fisherian Runaway Selection stop? (I.e., what keeps ornaments from evolving to even larger sizes.)

Eventually FRS is balanced by survival selection. Increasing ornament size increases attractiveness to females, but this is exactly offset by higher mortality rates due to having this larger ornament. Thus a male may get more matings while he is alive, but he does not live as long.

Bateman's rule would not work in this species because females are the more variable sex in terms of reproduction. T/F

False

Höglund & Robertson (1990) investigated lekking behavior in the great snipe shorebird. In three different leks, the researchers observed one or two dominant individuals who displayed at the highest rate and had the most mating success, a few subordinate snipes who rarely mated, and many intermediate males. Höglund and Robertson removed males for one night and recorded the behavior of the remaining males. When dominant snipes were removed, their territory was left unoccupied and neighbors tended to move away. In contrast, when subordinate males were removed, neighbors quickly added the vacated space into their own territory. These results support the hotspot hypothesis. T/F

False

The only usable "currency" for such models is net rate of energy intake. T/F

False, "currency" can be defined as anything that makes sense for the respective model. Energy is the most frequently used form of currency but it could also be defined as calorie intake, toxin consumption, etc.

As prices go up, consumers will buy more because they see these higher priced items as "better quality", similarly as the price goes down, they will buy less. This is a high price elasticity. T/F

False, A HIGH price elasticity means that as the price goes up, consumers buy less and when the price goes down, they buy more.

A low price elasticity means the price of goods is unlikely to fluctuate. T/F

False, A low price elasticity means the price can change but it will not influence demand.

Both species became equally imprinted on another species as a result of their foster care experiences. T/F

False, Although some individuals of both species became imprinted on another species as a result of their foster care experiences, the degree to which individuals imprinted on their foster parents differed between the two species.

Prior to mating, male Japanese quail housed next to a female spends relatively little time peering through a window to look at her. But after mating, a male appears positively fascinated by his partner, to the extent that he will stare at her for hours on end. Balthazart et al. (2003) designed an experiment to see if testosterone is responsible for this change in behavior. Testosterone is released from the testes and is captured by target cells in the brain, where the enzyme aromatase converts the hormone to estradiol. The researchers created three groups: (1) castrated males that received a testosterone implant, (2) castrated males that received a testosterone implant and an aromatase inhibitor (at test 9, as indicated by the arrow below), and (3) a control group of castrated males. They then measured the amount of time each male spent staring at the female through the window. Testosterone is both secreted and produces a behavioral response while located in the testes. T/F

False, Although testosterone is released from the testes, hormonal responses occur in the brain.

We now realize that many of the genes in our bodies are not our own genes (belonging to bacteria, fungi, etc.) which collectively makes us holobionts. We know these foreign genes in our holobiome can influence our behavior. Given this information, if we find the female microbiome produces chemicals that increase the chances that women become pregnant and successfully give birth, is this an example of kin selection? T/F

False, Although this may be of mutual benefit, there is no relatedness between the woman and her microbiota (r = 0). Therefore this cannot be due to kin selection.

Foraging next to cover is always safer for prey. T/F

False, Antipredator behavior is effective if it increases search or handling time. Thus, cryptic prey for example may be safer foraging in areas where they are camouflaged with their surroundings rather than to trying to quickly escape approaching predators to nearby shelter.

Net rate of energy intake is the only "currency" we can use for predicting patch and prey choice by foragers. T/F

False, Assumptions can vary with the model. Could also use measures such as caloric intake, toxin avoidance, etc. so long as they are appropriate to the model.

At mating leks where males outnumber females, Bateman's rule does not hold. T/F

False, Bateman's rule does hold when males only provide sperm and there is no parental care.

Mullerian mimicry is frequency dependent. T/F

False, Batesian mimicry is frequency dependent because it only works if there are relatively few mimics. However, Mullerian mimicry is when multiple toxic species converge on the same warning coloration so any individual encountered with that coloration will be toxic.

Co-evolution between hosts and parasites leads to benign co-existence. T/F

False, Because parasite virulence varies with the mode of transmission.

Cross-fostered BT rarely found mates, and when they did, they were generally of their same species. T/F

False, Cross-fostered BT have 100% pairing success and the bulk of these pairings are with their own species.

Current extinction rates are approximately 10x higher than natural background rates. T/F

False, Current extinction rates are 1,000-10,000x higher than natural background rates.

Descent with modification applies only to large animals and plants and not to smaller organisms like bacteria and protozoans. T/F

False, Descent with modification applies to all living organisms.

Any sensory neuron can respond to any environmental information. T/F

False, Different types of sensory neurons respond to different environmental information. For instance, we have different taste receptors and some may only be sensitive to salt whole other are only sensitive to bitter. Each taste receptor works in different parts of the brain.

All animals should classify the same basic necessities as having low price elasticity. T/F

False, Every species has a different umwelt and should thus value certain things higher than others based on their umwelt. Thus not every species will value the same things as fundamentally important.

Young white-crowned sparrows are remarkably good at remembering the sounds produced by adult white-crowned males singing around them. If the learning abilities of this bird evolved by Darwinian natural selection, which of the following conditions must have applied to the species in the past? Any changes that took place in the past must have promoted greater population stability in this bird. T/F

False, Evolution is decent with modification which means it is not perfect and some traits that arise in the population will not always be the most efficient. Variations in a trait are considered adaptations if they produce a larger benefit relative to other variations.

Females carefully inspect males in order to get the best genetic fathers to help them raise their offspring. T/F

False, Females are maximizing their own direct fitness. This is not kin selection.

R.C. Tyron's experiments of maze running ability in rats demonstrate that maze running ability is a good measure of overall intelligence. T/F

False, Heritability estimates are environment specific.

Hormones are internal secretions which occur in the brain. T/F

False, Hormones are secreted in the blood however neurons respond to hormones in the brain.

A trait can only be considered an adaptation if it improves the survival chances of an organism. T/F

False, If a trait increases the life span of an individual but also decreases the reproductive success of that individual then the trait would be selected against because long-lived individuals would fail to pass on their distinctive genes as often as short-lived individuals on average.

If the heritability of territorial aggression in purple-bellied newts is 0.8, then identical twins of this species should develop the same level of territorial aggression whether they are raised in the same environment or not. T/F

False, If the heritability is <1, then there must be environmental variance, which may allow the trait to manifest itself differently even in identical twins.

If genetic variance (Vg) = 0, then heritability (h2) must = 1. T/F

False, If there is no genetic variance in a population for a particular trait, then there are no trait variants to be inherited so h^2 will equal 0.

Important things have high price elasticity. T/F

False, Important things have LOW price elasticity because they're fundamentally needed, and thus they are insensitive to the amount of effort required to get to them.

Imprinting is a type of learning in which an animal learns to associate a behavior with the consequences of that behavior. T/F

False, Imprinting is a form of learning in which individuals exposed to certain key stimuli early in life form an association with an object or individual and may later attempt to mate with similar objects.

Instincts are "hardwired" and cannot be modified by experience. T/F

False, Instincts are behavioral patterns that reliably develop in most individuals, promoting a functional response to a releaser stimulus the first time the behavior is performed. Instincts can be modified by experience.

The marginal value theorem can be used to predict when foragers should leave either depleting or non-depleting patch types. T/F

False, MVT is applied to systems where animals experience diminishing returns in a patch (depleting patch types).

