Deck 8: Behavioral Ecology

Question 1

A typical lion pride

A) is sex-biased towards males and has a polygamous mating system.
B) is sex-biased towards females and has a polygamous mating system.
C) has an equal sex ratio and a monogamous mating system.
D) is extremely female sex-biased because only females live in prides, while males are solitary.

Answer 1

B

Question 2

When are young lion cubs particularly at risk?

A) When they are expelled from the pride and join "bachelor prides"
B) When they form coalitions with other females
C) When the adult male in an established pride is dethroned
D) When females in the pride become sexually receptive

Answer 2

C

Question 3

Behavioral ecology is best described as the study of the

A) behavior of animals.
B) evolution of animal behavior.
C) ecology of animals.
D) ecological and evolutionary basis of animal behavior.

Answer 3

D

Question 4

A study focuses on the evolution of infanticide in carnivorous mammals. This study is investigating the _______ of this behavior.

A) proximate causes
B) ultimate causes
C) adaptive behavioral response
D) marginal value

Question 5

Which of the following was not one of the major differences between the two populations of German cockroach studied by Silverman and Bieman?

A) The sex ratio
B) Evolutionary history
C) Foraging preferences for glucose
D) Genetics

Question 6

Refer to the figure.
In the 1980s, efforts to control pest populations of cockroaches often involved glucose baits laced with insecticide. Over time, these baits became less effective because populations that had been exposed to them for many generations tended to avoid them. Additionally, in individuals exhibiting glucose avoidance, taste receptor neurons that were normally only activated by bitter substances were activated by glucose instead. Given this background and the data in the figure, which of the following statements is false?

A) The fact that individuals avoiding glucose had higher survival and reproductive success provides the ultimate explanation for the evolution of glucose avoidance in cockroaches.
B) The change in the sensitivity of taste receptor neurons provides a proximate explanation for the evolution of glucose avoidance in cockroaches.
C) Glucose-avoiding cockroaches show a response to corn syrup (which contains both glucose and fructose) that was intermediate between their response to glucose or fructose alone.
D) The diets of wild type cockroaches in these experiments consists of at least 40% plain agar, without glucose.

Question 7

Adaptive evolution is a process that occurs

A) within one individual's lifetime.
B) when an individual is reproductively active.
C) over multiple generations of individuals.
D) during foraging activities.

Question 8

You are studying nest building in two bird species. Species A builds a long hanging nest while species B builds a short nest that sits on top of tree branches. You interbreed the birds in the lab and then examine the nests that the offspring produce. QTL analysis shows that whether a nest is built to hang or sit is affected by a single genetic locus. The length of the nest is also determined by the same genetic locus. What can you infer about the evolution of this behavior?

A) It is a complex behavior that evolved out of a combination of two simpler behaviors.
B) It is a complex behavior where different aspects of the behavior are affected by the same set of genetic instructions.
C) It is a simple behavior that evolved out of a combination of even simpler behaviors.
D) It is a learned behavior without a genetic component.

Question 9

Which of the following statements about animal foraging behavior is false?

A) Foraging behavior is determined entirely by an animal's genotype at relevant genetic loci.
B) Foraging behavior can be influenced by the presence or the absence of predators.
C) Foraging behavior of an individual in a group can vary depending on the number of other individuals in the group.
D) Foraging behavior of an individual is determined by a combination of environmental conditions and the individual's genes.

Question 10

Suppose the net energy value of a food item is 30 kcal. The time invested in obtaining each food item is 22 s, and the time invested in processing each food item is 3 s. What is the profitability of this food source?

A) 0.83 kcal/s
B) 1.2 kcal/s
C) 1.4 kcal/s
D) 10 kcal/s

Question 11

Suppose the net energy value of food item A is 6 kcal/s while the net energy value of food item B is 4 kcal/s. Obtaining item A takes 2 s and processing takes 2 s. Item B takes 2 s to obtain and 2 s to process. The difference in profitability between the two food items is

A) 0 kcal/s.
B) 0.5 kcal/s.
C) 1.0 kcal/s.
D) 2.5 kcal/s.

