Biology: The Unity and Diversity of Life (MindTap Course List)
14th Edition
ISBN: 9781305073951
Author: Cecie Starr, Ralph Taggart, Christine Evers, Lisa Starr
Publisher: Cengage Learning
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Chapter 43, Problem 2CT
Summary Introduction
To explain: The reason why researchers suspect that the ecological factors, not genetic ones, were the most important selective force in Damaraland mole-rat altruism.
Concept introduction: Altruism is a process when an organism behaves in a way that benefits others instead of being harmed or risking oneself. Eusocial animals are the colonial groups that live in multi-generational family groups where the sterile individuals will work for the reproductive success of others. The only way to develop the altruistic behavior is through kin selection.
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Earlier explanations of altruistic behavior as a form of group selec-tion have been supplanted by Hamilton’s hypothesis of kin selection. What distinguishes kin selection and how does it accord with the no-tion of inclusive fitness, the relative number of an individual’s alleles that pass to the next generation?
In 1983 a population of dark-eyed junco birds became established on the campus of the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), which is located many miles from the junco's normal habitat in the mixed-coniferous temperate forests in the mountains. Juncos have white outer tail feathers that the males display during aggressive interactions and during courtship displays. Males with more white in their tail are more likely to win aggressive interactions, and females prefer to mate with males with more white in their tails. Females have less white in their tails than do males, and display it less often. (Pamela J. Yeh. 2004. Rapid evolution of a sexually selected trait following population establishment in a novel habitat. Evolution 58[1]:166-74.)
Refer to the paragraph on dark-eyed junco birds. The UCSD campus male junco population tails are about 36% white, whereas the tails of males from nearby mountain populations are about 40-45% white. The founding stock of UCSD birds was likely…
Some bird species mate monogamously for life (i.e., individuals keep the same partner year after year). Other bird species are seasonally monogamous: they choose a new mate every year. Some bird species have what is called helpers-at-the-nest; these helpers are older offspring who stick around and assist their parents in taking care of babies born the next year. Kin selection would predict that you would find more instances of helpers-at-the-nest in the species that mate monogamously for life than in the seasonally monogamous species. Why? Be sure to address why they might still help in seasonally monogamous pairs.
Chapter 43 Solutions
Biology: The Unity and Diversity of Life (MindTap Course List)
Ch. 43 - Prob. 1SQCh. 43 - Stevan Arnold offered slug meat to newborn garter...Ch. 43 - An animal that navigates by the stars needs...Ch. 43 - The honeybee dance language transmits information...Ch. 43 - A _______ is a chemical that conveys information...Ch. 43 - Prob. 1DAACh. 43 - Prob. 2DAACh. 43 - Prob. 3DAACh. 43 - Prob. 6SQCh. 43 - Generally, living in a social group cost the...
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- Consider the data that are summarised in the figure i. The data in part (a) are consistent with the hypothesis that alarm calling only in female black-tailed prairie dogs evolved in accordance with kin selection. ii. On the basis of the data in part (a), male black-tailed prairie dogs without kin in their home coteries almost are as likely (i.e., within 10%) to produce alarm calls as are female black-tailed prairie dogs with kin in their home coteries.iii. On the basis of the data in the figure, males and females produce alarm calls more often when the kin that they live with are offspring than when the kin that they live with are parents and siblings.iv. On the basis of the data in part (b), alarm calls in black-tailed prairie dogs constitute merely parental care (i.e., rather than altruism).v. On the basis of the data in part (b), mean alarm calling percentage is greater for male black-tailed prairie dogs than for female black-tailed prairie dogs. Question 2 options:…arrow_forwardIs kin selection theory or altruism more useful for explaining cooperative hunting in some lions? Explain your answer.arrow_forwardNow consider the illustration above that shows data on how often white fronted bee eater birds will feed the offspring of other birds as a function of the relatedness to those birds. 100 80 Merops bullockoides Unrelated Cousin (0%) (-12%) Half sib (25%) Full sib (50%) Relationship to nestlings Do these data support the conclusion that altruistic behavior, specifically kin selection, is occurring here? Specifically do the data satisfy Hamilton's rule for altruistic behavior and what specifically in the data would represent the terms C and r in Hamilton's equation? Edit View Insert Format Tools Table 12pt v Paragraph V BI V T² V Underline Percentage of individuals that help 60 40- 20 0arrow_forward
