Animal Communication Exam 2 – Animal Behavior Study Guide, Key Concepts
and Practice Review
Hormones - ✔✔operate within individual organisms. Chemicals that operate internally.
Chemical messengers that work within the central nervous system
Pheromones - ✔✔Chemical signals between members of the same species. Operate between
members of the same species
Allelochemicals - ✔✔plant communication to inhibit growth of other plants in the same area.
Operate between different species
Semiochemicals - ✔✔Chemicals transmitted between organisms. Pheromones and
allelochemicals fall in this group
What are the characteristics of airborne signals - ✔✔volatile, evaporate easily, very small
molecules. Pheromones (organic molecules with carbon skeleton). Can have a number of
different chemical structures. Typically small hydrocarbons
What are the characteristics of waterborne signals - ✔✔Must be a polar molecule so it can
dissolve in water (like dissolves like). separation of charges to allow it to dissolve in water
What are the characteristics of Contact signals - ✔✔direct contact with receiver. Typically
hydrophobic (insoluble in water. contains lipids, and other large hydrocarbons). cuticular
hydrocarbons sensed through direct contact. lipid soluble
What is Specificity - ✔✔how specifically they encode info on an individual, may be about
individual species, sex, colony (if thinking of insects)
,How can animals achieve specificity of chemical signals, what are the main strategies of
specificity? - ✔✔large molecules with unique structure. Unique blends of pheromone
components
Explain the specificity of cuticular hydrocarbon profiles. What is the function of specific signals
such as this? - ✔✔cuticular hydrocarbons are sensed through direct contact. These can be
used like ants touching antennae to send direct specific signals
what are the 4 main sources animals use for pheromones - ✔✔production of decretory glands,
excreted waste products, plant-product derivatives, breakdown products of microorganisms
endocrine glands - ✔✔inside the body difused into body and blood (ex: hormones)
What is an exocrine gland - ✔✔external themselves, or internal but connected to the
environment through ducts
Why are there 3 basic types of exocrine glands and what are they - ✔✔different gland types
are separated by how they give product to external environment. Merocrine gland, apocrine
gland, and holocrine gland
Merocrine gland - ✔✔release product through vessicals fusing with plasma membrane and
released into lumen of exocrine gland (sweat and salivary glands) this is most common gland
holocrine gand - ✔✔release through death and rupture of cells. these glands are constantly
reproducing new cells through mitosis. Cells rupture and their parts are released along with
secretory products. includes skin that releases sebum (oils to coat hair)
Apocrine gland - ✔✔intermediate between mero and holocrine glands. cells dont themselves
completely rupture, but parts of the cells are pinched off and they get covered in secretory stuff.
This is usually milky looking so like mammals and milk
, How do animals exocrine glands differ in the number, size, and distribution of glands -
✔✔terrestrial vertebrates have 1 major gland with chemical communication. insects have 1
primary gland or diffuse many glands. some animals like cats rub their glands on you to "mark"
you. sex attractive pheromones call males by sneding out a sex pheromone, one sex is adapted
to release this chemical signal, the other sex is adapted to receive. pheromones are sometimes
released all over the body like mammals with pheromones on their hair, located all across the
body, this liquid is called sebum. Ants have glands all over their bodies that excrete all different
signals
What are the main components of mouse urine - ✔✔major histocompatibility complex (MHC)
odors, urinary protein odors, and preputial gland secretions
How do these achieve specificity for the signal from mouse urine - ✔✔MHC has a lot of
diversity, animals use it to select mates, and detect kin vs. non-kin. This is used to mate outside
the family. Urinary protein odors are entirely different gene family that encodes for pee
proteins. So many genes so can be used as a specific signal (individual recognition and sexual
recognition), males tend to have more of these in their pee. perpetual gland secretion: these
odors will also elicit aggression in males, also increase ovulation in females. Found higher levels
in dominant males so may be indicator of social dominance
How might mice benefit from an indirect indicator of MHC genes - ✔✔its a very large gene
family with lots of diversity (lots of alleles), individuals are quite different in these alleles,
encodes for cell markers (tags that exist on cells that serve as cell markers that allow immune
system to detect self opposed to foreign entity), parts of these tags will be broken off and are
then released with the urine
MHC appears to be used by different animals (including humans) as a way to select mates.
Theres a lot of diversity, a lot of animals use this to detect kin vs nonkin, this is used to mate
outside the family
Why does the ability to use plant compounds benefit animals - ✔✔plants make chemicals that
animals cant make themselves so they use these ones of plants to make their own for these.
animals beneift because they cant make these scents themselves
and Practice Review
Hormones - ✔✔operate within individual organisms. Chemicals that operate internally.
