1. Behavioral Ecology

2. Behavior Ethology- study of animal behavior Causation:
Proximate- physiological & genetic mechanisms of behavior “how”
Ultimate- evolutionary significance of behavior “why”
Sign stimulus- external sensory stimulus
Fixed action pattern (FAP)- sequence of acts; unchangeable; carried to completion
Ex: 3-spined stickleback
Aggressive behavior triggered by red underside
No response
response

3. Imprinting Both learning and innate components
Must be acquired during a certain limited phase of an organism’s development
Geese imprint and follow “mother”
Must occur within 1-2 days

4. Innate Behavior Strong genetic influence Kinesis Taxis Migration
Change in activity in response to stimulus
Taxis
Automatic oriented movement toward or away from a stimulus
Migration

5. Animal Communication Signal Communication
Behavior that causes a change in another animal’s behavior
Communication
Chemical (pheromones)
Auditory (songs, calls)

6. Learning Maturation- behavior due to developing physiological changes
Habituation- loss of responsiveness to stimuli that convey no information; simple learning
Spatial learning- use “landmarks” as location indicators
Cognitive mapping- internal representation of spatial relationships/locations
Associative learning:
Classical conditioning- Pavlov’s dogs
Operant conditioning (trial and error)- “Skinner’s box”

7. Behavioral Evolution
Behaviors are genetically based, so they can undergo natural selection
Organisms from different populations exhibit different behaviors
Prey selection
Aggression
Foraging
Migration

8. Foraging Behavior Optimal Foraging Theory
Compromise between benefits and cost of obtaining food
Energy cost
Risk of predation

9. Social Behavior Sociobiology Agonistic behavior Dominance hierarchy
evolutionary theory applied to social behavior
Agonistic behavior
contest behavior determining access to resources
Dominance hierarchy
linear “pecking order”
Territoriality
an area an individual defends excluding others

10. Mating Systems Promiscuous Monogamous Polygamous Polygyny Polyandry
no strong pair bonds
Monogamous
one male/one female
Polygamous
one with many
Polygyny
one male/many females
Polyandry
one female/many males

11. Sexual Selection Mate choice Competition between males
Female mate selection
Influenced by imprinting (traits seen in parents)
Competition between males
Aggression/ antagonistic behavior
Game theory- individuals use different strategies to obtain success

12. Altruistic behavior Inclusive fitness Coefficient of relatedness
total effect an individual has on proliferating its genes by its own offspring and aid to close relatives
Coefficient of relatedness
proportion of genes that are identical because of common ancestors
Kin selection
aiding related individuals altruistically (selflessly)
Reciprocal altruism
exchange of aid