1. CAMPBELL & REECE CHAPTER 51
ANIMAL BEHAVIOR
CAMPBELL & REECE
CHAPTER 51

2. ANIMAL BEHAVIOR
a behavior is an action carried out by muscles under control of the nervous system in response to a stimulus

3. Behavior over time is subject to natural selection
understanding any behavior requires answering 4 ?s
What stimulus elicits the behavior, & what physiological mechanisms mediate the response?
How does the animal’s experience during growth & development influence the response?
How does the behavior aid survival & reproduction?
What is the behavior’s evolutionary history?

4. Behavioral Ecology
study of the ecological & evolutionary basis for animal behavior

5. Fixed Action Patterns
sequence of unlearned acts directly linked to a simple stimulus
are essentially unchangeable
once started, they continue to completion
sign stimulus: the trigger for the behavior

7. Migration a regular long-distance change in location
animals use environmental stimuli to provide cues to trigger behavior
some animals track their position relative to the Sun (even though Sun’s position relative to Earth changes thru out the day)

8. Migration
animals adjust to changes in Sun’s or stars position by means of circadian clock
some use magnetic fields (pigeons & some fishes)

9. Behavioral Rhythms linked to seasons called: circannual rhythms
influenced by periods of daylight & darkness in the environment
birds exposed to artificial light simulating longer daylight hrs will start to migrate

10. Behavioral Rhythms not all are linked to light/dark
male fiddler crab waves large claw to attract mates using signal of full or new moon

11. Animal Signals & Communication
a stimulus transmitted from 1 animal to another is called a signal
transmission & reception of signals constitutes animal communication

12. Forms of Animal Communication
4 common modes of animal communication:
Visual
Chemical
Tactile
Auditory

13. Forms of Animal Communication
courtship behavior of Drosophila melanogaster
is a stimulus-response chain (response to each stimulus is the stimulus for next behavior

14. Symbolic Language of the Honeybee

15. Pheromones
chemical substances released by animals that communicate thru odors or tastes
common among mammals & insects
often related to reproductive behavior

17. Pheromones as Alarm Signals
in fish: if 1 injured  injured cells release substance that increases vigilance of other fish  school becomes more tightly packed  move to lake or river bottom where they are safer

19. Innate Behavior
animal behavior that is developmentally fixed & under strong genetic control
it is exhibited in virtually same form in all individuals in a population despite internal & external environmental differences during development & thru out their lifetimes

20. Experience & Behavior How do researchers test the 2nd ?:
How an animal’s experience during growth & development influence the response to stimuli?

21. Cross-Fostering Study
young of 1 species placed under the care of adults from another species
these studies can be used to measure the influence of social environment & experience on behavior

23. Human Twin Studies
compare behaviors of identical twins raised apart with those raised in same household
studies have revealed nature & nuture both contribute significantly

24. Learning
modification of behavior based on specific experiences

25. Imprinting
formation at a specific stage in life of a long-lasting behavioral response to a specific individual or object
distinguished from other types of learning by having a sensitive period or critical period: a limited developmental phase when this type of learning can occur

26. Imprinting during the sensitive period:
the young imprint on their parent & learn basic behaviors of their species
parents learn to recognize their offspring

27. Imprinting birds have no innate recognition of “mother”
they identify with the 1st object they encounter that has certain key characteristics (like any object that is moving away from them)

28. Greylag Geese Imprinting of Lorenz: 1933

29. Saving the Whooping Cranes

31. Spatial Learning
establishment of a memory that reflects the environment’s spatial structure
studied digger wasps:
Mother covers entrance with sand when leaves nest..always comes right back to it
hypothesized she locates her nest by learning its position relative to local landmarks

32. Digger Wasp Study

33. Cognitive Map
some animals guide their activity using a cognitive map: a representation in the nervous system of the spatial relationships between objects in an animal’s surroundings
these animals can navigate more flexibly & efficiently by relating landmark positions to one another

34. Associative Learning
ability to associate 1 environmental feature (like color) with another (foul taste)

35. Associative Learning
suited to lab studies because usually involves classical conditioning or operant conditioning

36. Classical Conditioning
an arbitrary stimulus becomes associated with a particular outcome

37. Operant Conditioning aka “trial-and –error” learning
animal learns to associate one of its behaviors with a reward or punishment & then tends to repeat or avoid that behavior

39. Associative Learning & Evolution
makes sense that some animals cannot learn to make particular connections…
associations animals make typically reflect relationships likely to occur in nature
associations that cannot be formed are those unlikely to be of selective advantage in a native environment

40. Cognition process of knowing that involves: awareness reasoning
recollection
judgement

41. Cognition
has been thought that only humans, higher apes & marine mammals
but...some insects & many other groups of animals have demonstrated some levels of cognition in lab experiments

42. Problem Solving
the cognitive activity of devising a method to proceed from 1 state to another in the face of real or apparent obstacles
varies with individual experience & abilities