Question 12

A lizard is blown out to sea during a hurricane. This type of storm occurs very infrequently-on average once every 100 years. The lizard washes up on the beach of a small island and finds some beetles on the beach. The lizard can get an average of about 20 kcal from consuming a beetle. It takes the lizard 10kcal/min to chase and catch a beetle. What is the maximum amount of time that the lizard can spend catching each beetle without expending more energy capturing its prey than it derives from consuming it?

A) 2 minutes
B) 6 minutes
C) 10 minutes
D) 20 minutes

Question 13

A lizard is blown out to sea during a hurricane. This type of storm occurs very infrequently-on average once every 100 years. The lizard washes up on the beach of a small island and finds some beetles on the beach. Which of the following is not a possible scenario that could help this lizard survive on the island?

A) It becomes more efficient at catching beetles.
B) It searches for alternative food sources.
C) It evolves new adaptations that help it catch beetles faster.
D) It selects the biggest beetles to catch.

Question 14

A lizard is blown out to sea during a hurricane. This type of storm occurs very infrequently-on average once every 100 years. The lizard washes up on the beach of a small island and finds some beetles on the beach. Individual beetles on the island vary in size. It takes the lizard the same amount of energy to catch a beetle, regardless of the size of the beetle. Which beetle does optimal foraging theory predict the lizard will eat most frequently?

A) Beetles that are smaller than average
B) Beetles that are average size
C) Beetles that are bigger than average
D) The size of the beetles is unlikely to affect the lizard's foraging preferences.

Question 15

Considering the conceptual model of optimal foraging presented in this chapter, as cumulative energy investment in foraging increases at a constant rate,

A) net energy gain increases linearly.
B) the profitability of each food item increases steadily.
C) the net energy gained decreases, then increases.
D) total energy eventually obtained plateaus.

Question 16

Refer to the table.


-The table lists the net energy values of various seed types, along with the time associated with a bird's finding and obtaining the food. What is the profitability associated with seed type A (in kilocalories per hour)?

A) 10
B) 15
C) 30
D) 60

Question 17

Refer to the table.


-The table lists the net energy values of various seed types, along with the time associated with a bird's finding and obtaining the food. Rank the seed types in terms of the bird's likelihood (from highest to lowest) of choosing this seed if it is trying to maximize its energy intake.

A) A > B > C
B) A > C > B
C) B > C > A
D) C > B > A

Question 18

Which statement is not a conclusion of the Krebs et al. research on optimal foraging in great tits?

A) The researchers used a conveyor belt carrying prey of different sizes and a model of optimal foraging to predict the frequency at which birds would select prey of different sizes.
B) The birds consumed more large prey items as the relative profitability of those prey items increased.
C) Observed foraging patterns in great tits were consistent with predictions from the optimal foraging model.
D) The profitability of prey items appeared to drive great tit foraging preferences.

Question 19

Refer to the figure.


- If travel time is 20 minutes, what is the optimal giving up time?

A) Around 10 minutes
B) Around 30 minutes
C) Around 60 minutes
D) Around 80 minutes

Question 20

Refer to the figure.


- If travel time increases to 60 minutes, the optimal giving up time

A) increases.
B) decreases slightly.
C) stays the same.
D) decreases significantly.

Question 21

Refer to the figure.
Which figure best depicts the general pattern of the rate of energy gain of an individual in a patch?

A) Figure A
B) Figure B
C) Figure C
D) Figure D

Question 22

Refer to the figure.
Based on the experimental data graphed in the figure, which of the following statements is true?

A) Time spent foraging in a patch depends only on the quality of the patch.
B) Time spent foraging in a patch increases with increasing travel time between patches.
C) The observed relationship between foraging time in a patch and travel time between patches is the opposite of the relationship predicted by the marginal value theorem.
D) Foragers spend less time in patches if the patches are far apart because they need to allow more time for traveling between patches.

Question 23

Which statement describes how individuals of a prey species alter their foraging decisions in the presence of predators?

A) A mouse spends more time foraging in open habitat when an owl is present.
B) A deer spends more time foraging in open meadow when wolves are absent.
C) A small fish spends more time feeding in an area frequented by heron.
D) A mother bird feeds her nestlings more when cats are nearby.

