1. Animal Behavior
Chapter 45

2. Behavior What an animal does and how it does it
Proximate causation – “how”
environmental stimuli, genetics, anatomy and physiology
Ultimate causation – “why”
evolutionary significance of the behavior
Survival and reproduction

4. Example
Observation – Blue gill sunfish breed in spring and early summer
Proximate cause – breeding is triggered by day length activating the pineal gland
Pineal gland regulates sleep and cycles
Ultimate cause –reproductive success is greater when temperature is optimal and food is abundant

5. Ethology
The study of how animals behave in their natural environments

6. Instinct Innate – behavior that is genetically fixed
Inherited circuitry that guides behavior
Example – Dogs digging and burying food
Example – waggle dance of bees

7. FAP
Fixed Action Pattern – unlearned behavior act (instinct) that is unchangeable and once initiated is carried to completion
Sign stimulus – external stimulus required to trigger the response
Example – Protective behavior of hen turkeys
FAP – mothering behavior
Sign stimulus – cheeping sounds of chicks
Deaf hen turkey = no mothering  kills chicks

8. Imprinting
Behavior that involves learned and innate components and once done is irreversible
Sensitive (critical) period – time during which the behaviors must be learned.
Example – Geese
Young geese will follow their mother and learn her behaviors
Lorenz experiments – geese imprinted on him instead of their mother
Example – Gulls
If parent does not bond will offspring during the first 2 day she will not recognize them as her own and they will most likely not survive.

9. Nature vs. Nurture Nature – genetic component
Nurture – environmental component
Both affect behavior
Innate behaviors – STRONG genetic component yet still requires an environment to be expressed

10. Movement
Kinesis – change in activity or turning rate in response to a stimulus
Taxis – automatic orientation toward or away from a stimulus
Positive taxis – toward the stimulus
Negative taxis – away from the stimulus
Migration – movement over long distances
Sandpipers move away from water as the wave comes in

11. Migration Behaviors
Piloting – moves from one familiar location to another until it reaches its destination
Orientation – can detect compass directions and travels in a straight line until the destination is reached
Navigation – uses current location and compass directions to determine what direction to go

12. Communication Signal – behavior that elicits a response
Transmission, reception, and response to the signal = communication
Chemical – pheromones
Different species have heightened senses which are used for communication.
Visual
Auditory
Tactile

13. Learning Modification of behavior based on specific experiences
Habituation – learning to ignore irrelevant stimuli
“Cry wolf”
Imprinting – sensitive “critical” time period
Maturation – development of neuromuscular system that allows for behavioral improvement
Birds “learning to fly” – wings must mature first

14. Associative Learning
Ability of an animal to associate one stimulus with another event or outcome
Classical conditioning – learning through repeated instances
Pavlov’s dogs – ringing a bell induced salivation in dogs even when there was no food
External neutral stimulus begins to have meaning
Operant conditioning – trial and error learning
Reward system – animals behavior determines

16. Animal Cognition
The ability of an animals nervous system to perceive and make judgments about its environment
Insight learning – reasoning or innovation
problem solving
Ability to approach a new problem and figure out a way to deal with it

17. Feeding Behavior Foraging – essential to survival and reproduction
Herds, flocks, packs, and schools
Generalists – optimal foraging
Choose the most nutritious available that will be the least energetically expensive to consume
Specialists - highly adaptive behaviors specific for their food

18. Social Behavior
Interaction between 2 or more animals usually within the same species
Agnostic – aggressive or submissive
Competition for a resource or mate
Dominance hierarchy – top ranking system
Pecking order of hens – top hen controls the rest
Wolves – top female allows other to mate when food is abundant
Only she mates if food is scarce

19. Social Behavior
Territoriality – defending and excluding other individuals
Used for feeding, mating, raising young
Altruistic – behaviors the reduce the fitness of the organism and increase another’s fitness
Kin selection – family members tend to be more altruistic to one another
Coefficient of relatedness

20. Mating Systems Promiscuous – no strong bond between members
Monogamous – one male and one female mate for long periods of time
Polygamous – one individual mates with many
Polygyny – one male w/ many females
Polyandry – one female w/ many males