Question 3: Discuss Excellence

Practises Social behaviour & spatial behaviour

Grey wolves (Canis lupus) live in packs of about 2 to 20 closely related animals that form a hierarchy, in which agonistic behaviour (dominance displays, submissive displays and threats) matters. The paper’s figure ranks the pack. The alpha male and female lead decisions, including cooperative hunts and defence of the territory; they are monogamous and the only pair to breed. Betas, of either sex, are second in command and help keep order on hunts and in other pack activities. Deltas follow the alphas and betas, help hunt, look after pups and help defend the territory. Omegas rank lowest: they receive the most aggression, eat last and eat least.

Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of hierarchical behaviour in a wolf pack for the wolves below the alpha pair, compared with living alone.

The 2025 paper, page 10 ↗ Marking schedule, page 6 ↗

Work it out

Try it on paper first. Stuck? Take one hint at a time.

1 Start from the explain answer: how do the displays and kin selection fit together?
Ritualised displays keep every wolf in its rank without serious injury, so the pack stays together and healthy enough to hunt and raise pups. That stability is what lets the relatives below the alphas put their effort into the alphas’ pups.
2 Why does that help the helpers’ own alleles?
The pups share many of the helpers’ alleles. By keeping the alpha pair fed and healthy and the pups safe, helpers raise the chance that those shared alleles are passed on, so kin selection increases their reproductive success even though they do not breed.
3 For a wolf below the alphas, what would living alone be like?
A lone wolf struggles to kill large prey, cannot hold a territory against a pack, has no one to share defence, and cannot raise pups alone easily. It is much more likely to starve or be killed.
4 Weigh the pack’s costs against that.
In the pack it eats last and least, takes aggression from above, has little say in decisions, and does not breed for now. But it is protected, has a secure food supply, and passes on more of its alleles through its relatives than it probably would alone.
5 So which wins, and what does that mean for the behaviour?
The advantages outweigh the disadvantages, so wolves that live in hierarchical packs leave more copies of their alleles. That is why hierarchical pack behaviour has been selected for and kept: it increases reproductive success.

Answer Ritualised displays of dominance and submission keep every wolf in its rank without serious injury, so the pack stays together and fit to hunt and rear pups. Because pack members are close relatives, wolves below the alphas use that stability to help: by keeping the alpha pair fed and healthy and the pups safe, they raise the chance that the alleles they share with the pups are passed on, so kin selection increases their reproductive success even though they do not breed. For those wolves, living alone would be worse: a lone wolf struggles to kill large prey, cannot hold a territory and is far more likely to starve or be killed. In the pack the costs are real (eating last and least, aggression from above, little say, no breeding for now), but it is protected, has a secure food supply, and passes on more of its alleles through its relatives than it probably could alone. The advantages outweigh the disadvantages, which is why hierarchical pack behaviour has been selected for and kept in wolves: it increases reproductive success.

What the marker wanted

Achieved The describe points: hierarchy, territory, kin selection with relatedness, an example, and an advantage and a disadvantage of pack life.
Merit Those explained: two ways the hierarchy is kept, why kin selection happens, an example tied to relatedness, an advantage tied to survival and a disadvantage weighed as cost against benefit.
Excellence A detailed discussion of two things. First, how the hierarchy is kept AND why wolves show kin selection, linked to increased reproductive success. Second, the advantages AND disadvantages for wolves below the alpha pair, compared with living alone, concluding that the advantages outweigh the disadvantages, which is why the behaviour is kept by selection and increases reproductive success. One gives E7, both E8.

One answer, N0 to E8. Excellence points come last: one gives E7, both give E8.

In our words, from NZQA’s 2025 marking schedule.

Common mistake

Listing advantages and disadvantages without weighing them against living alone or tying them to reproductive success. NZQA’s 2025 report says candidates often named an advantage without linking it to survival or reproductive success.

How did it go?

Got it moves it further out. Review brings it back tomorrow.