Question 24

Suppose a kestrel (a small predatory bird) is hunting a lizard. The kestrel catches the lizard by the end of its tail. The lizard would most likely

A) bite the kestrel until the bird released it.
B) detach its tail in an attempt to distract the kestrel while the lizard made its escape.
C) perform "push-ups" as a signal to the kestrel that it is in good physical condition.
D) cover itself in feces to deter the kestrel from eating it.

Question 25

Under sexual selection, individuals with certain characteristics gain advantages over others solely with respect to _______ success.

A) survival
B) foraging
C) antipredator
D) mating (reproductive)

Question 26

Based on the results of studies of male widowbird tail length and mating success, what would you predict would happen to male widowbirds over many generations in the absence of constraints on tail length?

A) Male average tail lengths would increase.
B) Male average tail lengths would decrease.
C) Male average tail lengths would stay the same.
D) Male tails would become more brightly colored to attract females.

Question 27

Based on the results of studies of stalk-eyed flies, what is one reason females preferentially mate with males with long eyestalks?

A) Those males invest more in parental care.
B) Those males produce attractive sons.
C) The long eyestalks help those males avoid predation.
D) Those males are more likely to be able to defend high-quality territories.

Question 28

Females that are choosy about which males they mate with gain

A) only direct benefits from their mate choice.
B) only indirect benefits from their mate choice.
C) both direct and indirect benefits from their mate choice.
D) no benefits from being choosy.

Question 29

What does a male organism contribute to a fertilized egg?

A) Yolk
B) Albumen
C) Mitochondria
D) Sperm

Question 30

Refer to the table.
If one red deer male and one red deer female both produce the maximum number of possible offspring during their lifetime, the female would produce _______% as many offspring as the male. (Assume that these two individuals did not reproduce with each other.)

A) 14
B) 27
C) 58
D) 72

Question 31

Refer to the figure.
Wilkinson & Reillo (1994) carried out an artificial selection experiment using the stalk-eyed fly Cyrtodiopsis dalmanni. The females from control, long-selected, or short-selected populations chose between a long- or short-stalked male. After 13 generations, eyestalk length was significantly different among the groups. Based on this background and the figure, which of the following statements is false?

A) Females from the long eyestalk-selected population showed a preference for male eyestalk lengths significantly longer than females from the control population did.
B) Females from the short eyestalk-selected population showed a preference for male eyestalk lengths significantly shorter than females from the control population did.
C) This experiment showed that selection for a change in a male trait in a population can indirectly select for a corresponding change in average female preference in the population.
D) Results from this experiment provide support for the "sexy son hypothesis."

Question 32

In a case where critical resources are clumped in space and males provide most of the parental care, the mating system is most likely to be

A) monogamy.
B) promiscuity.
C) polygyny.
D) polyandry.

Question 33

In which mating system do males mate with multiple females during a breeding season but females are monogamous?

A) Monogamy
B) Polygyny
C) Promiscuity
D) Polyandry

Question 34

Suppose you are studying a species of primate. The female primates generally live in 5-km² home ranges that overlap very little with neighboring home range territories. The primates can travel up to 5 km in one day and both males and females care for young. Which type of breeding system is most likely under these circumstances?

A) Monogamy
B) Polyandry
C) Polygyny
D) Promiscuity

Question 35

In species where females provide the bulk of the parental care, females are most likely to

A) be choosy about which males they mate with.
B) be indiscriminate about which males they mate with.
C) mate with as many males as possible.
D) compete to mate with choosy males.

Question 36

Refer to the figure.
The figure shows data from a study on goldfinches that determined how foraging behavior changed with group size (referred to as "flock size").

-Based on the figure, how many more or fewer seconds would a flock of 10 individuals spend flying between feeding sites compared to one individual foraging alone?

A) 1 second less
B) 1 second more
C) 2 seconds less
D) 2 seconds more

Question 37

Refer to the figure.
The figure shows data from a study on goldfinches that determined how foraging behavior changed with group size (referred to as "flock size").

- Suppose that each individual bird can eat 2 seeds every 5 seconds and that there are a maximum of 100 seeds in any one patch. For a flock of 16 individuals, how long would it take the flock to eat all of the seeds in the patch?

