Animal Behavior

What is behavior? Behavior is anything an animal does in response to a stimulus in its environment Environmental cues, such as change of temperature and the length of daylight Heat is a stimulus for the lizard to seek shade Change in temp and day length is a stimulus for a whale to leave the summer time habitat in the artic

Innate Behavior Inborn behavior- programmed by genes Fixed-Action Patterns Unchanged sequence of patterns Triggered by a particular stimulus Often involved activities critical for survival Rhythms of Behavior-Biological Clock Circadian rhythm~24 hour cycle Nocturnal vs diurnal Tidal seasonal

Automatic responses to stimuli Reflex- simplest form of innate behavior A reflex is a simple, automatic response that involves no conscious control Blinking , moving your hand from something hot Fight or flight response- mobilized the body for greater activity Body is prepared for danger Automatic and controlled by internal chemical mechanisms Being scared- heart rate increase

Instinctive Behavior Patterns An instinct is a complex pattern of innate behavior A reflex can happen in less then a second while instinctive behavior patterns may have several parts and may take weeks to complete sea gulls Instinctive behavior begins when the animal recognizes a stimulus and continues until all parts of the behavior have been preformed

Taxis In taxis, the animal moves toward or away from a stimulus. Taxis is often exhibited when the stimulus is light, heat, moisture, sound, or chemicals Example: Wood louse and humidity seeking behavior Living in humid areas required for survival Prolonged exposure to dry air = death General Tendency to keep moving in dry and stop when in moist Only senses humidity of present location

Other types of instinctive behavior patterns Courtship behavior Territorial Aggression Dominance of hierarchy (submission) Internal and external cues Circadian rhythm, migration, hibernation, estivation

Instinctive Behavior Patterns continues Courtship behavior ensures reproduction Courtship behavior- is a behavior that males and females of a species carry out before matting Helps them recognize other members of their species Why is this important?

Territoriality reduces competition Chipmunks chasing chipmunks from bird feeders The chipmunk is defending his territory A territory is a physical space an animals defends against other members of its species Contains the animals breeding area, feeding area, and potential mates Territorial behavior has survival value for both the animal and the species… why?

Aggression threatens other animals Aggression is behavior that us used to intimidate another animal Animals fight or threaten one another in order to defend their young, territory, resources Behavior includes birds singing, teeth baring, growling

Submission leads to dominance Think of having a younger or older sibling? Who wins when you argue? Usually the older or stronger wins. With animals aggressive behavior may occur in groups. In these groups there may be different levels of dominant and submissive animals. A dominance hierarchy is a form of social ranking in which some individuals are more subordinate then others.

submission In a group normally one animal is top-ranking Leads others to food, water and shelter Dominate males father most of the offspring In groups there are different levels of dominance think pecking order

Behavior resulting from internal and external cues Some behavior is based on a 24 hour day/night cycle What are some examples of this? The 24 hour, light-regulated, sleep/wake cycle of behavior is called circadian rhythm. Keeps you alert during day Relaxing you at night Works when you forget to set your alarm Rhythm is controlled by genes yet are influenced by jet lag and work conditions

More on rhythms Occurs on a yearly or seasonal cycle Migration= seasonal Migration= instinctive, seasonal movement of animals Birds Whales Change in day length triggers migration Learned and natural behavior Young animals learn when and how from their parents

Other types of internal and external cues Hibernation A state of inactivity where body temperature drops a lot, breathing slows. Happens in cold environments Conserves energy Animals will eat a lot before they hibernate Storage of fat provides fuel for body. Estivation State of reduced metabolism that occurs in animals living in conditions of intense heat. Animals that lack food or water will experience this

33.2 Learned Behavior

What is learned behavior? When behavior changes because of practice or experience. More complex brains can learn more Innate behaviors (the ones we already talked about) are more common in invertebrates and learned behaviors are more common in vertebrates

Why is learning important? Survival Animals can respond to changing conditions Allows animals to adapt to change Important for animals with long life spans. Longer you live the greater chance of the environment changing

Classical Conditioning Kinds of Learned BEHAVIOR Habituation Imprinting Trial & Error Classical Conditioning Insight

Habituation: A simple form of learning A lack of a response Ex horses not being effected by cars Occurs when an animal is repeatedly give a stimulus that is not associated with any punishment or reward

Imprinting: A permanent attachment Form of learning in which an animal at a specific critical time in its life forms a social attachment to another object Ex- ducklings following their mom Only occurs at a specific time in life Is irreversible

Learning by trial and error Repeating many times to become successful An animal receives an award for a particular response Happens best with motivation An internal need that causes an animal to act, and it is necessary for learning to take place

Classical Conditioning Learning by association Sound of the can opener calling your pet The pet has been conditioned to respond to a stimulus other then the smell of food. Classical conditioning is learning by association. Pavlov’s dog

Insight The most complex type of learning Problem solving An animal uses previous experience to respond to a new situation.

Plant responses

Plant Hormones Hormones Regulate growth and development They are a chemical that is produced in one part of an organism and is transported to another part, where is causes a physiological change Only a small amount of hormone is needed to make a change

Important hormones Ethylene Gibberellins Cytokinins ***Auxins ripening Increases size of stems & fruit Cytokinins Stimulate cell division Cause dormant seeds to grow ***Auxins Stimulate cell elongation

Tropic responses in plants Tropism is a plant’s response to an external stimulus The tropism is called positive if the plant grows toward the stimulus The tropism is called negative if the plant grows away from the stimulus

Phototropism Young Plant Shoots Bending Toward Light Caused by uneven distribution of auxin in plants system More auxin on side away from plant.

Gravitropic response Associated with upward growth of stems and the downward growth of roots Plants response to gravity

Thigmotropism Response to touch

Nastic response Responsive movement of a plant that is not dependent on the direction of the stimulus Ex Venus-fly trap