43. Development of Learned Behaviors
some birds learn their songs in stages (during a sensitive period)
young sparrow does not sing but memorizes adult songs
followed by a 2nd learning phase when juvenile bird sings tentative notes called a subsong
juvenile bird compares his subsong to adult song..when he has it right the song “crystallizes”…bird will only sing that song rest of life

44. Social Learning
modification of behavior thru observation of other individuals
young chimps learn to crack nuts by watching their elders
young vervet monkeys learn correct use of alarm calls by (+) reinforcement from elders

45. Social Learning
forms the roots of culture (a system of information transfer thru social learning or teaching that influences the behavior of individuals in a population)
can change behavior and thereby influence the fitness of individuals

47. Foraging Behavior food-obtaining behavior
an optimal foraging model is based on the idea that natural selection should favor the foraging behavior that minimizes the costs of foraging & maximizes the benefits

49. Mating Behavior & Mate Choice
mating behavior & mate choice play a major role in determining reproductive success
includes:
seeking or attracting mates
choosing among potential mates
competing for mates
caring for offspring

50. Mating Systems
vary with regard to both the length & # of relationships
Promiscuous: no strong pair-bonds
Monogamous: mates remain together for longer periods of time
Polygamous: an individual of one sex mating with several of the opposite sex

51. Sexual Dimorphism extent to which makes & females differ in appearance
typically varies with type of mating system
monogamous: male & females alike
polygamous: male much showier than females

52. Mating Systems & Parental Care
needs of the young greatly influences the evolution of mating systems
young birds require a large amount of food: having a single mom would greatly reduce survival chances…probably why most birds are monogamous

53. Certainty of Paternity
influences mating behavior & parental care
certainty of paternity generally low in most species
may explain why exclusively male parental care is rare in mammals & birds

55. Certainty of Paternity
is high when egg laying & mating occur at same time
external fertilization
fishes: parental care just as likely to be male parent as female parent

56. Certainty of Paternity
does not mean that animals are aware of those factors when they behave a certain way…parental behavior correlates with certainty of paternity because it has been reinforced over generations by natural selection

57. Sexual Selection
influences the degree of sexual dimorphism w/in a species
intersexual selection: 1 sex choose mates on basis of characteristics of other sex
1 with best song, or dance
intrasexual selection: competition between members of 1 sex for mates

58. Mate Choice by Females
may play central role in evolution of male behavior & anatomy thru intersexual selection

59. Mate Choice Copying
behavior in which individuals in a population copy the mate choice of others
female guppies prefer mates that are ass’c with another female & they prefer male guppies with more orange coloration

60. Male Competition for Mates
may involve agonistic behavior: males have a competition..winner gets the female
does not seem to affect genetic variation

61. Game Theory
evaluates alternative strategies in situations where the outcome depends on the strategies of all individuals involved
provides a way to think about complex evolutionary problems in which relative performance (reproductive success compared to other phenotypes), not absolute performance is the key to understanding evolution of behaviors.

64. Genetic Basis of Behavior
studies in insects have revealed existence of regulatory genes that control complex behavior

65. Courtship Songs of Insects
found to be under influence of multiple genes as are other specific behaviors
variations in these multiple genes brings about variation in behavior

66. Voles Study: Closely Related Species
single gene variations can determine differences in complex behaviors involved in both mating & parenting
increasing amt of vasopressin receptors in males changed their mating & parenting behaviors

67. Genetic Variation & Evolution of Behavior
significant differences can also be found among members of same species
coastal garter snakes will prey on banana slugs & inland garter snakes will not a genetically acquired taste

68. Genetic Variation in Western Garter Snake
turns out the inland western garter snake cannot detect the odor of the banana slug
hypothesis: 10,000 yrs ago when garter snake 1st inhabited coastal area those who could smell the plentiful banana slug higher fitness so their #s increased in coastal area
inland where # of slugs much less, that advantage gone

69. Variation in Migratory Patterns
Blackcap warbler:
1st migratory pattern: Germany  Africa
1950’s some Germany  Britain
behavior change rapid
researchers showed the different patterns reflected a genetic variation

71. Altruism selflessness
decreases an individual’s fitness but increases the fitness of others in the population
explained by concept of inclusive fitness

72. Inclusive Fitness
the total effect an individual has on proliferating its genes by producing its own offspring and by providing aid that enables close relatives to produce offspring

73. 3 Key Variables in Act of Altruism
Benefit to the Recipient
Cost to the Altruist
Coefficient of Relatedness (r) = fraction of shared genes
natural selection will favor altruism when (benefit to recipient) x (r) > (cost to altruist) = Hamilton’s Rule

74. altruistic behavior toward unrelated individuals can be adaptive if the aided individual returns the favor in the future
exchange of favors called reciprical altruism

76. Sociobiology
study of how human nature is related to evolutionary behavior
premise: certain behavioral characteristics exist because they are expressions of genes that have perpetuated by natural selection
Debate that is ongoing