A mutation in the single gene that determines learning ability, such as the dunce gene in Drosophila, will likely produce a learning deficit. T/F

False, Many different genes are likely to be involved in traits such as learning and a mutation in any one of them could potentially produce a learning deficit.

A2 is a multiuse sensory receptor moths use at all times to detect high intensity ultrasonic sounds and more slow-paced, moderate intensity ultrasonic sounds. T/F

False, Moths use A1 for moderate-intensity US and A2 for high-intensity US. Both are useful in different ways in avoiding attacks from bats.

Young white-crowned sparrows are remarkably good at remembering the sounds produced by adult white-crowned males singing around them. If the learning abilities of this bird evolved by Darwinian natural selection, which of the following conditions must have applied to the species in the past? The sparrow species must have been threatened by extinction at some point. T/F

False, Natural selection acts on individuals not the species.

Neurons will always fire in an intensity relative to the intensity of the stimulus. T/F

False, Neurons make binary decisions: stimulus intensity only needs to be above a firing threshold. This all-or-none response does not reflect the strength of the initial stimulus, nor the type of initial stimulus.

An animal that forages so as to maximize its net rate of energy intake has a choice between two prey items that have different profitability. The abundance of less profitable prey is the main factor determining whether a species foraging on two types of prey should specialize on one type or consume both types. T/F

False, Only the abundance of the MORE profitable prey item determines whether a predator will specialize.

Predicts that foragers ought to always care more about predation risk than food. T/F

False, Optimal foraging theory does not take predation into consideration.

Parasites and hosts have relatively similar generation times and so they are able to co-evolve in synchrony over each generation. T/F

False, Parasites tend to have much shorter generation times than their hosts resulting in a generation time effect.

Parasites that are capable of occupying a host for an extended period of time have extremely high virulence. T/F

False, Parasites that are easily transmitted indicate higher virulence than a parasite that occupies its host for a long time.

Pathogens that require the host to be mobile are typically more virulent because mobility enhances the chances that the infected host will encounter another potential host. T/F

False, Pathogens that require the host to be mobile are relatively non-virulent.

Dilution effects may prevent animals from joining groups. T/F

False, Sociality is beneficial because it dilutes predation risk.

Prior to mating, male Japanese quail housed next to a female spends relatively little time peering through a window to look at her. But after mating, a male appears positively fascinated by his partner, to the extent that he will stare at her for hours on end. Balthazart et al. (2003) designed an experiment to see if testosterone is responsible for this change in behavior. Testosterone is released from the testes and is captured by target cells in the brain, where the enzyme aromatase converts the hormone to estradiol. The researchers created three groups: (1) castrated males that received a testosterone implant, (2) castrated males that received a testosterone implant and an aromatase inhibitor (at test 9, as indicated by the arrow below), and (3) a control group of castrated males. They then measured the amount of time each male spent staring at the female through the window. In this example, testosterone has an organizational effect.

False, Testosterone has an activational effect where it rapidly induces behavioral changes.

An adaptation is simply a trait whose fitness benefits (B) exceed its costs (C). T/F

False, The benefits associated with an adaptation must be greater than the costs, AND in addition the difference between B and C must be greater than that associated with any other alternative trait.

Prior to mating, male Japanese quail housed next to a female spends relatively little time peering through a window to look at her. But after mating, a male appears positively fascinated by his partner, to the extent that he will stare at her for hours on end. Balthazart et al. (2003) designed an experiment to see if testosterone is responsible for this change in behavior. Testosterone is released from the testes and is captured by target cells in the brain, where the enzyme aromatase converts the hormone to estradiol. The researchers created three groups: (1) castrated males that received a testosterone implant, (2) castrated males that received a testosterone implant and an aromatase inhibitor (at test 9, as indicated by the arrow below), and (3) a control group of castrated males. They then measured the amount of time each male spent staring at the female through the window. Testosterone triggering this behavior is an example of an ultimate explanation for why males stare at females after mating. T/F

False, The hormonal trigger is an example of a proximate explanation.

Natural selection favors individuals that can survive the best. T/F

False, The problem is possible that there may be a trade-off between survival and reproductive rate such that shorter-lived individuals have the same (or higher) fitness as long-lived individuals.

Natural selection causes individuals to change when they need to adapt to changes in the environment. T/F

False, The problem with the statement is that it suggests that natural selection causes the traits of individuals to change. Natural selection cannot change existing individuals. Populations, not individuals, are what actually evolve. Individuals that happen to have traits that promote reproductive success under changed environmental conditions will leave more descendants, changing the makeup of the population in the future.

The term "mate guarding" refers to males protecting their mates from predators or parasites. T/F

False, The term "mate guarding" refers to males protecting their mates from predators or parasites.

The process of stimulus filtering is the time it takes an animal to process all information from every available stimulus. T/F

False, There are a lot of stimuli out there and not all will be important. Stimulus filtering reduces the plethora of stimuli to a biologically-relevant subset.

All hormones provide immediate but temporary regulatory effects. T/F

False, These are called activational effects. However, hormones can also permanently affect the nervous system during development and cause permanent changes to behavior, known as organizational effects.

Exaptations are evolved traits that, as a result of a changing environment, are no longer adaptive. T/F

False, This would be an evolutionary time lag.

Trait variation can be calculated for every individual. T/F

False, Variation is not the characteristic of an individual, it is a population parameter.

Virulent diseases need not be easily transmissible. T/F

False, Virulent diseases will kill their hosts quickly and therefore must be easily transmissible.

If I have pale white skin and my son has pale white skin, then the heritability of this trait must be h2 = 1. T/F

False, What about environmental effects?

There are more women in science now than in Darwin's time because women have evolved to be genetically smarter since then. T/F

False, there are more women in science now because cultural norms now permit it. Genetically speaking, women have always been just as intelligent as males.

Prior to mating, male Japanese quail housed next to a female spends relatively little time peering through a window to look at her. But after mating, a male appears positively fascinated by his partner, to the extent that he will stare at her for hours on end. Balthazart et al. (2003) designed an experiment to see if testosterone is responsible for this change in behavior. Testosterone is released from the testes and is captured by target cells in the brain, where the enzyme aromatase converts the hormone to estradiol. The researchers created three groups: (1) castrated males that received a testosterone implant, (2) castrated males that received a testosterone implant and an aromatase inhibitor (at test 9, as indicated by the arrow below), and (3) a control group of castrated males. They then measured the amount of time each male spent staring at the female through the window. When males with a testosterone implant are also given an aromatase inhibitor, there appears to be no effect. T/F

False, When the aromatase inhibitor is administered (indicated by the black arrow at test 9, as described in the question), the amount of time males spend staring at their mate rapidly declines.

In an optimality model, a central place forager is an animal that nests and forages in the same location. T/F

False, a central place forager nests in one location and goes to another location to forage. Optimality models can help predict how much prey a CPF should gather before returning to their nest.

The good genes indicator model assumes that females consciously evaluate which male traits are the best indicators of male genetic quality. T/F

False, although the good genes model does select for traits that confer a fitness advantage, it is important to understand that mate choice does not necessarily mean that animals are making conscious decisions.

Only males ever experience sexual selection because only females ever make choices. T/F

False, although this is true for the majority of species, some animals (such as pipefish) experience reverse sexual dimorphism where females compete over choosey males that essentially become impregnated.

