1. Habituation Loss of response to stimulus “cry-wolf” effect
learn not to respond to repeated occurrences of stimulus
Do you feel your own clothes?
Do you hear the ventilation?
“white noise”

2. Thinking & problem-solving
Do other animals think?
problem-solving
tool use
crow

3. Do other animals think & plan?

4. Social behaviors Contests for resources
develop as evolutionary adaptations
agonistic behaviors
threatening & submissive rituals
symbolic, usually no harm done

5. Social behaviors Dominance hierarchy social ranking within a group
pecking order

6. Social behaviors Altruistic behavior
reduces individual fitness but increases fitness of recipient
kin selection
Belding ground squirrel
How can this be of adaptive value?

7. Social behaviors
Territoriality
nesting in birds

8. Territoriality

9. Mating & parental behavior
Genetic influences
changes in behavior in different stages of mating
pair bonding
competitor aggression
Environmental influences
modifies behavior
quality of diet
social interactions
learning opportunities

10. Social interaction requires communication
Pheromones
chemical signal that stimulates a response from other individuals
alarm pheromones
sex pheromones

11. Pheromones Female mosquito use CO2 concentrations to locate victims
ILLEGITEMATE SIGNALER!
marking territory
The luring function of sex pheromones is a perfect way for predators to get heir prey without having to work too hard. The spider Mastophora hutchinsoni spreads sex pheromones of moths, using them as allomones. This way he can lure about enough moths to sustain. When the moths fly in, convinced they are about to mate, the spider shoots a sticky ball on wire towards them. As they stick to the ball, he drags them in and eats them.
Spider using moth sex pheromones, as allomones, to lure its prey
ILLEGITEMATE RECEIVER
The female lion lures male by spreading sex pheromones, but also by posture & movements

12. Pheromones Human pheromones?

13. Honeybee communication
Honey bee dance to communicate location of food source
waggle dance
tactile display (feel)

14. Auditory communication
Bird song
species identification & mating ritual
mixed learned & innate
critical learning period
Insect song
mating ritual & song
innate, genetically controlled
(Cicadas)
Red-winged blackbird

15. Social behaviors Cooperation
Pack of African dogs hunting wildebeest cooperatively
White pelicans “herding” school of fish

16. Colonial mammals Naked mole rats underground colony, tunnels
convergent evolution:
bees, ants, termites…
mole rats
Naked mole rats
underground colony, tunnels
queen, breeding males, non-breeding workers
hairless, blind
“Picture a hot dog that's been left in a microwave a little too long, add some buck teeth at one end, and you've got a fairly good idea of what a Naked Mole Rat looks like.”

17. Any Questions??