ANTH 011 Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: Scramble Competition, Cuckold, Fetus
19 May 2020
School
Department
Course
Professor
Document Summary
Benefits of group living include protection from predation, access to mates and resources. For diurnal species, there are the 3d"s set of group anti-predator tactics: detection (more eyes), dilution (lower probability of any one being eaten) and deterrence. Nocturnal primates hide during day use stealth tactics at night to avoid predators. Costs of sociality include pathogen spread, competition, cuckoldry, inbreeding, cannibalism, and infanticide. Socioecology: study of how ecological forces shape the size and structure of social group. Competition for food is particularly important for females. Nutritional status affects female reproduction: ability to conceive, viability of pregnancy, lactation. Male reproduction tends to be more influenced by access to females than by nutrition. Food, competition, and social behavior are thought to be linked. Food distribution affects the forms of intragroup competition. Clumped, valuable resources produce contest competition: resources are scarce and valuable, resources are worth fighting over, contest access to particular resources.