The prey choice model always predicts it is best to be a generalist rather than specialize on a particular prey item. T/F

False, animals should specialize whenever a specialist has a greater energy gain than a generalist (see lecture slides for mathematic explanation).

Bateman's rule would work in this species, but we would still expect males to have the greater sexual ornamentation because eggs are costly, and sperm is cheap. T/F

False, based on the figure above, sexual selection is acting more strongly on females, so they are the sex that is more likely to have greater sexual ornamentation.

Crypsis reduces the profitability of prey by increasing handling time. T/F

False, crypsis increases search time.

A brightly colored animal can never be considered cryptic. T/F

False, crypsis is dependent on the animal's habitat. Thus, a bright pink preying mantis could be considered cryptic if it lived on an orchid with bright pink flowers.

For Bateman's principles to apply in a given species, extra-pair copulations must not happen. T/F

False, extra-pair copulations will occur in Bateman's principle models because there is reproductive variance within the sexes. Females will have far less reproductive variance however EPCs are still very likely.

The Sensory Bias hypothesis predicts that females are not choosy about which male they may mate with. T/F

False, females ARE choosy and select for males with traits that exploit a pre-existing hidden preference.

Female choice of mates is a process that occurs before copulation and cannot occur after copulation. T/F

False, females in many species have adaptations that allow females to remove sperm from less attractive males.

Hamilton's rule can only predict what may evolve (i.e., what is selectively favored) and it cannot predict what sort of behaviors will not evolve. T/F

False, if a behavior has a lower inclusive fitness calculation relative to another trait, it is safe to assume that natural selection will work to eliminate that variation.

Fisherian Runaway selection showed that female choice is adaptive because females gain sons that are good at avoiding predators and disease. T/F

False, in Fisherian selection there is no adaptive basis for the female preference.

Males are always more variable in their reproductive success because sperm is cheap. T/F

False, in reverse dimorphic species, males are choosy and females are more variable in their reproductive success.

Females should always favor being monogamous as they never get any benefit from mating with more than one male. T/F

False, in some species, extra pair copulation does provide benefits for females.

Female reproductive organs and behaviors are almost always designed to optimally facilitate the movement of sperm towards eggs. T/F

False, in species, such as ducks, where forced copulations are common, females have evolved intricate sex organs that make it difficult for males to mate if the female is unreceptive.

Under the sensory bias model, female preferences evolve because the offspring of choosy females have higher fitness than the offspring of females that mate at random. T/F

False, in the sensory bias model, the trait preferred by females does not confer any particular fitness benefit.

One would expect that main limit on a female's ability to successfully solicit an extra-pair copulation is the unwillingness of males in monogamous pairings to participate in EPC's. T/F

False, it is unlikely that males would be reluctant to mate with multiple females. The main limit would be the quality of territory that the male holds and whether it being a secondary female confers a greater fitness than being monogamous with a male on a lower quality territory.

Parental investment includes all energy invested into current offspring. T/F

False, parental investment is anything a parent does for existing offspring that reduces its ability to invest in future offspring.

Predators and prey are in an evolutionary arms race in which prey defenses evolve in synchrony with predator counter-defenses. T/F

False, prey defenses may evolve faster than predator counter-defenses due to the life-dinner principle and generation time effects.

False, there is no suggestion that males are clustering together for safety to support the predator dilution hypothesis. The hotshot hypothesis provides the best interpretation of the results.

False, this describes the hotspot hypothesis

Bateman's rule predicts males are always more sexually ornamented than females. T/F

False, this is not true for reverse sexual dimorphic species.

The brightly colored plumage on male birds of paradise is considered a primary sexual characteristic. T/F

False, this plumage is considered a secondary sexual characteristic since it is involved in mate choice but not physical reproduction.

In peacock spiders only the males are very brightly colored and dance and display their colors when courting females. Please explain how this preference could have arisen as a Fisherian runaway process.

Females like brightly colored males that dance and will preferentially mate with such males. Males can easily produce the colors and they have little to no effect for increasing the male's risk for predation.

A social woodpecker lets 2 brothers and 4 nephews feed on acorns that it stored in a communal storage site. This added food increases the chance that the six relatives will survive over the winter by 50%. The cost is that it reduces the helper's own reproductive success by 1.5 offspring. Is this apparent altruism adaptive? Show your math.

Gain: 2 brothers x .5 (r ) + 4 nephews x 0.25 (r ) = 2 x .5 gain in survival probability = 1 unit of inclusive fitness Cost: 1.5 offspring x 0.5 (r ) = 0.75 Gain > Cost...therefore helpful woodpecker does better

Male Red Backed spiders are dwarfed by their female counterparts. After mating, males will sometimes summersault into the mouth of the mated female where he is devoured. Why has copulatory suicide evolved in redback spiders? Is there a potential cheater problem? Create a hypothesis based on group selection theory?

Group selection: reproductive restraint hypothesis - By committing suicide, the males are reducing the overall egg fertilization rate and consequently preventing over-population.

A population of birds is composed of 5 nests (shown below), each with 5 chicks. In the focal nest there is a "Darwin" (D). Full siblings to D are shown in gray, half-sibs to D (they either share the same mother or father) are shown with stripes. Open circles are unrelated and cannot be Darwins. Obviously parents are non-monogamous. Darwin is a potentially siblicidal chick, and the cost for D of not killing all its nestmates is 3. By Hamilton's rule, what is minimum benefit that D must get in order for allowing all siblings to survive to have the same inclusive fitness as for killing them? Calculate your answer for relatedness and circle your final answer.

Half of the others in the nest are full sibs (r = 0.5) and the other half are half-sibs (r = 0.25). The average across all is therefore r = 0.375. For Hamilton's Rule to predict not killing, rb - c > 0. This means 0.375b - 3 > 0, or b = 8.

Two coalitions of male lions have a chance of taking over a group of females. If they do, the dominant male in the winning coalition will father 10 cubs (all the other male coalition members will father none). A male lion has the choice in joining one of the two coalitions as the most subordinate member. Coalition A is headed by a full brother and if the lion joins A, he increases that coalition's chances of winning the females from 50% to 60%. Coalition B is headed by a half brother and if the lion joins B, he increases that coalition's chances of winning the females from 0% to 30%. Assuming the lion gets 0 fitness if he joins neither coalition, should he join coalition A or B? Show your work.

Help A: Help B: I.F. = # of offspring * relatedness * change in success due to helping I.F. = 10 * 0.25 * (0.6 - 0.5) = 0.25 I.F. = # of offspring * relatedness * change in success due to helping I.F. = 10 * 0.125 * (0.3 - 0) = 0.375 Therefore, the gain in inclusive fitness is higher for joining B than for joining A.

Explain why you, as a single individual, do not have a measurable heritability value.

Heritability is a population average. It is a measure of the likelihood that offspring traits resemble their parents' traits relative to the expected resemblance of individuals chosen at random from a population. Therefore, individuals contribute to calculating the probabilities, but no individual has their own value.

A Taylor's swift is foraging in a patch where it can encounter two types of prey. For Prey Type #1, the average energy content is 80 calories, the average handling time is 8 minutes. For Prey Type #2, the average energy content is 120 calories, the average handling time is 15 minutes. Assume the bird makes its decisions as predicted by Optimal Foraging Theory (OFT). Assume you are examining the stomach contents of the OFT bird after a long bout of foraging in the above patch. You find both Types in the contents. What would be the maximum encounter rate of the preferred prey at which one could have expected birds to eat both. Justify your answer and show your work.