- Intrasexual selection involves competition among one sex (typically males) for mating access to the other sex. Intersexual selection involves mate choice in which individuals from one sex (typically females) choose their mates from among individuals of the other sex. Imagine a group of males that is engaged in agonistic behavior, from which Male A emerges triumphant. Now imagine a female that is assessing all of the males that were involved in the fights, and chooses Male A. Explain why this situation shows how intrasexual and intersexual selection pressures are likely both at play in the trait selection.arrow_forwardWhat is an example of co-option-- when a cooperative trait that originally served one function later came to serve a different cooperative function over evolutionarily time? There is no evidence that vampire bats hunt as cohesive coordinated group. Vampire bats help offspring, and then those offspring are more likely to help their own offspring. Dogs have traits for cooperating with dogs, but now these traits facilitate cooperation with humans. O Captive food sharing, grooming, and kinship predicted co-roosting and co-foraging after release into the wildarrow_forwardTerritoriality behaviors actually decrease competition between members of the same species. Explain why this is the case, and therefore how territoriality is favored by natural selection.arrow_forward
- Northern flickers are woodpeckers of the eastern United States. Males, but not females, have black feathers that resemble a moustache extending from the bill along each side of the head. Aggression between males is common, but male and female members of breeding pairs are not aggressive toward one another. However, when scientists painted a moustache on female members of breeding pairs, their mates attacked them. This suggests that a.) the moustache is a releaser for aggression. b.) aggression is a learned behavior. c.) the moustache is a neutral stimulus. d.) aggression is a conditioned reflex. e.) the moustache is a conditioned stimulus.arrow_forwardFireflies use light signals to locate mates. Individuals with smaller, and thus less visible, lightorgans are less successful at mating. In January of 1985, a highway with bright streetlightswas constructed through a prairie where a firefly population lives. This created a selectionpressure for brighter (larger) light organs in the population. The light organ was, on average,4 mm long in the population prior to the construction of the highway. In 2005, the averagelight organ size in this population (before mating) was 6 mm. This firefly species has1 generation per year, and the narrow sense heritability ( h^2) of the light organ is 0.1.a) What is the strength of selection (S) for the larger light organ.b) What was the mean light organ length of successfully reproducing individuals in 1985(the first year of selection)?arrow_forwardThe spotting pattern of a guppy is inherited. A spotting pattern that is easy to see in the environment helps a guppy attract a mate. Observe the changes in the image attached below that occurred over 15 generations. The setup happened at 2 aquariums one with fine gravel and no predator present and another with course gravel and no predator present. The guppy populations diverge in their spotting pattern because… A) the guppies that were easily seen successfully found mates and that spotting pattern increased in frequency. B) the guppies that were easily seen were found by predators and that spotting pattern increased in frequency in the following generations. C) the guppies changed their spotting pattern to avoid predators in their environment. D) the guppies changed their spotting pattern to attract mates in their environment.arrow_forward
- This discussion provides you with some data about four pools of guppies. These pools have different turbidity (i.e. cloudiness), make-up of predators, depths, locations, numbers of guppies, and contain bright or drab-colored male guppies. Observe the data given about the pools and note any patterns you see that might relate to the color patterns of the male guppies. Selection pressures are an aspect of the environment that causes a change in characteristics over time. Then you will decide which of the selection pressures on the male guppies have resulted in the variations in color patterns you see in the data. 1. Try to give a concise (short) but rich description of each of the four guppy pools 2. What selection pressures caused the variation in the color pattern of male guppies? Support your claims with evidence. 3. Is it better to be bright or drab if you are a male guppy? Support your claims with evidence.arrow_forwardA population of dark-eyed junco birds became established near the California coastline, many miles from the junco's normal habitat in the mixed-coniferous temperate forests in the mountains. Juncos have white outer tail feathers that the males display during aggressive interactions and during courtship displays. Males with more white in their tail are more likely to win aggressive interactions, and females prefer to mate with males with more white in their tails. The coastal male junco population tails were, on average, 36% white; whereas the tails of males from the mountain populations averaged 40-45% white. Which of the following factors is the most likely original cause of the difference between the populations if the trait is inherited? Multiple choice (one answer is correct) 1. a founder effect in the coastal population 2. gene flow between populations 3. mutations in the coastal population 4. a bottleneck effect in the coastal populationarrow_forwardIn the digger bee, some males engage in female defense polygyny, whereas other smaller males exhibit scramble competition polygyny. Describe these two mating systems and explain how they are maintained in male digger bee population.arrow_forward
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