1. Animal Behavior
Chapter 51

2. I. Behavioral Ecology
Def: The study of how specific behaviors increase reproductive success
Learned behavior (nurture) – environmental and ecological basis
Innate behavior (nature) – genetic and evolutionary basis
Natural selection favors a behavioral phenotype
Genotypes that do not increase fitness eliminated from gene pool
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3. II. Types of Behavior Instinct: Inherited, __________ behavior innate
FAP (_____ _____ _______): Sequence of behavior that is unchangeable and carried to completion once started
External sign stimulus triggers FAP
Ex. Stickleback fish
Ex. Greylag goose
innate
fixed action pattern
Male aggressiveness in stickleback fish; red sign stimulus Greylag goose retrieves any round object resembling egg

4. II. Types of Behavior
c) Habituation: loss of responsiveness to stimuli that convey little or no information
simple form of ___________
Ex. Sea Anemones
d) Imprinting: learning that is limited to a very specific _____ _____ of an animal’s life
Irreversible
Imprinting stimulus
Ex. Salmon
Ex. Ducklings
Ex. Whooping Cranes
learning
critical period
Salmon imprint on odor to find birthplate; geese and whooping cranes imprint on any 1st moving object
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5. II. Types of Behavior
e) Associative Learning: ability of animals to associate one stimulus w/ another
Classical Conditioning (arbitrary stimulus)
Ex. Pavlov’s Dog
Operant Conditioning (Trial and Error)
Ex. B.F. Skinner’s rats
f) Observational Learning – modeling
g) Spatial Learning – memory of environment’s spatial structure
h) Insight – cognition and problem solving
i) Prior experience helps an animal exposed to a new situation
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6. III. Oriented Movement
Kinesis: an undirected change in speed of an animal’s movement in response to a stimulus
Taxis: a directed movement in response to a stimulus
Migration: long-distance seasonal mvmt

7. IV. Social Behavior
Evolved to optimize individual fitness

8. IV. Animal Signals and Communication
Important for species recognition, mating, organizing social behavior
Occurs through visual, auditory, tactile, and chemical means (pheromones)

9. V. Social Behavior Agnostic behavior (aggression and submission)
ritualized contests
determines who gains resources
food, mates
Can be psychological rather than physical
Establishes dominance hierarchies (pecking order and territoriality
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10. V. Social Behavior b) Altruistic Behavior
selfless and/or sacrificial behavior that seemingly reduce the fitness of the individual…
increases inclusive fitness = the fitness of relatives who share identical genes
Natural selection that favors altruistic behavior =
Kin Selection