If eating only Type #1 is also in the optimal diet, then the profitability of Type #2 (8cal/min) must be greater than the reward for only looking for Type #1: i1e1 / (1 + i1Th1). Since we know e and Th1, we can solve for i1. Plugging in the numbers shows that 8 = (80 i1) / (1 + 8 i1). Solving yields i1= 0.5 or 1 every 2 minutes. Therefore, encounters have to be equal or greater than 1 every 2 minutes for the birds to take both.

Male bison produce snort vocalizations during dominance contests. Vocalization frequency is affected by body size: the larger the individual, the lower the frequency of sounds it can produce. Form a hypothesis to predict how female mating behavior might be affected by male vocalization frequency.

If only the largest, most dominant males can produce low-frequency sounds, then females can use male vocalizations to assess male quality (i.e., body size). If females prefer to mate with dominant males, then we can predict that females will exhibit a mating preference for males that produce the lowest-frequency vocalizations.

Using Hamilton's Rule, demonstrate why it is relatively easy to explain the evolution of older offspring helping to raise their younger full siblings.

If you help mother raise a younger full sibling: r = 0.5 to your own offspring, r = 0.5 to full sibling (which is recipient's offspring) Since B/C > rdonor to own offspring/rdonor to recipient's offspring = 1 any incremental benefit will allow the behavior to evolve or be favored

You are studying a newly-discovered species of fish. Only the males have orange fins. There is no evidence that males provide anything to the females except sperm (i.e., no parental care, food, nests, etc.). Propose an experiment or set of observations that would differentiate whether the ornament is due to Fisherian Runaway selection or evidence of female choice for good genes (i.e., the fins are a male handicap).

In Fisher, females just like the trait, in good genes the trait indicates in some way that the bearer is healthy and robust. Thus experiments could be done to show that diseased or parasitized males lose color. Or find that more orange males are in some other way more robust and healthy than less orange ones.

African cichlid fish come in two types: one with the jaw twisted to the right and the other with the jaw twisted to the left. They eat scales from other fish and will swiftly attack from the side opposite of their twisted jaw (right jawed cichlids attack prey from the left flank and vice versa). Figure 1 (left): Photo of asymmetric jaw types in cichlid fish. Figure 2 (right): Frequency of left-jawed individuals in the population over 9 years (Hori, 1993). Predict what the frequency of each phenotype will be over time.

In frequency-dependent selection, the frequency of each phenotype should oscillate around an equilibrium point.

Fire ants are highly invasive social insects that live in large colonies and exhibit two distinct kinds of social organization: some colonies possess a single reproductive queen (monogyne colonies), while others contain multiple queens (polygyne colonies). Kenneth Ross (1997) wanted to research the proximate explanation for whether a colony is monogyne or polygyne. Using gel electrophoresis, he found that the Gp-9 genotype only had two alleles, Gp-9B and Gp-9b. The monogyne colonies all had the Gp-9BB genotype, while the polygyne colonies were all Gp-9Bb. Could you reasonably conclude that this variation is strongly associated with genetic variation?

In this study of social organization in fire ants, you could reasonably conclude that variation in the genotype at the Gp-9 locus affects behavioral variation. The alleles at one locus appear to regulate their social organization.

Male Red Backed spiders are dwarfed by their female counterparts. After mating, males will sometimes summersault into the mouth of the mated female where he is devoured. Why has copulatory suicide evolved in redback spiders? Is there a potential cheater problem? Create a hypothesis based on individual selection hypothesis?

Individual selection: productivity hypothesis - By supplying a free meal, males will facilitate sperm transfer and increase the overall rate of egg production. This will in turn allow populations with suicidal males expand and replace populations without suicidal males.

Suppose we wanted to know whether spelling ability is heritable, so we went out and tested a large number of children and their parents and calculated mean offspring and parent spelling scores for each family. Let's say the slope of the parent-offspring regression line is 0.8. Would you feel confident in concluding that variation in spelling ability is 80% genetic and 20% environmental? Why or why not? Keeping in mind that these are humans, what sort of study would have to be done to determine whether variation in spelling ability is partially genetic? Explain how you would interpret the results.

It would not be reasonable to conclude that variation in spelling ability is 80% genetic because parents influence the environment in which their children develop. This question could be answered by comparing sets of twins that were put up for adoption at birth and raised by different families. If the spelling ability scores of twins raised apart were more similar than the spelling ability scores of non-twins we could infer that spelling ability is partially genetic (provided there were no confounding socioeconomic factors).

In a species of fish, males have bright orange spots, a long, sword-like extension on their tails, and very energetically swim and display to females. All three traits must be present for females to choose a male as a mating partner. In the context of sexual selection, explain why long tail swords as could be explained by a Zahavi Handicap mechanism.

Long tail swords are the best choice for the handicap hypothesis because long swords may make swimming more difficult and costly, and decrease ability to escape predators. Therefore, this can be an honest signal of male quality for females - only really good males could grow a large handicap and still escape predators.

Heritability values for behavioral traits are typically lower than those for morphological traits. Propose an explanation for this difference.

Lower heritability for a behavioral trait means that more of the variation in the behavior is due to environmental than genetic variation. This suggests that behaviors are more affected by environmental variation than morphology, perhaps because behaviors develop in more variable environments and/or perhaps because behavior is the first line of plasticity in development.

A group of researchers wants to know if spelling ability is heritable so they tested a large number of parents and their children and calculated the mean offspring and parent spelling scores for each family. They found the slope of the parent-offspring regression line is 0.85. Is it possible to conclude that the variation in spelling ability is 85% genetic and 15% environmental? Explain.

No, it is not fair to conclude that variation in spelling ability is 85% genetic because parents influence the environment in which their children develop.

Does it matter in the above decisions of the male whether all the lionesses in the group are full or half sisters to each (the males are unrelated to all the females)? Explain.

No. The offspring would still be related in the same way to the lion deciding which group to join. They would either be offspring, nieces and nephews, or half nieces and nephews. The cubs would be more related to each other, but it would not affect their relatedness to their fathers.

Explain why in the Fisherian Runaway Selection model, non-choosy females are at a fitness disadvantage relative to choosy females.

Non-choosy females will mate with any male. The sons of non-ornamented males will not have the ornament choosy females require for matings. Thus sons of non-choosy females will have fewer mating opportunities and therefore non-choosy females are "punished" by having fewer grandchildren.

It has been observed that if a male bird observes his mate in an extra-pair copulation (EPC), this can reduce his willingness to provide parental care. In contrast, if a female bird observes her mate in an EPC this has almost no effect on her willingness to provide parental care. Explain this difference in behavior.

Only males have parental uncertainty in birds. Therefore a male that sees his mate in an EPC has his uncertainty increased. An EPC by the male has no effect on the female's expectation of relatedness. She always knows the offspring will be related by 0.5 to her.

In a species of fish, males have bright orange spots, a long, sword-like extension on their tails, and very energetically swim and display to females. All three traits must be present for females to choose a male as a mating partner. In the context of sexual selection, explain why orange spots could be explained by Fisherian runaway selection.

Orange spots is the best choice for Fisherian runaway selection because orange may simply be a color females like (might look like fruit that they eat). Therefore, they may prefer to mate with males that have 'attractive' colors. Thus, any male that displays an orange trait may draw more female attention and have the opportunity for more matings.

