Biology: The Unity and Diversity of Life (MindTap Course List)
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.
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