Deck 53: Animal Behavior

Question 1

Genetically determined behaviors are likely to be shared by all members of a species except in circumstances in which

A) there is no opportunity to learn.
B) it is possible to learn the wrong behavior.
C) environmental conditions are complex and changing.
D) generations do not overlap.
E) individual members of the species are confronted with dangerous predators.

Answer 1

C

Question 2

Which of the following is not a component of the cost of performing a behavior?

A) Its energetic cost
B) The risk of being injured
C) Its opportunity cost
D) The risk of being attacked by a predator
E) Its information cost

Answer 2

E

Question 3

A social group is said to be eusocial if

A) group members interact very intensively.
B) some group members produce many more offspring than others do.
C) a dominance hierarchy exists among group members.
D) young individuals remain in the group to help their parents rear other offspring.
E) the group contains nonreproductive helper individuals.

Answer 3

E

Question 4

Konrad Lorenz's studies of ducks, in which he cross-bred closely related species to test the genetic basis of their courtship displays, were examples of a(n) _______ experiment.

A) selective breeding
B) gene knockout
C) deprivation
D) imprinting
E) None of the above

Question 5

Which of the following is not a proximate mechanism for a behavior?

A) The binding of a hormone to its receptor
B) The firing of neurons
C) The process of sexual selection
D) The capacity of certain bone membranes to capture sound waves
E) All of the above are proximate mechanisms.

Question 6

One monkey in a community throws a sand and wheat mixture into water to separate the wheat grains from the sand. The spreading of this strategy through the entire community of monkeys demonstrates

A) a stereotypic behavior.
B) imprinting.
C) behavior with an ultimate cause.
D) a pheromone-influenced behavior.
E) culture.

Question 7

If a bird is trained to seek food on the western side of a cage open to the sky, and is then placed in a chamber with a controlled light cycle so that its circadian rhythm becomes phase-delayed by 6 hours (i.e., its circadian rhythm is 6 hours behind real time), when it is returned to the open cage at noon in real time, it will seek food in the

A) north.
B) south.
C) east.
D) west.

Question 8

Altruistic behavior

A) can increase an individual's inclusive fitness.
B) depends on haplodiploid sex determination.
C) is most common between unrelated individuals.
D) always causes a net decrease in the performer's fitness.
E) characterizes a monogamous mating system.

Question 9

Which of the following is not true of a fixed action pattern?

A) Its expression may depend on hormonal conditions.
B) It is induced by complex, species-specific stimuli.
C) It is highly stereotypic and species-specific.
D) It can be expressed even if the animal has never seen it performed.
E) Its genetic basis can be demonstrated by breeding experiments.

Question 10

A cost commonly associated with group living is

A) increased risk of predation.
B) interference with foraging.
C) higher exposure to diseases and parasites.
D) poorer access to mates.
E) All of the above

Question 11

Which of the following statements about communication is true?

A) Complex information cannot be conveyed by pheromones.
B) Visual signaling is advantageous in complex environments.
C) Acoustic communication always reveals the location of the signaler.
D) An advantage of pheromones is that the message can persist over time.
E) The dance of honey bees is an example of visual signaling.

Question 12

An experiment in which mice are blindfolded for the first four days of their lives and then tested later for their maze-running ability is an example of a(n) _______ experiment.

A) genetic
B) gene knockout
C) deprivation
D) imprinting
E) None of the above

Question 13

The choice of a mating partner may be based on

A) the competitive ability of a potential mate.
B) the territory held by a potential mate.
C) both the competitive ability of a potential mate and the territory it holds.
D) the courtship display of a potential mate.
E) All of the above

Question 14

In birds, the reduced risk of predation associated with the practice of gathering in flocks can be considered the behavior's

A) proximate cause.
B) critical period.
C) ultimate cause.
D) opportunity cost.
E) None of the above

Question 15

Which of the following statements about the genetic underpinning of behavior is true?

