Animal Behavior

Behavior The way in which an animal or person acts in response to a particular situation or stimulus is behavior. Behavioral response is a set of actions determined in part by heredity and part from experience.

Innate Behavior Innate behavior is genetic. It is influenced by genes and does not depend on learning or the environmental factors. Examples: a newborn wale’s ability to swim or a butterfly’s ability to fly. This is what animals are born with. No other animal or person has to teach them this behavior they “just know”.

Learned Behavior A behavior that has been learned from experience or observation is learned behavior. Many young animals learn by watching their parents. Example: Koko, the gorilla is an example of learned behavior. Raised by human’s she has been able to learn to communicate through sign language.

Communication Interaction between animals in which information is transmitted from one animal or groups of animals affects the behavior of other animals. Communication helps animals live together, find mates, find food, avoid enemies and protect or defend their homes.

Communication Some animals communicate through body language. No words or sound is exchange but communication is exchanged through seeing or watching body movement. For Example: Bee’s doing the “waggle dance” or dogs putting their paw on another dog’s head to challenge dominance.

Ecology is the study of how living things interact with living things in their environment in various ways. In any environment, all members of a species form a population (ie. all the maple trees in a forest). Two or more populations form a community. When an area is occupied by an animal or group of animals it is considered their territory.

Populations Remember: all members of a species form a population. Populations can become threatened by four major areas Starvation Disease Competition Preditation

Population Continued All organisms in an ecosystem are in competition for resources such as food, space, water, light, and air. Populations that live in groups help one another out with these resources and are less likely to suffer from getting certain diseases or becoming preyed on by another species.

Environment (Reminder) Biotic factors are all living organisms. Ex. of biotic factors are grass, trees, and animals. Abiotic factors are all nonliving things. Ex. of abiotic factors are water, oxygen, carbon dioxide, and rocks. All of the communities (biotic factors) and abiotic factors in an area form an ecosystem.

Environment The environment and seasons also play a role on plant and animal behavior. Seasonal cycles control animal’s hibernation, migration and reproduction schedules. Plant respond to changes as well, such as the length of day and night (tropism) or leaves changing in cooler months.

Adaptation The development of physical and behavioral characteristics that allow organisms to survive and reproduce in their habitats over a period of time. Natural Selection is when plant and animals that adapt to the environment and reproduce more successfully than others do. Example: bird beaks changing for different food sources

Camouflage An adaptation that allows animals to blend in with their environment

Mimicry When one animal displays physical or behavioral traits of another animal species This is helpful to warn preditors to avoid being eaten

Chemical Defense The use of chemical compounds by plants and animals to deter predators.  Chemical defenses can also be used in competitive interactions to prevent a population from overgrowing in an area. Not all Chemicals are BAD. Most animals use a chemical called pheromones to communicate and attract a mate.

Animal Reproduction Sexual Asexual Internal Fertilization- joining of reproductive cells inside of the body.  External Fertilization - joining of reproductive cells outside of the body.   Budding is an animal growing multiple clones off of their bodies and eventually the clones grow into adults. Fragmentation - An animal is split into fragments and the fragments form their own organism.

Animal Courtship Courtship in animals is the behavior by which different species select their partners for reproduction. Usually, the male starts the courtship, and the female chooses to either mate or reject the male based on his "performance". Many animals have mate-selection courtship rituals.

Mate Attraction Ever wonder why some animals are more colorful than others in the same species? Often times males are brighter colors than females to help attract the females to mate.

Attraction continues Males do various things to attract a female including singing, dancing, building a home, and fighting of other males.

Parenting Parenting behaviors come in a wide variety. Some animals are on their own at birth. Other animals remain with their parents until they reach a certain age. Learning skills from their parents before reaching adulthood.

Parenting An example of parenting would a hummingbird who sit on their eggs to keep the eggs warm until they hatch, known as brooding. Or a killer wales teaching their young to hunt.

Animal Migration Animal migration is the long-distance movement of individuals, usually on a seasonal basis. Migration can happen because of climate change, change in availability of food, the season of the year or for mating reasons.

Separation Sometimes only part of the population moves away from the rest. This is called separation. Take Darwin’s finches for example. All rooted from the same species separated on to different islands and eventually adapted for different food sources found on the island!

Plant Reproduction Plants have two stages of development called sporophyte ( tiny plant that makes spores) (asexual stage) and gametophyte (mature plant that makes seeds)(sexual stage). Nonvascular plants reproduce with sex cells and spores.

Plant Germination Conditions have to be acceptable to the plant in order to germinate. Plants have to have the proper amount of food sunlight and water in order to be comfortable germinating or reproducing.

Plant Germination In some cases plants even need the burning of plants to occur in order for their germination cycle to be complete.

Selective Breeding This is a process farmers can use to produce crop that adapt better to the environment. Example: Vegetables that grow in specific climate, or will produce more quantities.

Plant Helpers Plants produce pollen and nectar to fertilize other plants but how does it get there? Animals are attracted to the color and sweet food produced by the plant. In turn, pollen and sticky nectar hitch a ride on these animals such as birds and bees.