A) Less than 5 seconds
B) 5-10 seconds
C) About 15 seconds
D) About 20 seconds

Question 38

Refer to the figure.
The figure shows data from a study on goldfinches that determined how foraging behavior changed with group size (referred to as "flock size").

- If flying flocks are more easily detected by predators, which flocks would you expect to be attacked most frequently?

A) Flocks of just a single individual flying alone
B) Flocks of 2-5 individuals
C) Flocks of up to 10 individuals
D) Flocks of 15 individuals

Question 39

Which scenario would likely result in the highest transmission rates of pathogens among individuals in a group?

A) A small group living in an area where resources are abundant
B) A large group living in an area where resources are abundant
C) A small group living in an area where resources are scarce
D) A large group living in an area where resources are scarce

Question 40

Refer to the table.
Suppose you are studying the optimal group size in a species. You collect the following data on the costs and benefits for each individual in groups of different sizes.

-Based on the data in the table, at what point do individuals pay more costs than they gain in benefits from group membership?

A) Group size of 1 (individual alone)
B) Group size of 4
C) Group size of 8
D) Group size of 10

Question 41

Refer to the table.
Suppose you are studying the optimal group size in a species. You collect the following data on the costs and benefits for each individual in groups of different sizes.

-Based on the data in the table, what is the optimal group size?

A) Group size of 1 (individual alone)
B) Group size of 3
C) Group size of 5
D) Group size of 8

Question 42

Refer to the figure.
Based on the figure, which of the following statements is false?

A) If there is a group of two individuals, a lone individual would benefit from joining the group, but the original members of the group would be harmed.
B) If there is a group of two individuals, a lone individual would benefit from joining the group and the original members of the group would benefit as well.
C) If there is a group of five individuals, a lone individual would benefit from joining the group, but the original members of the group would be harmed.
D) If there is a group of seven individuals, a lone individual joining the group would harm both the new group member and the original group members.

Question 43

Refer to the figure.
According to the figure, the success rate of attacks by goshawks hunting wood pigeons varies depending of the number of pigeons in the targeted flock (because the hawk is more likely to be detected if more pigeons are present). Relative to its success rate when attacking a flock of 2-??10 or 50 wood pigeons, how much greater is the success rate of a goshawk attacking a lone wood pigeon?

A) Roughly eight times greater for a flock of 2-10 and around one and a half times greater for a flock of 50
B) Roughly one and a half times greater for a flock of 2-10 and around eight times greater for a flock of 50
C) Roughly twice the success rate for a flock of 2-10 and around ten times the success rate for a flock of 50
D) Roughly ten times the success rate for a flock of 2-10 and around twice the success rate for a flock of 50

Question 44

Refer to the figure.
Females of certain parasitoid wasps lay their eggs on the larvae of female Drosophila melanogaster fruit flies and the hatched wasp larvae burrow through the fly larva, consuming and killing it. Fruit fly larvae sometimes feed on high alcohol food sources, such as rotting fruit, and are harmed by the alcohol-but any wasp larvae inside them are harmed even more. Kacsoh et al. (2013) found that when wasps were present, adult female fruit flies laid more than 90% of their eggs in high-alcohol foods, whereas when wasps were absent, they laid around 40% of their eggs in high-alcohol foods. Given this background and the experimental data in the figure, which of the following statements is true?

A) The different egg-laying behavior of female fruit flies in the presence and absence of wasps appears to be adaptive.
B) Based on the data shown, female fruit flies could increase the survival of their offspring if they always laid eggs in alcohol-rich foods.
C) Based on the data shown, female fruit flies could increase the survival of their offspring if they never laid eggs in alcohol-rich foods.
D) Based on the data shown, female wasps could increase the survival of their offspring if they always laid their eggs on fruit fly larvae feeding on high-alcohol foods.

Question 45

According to research conducted by Zanette and colleagues, exposing song sparrow parents to the perception of increased predation risk caused

A) offspring to retain too much heat.
B) pairs to produce fewer offspring.
C) pairs to produce more offspring.
D) female offspring to choose mates with territories farther away from predators.

