1. Chapter 51: Animal Behavior
Featuring Star Teachers:
Ryan O’Kane
Torpey White
and Zakk Drumm

2. 51.1 Discrete Sensory Inputs Can Stimulate Both Simple and Complex Behaviors
Ethology – the study of how animals behave in their natural environments
Four questions in understanding behavior:
What stimulus elicits the behavior, and what physiological mechanisms mediate the response?
How does the animal’s experience during growth and development influence the response?
How does the behavior aid survival and reproduction?
What is the behavior’s evolutionary history?

3. Proximate and Ultimate Causation
Proximate causation – how a behavior occurs or is modified (questions 1 and 2 on the last slide)
Ex. How do seasonal changes affect mating?
Ultimate causation – why a behavior occurs in the context of natural selection (questions 3 and 4)
Ex. Why does reproduction only take place in summer?
Behavioral ecology – the study of the ecological and evolutionary basis for animal behavior, combination of proximate and ultimate causation

4. Fixed Action Patterns
Fixed action pattern – a sequence of unlearned acts that is essentially unchangeable and, once initiated, usually carried to completion
Ex. Male three-spined stickleback fish see red and automatically attack it (experiment by Niko Tinbergen)
Sign stimulus – an external cue that triggers a fixed action pattern

6. Oriented Movement
Kinesis – a change in activity or turning rate in response to a stimulus
Sow bugs respond to humidity, becoming less active in humid areas and more active in dry areas
Taxis – an oriented movement toward or away from a stimulus
Toward the stimulus is a positive taxis and away is a negative taxis
Trout orient themselves upstream
Migration – regular, long-distance change in location
Can track position using sun, circadian clock, North Star, magnetic field

7. Behavioral Rhythms
Circadian rhythm normally synchronized with light and dark cycles, role in daily activities
Circannual rhythms – behavioral rhythms linked to the yearly cycle of seasons, still influenced by light and dark cycles
Other animals track lunar cycles
Fiddler crabs

8. Signals Signal – a stimulus transmitted from one animal to another
Communication – the transmission and reception of signals
Stimulus-response chain – the response to each stimulus is the stimulus for the next behavior

9. Forms of Communication
Visual communication – sight
Male fruit fly sees female
Chemical communication – transmission and reception of signal molecules
Female releases chemicals to attract male
Tactile communication – touch
Male taps female with foreleg
Auditory communication - sound
Male uses wings to perform courtship song

11. Bee Communication Symbolic language used to share information
Bees perform “dances” to show where and how far food sources are
Round dance used if food source close to hive, follower bees search for food
Waggle dance shows distance and direction of food relative to sun
Additional information: Figure 51.8

13. Pheromones
Pheromones – chemical substances used for communicating through odor
Common among mammals and insects for reproduction
Can reach several kilometers away
Not necessarily for reproduction
Catfish release an alarm substance when harmed to warn other fish

14. 51.2 Learning Establishes Specific Links Between Experience and Behavior
Innate behavior – behavior that is developmentally fixed and under strong genetic control
Learning – the modification of behavior based on specific experiences

15. Habituation
Habituation – a loss of responsiveness to stimuli that convey little or no new information
One of the simplest forms of learning
Stops wasting energy on stimuli that are irrelevant so animal can focus on signals of food, mates, or danger
Contributes to individual fitness

16. Imprinting
Imprinting – the formation of a long-lasting behavioral response to a particular individual or object at a specific stage in life
Contains innate and learned components
Has a sensitive period
Sensitive period (critical period) – a limited developmental phase when certain behaviors can be learned
Young imprints on parent and learns basic behaviors
Imprinting stimulus – something to which the imprinting response is directed
Greylag geese imprint on nearby object that is moving away

18. Spatial Learning
Spatial learning – the establishment of a memory that reflects the environment’s spatial structure
Wasps able to use landmarks to find nest
Cognitive map – a representation in the nervous system of the spatial relationships between objects in an animal’s surroundings
Clark’s nutcracker hides seeds at the halfway point between landmarks

19. Associative Learning
Associative learning – the ability to associate one environmental feature with another
Eating prey with a bad taste dissuades animals from eating similar looking prey
Two types of associative learning:
Classical conditioning – an arbitrary stimulus becomes associated with a particular outcome (Pavlov’s dogs)
Operant conditioning – trial and error learning, behaviors associated with a reward or punishment
Predators learn to avoid prey that have been associated with painful experiences in the past
Some features can’t be linked
Pigeons can associate color with food, but not with danger

20. Cognition and Problem Solving
Cognition – the process of knowing represented by awareness, reasoning, recollection, and judgment
Present in many animals, including insects
Problem solving – the cognitive activity of devising a method to proceed from one state to another when faced with obstacles
Highly developed in some mammals, especially primates and dolphins
Many learn to solve problems by observing others

21. Development of Learned Behaviors
Some behaviors learned in stages
White-crowned sparrows memorizes the song of its species during the sensitive period
Juvenile bird compares its own singing with the memorized song until they match and the song crystallizes

22. 51.3 development of behavior
Experience and behavior
Cross-fostering study- the young of one species is placed with parents of another species. Used for identifying environmental contributions to the development of behavior. Measured by how much a particular animal’s behavior deviates from the norm of its species.
This test was performed with mice in California. One species of mice was particularly aggressive, the other was a more passive species. When pups from each species were put with the other species, their behavior changed. In other words, the less aggressive mice became aggressive and vice versa with the other species.
A common way to test humans for genes responsible for behavior is with twin studies.
Twin study- researchers compare the behavior of twins to see if behavior is identical. The similarities are used to calculate the likely hood that behavior is controlled by genetics.

