1. Animal Behavior
Things Animals Do…

2. Animal Behavior Vocabulary
Ethology = study of animal behavior
Behavior = action performed in response
to stimulus
Stimulus = something that elicits a
response

3. Animal Behavior Vocabulary
External Stimulus =
Something outside
the animal – taken
in with senses
e.g. sound, sight,
smell, etc, presence
of another animal

4. Internal Stimulus = something inside the animal
e.g. hunger, fatigue,
feeling cold, hormones

5. Animal Behavior Vocabulary
Anthropomorphism = attributing human emotions to animals
**** We need to be careful about ascribing human emotions to animals***
E.g. the animal is happy

6. How We Behave
Cause by a mixture of the Nervous System and the Endocrine System:
Nervous System
Detects processes and integrates information about stimuli.
Commands muscles and glands to make suitable responses.
Endocrine System
Produces hormones in response to neural stimuli.
Hormones influence behavior.

7. Causes of Behavior Development
Instinctive
Performed without having been learned.
Usually triggered by simple sign stimuli.
Response is a stereotyped motor program, a fixed-action pattern.
Learned
Responses change with experience.
Some categories of learned behavior
Imprinting Spatial learning
Insight learning
Habituation
Classical conditioning
Operant conditioning

8. Causes of Behavior Development
1. Natural Selection
An animal that successfully completes
a helpful behavior survives to pass
on the behavior to offspring.
Those whose genes fit the
conditions survive.

9. Causes of Behavior Development
2. Innate Behavior
Appear in fully functional form when first performed
Performed without having been learned.
Usually triggered by simple sign stimuli.
E.g. Startle behavior – purpose = self-preservation
E.g. web building, suckling, bird begging

10. Causes of Behavior Development
3. Learning
development of behaviors through experience determines final shape of innate behaviors
Responses change with experience.
Some categories of learned behavior
Imprinting
Habituation
Conditioning

11. Types of Learning Imprinting (both innate & learned)
occurs only during a critical time frame
once learned, can’t be changed
Conrad Lorenz with ducklings
Time-dependent learning.
Triggered by exposure to a sign
stimulus during a sensitive period.

12. Types of Learning 2. Habituation
Animal learns to ignore frequent, harmless stimulus
E.g. scarecrow,
habituation to observer

13. Types of Learning 3 Classical Conditioning
Animal learns to associate unrelated response with a stimulus
E.g. Pavlov’s experiments bell ringing, food, 􀃎 salivation bell ringing, salivation (even if no food is given)

15. Conditioning Continued (Operant)
Animal learns to behave in a certain way through repeated practice
Trial & error learning – animal tests conditions for desired response
e.g. Skinner box
Animal learns that a behavior gets a certain response
e.g. rat presses lever, gets food

17. Types of Behavior 1. Foraging = feeding
e.g. locate, obtain & consume food

18. Types of Behavior 2. Parental Care = ensuring survival of young
e.g. carrying, nursing,
cuddling, holding young

19. Types of Behavior 3. Courtship = attracting a mate
e.g. courtship displays, bright feathers, songs, other vocalizations, head butting, fighting

20. Types of Behavior
4. Reproductive =
e.g. mating, giving birth

21. Types of Behavior
5. Offensive/Defensive = aggression, submissive behavior, defense from aggressors
e.g. hiding, fighting, escape, threatening

22. 6. Territorial = protect a resource for exclusive use
e.g. scenting / marking, birdsong, protection of mate / offspring, space, food or water source

23. Types of Behavior 7. Social = work to create alliances, help the group
e.g. grooming, babysitting, play, play fight
Lots of insects – bees, termites, ants

24. Social behavior Pheromones
Chemical signals that diffuse through air or water.
May bring about behavioral change in receiver or cause physiological change

25. Types of Behavior 8. Migratory = movement to a more
suitable environment as seasons
change
e.g. dry vs. rainy seasons, winter vs. summer range
for browsers & birds
e.g. salmon upriver to spawn, arctic tern – 1800 m from Arctic to Antarctic, 2x/year

26. Types of Behavior
9. Communication = signaling between one animal & another
Greeting e.g. sniff, hug, kiss “bite”
Aggression e. g. charge, bite, hit, fight, etc.
Non-aggression e.g. patting, head butting, stroking
Grooming (bonding, alliances, keeping clean)
Group hunt ( e.g. hyenas, lions)

27. Communication

28. Types of Communication
Vocalizations
e.g. bark, growl, snort, howl, hoot, chirp, whinny, alarm sound,
Non-verbal signaling
e.g. body, head, ear, & / or tail position
showing teeth, smiling, looking away,
looking directly at, gesturing, thumping,
beating chest, raising hood, drumming,
tail slap, snort, scenting,
pheromones, sign language

29. Types of Behavior
13. Play
Purpose = training for life (defense, hunting)

30. Communication Why Communicate? Defense (warn away)
Alliance (get helper or mate)
Elicit play