Animal Behavior Trivia Quiz

Answer: Latency

Latency is a measurement that can be used to determine the "readiness" of an animal to perform a particular type of behavior. An example would be determining hunger in a dog by measuring the latency between presenting the food and when the dog begins to eat.

Frequency is the measure of how many times a behavior is performed over a period of time - an example would be how many times a chick pecked per minute.

Duration is the measure of how long a certain behavior lasts, for example if a chimpanzee is grooming, this could vary from a quick brush at the arm to a prolonged cleaning of the fur over a few minutes.

Finally, intensity measures how vigorous or intense a behavior is. This is the most difficult to measure - for example, if a dog is displaying territorial defense, how do you measure the intensity? Normally, a small scale is used, such as 0-5. 0 means no reaction, 1 is mild, 5 is very aggressive.

Answer: Ethogram

The idea of ethograms came from famous animal behaviorists Konrad Lorenz and Niko Tinbergen. These men were pioneers in the field. Basically, different species display different behaviors, and an ethogram can narrow down behaviors which you want to look for. Normally, the animals are observed for a short period while you construct the ethogram, and then you can use this list to actually take measurements.

For example, in watching chicks, you may include behaviors such as cheep, walk, preen, and peck. You don't want to be observing chicks and looking for snort! The ethogram is useful for choosing only behaviors you deem important for your study and not trying to include everything the animal does.

Answer: Anthropomorphism

Anthropomorphism is something to watch out for - just because a behavior looks like dominance/subordination, it doesn't mean it is. For example, from the questions, the cockroaches may be displaying this behavior for other reasons - the only way to tell is to do an experiment.

It is o.k. to make a hypothesis that the standing cockroach is dominant, but you must prove this hypothesis by experimenting, for example, to seeif cockroaches which stand up more will feed first, before the crouching ones. Only then can you assign an explanation to the behavior.

Answer: Learned

The fact that the isolated bird's song mostly differs from the wild bird's shows that this species of bird must hear other wild males of the species sing in order to know which is that species' song. There may also be genetic influences on which song the bird will learn - in white-crowned sparrows, the wild males have a strong preference to learn the song of its species rather than other species, and the song of isolated birds can vaguely resemble the structure of the wild birds, despite that it has never heard the wild song. (Note that although the structure may be similar, the notes may be VERY different.)

Answer: Antelopes grouping together to reduce the risk of an attack by a predator

By employing the selfish herd response, the antelopes lower the risk of each individual animal, as the predator (for example, a lion) now has more targets to choose from, so the chance of it being a particular antelope is reduced. Because of the higher risk associated with antelopes on the outside of the herd, those with a higher status normally go toward the center of the group, while subordinate individuals form the outer areas. Fish employ a similar method by schooling in the presence of a predator.

Answer: Habituation

Birds show another habituated response in that many of them seem to have little or no fear of road traffic. The habituation of herring gulls has been a problem - they build nests on roofs on buildings, and commonly feed on trash. In Glasgow, Scotland, in the 1980s, some herring gulls fed on trash from a rubbish tip, then went to roost in reservoirs, and the water became contaminated with bacteria.

Answer: False

Sit and wait predators, in general, are very solitary animals. Many spiders use this type of predation - examples include the bolas spider, which dangles a sticky drop from a thread, which smells similar to the pheromones released by certain female moths; this attracts the males who get stuck in the drop.

There are also many solitary active predators, but some mammalian active predators hunt in groups to ensure they can take down their prey - for example, if one wolf were to try to take down a moose (which can weigh about 10 times as much as a wolf), it would be unlikely to be successful - however, if in a group, the pack will be much more effective in the kill. The disadvantage of active predation in groups is that the kill must be shared with the whole pack, so more prey must be hunted to ensure every wolf gets a full meal for the day.

Answer: Mimicry

Mimicry is a defense strategy in which the harmless animal resembles a particularly unpleasant or dangerous species - for example, some harmless moths are colored yellow and black, and so look like harmful wasps, which protects against predators.

Types of camouflage:
1. Masquerade is when the prey can be clearly seen, but has evolved so that it does not look like food to the predator. For example, certain caterpillars look like sticks when still, so the predator does not realize it is an animal and try to eat it.

2. Crypsis is when the animal blends into its background, such as a moth being colored similarly to a tree, and having patterns on its wings which are similar to the pattern of the tree bark.

3. Disruptive coloration is when the shape of the animal is broken up, making it harder for a predator to see the obvious shape of its potential prey. An example is the garden tiger moth, whose dark upper wings have their outline broken up by broad white lines, which are irregular.

Answer: Thomson's gazelles

Stotting is the name given to a jumping movement performed by quadrupeds (four legged animals), involving all four legs coming off the ground. It was thought that the gazelle for example would do this to warn other gazelles of an impending cheetah attack, but it was found that single gazelles still stot - it has since been discovered that this action is performed for the reason outlined in the question; it demonstrates to the predator that the animal is in good health, and will be difficult to catch, and the cheetah may abandon the hunt.

Stotting can be seen in other animals, such as horses, and in lambs.

Answer: Yes

The answer is yes - take the example of the vampire bat. They can live in the same roost for many years, building up bonds with the other bats. Members of the roost can be either related or unrelated - what is important is that they have built bonds with each other, and can recognize each other. If a bat is unsuccessful after foraging for a blood meal, it can groom a fellow member of the roost, and then lick its face in a request for some blood. Studies have shown that bats are more likely to give part of their meal to another bat they already know, even if it is a non-relative, and it's more likely to give a meal to a bat that has given them a blood meal in the past - repayment of favors is the basis of reciprocal altruism.