1. Chapter 51 ~ Behavioral Biology

2. Inheritance Influences Behavior
Behavior - any action that can be observed and described
Nature (inherited) versus nurture (environmental) questions are still debated
Genes influence development of neural and hormonal mechanisms controlling behavior
Today, most evidence points to the conclusion that most behaviors have a genetic basis

3. The Environment Influences Behavior
Fixed Action Patterns (FAP’s)
Originally assumed to be elicited by a sign stimulus
Increasingly, scientists have found this behavior to develop further after practice
Imprinting
Imitation of behavior observed during sensitive period Critical period (Lorenz, ‘73 Nobel

4. Maturation~ behavior due to developing physiological changes
Habituation~ loss of responsiveness to stimuli that convey no information; simple learning
Associative learning - Any change in behavior that involves an association between two events •classical conditioning~ Pavlov’s dogs •operant conditioning (trial and error)~“Skinner’s box”

5. The Environment Influences Behavior
Orientation and Migratory Behavior
Orientation
The ability to travel in a particular direction
Many birds use the sun or star for cues
Migration
Long-distance travel from one location to another
Ex: Starling migration
Navigation
The ability to change direction in response to environmental cues
Clues may come from the Earth’s magnetic field 5

6. Animal Communication
Some animals are largely solitary and join with a member of the opposite sex only to reproduce.
Others pair, bond, and cooperate in raising offspring.
Societies
Members are organized in a cooperative manner extending beyond sexual or parental behavior

7. Animal Communication Communicative Behavior
Communication is an action by a sender that influences the behavior of a receiver
May be purposeful, but does not have to be

8. Animal Communication Chemical Communication
Pheromones are chemical signals that are passed between members of the same species
Some animals are capable of secreting different pheromones, each with a different meaning 8

9. © Gregory G. Dimijian/Photo Researchers, Inc.
Use of a Pheromone
Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.
© Gregory G. Dimijian/Photo Researchers, Inc.

10. Animal Communication Auditory communication
Faster than chemical communication
Effective both day and night
Can be modified by loudness, pattern, repetition, and duration
Language is the ultimate auditory communication 10

11. Auditory Communication
Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display. a. 8 8 7 7 6 6 5 5
Frequency (kilocycles
per second) 4
Frequency (kilocycles
per second) 4 3 3 2 2 1 1
0.5 Seconds
0.5 Seconds
Eagle
Leopard b.
(Main): © Arco Images/GmbH/Alamy; (Inset): © Fritz Polking/Visuals Unlimited

12. Animal Communication Visual communication
Allows animals to signal others without chemical or auditory messages
Visual signals are most often used
By species that are active during the day
In contests between males who make use of threat postures
To establish dominance

13. Animal Communication Tactile Communication
Occurs when one animal touches another
Gull chicks peck at the parent’s beak in order to induce the parent to feed them
Foraging honeybees use tactile communication to impart information about the environment
Honeybees return to the hive and perform a waggle dance
The dance indicates the distance and direction of a food source

14. Social behavior
Sociobiology~ evolutionary theory applied to social behavior (Hamilton)
Agonistic behavior~ contest behavior determining access to resources
Dominance hierarchy~ linear “pecking order”
Territoriality~ an area an individual defends excluding others
Mating systems:
promiscuous~ no strong pair bonds
monogamous~ one male/one female
polygamous~ one with many
polygyny~ one male/many females
polyandry~ one female/many males

15. Altruistic behavior
Inclusive fitness~ 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
Reciprocal altruism~ exchange of aid; humans?