In peacock spiders only the males are very brightly colored and dance and display their colors when courting females. Please explain how this preference could have arisen as a Good genes (handicap) hypothesis.

Orange spots make the males more apparent to predators or require lots of energy to produce. Only males in good condition have the energy or ability to get away from a predator's attack or make the colors. Poor males that try to do so, die.

When sharks attack humans, they often bite the victim once and then swim away. Researcher X argues that sharks rarely eat these unfortunate persons because "sharks prefer the odor and taste of their customary prey, seals and sea lions." Researcher Y disagrees: "Sharks release humans because they are not fat enough, and therefore provide too few calories to be part of the sharks' optimal diet." Using Tinbergen's rules, explain what type of hypothesis each researcher has constructed and explain which is more likely to be correct.

Researcher X has a proximate argument, while researcher Y has an ultimate argument. Such hypotheses are not mutually exclusive; they could both be correct or incorrect, but it's foolish to argue that because X is right, Y is wrong (or vice versa).

Imagine an experimental arena in which a shrew (a small insectivorous mammal) must search food patches for buried invertebrates. The arena contains ten identical patches that are located 5 m apart, and each contains 17 prey items. You record the patch-use behavior of the individuals and determine that, on average, they spend one minute in each patch and eat nine items before departing. What would you predict about the patch-use behavior of shrews if you increased the size of the arena so that the patches were 25 m apart under the Marginal Value theorem?

The Marginal Value theorem predicts that when travel times are larger, optimal load size increases. This predicts that increases in travel time will increase patch-use time. You can predict that shrews will spend more than one minute and harvest more than nine items from patches when travel distance (time) is increased.

A Taylor's swift is foraging in a patch where it can encounter two types of prey. For Prey Type #1, the average energy content is 80 calories, the average handling time is 8 minutes. For Prey Type #2, the average energy content is 120 calories, the average handling time is 15 minutes. Assume the bird makes its decisions as predicted by Optimal Foraging Theory (OFT). If the bird encounters both prey types simultaneously, and can grab only one, which one does OFT predict it should take? Show your work

The bird should grab the most profitable. Type #1: 80cal / 8min = 10cal/min Type #2: 120cal/ 15min = 8cal/min Type #1 is more profitable and should be grabbed

What can you conclude from the fact that they did not learn novel predators?

The damselfish are prepared to learn about the predators they have evolved with but they are not prepared to learn the olfactory cues of novel predators.

The giving up density - density of resources in a patch at which foraging ceases - are higher on light transects compared to dark transects. They found mice GUDs were nearly two times higher at patches near the light source than at patches away from the light source.

A researcher wants to know if a female Fairy Wren has had any extra pair copulations. The researcher collects DNA from the mother, the offspring, a male holding a neighboring superior territory, and the male nestmate (alleged father) and runs a microsatellite gel (below, in the order as described). Based on these results, is the male holding an adjacent territory (male 1) or the male nestmate (male 2) the father of this chick? Explain.

The male holding an adjacent territory is the father of this chick because we see that all offspring alleles have originated from the mother and male 1.

If an older sibling does not kill its younger full sibling when it has the chance, the older chick will have a 25% chance of eventually starving to death (assume the younger chick will also starve to death 25% of the time). If the older chick does kill the younger one, it will have a 100% chance of survival. Thus, does siblicide increase the inclusive fitness of the older chick? Show your work.

The older chick is trading off a 25% chance of its dying versus a 75% chance of its full sib surviving. Therefore, cost = 0.25 * 1 = 0.25 and gain = 0.75 * 0.5 = 0.375. Thus not committing siblicide has the higher inclusive fitness.

Unlike domesticated European bees, African bees are prone to attacking large animals that approach their hives. Even experienced beekeepers have trouble working with African bees safely. African bees were introduced to South America and are rapidly spreading northward and hybridizing with domesticated European bees along the way. The "Africanized" hybrids are almost as aggressive as the fully wild African bees. Explain why it would be impossible to devise an experiment to distinguish between your proximate and ultimate hypotheses.

The proximate hypothesis tries to explain how the bees differ physiologically whereas the ultimate hypothesis tries to explain why the physiological difference evolved. It would be illogical (as well as impossible) to attempt to distinguish between them because they answer two different questions.

In peacock spiders only the males are very brightly colored and dance and display their colors when courting females. Please explain how this preference could have arisen as a Sensory exploitation hypothesis:

The spiders normal prey items tend to be very brightly colored. Therefore, females are very sensitive to and attracted by colorful objects. More colorful males thus have more females coming to see them and this can increase the number of matings they will get.

Relaxin is a hormone found in many species of vertebrates which, in mammals, was initially said to be involved in preparation for birth (by relaxing the cervix). However, new functions of relaxin are being discovered regularly. Outline a series of observations and manipulations to comprehensively test the hypothesis that relaxin functions to facilitate embryonic implantation in mice (this has implications for mechanisms by which animals suppress reproduction of group mates). For each observation or manipulation, discuss the possible outcomes, and how each outcome would support or refute the hypothesis. Note: we do not have a way to block relaxin production chemically, and (for a variety of reasons) you are unable to remove the endocrine gland responsible for relaxin production, so you will have to use another technique as part of your experimental outline.

There are three steps to demonstrating hormone function. 1) First correlate natural variation of hormone level with function. In this case, you would expect to see higher levels of circulating relaxin associated with higher levels of implantation. 2) Second, you must remove the hormone and look for the loss of function. Because relaxin can not be chemically blocked and the gland can not be removed, you will have to develop a relaxin knock-out mouse. Fortunately, such knock-out mice have been developed (which in part is stimulating the increase in knowledge about relaxin). Knock-outs work by breeding homozygous recessive lines of animals that have a phenotypic marker correlated with the lack of the gene (or gene product). In this case, we might have black mice who don't produce relaxin. Thus, you predict that relaxin knock-outs will have lower implantation success than non-knock outs. 3) Third, you must re-instate the behavior/trait by re-placing the hormone. Knock-outs given exogenous relaxin should have implantation rates that are not significantly different from those of normal mice.

African cichlid fish come in two types: one with the jaw twisted to the right and the other with the jaw twisted to the left. They eat scales from other fish and will swiftly attack from the side opposite of their twisted jaw (right jawed cichlids attack prey from the left flank and vice versa). Figure 1 (left): Photo of asymmetric jaw types in cichlid fish. Figure 2 (right): Frequency of left-jawed individuals in the population over 9 years (Hori, 1993). What type of selection is occurring between the left- and right-jawed cichlid fish and why?

This is an example of frequency-dependent selection. In this scenario, if one population gets too big then prey would come to expect the attack from that side and develop better antipredator techniques to avoid future attacks. This would give an advantage to the less frequent phenotype because prey would not be expecting an attack from the other direction.

Hymenoptera (ants, bees, and wasps) are eusocial meaning their colonies consist of one female (occasionally more depending on the species) whose sole job is to reproduce (queens), sterile females who do all other tasks in the colony (workers), and males who die immediately after mating (drones). These insects are haplodiploid meaning females have two sets of chromosomes (diploid) while males only have one (haploid). New queens will go on a mating flight where she will mate with one or more males and store approximately 30 million sperm in a special organ for the rest of her life. The mated queen will then found a colony and can control the sex of her offspring by choosing to fertilize the egg with the sperm she has stored to create females or keep the egg unfertilized to create males. Since males only have one set of chromosomes, they pass all of their genes on to their daughters, which means sisters have an identical set of genes from their father. As a result, sisters have a relatedness of 0.75, sisters are related to brothers by 0.25, and queens are related to their offspring by 0.5. Given this information answer the following question: The daughter of a honey bee stays and helps her mother raise more offspring whenever the mother is monogamous and is laying almost all female eggs. Is this an example of kin selection? Why or why not?