Question 46

Changes in behavior or diet triggered by stress about potential predation

A) only affect the individual that is stressed.
B) only affect the offspring of the stressed individual.
C) only affect the stressed mother and her offspring.
D) can have impacts on multiple species in a food web.

Question 47

Refer to the figure.
Figure 1
You are studying parental investment patterns in four groups (groups A, B, C, and D). Your data are shown in Figure 1. Answer the following questions:
a) In which group(s) do females clearly invest more energy in each offspring than males do?
b) In which group(s) do males clearly invest more energy in each offspring than females do?
c) In which group(s) is/are female and male energy investment per offspring similar?
d) Which group(s) is/are most likely to have solely female parental care?
e) Which group(s) is/are most likely to have solely male partental care?
f) Which group(s) is/are most likely to have biparental care?
g) Which group(s) is/are most likely to have no parental care?
Answer:

Question 48

Refer to the figure.
Figure 1
You are studying parental investment patterns in four groups (groups A, B, C, and D). Your data are shown in Figure 1. In which group is a polygynous mating system most likely to occur? What kind of energetic investment would each sex provide under this mating system?

Question 49

Refer to the figure.
Figure 2
You are studying four bird species to determine the differences between poor-quality and high-quality males.

-You collect the data shown in Figure 2. Answer the following questions:
a) In which species is a long tail a clear an indication of a high-quality male?
b) In which species is a long tail uninformative about male quality?
c) In which species is a short tail an indication of a high-quality male?

Question 50

Refer to the figure.
Figure 2
You are studying four bird species to determine the differences between poor-quality and high-quality males.

-You collect the data shown in Figure 2. Suppose that in species A, there are two high-quality males, 20 poor-quality males, and 50 females. A single male can mate with just one female each day, and females are all fertile for the same 10-day period. How would you expect these time constraints to affect female mate choice decisions?

Question 51

Refer to the figure.
Figure 2
You are studying four bird species to determine the differences between poor-quality and high-quality males.

- You collect the data shown in Figure 2. Suppose some females are not very skilled at detecting small differences in tail length. When they perceive a difference in tail length, these females always choose the males with the longer tails. Assuming that high-quality males do have longer-than-average tails, in which species would females be most likely to correctly assess male quality by tail length? Why? In which group might you expect these females to make the most assessment mistakes? Why?

Question 52

Refer to the figure.
Figure 2
You are studying four bird species to determine the differences between poor-quality and high-quality males.

-You collect the data shown in Figure 2. From which species would females benefit the most from an improved ability to differentiate between small differences in the tail length of males? Why?

Question 53

Refer to the figure.
Figure 3
You are investigating the benefits that individuals gain from group living.

- You collect the data graphed in Figure 3.Answer the following questions:
a) When is the predator least successful at catching prey?
b) When is the predator most successful at catching prey?
c) What is the relationship between the number of prey individuals in a group and the predator's hunting success?

Question 54

Refer to the figure.
Figure 3
You are investigating the benefits that individuals gain from group living.

- You collect the data graphed in Figure 3. Suppose the prey species benefits from group living through decreased predation pressure. Explain the mechanism through which this could occur.

Question 55

You are studying foraging behaviors in a small seed-eating bird species. It takes each individual bird 3 seconds to find, handle, and consume one individual seed. Assume that each food patch has 100 seeds. Create a table (this will be referred to as Table 1) showing how long flocks of each size are expected to forage in a patch before completely depleting the resource. Then create a graph (this will be referred to as Figure 4) using the data in the table, with flock size (number of individuals) on the x-axis, and foraging time in a patch (in seconds) on the y-axis.

Question 56

You are studying foraging behaviors in a small seed-eating bird species. It takes each individual bird 3 seconds to find, handle, and consume one individual seed. Assume that each food patch has 100 seeds. If it takes 30 seconds to travel between patches, how big does a flock have to be before the individual is spending more time traveling than foraging?

Question 57

What mating system does a typical lion pride most closely resemble?

A) Monogamous
B) Polyandry
C) Polygyny
D) Promiscuous

Question 58

A study that is investigating the neural mechanisms that allow individuals to differentiate between two smells is studying the _______ of this behavior.