A) Genes encode behaviors.
B) An animal may fail to perform a genetically controlled behavior if the appropriate environmental conditions are not present.
C) Shared behavioral traits in individuals of a species are caused by shared inheritance of certain genes.
D) All of the above
E) None of the above

Question 16

The sequence of behaviors performed each time a male fly courts a female is an example of a(n)

A) imprinting behavior.
B) stereotypic behavior.
C) proximate behavior.
D) critical period.
E) waggle dance.

Question 17

Birds that migrate at night

A) inherit a star map.
B) determine direction by knowing the time and the position of a constellation in the sky.
C) orient to a particular point in the sky.
D) imprint on one or more key constellations.
E) determine distance, but not direction, from the stars.

Question 18

Which of the following statements about animal behavior is true?

A) Humans are the only animals that have culture.
B) Culture requires learning.
C) All elaborate behaviors require learning.
D) Stereotypic behaviors are often performed differently in different circumstances.
E) None of the above

Question 19

If a dog makes three quick barks whenever it hears the doorbell ringing, the doorbell can be considered a(n)

A) imprinter.
B) releaser.
C) ultimate cause.
D) provoker.
E) None of the above

Question 20

To be able to pilot, an animal must

A) have a time-compensated solar compass.
B) orient to a fixed point in the night sky.
C) know the distance between two points.
D) know landmarks.
E) know its longitude and latitude.

Question 21

In Moore and Marler's study of spiny lizards, testosterone-injected males

A) developed larger brains than control males.
B) survived less well than control males.
C) suffered opportunity costs.
D) Both a and b
E) Both b and c

Question 22

Researchers demonstrated that flycatchers determine the quality of a habitat by

A) assessing the number of prey items in a small section of the habitat.
B) means of imprinting.
C) detecting chemosensory cues.
D) observing the brood sizes of individuals already settled in the habitat.
E) performing opportunity-cost analysis.

Question 23

Which of the following statements about grouse is true?

A) Males defend territories that are used only for mating.
B) When their required resources are widely distributed in space, they are more likely to be territorial.
C) Their territories are large.
D) Both males and females contribute to rearing offspring.
E) None of the above

Question 24

The young goslings that followed Konrad Lorenz around as if he were the parent goose were exhibiting

A) releaser behavior.
B) proximate behavior.
C) imprinting.
D) foraging behavior.
E) opportunity cost.

Question 25

Which of the following is not an example of a stereotypic, species-specific behavior?

A) Web construction in orb-weaving spiders
B) Food-burying in squirrels
C) A behavior expressed during a deprivation experiment
D) Song acquisition in the white-crowned sparrow
E) Bill-pecking in herring gull chicks

Question 26

Which of the following is required for a mother goat to engage in proper nuzzling and licking of her newborn baby?

A) High levels of the hormone oxytocin
B) Proper functioning of the fosB gene
C) Olfactory cues from the newborn goats
D) Both a and b
E) Both a and c

Question 27

Female songbirds do not sing the songs of the males of their species because

A) they lack the necessary vocal structure.
B) they lack the appropriate hormonal stimulation.
C) their brains do not respond to the hormones needed for song learning.
D) they lack the necessary genes.
E) None of the above

Question 28

The discovery that a single gene called fruitless (fru) is necessary for courtship behavior in male fruit flies was the result of _______ experiments.

A) selective breeding
B) gene knockout
C) deprivation
D) imprinting
E) interbreeding

Question 29

Planktonic larvae of marine organisms recognize appropriate substratum on which to settle by means of

A) imprinting.
B) the waggle dance.
C) foraging.
D) bicoordinate navigation.
E) chemosensory cues.

Question 30

Which of the following statements about studies of songbirds is true?

A) The brains of male and female songbirds are similar in the nonbreeding season.
B) New neurons are not produced in the brains of adult vertebrates.
C) In male songbirds, testosterone affects only the brain.
D) Testosterone causes the song-learning portions of the male songbird's brain to shrink.
E) None of the above

Question 31

According to Werner and Hall's study of bluegill sunfish, fish ignore _______ prey when prey densities are _______.