This is an example of kin selection. Daughters are helping raise full sisters (r = 0.75) which is better than producing their own offspring.

The island of Mauritius was colonized by Dutch sailors in the 1600s. Large endemic fruit-eating animals were rapidly driven to extinction by the settlers. Why might a number of tree species here continue to produce fruits that are best suited for consumption by large herbivores as a means of seed dispersal? What is this an example of and why might this be the case?

This is likely an example of an evolutionary time lag where anthropogenic forces such as climate change, hunting pressures, or nearby land-use change have resulted in rapid removal of large frugivorous species in the area. The tree species are experiencing an evolutionary lag time because they have not had enough time for adaptations favoring smaller fruits to spread in the population and are thus exhibiting characteristics that are now suboptimal in their altered environment. Unless conservation efforts are made to restore populations of large frugivores, this is an example of an extinction debt.

Honey bee colonies where the queen has mated 15 times are more disease resistant than colonies where the queen has mated only once. Is this an example of kin selection? Why or why not?

This is maximizing genetic diversity and reducing within colony relatedness. This would not be predicted by kin selection.

Each mating season, female Emperor penguins mate and produce a single egg which she then transfers to her mate to care for while she spends the winter in the open ocean. The male puts the egg on his feet and covers it with a fold of his skin. He spends four months enduring the frigid, endless night that is Antarctica's winter. Temperatures can dip below -30˚F and for 65 days the males huddle together to keep warm. By the time the sun and the females return, males will have lost up to 45% of their body weight. Is this self-sacrifice by the males an example of altruism? Why or why not?

This is not an example of altruism because each male is incubating his own egg, not someone else's. Altruism only comes into play if you are increasing your indirect fitness by an action that is costly to you. Although the act of incubating the egg is extremely costly to the male, he is increasing his direct fitness by doing so. This is actually an example of selfish behavior because he is incubating the egg to pass on his genes through his own offspring.

What sort of study would have to be done to determine whether variation in spelling ability is partially genetic? Explain how you would interpret the results.

This question could be answered by comparing sets of twins that were put up for adoption at birth and raised by different families. If the spelling ability scores of twins raised apart were more similar than the spelling ability scores of non-twins we could infer that spelling ability is partially genetic (provided there were no confounding socioeconomic factors).

Unlike domesticated European bees, African bees are prone to attacking large animals that approach their hives. Even experienced beekeepers have trouble working with African bees safely. African bees were introduced to South America and are rapidly spreading northward and hybridizing with domesticated European bees along the way. The "Africanized" hybrids are almost as aggressive as the fully wild African bees. Describe an experiment that would demonstrate whether the behavioral difference between European and African bees is due, in part, to genetic differences between them.

Transfer African bee eggs into European bee nests and vice versa. If behavioral differences persist in cross-fostered workers, the differences must be partly genetic.

Why, according to Triver's (1972) parental investment hypothesis, are the females of most species more selective about their mating partners than are the males? Under what circumstances did Trivers (1972) expect the reverse to be true?

Triver's (1972) hypothesis is based on the observation that females usually invest more in each offspring than males do. Males can usually increase their reproductive success by mating with more females, but female reproduction is limited by access to resources needed for egg production and parental care. Mating takes energy and time and may increase the risk of predation or disease transmission. Females may be choosier than males simply because they have less to gain and more to lose by mating multiply. There may also be direct or indirect benefits to choosing the right mate. Triver's (1972) predicted that the sex roles would be reversed when males invest more in the offspring than females.

All traits are the product of the interaction between genes and the environment. T/F

True

An animal that forages so as to maximize its net rate of energy intake has a choice between two prey items that have different profitability. The decision to eat a less profitable prey item depends solely on the likelihood of missing more profitable prey items while handling the less profitable prey item. T/F

True

Bateman's rule does not depend on whether mate choice is for direct or indirect benefits. T/F

True

Conservation biology is a crisis discipline aimed at saving biodiversity. T/F

True

Nothing about assessment and decision making in response to stimuli requires conscious decision making. T/F

True

Sensory receptors convert external stimuli into electrical impulses in a process called sensory transduction. T/F

True

The developmental effect of being reared by members of another species was far greater for great tits than for blue tits. T/F

True

When a bat is close to a moth and about to attack, moths evade their predator with a wing flip and dive. This is triggered by A2 receptors firing in the moth's brain. T/F

True

The decision of whether to specialize on one particular prey type should depend on the abundance of the more profitable prey. T/F

True, This decision depends on the encounter rate with, and therefore the abundance of, the more profitable prey, not the abundance of the less profitable prey.

The net energy content of prey A is 50 calories and its handling time is 10 minutes. For prey B the respective values are 80 calories and 20 minutes. Prey A is more profitable than B. T/F

True, e1/h1 = 50/10 = 5 e2/h2 = 80/20 = 4 e1/h1 > e2/h2

The rarer of two hereditarily different phenotypes can be considered an adaptation when the rare phenotype becomes more common from one generation to the next because of its positive effect on individual fitness. T/F

True, A phenotype that produces a larger fitness benefit for an individual relative to another variation of that phenotype can be considered an adaptation and would be expected to increase in the population.

The virulence of a disease will likely be reduced when it becomes more likely to catch the disease from contaminated water rather than from infected people. T/F

True, Abiotic vectoring leads to higher virulence.

Parasites that transmit themselves more are favored by selection. T/F

True, As the probability/ease of transmission increases, the parasites become more virulent.

Understanding price elasticity can be useful in the upholding the farm animal welfare council's five freedoms. T/F

True, By calculating the price elasticity of different items for individual species, researchers can recommend ways to enhance contentment for animals in confinement.

Bateman's rule does not depend on whether female choice is direct or indirect on males. T/F

True, Choice (whether its mate choice or food choice) does not mean that animals are necessarily making conscious decisions.

A Starbucks coffee should have a high price elasticity. T/F

True, Coffee is not fundamentally important and should thus have higher price elasticity.

If the amount of environmental variation in a trait increases, the heritability of the trait should decrease. T/F

True, Consider the properties of heritability: VP = Vg + Ve and h2 = Vg / VP. Therefore, as environmental variation increases, phenotypic variation increases which creates a bigger denominator in the heritability equation and thus decreases the heritability of the trait.

Biologically important things like finding food and avoiding predation exert strong selective pressures on the neural system of animals. T/F

True, Evolution acts on the neural systems of animals.

Adaptations depend on the presence of others in a population. T/F

True, Fitness benefits of adaptations are relative to the fitness of others in a population.

Young white-crowned sparrows are remarkably good at remembering the sounds produced by adult white-crowned males singing around them. If the learning abilities of this bird evolved by Darwinian natural selection, which of the following conditions must have applied to the species in the past? Better than average song "rememberers" must have had more surviving offspring on average than the typical sparrow at that time. T/F

True, For the "remember" trait to be an adaptation that will spread in the population, the trait must incur some fitness advantage.

