ANTH 311- Part 2 || QUESTIONS WITH 100%
SOLVED ANSWERS!!
Behavioural ecologists correct answers A researcher that wants to know why a behaviour
occurs in terms of evolution and survival.
Frugivore correct answers Eat primary fruit. Ex. Spider monkeys, guenons.
Folivore correct answers Eat primarily leaves. Ex. Colobines, howler monkeys
Insectivore correct answers Eat primarily insects. Ex. Bushbaby
Gumnivore correct answers Eat primarily plant gum. Ex. Mouse lemur.
Diet traits correct answers Different diet means very different nutritional profile, very
different feeding and hunting behaviours, and different physical characteristics specialized to
the specific diet.
What is needed from food? correct answers 1. vitamins, minerals, trace elements to regulate
body processes. Eg. Na, K, Mg, Ca, ect
2. Nutritional components: amino acids, Carbohydrates (sugars- simple are easily digested
and complex are more difficult to digest).
What needs to be avoided in food? correct answers 1. physical defence. Ex. spines, thorns,
protective ants (acacia trees).
2. chemical defences. Ex. alkaloids (toxins that disrupt metabolic processes), or tannins
(digestibility reducing agents, dose dependent)
What kind of food has what you need, and what has what you want to avoid? correct answers
Fruits: simple sugars, no protein
Leaves: complex carbs (hard to digest), proteins and vitamins but also secondary compounds
Flowers: simple sugars in nectar, protein in pollen
Saps/gums: simple and complex sugars, water, minerals
Insects/meat: protein, fat
Energy need correct answers defines diet choice. This is the amount of energy you need to
maintain living conditions and to sustain necessary movements.
Basal metabolic rate correct answers the energy needed to maintain life-sustaining activities
for a specific period of time at rest. This includes the maintenance of internal body
temperature. It is determined by body size, where the bigger you are the more energy you
need (but not in a linear relationship).
Kleiber's law: BMR = 70(body weight)
, Kleiber's Law correct answers the observation that, for the vast majority of animals, an
animal's metabolic rate scales to the ¾ power of the animal's mass. AKA. Larger species need
fewer calories per unit of body weight (negative allosteric).
WHY? Most of BMR goes towards regulation of internal temp and most heat loss occurs
through skin. Bigger animals have a small surface:area to volume ration than small animals.
Gut capacity correct answers An important factor in diet choice. Food digestibility is
determined by how much time it spends in your stomach (gut retention time), which is a
function of how big your gut is, which scales with body size.
THEREFORE- food digestibility improves with increased body size.
Major diet choice factors for SMALL animals correct answers 1. high (relative) BMR
2. Small gut capacity
so.... they need high quality, rapidly digestible food (ex. flowers, sap, fruit). Gives them max
energy in short amount of time.
Major diet choice factors for LARGE animals correct answers 1. low (relative) BMR
2. large gut capacity
so.. they can tolerate low-energy (low quality), hard to digest food (ex. leaves). This is
typically easier food to access so they don't have to work as hard to get food and they choose
this.
ultimate diet choice correct answers The food a primate selects which depends on availability
of food types and the energy needed to harvest them.
These can be predicted by body size (which determines SA:Vol ratio, BMR, and gut
capacity) and the environment in which it lives.
Comparative method correct answers to compare a factor of survival or a behaviour across
many other taxonomies, like and unlike. Helps determine the evolutionary basis of that
behaviour/factor.
Regarding diet choice: it is very consistent that small animals use high quality foods and
large animals use low quality foods.
Dietary adaptations: Teeth correct answers Cutting: sharp pointed canine teeth, good for meat
Crushing/grinding: blunt end teeth, good for fruit and seeds
Grind/cut: high cusp molars, sharp tips but blunt bases, good for leaves.
Dietary adaptations: gut anatomy correct answers Stomach holds primary digestions. Small
intestine is for the primary absorption, the caecum is a blind pouch near the small intestine
with symbiotic bacteria that digests food further. Large intestine is for water and some
nutrient absorption.