23. Regulatory genes and behavior
Scientists are searching for genes that control behavior. One gene, fru, has been shown to be responsible for male courtship rituals in fruit flies.
Fru has been labeled as a regulatory gene that controls a series of genes responsible for the actions of male courtship. It programs the fly for male courtship behavior by overseeing a male-specific wiring of the central nervous system.

24. Experiment- Charles Henry crossed two identical species of lacewings that sang different songs. He wanted to see if a single gene controlled the song. The cross resulted in a hybrid that had the chirp of one species but the interval between the chirps of the other species. Because the song has elements of both species, Charles Henry concluded that it was controlled by multiple genes.

25. Genetic based variation
Genetically based behavioral variation
Variation in migratory patterns
Study performed by Peter Berthold showed that differences in migratory patterns in the same species of birds were genetic.
Variation in prey selection
Prey choice was shown to be genetic by taking new born snakes and offering them selection of prey. They only picked pray similar to the prey of their parents and species.
Influence of single locus variation
Many genes control behavior, but a change in one can have drastic effects. One gene for behavior differs in two closely related species of voles. One causes males to care immensely for their young; in the other the males practically ignore them.

26. 51.4 sexual selection and behavior
Foraging behavior
Foraging -the act of obtaining food
Evolution of foraging behavior
In a species of fly, two genes can be expressed to control foraging behavior. It has been shown that population size dictates which one is expressed. One gene makes flies travels large distances to obtain food, this is expressed in smaller populations. In larger populations, the sitter gene is expressed. Fly that express this gene don’t travel far for food.

27. Optimal foraging behavior
Optimal foraging model- a model that describes the ideal situation of foraging for an animal.
Scientists use a cost benefit scale similar to one used in economics.
Balancing risk and reward
Many factors determine the foraging patterns of animals. The biggest consideration is predation. Foraging patterns often correlate to predation patters. Animals tend to feed where there is a low risk for predation.

28. Mating systems and Parental care
Promiscuous matting- matting that forms no lasting bonds, seen in most species.
Monogamous- one male one female
Polygamous- on individual of one sex mating with many of the other.
Polygyny- one male multiple females, most common polygamy
Polyandry- one female, multiple males
Evolutionary advantages to each, varies from species to species.
Monogamy allows one parent to gather resources and the other parent to protect the young.
Polygamy- allows for greater reproductive success. Common in species where males protect the females and the young, such as lions.

29. Monogamy

30. Polygamy

31. Polyandry

32. Mate choice by females
Selective reproduction by females usually leads to more positive traits being passed down. Such as feather color, or the size of certain appendages.
Male competition for mates
In many species, males compete for the “right” to mate.
Agonistic behavior- behavior between males that determines who gets to mate.
Game theory
Game theory- evaluates the consequences of decisions animals didn’t make when selecting for mates.

33. 51.5: How altruistic behavior fits in with Darwinian evolution
Most animal behaviors are inherently selfish.
However, many organisms will act altruistic
Altruism: -animals fitness, +population’s
Ex. Naked Mole Rat Colonies
Bees
Warning cries (book uses squirrels as example)

34. Inclusive Fitness: the total effect an individual has on proliferating its genes by producing its own offspring AND by providing aid that enables other close relatives (who share similar DNA) to survive and reproduce.
This idea of inclusive fitness is one of the simplest of reasons that altruism is evolutionarily advantageous.
Was proposed by biologist William Hamilton.

35. Kin Selection
Hamilton’s 3 key variables for altruism: Cost to altruist (C), benefit of recipient (B), and coefficient of relatedness (R).
Coefficient of relatedness (r): fraction of genes that are shared between siblings on average.
Natural Selection favors rB>C
Called ‘Hamilton’s Rule’

37. Kin Selection: the natural selection that favors altruistic behavior by enhancing reproductive success of relatives
Weakens with heredity distance; British Geneticist J.B.S. Haldane joked he would lay his life down only for 2 brothers or 8 cousins.
Explains all the previously stated altruistic behaviors in the examples.

38. More Altruism
Sometimes, especially in human behavior, organisms act out to help non related organisms.
While seems counter-productive, game theory proves it is a winning strategy: called ‘tit-for-tat’
Not in book- a recent article/study shows that ‘tit-for-tat-with-forgiveness’ is successful in the long run- explains forgiving behavior in humans.

39. Social Learning
Social Learning: type of learning that occurs through observing others
Forms the beginning of culture: as system of information transfer through social learning or teaching that influences the behavior of individuals in a population.

40. Mate-choice copying: a behavior in which individuals in a population copy the mate choice of others.
Ex. Guppies
Social Learning Ex. Vervet monkey’s warning calls

41. Sociobiology
Sociobiology: the discipline of study dealing with human culture as it is related to evolutionary theory.
Human behavior is influenced by genetics and evolution, but not as rigidly as those lower species.
We are special- says narcissistic socio-biologists everywhere.

42. Quiz Time! Essays!
These may include content we did not teach- this is what the AP Test is like. Deal with it.
2007 AP Bio Essay Form B Question 1
1. Without adaptive behaviors, animals would not survive
a. Describe what innate and learned behaviors are. Explain the adaptive value of each of these two categories of behavior to an individual animal.
b. During mating season, male snakes exhibit tracking behavior when they follow chemical pheromone trails deposited on the ground by females. Design a controlled experiment to determine whether a male garter snake will track only a female of his species or will also follow a female of a related species.

43. Now, my essay:
Its much easier, lets not make fun of me (Torpey White) for the bad question.
A. Explain and describe how animal behavior is linked to evolutionary biology. Give at least 3 examples.
B. Define Altruism. How is altruism allowable given natural selection and evolutionary forces, and explain how game theory has lead to discoveries in this field.