GT males that have been reared by BT foster parents try to pair with blue tit females, but only a small fraction succeeds. A, GT males only try to mate with the same species as their foster parents, blue tits. T/F

True, GT males only try to mate with the same species as their foster parents, blue tits.

What animals are capable of learning is affected by their genes. T/F

True, Genes affect learning

Hormones can stimulate and/or change the probability that a behavior will occur. T/F

True, Hormones have activational effects.

You are more likely to get a virulent staph infection in a US hospital than on an expedition up the Amazon. T/F

True, Hospitals have the most virulent pathogens for many reasons including the fact that there are multiple competing strains.

The differences in the behavior of identical twins reared apart are purely environmental. T/F

True, Identical twins have the same genes so any behavioral differences that arise must be environmental.

Natural selection theory provides a means for why some changes spread through a species while others did not. T/F

True, If an adaptation contributes to higher reproductive fitness than an alternative trait, then that trait will spread through the population.

Any genetic trait that has no variability in its expression also has no meaningful measure of heritability. T/F

True, If genetic variance = 0, heritability must also = 0.

If the heritability (h2) of a trait is < 1, then there must be some environmental effect on the phenotypic expression of that trait. T/F

True, If h^2 < 1, then Ve will have a value >1.

These results suggest that the genetic basis of the imprinting mechanism was very different for these two closely related songbird species. T/F

True, If the genetic basis of the imprinting mechanism were the same for these species, we would expect both to choose to mate (or not mate) with members of the opposite species at the same rate following cross-fostering.

Pathogens tend to be less detrimental to vectors relative to their human hosts. T/F

True, If the pathogen was just as harmful to the vector, it would not be as successful at spreading to new hosts.

Parasites transmitted by vectors are more virulent than those transmitted within the same species. T/F

True, If, for example, a mosquito-transmitted parasite reproduces so extensively that the host becomes immobilized, this may actually increase transmission because the host can be bitten by mosquitoes repeatedly.

If r = -0.1, b = -1 and c = 2, we would categorize this as a selfish relationship. T/F

True, In general, if r and b are negative, it will be a selfish trait. (-0.1)(-1) = 0.1, which is < the cost (2).

Functional explanations do NOT imply that animals know why the do what they do. T/F

True, Just because an animal chooses to exhibit a particular behavior, it does not mean that animal is necessarily making a conscious decision.

The marginal value theorem is an example of an optimal foraging model. T/F

True, MVT is an example of optimization where it is assumed that the relevant costs and benefits are measured in units of time and energy.

In nature, prey choice predicted by optimal foraging theory is rarely (if ever) observed. T/F

True, Mathematical models of optimal foraging theory predict animals should eat only certain prey (of a particular size for example) and that there should be an abrupt switch point between the size of prey eaten and the size of prey that should be ignored. However few, if any, animals actually show such a discrete threshold.

The coefficient of relatedness is necessary to calculate the costs and benefits of altruism. T/F

True, Measures of inclusive fitness are based in part on the degree to which two individuals are related.

Over half of all vertebrates have declined globally in the past 40 years. T/F

True, Most vertebrates, especially freshwater vertebrates, have declined in the past 40 years.

The development of all behaviors requires both genes and the environment. T/F

True, No behavior develops in the absence of genes or in the absence of the environment.

An animal that forages so as to maximize its net rate of energy intake has a choice between two prey items that have different profitability. The encounter rate with the less profitable prey does not affect whether the forager includes it in its diet. T/F

True, Only the abundance of the MORE profitable prey item determines whether a predator will specialize. A predator will only decide to eat the less profitable prey if: E2/Tt > i2E2/(1+ i2Th2). As you can see, the encounter rate for the less profitable prey type is not included in the equation. To summarize, you know that the more profitable prey type is going to have a higher energy gain than the less profitable prey type. So, if your likelihood of encountering the more favorable prey type is less than the energy you could gain from eating the less profitable prey type then you should go ahead and eat the less profitable prey.

Sit-and-wait pathogens tend to be virulent. T/F

True, Pathogens that can live outside their hosts for years (e.g. anthrax) have no need to have mobile victims.

It is possible to experimentally calculate the price elasticity of various goods for animals. T/F

True, Review the mink cage design example.

A cattle egret chick that hatches first will sometimes peck siblings that are hatched later to death. Siblicide (where nestlings kill each other) is more common in bird nests where the parents are non-monogamous than in nests where the parents are completely monogamous. T/F

True, Siblings should be less prone to kill full sibs rather than half-sibs.

When relatedness is measured as identical by descent, r = 0.25 is the expected value between an aunt and her sister's daughter (assume the sisters are full siblings). T/F

True, Sisters are related by 0.5 and offspring are related to their parents by 0.5 therefore an aunt is related to her niece by 0.5*0.5 = 0.25

Stimulus filtering is a proximate mechanism for explaining why we see certain behaviors. T/F

True, Stimuli provide the immediate (proximate) explanation.

Prior to mating, male Japanese quail housed next to a female spends relatively little time peering through a window to look at her. But after mating, a male appears positively fascinated by his partner, to the extent that he will stare at her for hours on end. Balthazart et al. (2003) designed an experiment to see if testosterone is responsible for this change in behavior. Testosterone is released from the testes and is captured by target cells in the brain, where the enzyme aromatase converts the hormone to estradiol. The researchers created three groups: (1) castrated males that received a testosterone implant, (2) castrated males that received a testosterone implant and an aromatase inhibitor (at test 9, as indicated by the arrow below), and (3) a control group of castrated males. They then measured the amount of time each male spent staring at the female through the window. Based on the results, the aromatase inhibitor most likely interferes with the production of the essential hormone modulating male sexual motivation. T/F

True, The aromatase inhibitor most likely does not allow testosterone to be converted to estradiol, the essential hormone for modulating male sexual motivation.

All higher vascular plants and animals reproduce through a single fertilized egg that clonally replicates into many cells. T/F

True, The cooperation of these closely related cells is an example of kin selection.

Young white-crowned sparrows are remarkably good at remembering the sounds produced by adult white-crowned males singing around them. If the learning abilities of this bird evolved by Darwinian natural selection, which of the following conditions must have applied to the species in the past? There must have been variation in the memory skills of individuals. T/F

True, There must be variation for natural selection to act on a trait.

Hormones may act during development and cause permanent changes to physiology and behavior. T/F

True, These are organizational effects.

It is possible that exposure to hormones during mice development can actually lead to long-term changes like a reversal in sexual partner preference. T/F

True, This is an organizational effect which can result in permanent changes to the animal's physiology and behavior.

Prior to mating, male Japanese quail housed next to a female spends relatively little time peering through a window to look at her. But after mating, a male appears positively fascinated by his partner, to the extent that he will stare at her for hours on end. Balthazart et al. (2003) designed an experiment to see if testosterone is responsible for this change in behavior. Testosterone is released from the testes and is captured by target cells in the brain, where the enzyme aromatase converts the hormone to estradiol. The researchers created three groups: (1) castrated males that received a testosterone implant, (2) castrated males that received a testosterone implant and an aromatase inhibitor (at test 9, as indicated by the arrow below), and (3) a control group of castrated males. They then measured the amount of time each male spent staring at the female through the window. The presence of testosterone heavily influences how sexually experienced males respond to the opportunity to view a mature female quail. T/F

True, This is the major finding presented in the figure. A testosterone implant causes males to stare at females for longer.