SOLVED ANSWERS!!
Behavioural ecologists correct answers A researcher that wants to know why a behaviour
occurs in terms of evolution and survival.
Frugivore correct answers Eat primary fruit. Ex. Spider monkeys, guenons.
Folivore correct answers Eat primarily leaves. Ex. Colobines, howler monkeys
Insectivore correct answers Eat primarily insects. Ex. Bushbaby
Gumnivore correct answers Eat primarily plant gum. Ex. Mouse lemur.
Diet traits correct answers Different diet means very different nutritional profile, very
different feeding and hunting behaviours, and different physical characteristics specialized to
the specific diet.
What is needed from food? correct answers 1. vitamins, minerals, trace elements to regulate
body processes. Eg. Na, K, Mg, Ca, ect
2. Nutritional components: amino acids, Carbohydrates (sugars- simple are easily digested
and complex are more difficult to digest).
What needs to be avoided in food? correct answers 1. physical defence. Ex. spines, thorns,
protective ants (acacia trees).
2. chemical defences. Ex. alkaloids (toxins that disrupt metabolic processes), or tannins
(digestibility reducing agents, dose dependent)
What kind of food has what you need, and what has what you want to avoid? correct answers
Fruits: simple sugars, no protein
Leaves: complex carbs (hard to digest), proteins and vitamins but also secondary compounds
Flowers: simple sugars in nectar, protein in pollen
Saps/gums: simple and complex sugars, water, minerals
Insects/meat: protein, fat
Energy need correct answers defines diet choice. This is the amount of energy you need to
maintain living conditions and to sustain necessary movements.
Basal metabolic rate correct answers the energy needed to maintain life-sustaining activities
for a specific period of time at rest. This includes the maintenance of internal body
temperature. It is determined by body size, where the bigger you are the more energy you
need (but not in a linear relationship).
Kleiber's law: BMR = 70(body weight)
, Kleiber's Law correct answers the observation that, for the vast majority of animals, an
animal's metabolic rate scales to the ¾ power of the animal's mass. AKA. Larger species need
fewer calories per unit of body weight (negative allosteric).
WHY? Most of BMR goes towards regulation of internal temp and most heat loss occurs
through skin. Bigger animals have a small surface:area to volume ration than small animals.
Gut capacity correct answers An important factor in diet choice. Food digestibility is
determined by how much time it spends in your stomach (gut retention time), which is a
function of how big your gut is, which scales with body size.
THEREFORE- food digestibility improves with increased body size.
Major diet choice factors for SMALL animals correct answers 1. high (relative) BMR
2. Small gut capacity
so.... they need high quality, rapidly digestible food (ex. flowers, sap, fruit). Gives them max
energy in short amount of time.
Major diet choice factors for LARGE animals correct answers 1. low (relative) BMR
2. large gut capacity
so.. they can tolerate low-energy (low quality), hard to digest food (ex. leaves). This is
typically easier food to access so they don't have to work as hard to get food and they choose
this.
ultimate diet choice correct answers The food a primate selects which depends on availability
of food types and the energy needed to harvest them.
These can be predicted by body size (which determines SA:Vol ratio, BMR, and gut
capacity) and the environment in which it lives.
Comparative method correct answers to compare a factor of survival or a behaviour across
many other taxonomies, like and unlike. Helps determine the evolutionary basis of that
behaviour/factor.
Regarding diet choice: it is very consistent that small animals use high quality foods and
large animals use low quality foods.
Dietary adaptations: Teeth correct answers Cutting: sharp pointed canine teeth, good for meat
Crushing/grinding: blunt end teeth, good for fruit and seeds
Grind/cut: high cusp molars, sharp tips but blunt bases, good for leaves.
Dietary adaptations: gut anatomy correct answers Stomach holds primary digestions. Small
intestine is for the primary absorption, the caecum is a blind pouch near the small intestine
with symbiotic bacteria that digests food further. Large intestine is for water and some
nutrient absorption.
