COMC Part 2 of 2

[dinosaurman.livejournal.com]

((Open to all, even those who didn't sign up. I couldn't think of a partner activity, so feel free to team up or talk to whomever you want for the "assignment." And, credit where credit is due, the information comes from Principles of Animal Behavior, Lee Alan Dugman, 2004.))

After waiting long enough for everyone who was going to show up to arrive, Grant started his lecture.

"Now that you've had a chance to take note of the clothed mole rat's most famous characteristic," Grant said dryly, "I'd like to call your attention to the purpose of today's class." He waited for the students to settle down, or baring that, possibly face his general direction.

"The clothed mole rat is an unique example of eusociality in vertebrates. Eusociality has three characteristics: a reproductive division of labor, where some animals reproduce and others don't, overlapping generations, and communal care of young. This social behavior is found in some insect groups, but the only mammalian examples are the clothed mole rat and its cousin, the naked mole rat."

"In a eusocial society, only a few animals have breeding rights. In each of these colonies, there is only one queen, and one to three males breeding at any time. The other animals in the colony undertake cooperative behaviors for the benefit of the colony, and also have much shorter lifespans."

"Why would they work for the colony, without the benefit of being able to pass on their own genes?" he continued. "The answer, it turns out, is in how related each animal is to each other. Because of the limited number of breeding individuals, there is some inbreeding in the colony over time. On a scale of relatedness, where unrelated individuals are a 0.0, siblings are a 0.5, and identical twins are a 1.0, two naked mole rats from the same colony are, on average, an 0.81, which makes them more related than siblings, and actually closer to identical twins. Basic kinship theory suggests that more related individuals are more likely to engage in cooperative behavior, and that seems to be the case here."

He pointed at one of the colonies. "The glass tanks are so that you can observe the tunnel system more clearly. Each warren will have a nursery, where all of the young are cared for, and one queen, which is usually attended to by other animals. I want you to go around and see if you can find the warren and the queen in these colonies. Feel free to collaborate with other students, and help each other out."