Parasites and pathogens are selected to maximize lifetime reproductive output. T/F

True, This is true for all organisms.

Young white-crowned sparrows are remarkably good at remembering the sounds produced by adult white-crowned males singing around them. If the learning abilities of this bird evolved by Darwinian natural selection, which of the following conditions must have applied to the species in the past? Better than average song "rememberers" must have been able to pass on their abilities to their offspring. T/F

True, Traits must be heritable for natural selection to occur.

Virulence is defined as the mortality rate of a disease or parasite. T/F

True, Virulence can also be defined as the reproductive rate of a disease or parasite.

For an "altruistic" trait to be favored by natural selection, genetic relatives must be helped by the consequences of the act.

True, altruistic traits do not result in a high direct fitness but they do result in a high indirect fitness by helping related individuals reproduce.

Males might be expected to be more choosy than females about whom they would be willing to mate with. T/F

True, because females are exhibiting greater reproductive variance where choosey males are more likely to mate with only a few females.

An animal that forages so as to maximize its net rate of energy intake has a choice between two prey items that have different profitability. The most profitable item should always be eaten. T/F

True, by definition the most profitable item gives the forager its highest energy intake rate. Thus, it can never do better by ignoring this prey item and looking for something else.

Most prey defenses reduce the profitability of prey by increasing search or handling time. T/F

True, even a slight reduction in profitability can make it advantageous for the predator to switch to a different prey.

The Sensory Bias hypothesis assumes that females have an adaptive basis for liking the signal properties of a particular male trait. T/F

True, for example, an adaptive preference for carotenoid rich food creating a sensory bias for the color orange or an adaptive pre-existing sensory bias to detect prey (as in the water mite example from lecture).

Parasites evolve within individual hosts. T/F

True, given the generation time effect.

The Handicap hypothesis is advantageous for females because it is difficult for males to lie about their health or genetic quality. T/F

True, handicaps serve as honest signals of overall male quality.

The Marginal Value Theorem predicts that foragers may often leave patches even though the patches may still contain prey items. T/F

True, in MVT, animals experience diminishing returns in a patch and will thus often leave before all prey has been depleted depending on their GUD.

By inclusive fitness reasoning, indirect fitness can be just as valuable as direct fitness. T/F

True, inclusive fitness = direct + indirect.

A startling display, such as a puffer fish inflating its body, is an antipredator adaptation because it increases the handling time. T/F

True, increases the time a predator must take to subdue and eat the prey.

If r = 0, then a trait can increase in frequency in a population only if it increases the relative direct reproductive output of individuals having the trait. T/F

True, is r = 0 the indirect benefits of the trait will be 0. Therefore the trait must provide direct fitness benefit to spread through the population.

An optimal behavior will have the greatest net payoff (B-C). T/F

True, optimal behavior has the greatest benefit and the smallest cost.

Bateman's Principle would work in this species and we would expect females to have the greater sexual ornamentation. T/F

True, sexual selection is acting more strongly on females in this case because they have the greater reproductive variance.

Sperm competition refers to competition between the sperm of different males inside a female's reproductive tract. T/F

True, sperm competition does not include male-male interactions such as competition or dominance displays outside of the female reproductive tract.

Some males have morphological adaptations to remove sperm from females that have previously mated. T/F

True, this is an example of sperm competition.

Selection may act more strongly on defense than counter-defense. T/F

True, this is known as the life-dinner principle

True, when subordinate males were removed, other subdominant and subordinate males quickly usurped the vacated territories, presumably to move closer to the territory of a dominant male, the hotshot.

Intrasexual selection tends to produce ornaments that are good for fighting and competition rather than being attractive to the opposite sex. T/F

True, within the same sex, selection favors traits that make that individual a superior competitor. In intersexual selection, traits that are attractive to the opposite sex are favored.

Explain why reciprocal altruism works equally well between related and unrelated individuals.

With reciprocal altruism, cooperation is favored if b - c > 0 and there are repeated encounters. Since both cooperating individuals eventually increase their direct fitness, they are both favored to cooperate. This gain in fitness happens whether or not they are related.

Hymenoptera (ants, bees, and wasps) are eusocial meaning their colonies consist of one female (occasionally more depending on the species) whose sole job is to reproduce (queens), sterile females who do all other tasks in the colony (workers), and males who die immediately after mating (drones). These insects are haplodiploid meaning females have two sets of chromosomes (diploid) while males only have one (haploid). New queens will go on a mating flight where she will mate with one or more males and store approximately 30 million sperm in a special organ for the rest of her life. The mated queen will then found a colony and can control the sex of her offspring by choosing to fertilize the egg with the sperm she has stored to create females or keep the egg unfertilized to create males. Since males only have one set of chromosomes, they pass all of their genes on to their daughters, which means sisters have an identical set of genes from their father. As a result, sisters have a relatedness of 0.75, sisters are related to brothers by 0.25, and queens are related to their offspring by 0.5. Given this information answer the following question: Explain why eusocial insects are considered a Darwinian puzzle:

Workers are largely sterile and so should be eliminated over time by natural selection.

A researcher wants to know if a female Fairy Wren has had any extra pair copulations. The researcher collects DNA from the mother, the offspring, a male holding a neighboring superior territory, and the male nestmate (alleged father) and runs a microsatellite gel (below, in the order as described). Based on these results, did the mother engage in extra pair copulation? If so, explain why she may have done this.

Yes, the mother had an extra pair copulation. The prompt states this neighboring male has a superior territory so it is possible that she mated with him in hopes of passing good genes to her future sons. If the female's social partner is of lower genetic quality than other potential donors, seeking out another male with a better territory may improve her offspring viability or sexual attractiveness.

How do fish learn about predators? Mitchell et al. (2011) hypothesized that damselfish make associations between conspecific chemical alarm cues and the odor of a heterospecific fish to learn about their predators. To test this the researchers created two cocktails of odors with a chemical alarm cue: one from four known predatory fish, and one from two species of novel predatory fish. They placed damselfish in a tank with food and shelter then added a stimulus odor and recorded the amount of time fish spent feeding, their distance from the shelter, and the time spent in the shelter for five minutes. Figure 1: Feeding behavior. Mean (+SE) change in feeding behavior for treatment fish (grey) and controls (white) when exposed to the odor of six fish species. From left to right, the first four species are known predators and the last two are from novel predators. Do the results in Figure 1 support their hypothesis? Explain.

Yes, these results support their hypothesis. Individuals will reduce feeding and increase antipredator behavior when they detect odors that have been associated with chemical alarm cues for predators for which they have experienced. Fish learn associations between the odor of a fish and chemical alarm substances.

Yes. Cheater problem: If non-suicidal males fertilized more eggs than suicidal males, then suicidal populations would rapidly be taken over by non-suicidal genotypes (within populations).

The Hoatzin is a peculiar bird species that has an extra set of claws on its wings (as pictured below). How could we test if this unique trait is adaptive in its current environment? What measurement would tell us that this is adaptive?

You would have to measure the fitness (reproductive success) of chicks with varying claw lengths or presence/absence of claws. There are a variety of ways we could test this including: Compare the fitness of naturally-occurring variation. Do chicks with large claws do better than chicks with small claws? If so, having large claws may allow chicks to better defend themselves or evade predators. Remove the extra claws from some chicks and see if clawless chicks are still able to live to produce the same number of offspring.

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