Chapter 9 Biology Questions

is an action or signal on the part of one organism that alters the behavior of another organism.

Communication

Biologist W.D. Hamilton stated that the more closely related two individuals are:

the more likely they are to act altruistically towards each other.

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

genes are more likely to persist within a population when they cause behaviors that assist other animals who share those genes.

Which of the following best illustrates an instinctive behavior in cats?

hunting and killing

Female Belding's ground squirrels have evolved to follow a simple rule that translates into:

if I am an older female, I should behave as if I have many close relatives around me."

Polygynous species:

are usually sexually dimorphic, with males larger and more highly ornamented.

In the graph in the figure, the x axis represents _________________ and the y axis represents _________________.

number of mates; number of offspring

When one vervet monkey grooms another, the monkey being groomed has its fitness improved because:

the groomer is removing parasites.

An animal will preferentially feed on:

the prey that provides the most energy relative to effort.

Polygamy and monogamy are two types of:

mating systems.

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

maximizing the size of each prey item.

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

more discriminating

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

more than 90%

Human babies quickly and easily develop a fear of snakes, yet they don't easily develop a fear of guns. Why?

During most of the history of human evolution, snakes were dangerous to humans and guns didn't exist.

Which of the following is the best way to distinguish male from female?

Males produce motile gametes.

Which of the following has/have had strong effects on the evolution of mating systems in animals?

Only a) and b) have had strong effects on the evolution of mating systems in animals.

When scientists displace an adult female Belding's ground squirrel to a new group for an experiment, she still risks her life alarm-calling although she is not saving any of her kin. Why does this behavior still persist now that it is harmful to her fitness?

The ground squirrel is acting on instinct and still calls because she possesses no instincts suited to this evolutionarily novel situation.

Usually the female is more discriminating than the male when it comes to mating. However, in bush crickets, the opposite is the case. Why is this?

The male contributes a massive amount of energy to the female during mating—his ejaculate makes up about one-fourth of his body weight.

In amphibians, it is generally the case that:

neither the female nor the male invest much energy in the care of offspring.

During the breeding season, the sight of a red belly on any other stickleback triggers aggressive behavior in a male stickleback. This is called:

a fixed action pattern.

When a goose spots an egg outside of its nest, the goose gets out of the nest and rolls the egg back. Once started, a goose continues the egg-retrieval movement all the way back to the nest, even if the egg is taken away during the process. This is called:

a fixed action pattern.

Which of the following is a goose MOST LIKELY to retrieve first if found just outside her nest?

a model egg that is larger than any other object near the nest

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

a trait that can satisfy the three conditions required for evolution by natural selection

Molecules released by an individual into the environment that trigger behavioral responses in other individuals are called:

pheromones.

Two types of polygamy are:

polygyny and polyandry.

In a species such as elephant seals, in which males are significantly larger than females, the most likely mating system is:

polygyny.

Behaviors that are learned easily and by all (or nearly all) individuals in a species are called:

prepared learning

Mate guarding is a reproductive tactic that functions to:

reduce paternity uncertainty.

When the female silkworm moth is ready to mate, she:

releases a potent chemical into the air.

When the sexes of a species differ in size or appearance, it is called:

sexual dimorphism.

In the "Ultimatum Game," one player (the proposer) proposes a way to split $100 and the other player (the decider) either accepts it—in which case both players get the amount proposed for them—or rejects it and neither player gets any of the cash. Deciders will nearly always reject offers of $90 for the proposer and $10 for them because:

the evolution of reciprocal altruism has led to human brains being very sensitive to detecting and punishing stingy/selfish people.

If two alleles exist at the same gene locus in a population, one for a selfish behavior and one for a selfless behavior, regardless of the initial frequencies, over time:

the selfish behavior allele will increase its percentage in the population to near fixation.

Sexual dimorphism refers to

the situation in which males and females differ physically and/or behaviorally.

In polygynous mating systems:

there is usually greater variation in reproductive success among males than among females multiple females tend to mate with the same male.

Which of the following is NOT a topic in animal behavior?

All of the above are topics in animal behavior.

The fixed action pattern found in geese, in which they will retrieve a model egg the size of a basketball preferentially to retrieving their own egg, was able to evolve because:

Both a) and b) were necessary for the particular behavior to evolve

Which of the following is NOT a correct statement about fixed action patterns?

Fixed action patterns are an example of prepared learning.

Among Natterjack toads in northern Europe, males produce booming calls to attract females. Females desire large males and the size of the male determines the volume of the call. Why is the Natterjack's call considered an "honest signal"?

because the call of a large Natterjack male cannot be faked by a smaller Natterjack male

Monogamy, a relatively rare system outside of the birds, evolves when:

both males and females have high and equal parental investment.

In black widow spider mating, the male ___________________________ and the female ___________________________.

breaks off his sexual organ inside the female; kills and eats the male

Arguments that a morphological characteristic or behavior has evolved because it benefits the species or population are arguments for:

group selection.

Because it is possible for a female to mate with multiple males, any of whom could be the father, male mammals and birds will always:

have some degree of paternity uncertainty.

Acoustical communication includes all of the following EXCEPT:

honeybee waggle dance.

Cross-cultural studies are important in studying behavioral biology because:

they allow us to evaluate the hereditary component of behaviors by revealing behaviors that persist throughout different cultures.

When individuals of any species find themselves in an environment that differs from the environment to which they are evolutionarily adapted, we observe that:

they engage in behaviors better fit to the environment the species evolved in than the environment the individual organisms find themselves in.

The waggle dance is:

used for food location in honeybees