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Conclusion

The bottlenose dolphin is an excellent example of how social alliances can benefit the fitness of individuals. Both direct and indirect fitness benefits are derived from social alliances which males use to acquire mates, dolphins use to gather food, and females or others use for defense. The direct fitness is derived from the improved opportunity for mates, food, or protection, but because certain members of the group get a disproportionate amount of these resources, related individuals are often allied to allow for indirect fitness benefits in which a relative is benefitted by additional resources. The specific dynamics of the dolphin alliances shed light on how and why they are evolutionarily advantageous while also providing interesting insight into the daily lives of these complex organisms.

Discussion questions

  1. What are some factors that may have allowed the specific types of alliances in dolphins to be selected for?
  2. How does kin selection by dolphins satisfy Hamilton’s Rule?

Glossary

  • Affiliative interaction - interactions that occur to increase a sense of bonding among members of a group, such as contact swimming, petting, or rubbing in dolphins
  • Consort - (n) a spouse or companion; (v) to habitually associate with
  • Conspecificity - organisms that belong to the same species
  • Equivalence rule - a theory that animals group things into classes of equivalent value and treat all members of a certain class as interchangeable
  • Estrus - a period of time when females are sexually receptive and fecund
  • First-order alliance - an alliance consisting of two or three males working together to consort a single female
  • Fission-fusion grouping pattern - a form of social organization in which a large social group partitions into subgroups that change size and composition often
  • Haplotype - alleles at multiple loci transmitted together on the same chromosome
  • Kin selection (Hamilton’s rule) - Genes should increase in frequency when rB>C, where r is the genetic relatedness of the recipient to the actor, B is the benefit gained by the recipient, and C is the cost to the actor
  • Inclusive fitness - the sum of direct fitness (the individual’s fitness) and indirect fitness (impact on fitness of social partners) weighted by the relatedness between the actor and the recipient
  • Labile - tending to alter quickly and spontaneously
  • Male-biased - the overrepresentation of males in a given population
  • Nested alliance - an alliance within an alliance
  • Reciprocal altruism - a form of altruism in which one organism provides a benefit to another and expects the benefit to be returned in the future
  • Second-order alliance - an alliance consisting of males in first-order alliances working together to steal females from other alliances or to defend their own females
  • Triadic interaction - interactions that occur in a group of three (A, B and C) where individuals attempt to band against an individual in the alliance (e. g. A and B versus C)

References

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About the author

A picture of the author.

I am a sophomore Biochemistry and Cell Biology major from Dallas, TX. I enjoy drawing, painting, baking, and spending time with friends. In studying animal behavior, I am fascinated by learning about the motivation of organisms to behave in certain ways and how seemingly different behavior can be driven by similar principles. Most of the time, studying animal behavior proved easy mostly because it is interesting and applicable. I found myself often trying to relate what we learned in class to humans and trying to observe certain behaviors in my friends and myself.

Questions & Answers

Three charges q_{1}=+3\mu C, q_{2}=+6\mu C and q_{3}=+8\mu C are located at (2,0)m (0,0)m and (0,3) coordinates respectively. Find the magnitude and direction acted upon q_{2} by the two other charges.Draw the correct graphical illustration of the problem above showing the direction of all forces.
Kate Reply
To solve this problem, we need to first find the net force acting on charge q_{2}. The magnitude of the force exerted by q_{1} on q_{2} is given by F=\frac{kq_{1}q_{2}}{r^{2}} where k is the Coulomb constant, q_{1} and q_{2} are the charges of the particles, and r is the distance between them.
Muhammed
What is the direction and net electric force on q_{1}= 5µC located at (0,4)r due to charges q_{2}=7mu located at (0,0)m and q_{3}=3\mu C located at (4,0)m?
Kate Reply
what is the change in momentum of a body?
Eunice Reply
what is a capacitor?
Raymond Reply
Capacitor is a separation of opposite charges using an insulator of very small dimension between them. Capacitor is used for allowing an AC (alternating current) to pass while a DC (direct current) is blocked.
Gautam
A motor travelling at 72km/m on sighting a stop sign applying the breaks such that under constant deaccelerate in the meters of 50 metres what is the magnitude of the accelerate
Maria Reply
please solve
Sharon
8m/s²
Aishat
What is Thermodynamics
Muordit
velocity can be 72 km/h in question. 72 km/h=20 m/s, v^2=2.a.x , 20^2=2.a.50, a=4 m/s^2.
Mehmet
A boat travels due east at a speed of 40meter per seconds across a river flowing due south at 30meter per seconds. what is the resultant speed of the boat
Saheed Reply
50 m/s due south east
Someone
which has a higher temperature, 1cup of boiling water or 1teapot of boiling water which can transfer more heat 1cup of boiling water or 1 teapot of boiling water explain your . answer
Ramon Reply
I believe temperature being an intensive property does not change for any amount of boiling water whereas heat being an extensive property changes with amount/size of the system.
Someone
Scratch that
Someone
temperature for any amount of water to boil at ntp is 100⁰C (it is a state function and and intensive property) and it depends both will give same amount of heat because the surface available for heat transfer is greater in case of the kettle as well as the heat stored in it but if you talk.....
Someone
about the amount of heat stored in the system then in that case since the mass of water in the kettle is greater so more energy is required to raise the temperature b/c more molecules of water are present in the kettle
Someone
definitely of physics
Haryormhidey Reply
how many start and codon
Esrael Reply
what is field
Felix Reply
physics, biology and chemistry this is my Field
ALIYU
field is a region of space under the influence of some physical properties
Collete
what is ogarnic chemistry
WISDOM Reply
determine the slope giving that 3y+ 2x-14=0
WISDOM
Another formula for Acceleration
Belty Reply
a=v/t. a=f/m a
IHUMA
innocent
Adah
pratica A on solution of hydro chloric acid,B is a solution containing 0.5000 mole ofsodium chlorid per dm³,put A in the burret and titrate 20.00 or 25.00cm³ portion of B using melting orange as the indicator. record the deside of your burret tabulate the burret reading and calculate the average volume of acid used?
Nassze Reply
how do lnternal energy measures
Esrael
Two bodies attract each other electrically. Do they both have to be charged? Answer the same question if the bodies repel one another.
JALLAH Reply
No. According to Isac Newtons law. this two bodies maybe you and the wall beside you. Attracting depends on the mass och each body and distance between them.
Dlovan
Are you really asking if two bodies have to be charged to be influenced by Coulombs Law?
Robert
like charges repel while unlike charges atttact
Raymond
What is specific heat capacity
Destiny Reply
Specific heat capacity is a measure of the amount of energy required to raise the temperature of a substance by one degree Celsius (or Kelvin). It is measured in Joules per kilogram per degree Celsius (J/kg°C).
AI-Robot
specific heat capacity is the amount of energy needed to raise the temperature of a substance by one degree Celsius or kelvin
ROKEEB
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Source:  OpenStax, Mockingbird tales: readings in animal behavior. OpenStax CNX. Jan 12, 2011 Download for free at http://cnx.org/content/col11211/1.5
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