Chemical messengers that work within the central nervous system
Pheromones - ✔✔Chemical signals between members of the same species. Operate between
members of the same species
Allelochemicals - ✔✔plant communication to inhibit growth of other plants in the same area.
Operate between different species
Semiochemicals - ✔✔Chemicals transmitted between organisms. Pheromones and
allelochemicals fall in this group
What are the characteristics of airborne signals - ✔✔volatile, evaporate easily, very small
molecules. Pheromones (organic molecules with carbon skeleton). Can have a number of
different chemical structures. Typically small hydrocarbons
What are the characteristics of waterborne signals - ✔✔Must be a polar molecule so it can
dissolve in water (like dissolves like). separation of charges to allow it to dissolve in water
What are the characteristics of Contact signals - ✔✔direct contact with receiver. Typically
hydrophobic (insoluble in water. contains lipids, and other large hydrocarbons). cuticular
hydrocarbons sensed through direct contact. lipid soluble
What is Specificity - ✔✔how specifically they encode info on an individual, may be about
individual species, sex, colony (if thinking of insects)
,How can animals achieve specificity of chemical signals, what are the main strategies of
specificity? - ✔✔large molecules with unique structure. Unique blends of pheromone
components
Explain the specificity of cuticular hydrocarbon profiles. What is the function of specific signals
such as this? - ✔✔cuticular hydrocarbons are sensed through direct contact. These can be
used like ants touching antennae to send direct specific signals
what are the 4 main sources animals use for pheromones - ✔✔production of decretory glands,
excreted waste products, plant-product derivatives, breakdown products of microorganisms
endocrine glands - ✔✔inside the body difused into body and blood (ex: hormones)
What is an exocrine gland - ✔✔external themselves, or internal but connected to the
environment through ducts
Why are there 3 basic types of exocrine glands and what are they - ✔✔different gland types
are separated by how they give product to external environment. Merocrine gland, apocrine
gland, and holocrine gland
Merocrine gland - ✔✔release product through vessicals fusing with plasma membrane and
released into lumen of exocrine gland (sweat and salivary glands) this is most common gland
holocrine gand - ✔✔release through death and rupture of cells. these glands are constantly
reproducing new cells through mitosis. Cells rupture and their parts are released along with
secretory products. includes skin that releases sebum (oils to coat hair)
Apocrine gland - ✔✔intermediate between mero and holocrine glands. cells dont themselves
completely rupture, but parts of the cells are pinched off and they get covered in secretory stuff.
This is usually milky looking so like mammals and milk
, How do animals exocrine glands differ in the number, size, and distribution of glands -
✔✔terrestrial vertebrates have 1 major gland with chemical communication. insects have 1
primary gland or diffuse many glands. some animals like cats rub their glands on you to "mark"
you. sex attractive pheromones call males by sneding out a sex pheromone, one sex is adapted
to release this chemical signal, the other sex is adapted to receive. pheromones are sometimes
released all over the body like mammals with pheromones on their hair, located all across the
body, this liquid is called sebum. Ants have glands all over their bodies that excrete all different
signals
What are the main components of mouse urine - ✔✔major histocompatibility complex (MHC)
odors, urinary protein odors, and preputial gland secretions
How do these achieve specificity for the signal from mouse urine - ✔✔MHC has a lot of
diversity, animals use it to select mates, and detect kin vs. non-kin. This is used to mate outside
the family. Urinary protein odors are entirely different gene family that encodes for pee
proteins. So many genes so can be used as a specific signal (individual recognition and sexual
recognition), males tend to have more of these in their pee. perpetual gland secretion: these
odors will also elicit aggression in males, also increase ovulation in females. Found higher levels
in dominant males so may be indicator of social dominance
How might mice benefit from an indirect indicator of MHC genes - ✔✔its a very large gene
family with lots of diversity (lots of alleles), individuals are quite different in these alleles,
encodes for cell markers (tags that exist on cells that serve as cell markers that allow immune
system to detect self opposed to foreign entity), parts of these tags will be broken off and are
then released with the urine
MHC appears to be used by different animals (including humans) as a way to select mates.
Theres a lot of diversity, a lot of animals use this to detect kin vs nonkin, this is used to mate
outside the family
Why does the ability to use plant compounds benefit animals - ✔✔plants make chemicals that
animals cant make themselves so they use these ones of plants to make their own for these.
animals beneift because they cant make these scents themselves