A) large; high
B) small; high
C) small; low
D) large; low
E) no; high

Question 32

Flycatchers assess the suitability of an area for nest building by

A) observing the number of chicks in the nests of conspecifics.
B) surveying the area to see how many adults are present.
C) comparing the amount of shade available in each area.
D) foraging for one hour in each of several areas.
E) None of the above

Question 33

A mosquito feeding on a mammal benefits nutritionally but also places itself in danger. The insect's chance of being killed by that mammal is an example of a(n) _______ cost.

A) energetic
B) opportunity
C) blood
D) risk
E) territory

Question 34

Which of the following statements about imprinting is true?

A) It requires a critical period.
B) Its effects can last a long time.
C) It is a form of learning.
D) Both a and b
E) All of the above

Question 35

Which of the following is the resource that is defended on a lek?

A) Access to females
B) Nesting or denning sites
C) Energy-rich food
D) Food that is rich in rare minerals or micronutrients
E) No resource is defended on leks.

Question 36

The "song-learning" regions of the brains of male songbirds are stimulated to expand by the hormone

A) estrogen.
B) norepinephrine.
C) testosterone.
D) hormone 48.
E) aldosterone.

Question 37

Which of the following statements about song learning in male white-crowned sparrows is true?

A) Only one critical period is involved.
B) As long as the birds hear the species-specific song as adults, they acquire the ability to produce it, even if they were not exposed to the song as nestlings.
C) Nestlings hear the songs of other species of birds but do not sing those songs.
D) All of the above
E) None of the above

Question 38

Biologists refer to the environment in which an organism lives as its

A) conspecifics.
B) habitat.
C) homing.
D) pheromone.
E) inclusive fitness.

Question 39

The body of knowledge that has come about from the scientific application of cost-benefit analysis to feeding behavior is known as

A) feeding analysis.
B) opportunity costs.
C) trade-off theory.
D) optimal foraging theory.
E) ethology.

Question 40

A dung beetle engaged in mating behavior has thereby forfeited time it could have spent foraging for food. The lost food is an example of

A) an energetic cost.
B) an opportunity cost.
C) the Concorde fallacy.
D) a risk cost.
E) a territory cost.

Question 41

Which of the following statements about Werner and Hall's experiments with bluegill sunfish is false?

A) They took into account the bluegill's need to gather essential minerals from the prey items.
B) They calculated the time the fish needed to capture and eat the food items.
C) They calculated the rates at which the fish would encounter the prey items at different densities.
D) They measured the energy content in each type of prey item.
E) All of the above are true; none is false.

Question 42

A bird is trained to feed from the south end of a circular cage. The bird is then placed in a light-controlled room and is phase-advanced by 6 hours. If the bird is returned to the circular cage at noon, where will it search for food?

A) North
B) East
C) South
D) West
E) Northwest

Question 43

An animal is displaced such that the sun rises earlier and is lower in the sky than it would be at the animal's home position. In which direction will the animal move in order to home?

A) Southwest
B) Southeast
C) Northwest
D) Northeast
E) South

Question 44

Animals that are active at night are said to be

A) free-running.
B) diurnal.
C) circumspect.
D) nocturnal.
E) free ranging.

Question 45

Chimps appear to eat the pith of Vernonia amygdalina plants

A) because doing so reduces opportunity costs.
B) for its antiparasite properties.
C) for its caloric benefits.
D) because it wards off potential predators.
E) None of the above

Question 46

Biologists studying pigeons discovered that their experimental subjects were determining direction from the position of the sun by

A) injecting them with testosterone.
B) injecting them with estrogen.
C) disrupting their circadian clocks.
D) removing a portion of their brains involved with navigation.
E) carrying out selection experiments.

