SLIDE 60 24/07/2016 60
Hierarchies in wolves
Wolves are found in the wild only in northern Europe, Canada and the northern states of the USA. They are very social animals, living in family packs of up to 20 wolves. The pack is well organised with a dominant animal, generally a male, as the alpha wolf. Next is the beta wolf who acts as the disciplinarian to reinforce the alpha’s decisions. The omega wolf is the lowest ranking member of the pack. The other wolves rank between the beta and the omega wolves. Describe the social structure seen in wolf packs Wolves are often seen grooming each other and taking part in play fights
- 2. Describe how the following behaviours are important in maintaining the social structure of the pack
Grooming Play fighting Young males will often leave the pack to find a mate and form a new pack
- 3. Explain how this benefits the wolf species.
The images show two behaviours commonly seen in wolves
- 4. Which behaviour is associated with the omega wolf?
- 5. Explain why the omega wolf would display this behaviour
The omega wolf is the last to get access to food and may be chased away from areas favoured by the dominant wolves. Despite this the omega wolf remains within the pack. Describe two advantages to the omega wolf remaining within rather than leaving the pack. Wolf packs in Europe are generally much smaller than those in Canada
- 2. Explain why pack sizes might be smaller in Europe?
Practice Question: Olive Baboons
Home ranges and daily ranges have been recorded for some olive baboon troops in
- Africa. The data for troops in four areas is recorded in the table.
- Explain what the term home range means.
- Explain how environmental factors impact on BOTH the home range size and the
daily range of olive baboons.
- You must include the given information in your explanations.
Area Approximate home range size (km2) Approximate daily range (km) Average troop size Habitat Yearly rainfall (mm) Bole Valley, Ethiopia 0.745–1.12 0.3–2.0 15–24 Mixed forest and grassland 2000 Ishasa, Uganda 3.88–5.18 0.2–2.4 60 Forest and shrub- land 1100–1600 Gilgil, Kenya 19.7 2.2–7.8 49 Open grassland and shrub-land 500–1000 Laikipia Plateau, Kenya 43.8 5.64 100 Dry grassland 400–600
QUESTION ONE: BEHAVIOUR IN AUSTRALASIAN GANNETS Australasian gannets, Morus serrator, are known as colonial breeders. During the summer, large colonies of birds can be found within gannet colonies, where breeding pairs fiercely defend their individual nesting territories. However, recent studies have shown that when foraging at sea, the same birds show no territorial behaviour across their chosen feeding areas, and yet they appear to maintain largely separate foraging areas at sea, specific to the particular colonies they belong to when nesting on land. Gannets display territorial behaviour when nesting on land, but not when foraging at sea. Discuss the reasons why Australasian gannets appear to behave as described above. In your answer:
- describe territorial behaviour
- use biological ideas to explain why the territorial behaviour provides adaptive advantages
for the gannets
- justify possible reasons why the Australasian gannets appear to maintain separate
foraging areas when at sea.