Transcript Ch. 36-Animal Behavior

Animal Behavior
CH. 36
Activities that animals perform during
lifetime to survive and reproduce- (THE
MAIN GOAL OF LIVING THINGS)
Some behaviors
1. locomotion
2. Feeding
3. Capturing Prey
4. Avoidance of predators
5. Social Behaviors
Different Approaches to studying animal
behavior
1. Comparative psychology- study of how animals receive
information through the study of genetics, neurology, and
hormones.
2. Ethology- study of the evolution of animal behavior.
(studies closely related species to discover origin of
behaviors.)
3. study of ecological aspects
Studying predator-prey interactions, habitat selection,
competition and how they relate to ecology.
4. Sociobiology- studies evolution of social behaviors within
a species/ natural selection
Factors that affect behavior
Genes- must code for normal development
2. Environment – proper nourishment, water, etc.
3. maturation – development of nervous system, etc.
4. instinct-predictable- genetically programmed
behavior/ learning interactions
5. imprinting- young develop attachment toward
another animal.
1.
Examples #4, and #5
4. Squirrels- if not taught, they are not efficient
Lions- if not taught, may attack prey but not kill
effectively
5.Canada Geese will follow a human like their mother
Condor- caretakers use puppet to feed babies so they
remain wild.
Instincts
#4. ex Cats using litter box. (well, except for my cat
)
Mothers finding a safe place to have babies.
Learning
Change sometimes takes place after a positive or negative
experience
EX:
1. Birds ignoring people in city (habituation)
2. Classical Conditioning (Ivan Pavlov)
3. Trial and Error – Great white sharks returning to certain
areas because they have learned that seals are plentiful
during certain times of the year.
Internal Control of Behavior
Nervous system: acts as a stimulus filter to ensure appropriate
responses.
Example: sugar receptors on the feet tell the blowfly to eat;
swell receptors in the foregut tell the blowfly to stop eating.
1.
2. Endocrine system: external stimuli can trigger the release of
hormones
Example: when threatened, male fish change color which
preludes aggressive behavior.
3.
Communication via the five senses: sight, sound, touch,
taste and smell.
4. Chemical communication: chemicals called pheromones
affect the behavior of other members of the same species.
Examples: males mark their territory to keep other males
away; females in heat signal to the males