Question 47

In which of the following animals would you expect the retinas to be composed almost entirely of rods?

A) Humans
B) Hummingbirds
C) Fruit bats
D) Lions
E) Ground squirrels

Question 48

Which of the following statements is true?

A) Animal communication differs from that of humans because deception is not found in the former.
B) Pheromones are useful for the rapid exchange of information.
C) Auditory signals are less subject to interference than are visual signals.
D) Pheromonal signals are very limited in terms of how much information they can provide about the signaler.
E) None of the above

Question 49

The ability of honeybees to return to the hive after traveling long distances in search of food is based on a navigational capacity called

A) bicoordinate navigation.
B) tried-and-true navigation.
C) piloting.
D) distance-and-direction navigation.
E) homing.

Question 50

Which of the following statements is true?

A) Both Polaris and the constellations move as Earth rotates.
B) Both Polaris and the constellations are fixed.
C) Polaris moves, but the constellations are fixed.
D) The constellations move, but Polaris is fixed.
E) None of the above

Question 51

A bird is trained to feed from the southeast end of a circular cage. At sunrise, a mirror is used to shift the sun 45° to the right of its real position. At which location in the cage will the bird attempt to feed?

A) North
B) East
C) South
D) West
E) Southwest

Question 52

Orienting by landmarks is also known as

A) bicoordinate navigation.
B) tried-and-true navigation.
C) piloting.
D) distance-and-direction navigation.
E) homing.

Question 53

In which of the following animals would you expect circannual rhythms to be most pronounced?

A) Humans
B) Hummingbirds that live in relatively constant environments
C) Bears, which hibernate in the winter
D) Fruit flies, whose life span is usually shorter than a month
E) None of the above

Question 54

Which of the following has provided the strongest evidence to date that pigeons use magnetic cues for orientation?

A) The detection and description of a neurophysiological magnetic transducer
B) Observations that orienting behavior takes place even on cloudy days
C) Evidence that the attachment of small magnets disrupts pigeons' homing behavior
D) Observations of pigeons gaining latitude information from magnetic field lines
E) The discovery of magnetite particles in the cells of pigeons

Question 55

Which of the following requires an animal to "know" the latitude and longitude of its current position and its intended destination?

A) Bicoordinate navigation
B) Tried-and-true navigation
C) Piloting
D) Distance-and-direction navigation
E) Homing

Question 56

Experimental evidence suggests that the ability to detect _______ allows pigeons to home even on overcast days.

A) sound waves
B) the plane of polarized light
C) the gravitational field
D) the magnetic field
E) scent trails

Question 57

According to the study by Werner and Hall, a bluegill's rule of thumb for optimal foraging is to

A) eat mainly in the morning so that absorption can take place for the entire day.
B) focus on large prey items when food is abundant.
C) become herbivorous when prey is scarce.
D) eat as many food types as possible when food is moderately dense.
E) None of the above

Question 58

Which of the following statements about piloting is false?

A) Piloting is used by some wasps to find their nests.
B) Piloting is useful only for short-distance migrations.
C) Gray whales use piloting while moving from their wintering grounds to their summering grounds.
D) Water currents can be used as piloting cues.
E) Wind patterns can be used as piloting cues.

Question 59

Daily activity cycles are one type of

A) circannual rhythm.
B) critical period.
C) circadian rhythm.
D) crepuscular rhythm.
E) photoperiod.

Question 60

If an animal with a circadian clock of about 25 hours is kept in the dark without environmental time cues, it will

A) become active one hour earlier each day.
B) become active at the same time each day.
C) become active one hour later each day.
D) become active two hours earlier each day.
E) have an unpredictable pattern of activity.

Question 61

Which of the following is a disadvantage of visual signals?

A) They are difficult to produce.
B) The transition from one to another usually takes a long time.
C) They require that the receiver look at the sender.
D) Both a and b
E) Both a and c

Question 62

When the food source is nearby (less than about 80 km), honeybees perform the _______ dance.

