1. Behavioral Biology

2. Behavior – what an animal does and why it does it
Types of Behavior
Fixed Action Patterns (FAP)
unlearned (instinctive)
does not change over the course of the organisms life
once initiated (exposed to the stimulus) proceeds to completion of the behavior
triggered by a sign stimulus – external cause that brings about the behavior

3. EX: Three-spined stickleback fish – males respond aggressively to red color – found on the bottom portion of males
Graylag goose and egg rolling
Baby birds opening their mouths
Kelp gull chicks pecking beaks of parents

4. Imprinting:
learned and innate components
irreversible
has a time sensitive component
– Sensitive period – only time during the animal’s development that imprinting can occur

5. EX: baby Graylag geese following their mother
- must imprint on the mother within a certain time frame or they will not follow her around
- enhances the survival of the young
- if the correct object of imprinting is not present the animals may imprint on another organism or anything that moves away from the nest after the gosling has hatched

6. Causes of Behavior I. Genetic Influenced Behaviors: Innate Behaviors:
found in all or nearly all of a population
may be influenced by environmental conditions and/or developmental stages of an organisms life

7. Directed Movements: behaviors in response to stimuli that cause an animal to change position or location
i. Kinesis: random movement or changes in activity in response to a change in environmental conditions – may or may not move toward or away from the stimulus
ii. Taxis: directed movement toward or away from a stimulus
- phototaxis, rheotaxis, chemotaxis
- positive taxis – movement toward
- negative taxis – movement away from

8. iii. Migration:
- complex behavior
- usually stimulated by temporal stimulus
- evidenced by “migratory restlessness” in some birds
migration may be directed by different forms of navigation
a. landmarks
b. celestial bodies
- The Long Journey Home
– Monarch Butterfly Migration
c. magnetoreception

9. Animal Signals and communication
Signal – behavior that causes a change in another animal’s behavior
Communication – transmission, reception and response to signals
Signals can help preserve energy
EX: warning signals – display the potential for aggressive action

10. Methods of Communication:
Sight – diurnal
Sound – nocturnal, crepuscular and diurnal
Pheromones – nocturnal –
- typically for reproductive signaling
- mammals and insects
- often a warning signal
Minnows and catfish
Tactile
Electrical

11. II. Learning: modification of behavior based on specific experiences
Learning vs. Maturation:
a behavior that results from maturation will eventually occur
- developmental
EX: Birds flying
Learning may not happen without the proper stimuli
Learning and Maturation are linked – some learning may not occur with the correct stimuli if the proper amount of maturation has not occurred

12. Types of Learning Imprinting
Habituation: loss of responsiveness to a stimuli
“The boy who cried wolf”
Spatial Learning:
recognition of location
use of landmarks
EX: Digger wasps
Honey bees

13. Cognitive Maps: internal representation of location
EX: You are driving to school and there is a road block. In your head you figure out how to get to school.
Associative Learning: linking one stimulus to another
EX: Monarch butterflies taste bad – they are orange – orange butterflies taste bad

14. Types of Associative Learning:
Classical Conditioning: an arbitrary stimulus is associated with a reward or punishment
EX: Pavlov’s Dogs
Operant Conditioning: a behavior is reinforced or diminished by reward or punishment
EX: Skinner’s Rats – press levers and get food

15. Cognition and Problem Solving:
Cognition: ability of an animal to perceive, store, process, and use information gathered by sensory receptors
EX: recognizing patterns and colors
Problem Solving: Chimps in a room with boxes and a banana hanging from the ceiling – Chimp stacks the boxes to get the banana

16. Enhancing Survival Through Behavior
Foraging Behavior: food obtaining behavior
Optimal Foraging Theory: the amount of energy gained is maximized
- balance the energy lost by foraging and the risk of predation with the energy gained
Ex: Dodgeball
– the more energy gained, the more optimal the behavior
- the less risk of predation the better

17. Mating Behavior and Mate Choice:
- balance of energy investment:
- more offspring = less parental care = less chance of each offspring surviving (Semelparity)
- less offspring = more parental care = more chance of each offspring surviving (Iteroparity)

18. Mating Systems:
Promiscuous: no strong pair bonds or lasting relationships
Monogamous: strong pair bonds, may or may not be permanent
-males and females are usually morphologically similar
Polygamous: an individual of one sex mating with several of the opposite sex
– males and females are usually morphologically distinct
Polygany – one male with several females
– males are showy to demonstrate reproductive fitness
EX: Deer, peacocks
Polyandry – one female with several males
– females tend to be larger and more ornamented than males –
EX: frogs, sea turtles

19. Sexual Selection and Mate Choice:
Mate Choice by Females – intersexual selection - Lek
- may involve intricate displays by the males to win the attention of the females
Male Competition for Mates – intrasexual selection
- often leads to agonistic behavior
– contest to determine the right to mate
– may simply be visual and auditory displays with no contact or - may be a physical contest

20. Social Behavior: “the good of the many outweighs the good of the few or the one” - Spock
-Altruism – putting the individual at risk for another
- alarm calls at the presence of a predator
- social insects working for the queen
- naked mole rats: one queen, 3 kings
- based on the idea of Inclusive Fitness: helping out the others will ensure the survival of the species
- altruism increases according to the Coefficient of Relatedness and Kin Selection - an animal is more likely to sacrifice for a brother or aunt rather than an unrelated animal
- Reciprocal Altruism – “I’ll scratch your back if you scratch mine.”