Animal Behavior Archer fish and acorn woodpeckers

Objectives Define behavior Be familiar with the range of animal behavior Understand the methods that ethologists use to study behavior Employ some of these methods to make your own observations of behavior

Definitions Behavior is the response of an animal to environmental stimuli The study of behavior is called ethology Ethologists are interested both in proximate and ultimate reasons for behaviors

Ethology Evolution Psychology Ecology Behavior Genetics Physiology Ethology encompasses all aspects of biology Genetics Physiology

Behavior and genetics Innate behaviors: stereotyped behaviors that are based on preset neural pathways and are evoked by a key stimulus Learned behavior: a behavior the animal has developed based on its experience with a particular stimulus Konrad Lorenz had greylag geese imprint on his boots after hatching

Behavior, Ecology, and Evolution Behavioral ecology is the study of the adaptive values of certain behaviors Since behaviors affect fitness and often have a genetic component, behaviors can evolve!!! Bottlenose dolphins “bubble netting” to feed

Types of behaviors Migratory behavior Territorial behavior Animal communication Reproductive behavior Social behavior Foraging behavior

Migratory Behavior Migration: long, two-way movements of animals, usually seasonal Precise migration patterns and highly specific destinations Purely innate in some; appears to be some learning involved in others.

Territorial Behavior Any behavior designed to maintain an animal’s exclusive use of an area. Territorial behavior is costly Energy Predation Competition Red winged black bird displaying Why? Increased food availability or foraging area Exclusive access to mates (increased reproductive success) Safety

Reproductive Behavior Reproductive strategy: behaviors that maximize its reproductive success. (Typically costly) Bowerbird- males steal blue objects to beautify their nest to win ladies Peacock- displaying his fine tail for ladies to see Elk- male-male combat

Social Systems Social groups Pros of sociality Cons of sociality Shared food sources Kin selection Protection from predation Larger prey items Cons of sociality Sharing or competing for resources Disease Musk ox

Social Systems Eusociality-multigenerational family groups in which the vast majority of individuals cooperate to aid relatively few (or even a single) reproductive group members. Invertebrates: hymenopterans (ants, bees) isopterans (termites) homopterans (aphids) Vertebrates naked mole rats Other social systems are highly variable in composition and seasonality Eusociality, an extensively studied social system, is displayed in three main insect orders: Hymenoptera-ants, bees, wasps, Isoptera -termites, and Homoptera -aphids. Eusocial insects are recognized by three main characteristics:1. The mother, along with individuals that may or may not be directly related, conducts cooperative care of young. 2. A reproductive division of labor evolves from sterile castes which often have certain propensities or characteristics associated with helping behavior. 3. There is an overlapping of generations which allows for the older generations of offspring to help related, younger generations.

Foraging Behavior Maximize efficiency Are innate, but may be altered by: ecology season predator, conspecificity, or food abundance Can be dangerous and time consuming

Animal Cognition “Thinking” includes problem-solving, planning, deception, and predator-specific vocabulary Some animals exhibiting relatively high cognition Chimps Corvids (ravens, crows) Octopi Question: Do animals think? Raven that learned to open his cage, let himself out, eat all the other birds food and lock the door when he went back in Chimpanzee using stick to fish for termites

Observational Methods Ad Libitum – take notes on everything you see Focal Sampling – one animal, observing a defined set of behaviors Instantaneous/Scan Sampling – at set time points, note behaviors of one or more animals All occurrences – one behavior, note every time it is performed Each method has advantages and disadvantages and can cause different biases. “Ethogram”

Today’s Experiment We will test habitat selection in isopods, and foraging preferences in crickets

Pillbug Taxis Treatment A Treatment B Phototaxis Chemotaxis Hydrotaxis

Cricket Apparatus - Food preference Hunger Illumination

Next Week Behavior Lab Report Due Quiz Ecology Lab Recreate tables or make a graph of pillbug experiments Create table or graph with cricket food preferences Attach sketch, but include observations and experiment formulation in the appropriate sections in your lab report. Quiz Ecology Lab Due at end of lab next week! Remember to print out lab manual You must come prepared & have read your lab