A) round
B) olfactory
C) compass
D) waggle
E) circadian rhythm

Question 63

Which of the following would promote the evolution of eusociality?

A) Imprinting
B) Opportunity costs
C) Inbreeding
D) Diploidy
E) None of the above

Question 64

Which of the following statements about visual signals is true (in general)?

A) They are durable.
B) They are versatile.
C) They can be communicated well over distance.
D) All of the above
E) None of the above

Question 65

In which of the following mammals has eusociality evolved?

A) Chimpanzees
B) Field mice
C) Naked mole rats
D) Pocket gophers
E) Lions

Question 66

Use the following to answer questions :
Match the correct answer from the list below with each description that follows.

-In haplodiploid organisms, the percentage of alleles that females share with their sisters

A) 0%
B) 25%
C) 50%
D) 75%
E) 100%

Question 67

Male gypsy moths travel thousands of meters to reach female gypsy moths in response to

A) visual signals.
B) auditory signals.
C) pheromones.
D) random search patterns.
E) electric signals.

Question 68

In Hymenoptera, fertilized eggs are _______ and develop into _______.

A) diploid; males
B) diploid; females
C) haploid; males
D) haploid; females
E) triploid; males

Question 69

Use the following to answer questions :
Match the correct answer from the list below with each description that follows.

-In diploid organisms, the percent of alleles that individuals share with the offspring of their siblings

A) 0%
B) 25%
C) 50%
D) 75%
E) 100%

Question 70

In which of the following insects would you most likely find eusociality?

A) Lice
B) Drosophila
C) Mosquitoes
D) Ants
E) Grasshoppers

Question 71

The round dance of bees combines _______ and _______ signals.

A) tactile; visual
B) visual; electric
C) auditory; visual
D) tactile; chemical
E) visual; chemical

Question 72

Which of the following statements about altruistic behaviors is true?

A) Natural selection can never favor altruistic behavior.
B) Among most social mammal species, males are more likely than females to be helpers.
C) Genetic relatedness as a motivator of altruistic behavior is restricted to the parent-offspring relationship.
D) In Florida scrub jays, young birds often delay dispersal and help their parents raise more offspring.
E) All of the above

Question 73

Throughout the animal kingdom, males, rather than females, usually initiate courtship, largely because

A) males are usually larger than females.
B) male brains are more adept at learning courtship behavior.
C) sperm are smaller and cheaper to produce than eggs are.
D) females lack the vocalization necessary for courtship.
E) males lack the receptors to respond to courtship.

Question 74

In eusocial animals, the social groups include _______ individuals.

A) haplodiploid
B) diploid
C) sterile
D) imprinted
E) hybridizing

Question 75

Use the following to answer questions :
Match the correct answer from the list below with each description that follows.

-In haplodiploid organisms, the percentage of alleles that females share with their female offspring

A) 0%
B) 25%
C) 50%
D) 75%
E) 100%

Question 76

The concept of kin selection was formalized by

A) Charles Darwin.
B) Konrad Lorenz.
C) Noam Werner.
D) W. D. Hamilton.
E) Stuart Pimm.

Question 77

The waggle dance of bees is an example of a(n) _______ signal.

A) visual
B) tactile
C) auditory
D) electric
E) ethological

Question 78

Use the following to answer questions :
Match the correct answer from the list below with each description that follows.

-In diploid organisms, the percent of alleles that parents share with their offspring

A) 0%
B) 25%
C) 50%
D) 75%
E) 100%

Question 79

In a diploid organism, the fitness benefit that is accrued by rearing one's own offspring is _______ that accrued by rearing a sister's offspring.

A) the same as
B) twice
C) half
D) three times
E) None of the above

Question 80

Which of the following must be true for an individual's behavior to be considered a communication signal?

A) It must benefit the sender.
B) It must be visual.
C) It must benefit the receiver.
D) Both a and b
E) Both a and c