A) proximate causes
B) ultimate causes
C) adaptive behavioral response
D) marginal value

Question 59

Suppose that two mosquito populations are being studied. The populations differ in their choice of aquatic environments in which they choose to lay their eggs. One population is urban and avoids laying eggs in water treated with insecticides, which are heavily used in urban areas. The other population does not discriminate between insecticide-treated and untreated water. Which of the following is a proximal explanation for the observed difference between these populations?

A) The two populations show a consistent genetic difference in a particular genomic region.
B) Individuals in the insecticide-avoiding population produce more offspring.
C) Taste receptors in the insecticide-avoiding population detect insecticide whereas in the other population they do not.
D) Male offspring that develop in insecticide-treated water fail to develop functional sperm.

Question 60

Which of the following statements about the effect of genes on behavior is false?

A) Individuals often change their behavior when in different environments.
B) Two individuals with identical alleles may behave differently.
C) Behaviors are under the control of only one gene.
D) An individual that has an allele associated with a certain behavior will not always perform that behavior.

Question 61

Suppose the net energy value of a food item is 35 kcal. The time invested in obtaining each food item is 12 s, and the time invested in processing each food item is 3 s. What is the profitability of this food source?

A) 0.6 kcal/s
B) 2.0 kcal/s
C) 2.3 kcal/s
D) 3.2 kcal/s

Question 62

Refer to the figure.
If travel time is 50 minutes, what is the optimal giving up time?

A) 15 minutes
B) 25 minutes
C) 35 minutes
D) 45 minutes

Question 63

Refer to the figures.
Suppose an animal is foraging in an area with an infinite amount of food. Which figure best depicts the animal's rate of energy gain?

A) Figure A
B) Figure B
C) Figure C
D) Figure D

Question 64

Suppose a lion is hunting a herd of springbok. As the lion gets closer to the herd, the springbok would most likely

A) attempt to blend in to their surroundings to hide from the lion.
B) begin stotting as a signal to the lion.
C) begin to cover themselves in feces to deter the lion from eating them.
D) lie down on the ground and play dead because lions don't eat carrion.

Question 65

Which condition is the most essential to the emergence of a sexually selected trait?

A) Females must be choosy.
B) The trait must allow males to compete more effectively with other males.
C) The trait must increase the mating success of the individuals with the trait.
D) Males that exhibit the trait must provide parental care.

Question 66

In species where males provide the bulk of the parental care, males are most likely to

A) be choosy about which females they mate with.
B) be indiscriminate about which females they mate with.
C) mate with as many females as possible.
D) compete to mate with choosy females.

Question 67

Refer to the table.
If one male elephant seal and one female elephant seal both produced the maximum number of possible offspring during their lifetime, the female would produce _______% as many offspring as the male. (Assume that these two individuals did not reproduce with each other.)

A) 2
B) 8
C) 14
D) 122

Question 68

In a case where critical resources are distributed evenly in space and males provide about half of the total parental care, the mating system is most likely to be

A) polyandry.
B) promiscuity.
C) polygyny.
D) monogamy.

Question 69

Which scenario would result in the lowest transmission rates of pathogens among individuals in a group?

A) A small group living in an area where resources are abundant
B) A large group living in an area where resources are abundant
C) A small group living in an area where resources are scarce
D) A large group living in an area where resources are scarce

Question 70

Refer to the figure.
The figure shows data from a study on goldfinches to determine how foraging behavior changes with group size (referred to in the figure as flock size).

-Based on the figure, how many more seconds would a flock of 15 individuals spend flying between feeding sites compared to a flock of 5 individuals?

A) About 1 second more
B) Slightly less than 2 seconds less
C) About 2 seconds more
D) A little over 3 seconds more

Question 71

Refer to the figure.
The figure shows data from a study on goldfinches to determine how foraging behavior changes with group size (referred to in the figure as flock size).

-If predator detection rates are positively associated with flock size, which flock(s) would you expect to be attacked least frequently?

A) A single individual flying alone
B) Flocks of 2-5 individuals
C) Flocks of up to 10 individuals
D) Flocks of 15 individuals