Chapter 7 - The Evolution of Feeding Behavior

1.Optimal foraging models often have to take into account other factors that influence foraging behavior. What additional factor is important in the foraging behavior of garden skinks? Describe the experiment.

2. Ruddy turnstones have different ways of finding food. Are the differences genetic? Explain. How does the term conditional strategy apply in this case.

3. Can the information center hypothesis be applied to the foraging behavior of nonterritorial ravens? Explain how.

4.What are the two hypotheses that have been proposed to explain why primates eat dirt. Which hypothesis seems more likely and on what evidence do you base your choice?

Chapter 8 (253-263) Choosing Where to Live

1. Some birds fly in a v formation during migration. Describe the evidence that shows that traveling in a v reduces the energetic costs of flight.

2. Monarch butterflies migrate to Mexico. Why? What factors are involved in their selection of an overwintering site?

3. In some species of blackbirds, some birds migrate whereas other birds stay put. Is this a result of genetic differences or a conditional strategy. If the latter, describe how it works.

Chapter 4 (130-140) The Control of Behavior

1. What cues do monarch butterflies use to migrate?

2. What cues do green sea turtles use to migrate?

Chapter 9 The Evolution of Communication

1. As Alcock notes, "structures take on different functions over evolutionary time." How does this statement apply to the development of auditory receptors in the whistling moth?

2. What is the sensory exploitation hypothesis? How does it work in the water mite?

3. What prediction is being tested in the least auklet? Was the prediction confirmed?

4. Describe several hypotheses for why ravens sometimes yell noisily when they have located a large food resource like a dead moose. Which hypothesis is most likely?

5. What are the two hypotheses that attempt to explain the loud begging behavior of baby birds?

6. Which idea (novel environment theory vs. exploitation theory) best accounts for the interactions between Photinus males and Photurus females?