MAMMALOGY EXAM #3 STUDY GUIDE
*** NOTE:  This is intended to guide your studies.  The text book also contains important information that relates to these issues.***
This page was last revised on 6 December 2005.


Ch. 20 - Communication, Aggression, and Spatial Relationships
1.  Understand the definition of "communication."

2.  Be able to contrast, explain, and give examples the different types of communication:
     a. display
     b. signal

3.  Understand how communication serves in the establishment and maintenance of spatial patterns.

4.  Compare and contrast home range vs territory vs lek vs harem.

5.  Be able to explain the concept of economic  dependability and give examples of how it might appear in nature.

  

Ch. 21 - Sexual Selection, Parental Care, and Mating Systems
1.  Be able to explain what anisogamy is and how it effects mammalian mating systems.

2.  Understand how these concepts relate to sexual selection and give examples of each:
     a. intersexual selection
     b. intrasexual selection
     c. dimorphism
     d. indicator models
     e. "Truth in advertising"
     f. sperm competition
     g. sparring/fighting
     h. mate guarding

3.  Comprehend the basics of how parental care & investment are expressed in mammals, including:
     a. the definition of parental care
     b. intersexual factors
     c. ecological factors, including:  1) r-selected species,      2) k-selected species
     d. parental - offspring conflicts
     e. helping behavior

4.  Be able to discuss how each of these relate to mammalian mating systems, including examples of mammals that practice these:
     a. polygyny:  1) resource defense polygyny,      2) female defense polygyny
     b. polyandry
     c. promiscuity
     d. monogamy
 

Ch. 22 - Social Behavior
1.  Be able to contrast and give examples of mammal species that practice:
     a. altruistic behavior
     b. cooperative rearing of young (not the same as helping behavior)
     c. coalitions
     d. eusociality

2.  Understand the costs and benefits associated with mammals living in groups.  Be able to give specific examples of how these effect certain mammals.

3.  Be able to explain what these evolutionary factors are and how each relates to group living and social systems in mammals:
     a. kin selection
     b. fitness
     c. inclusive fitness
     d. reciprocal altruism
     e. mutualism
 

Ch. 24 - Populations and Life Histories
1.  Understand the basic dynamics often encountered in mammalian populations, including:

     a. natality vs immigration
     b. mortality vs emigration
     c. exponential vs arithmatic growth

2.  Be able to draw and interpret the various types of:
     a. life history tables
     b. survivorship curves

3.  Understand how "r" and "k" selected species will vary with respect to the curves in #2.

4.  Define and give examples of:
     a. fecundity
     b. senescence
     c. Liebig’s Law of Minimum
     d. density dependent population limiting factors
     e. density independent population limiting factors
 
 

Ch. 25 - Community Ecology
1.  Be able to contrast and give examples of a community vs. an ecosystem.

2.  Comprehend how these factors relate to the structure of a community, and be able to give a specific example of each:
     a. niche & habitat
     b. competitive exclusion principle
     c. character displacement
     d. sympatric vs allopatric populations
     e. keystone species

3.  Understand what is meant by the term "biodiversity", how it relates to conservation, and why it is a troublesome concept in species conservation.
 

Ch. 29 - Conservation
1.  Understand how these factors relate to conservation:
     a. habitat loss
     b. habitat fragmentation
     c. minimum viable population
     d. historic and current human population growth

2.  Know what is the approximate size of the global population of humans and it’s current doubling time.

3.  Know that at least 1 species of plant or animal goes extinct every day.
 

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