Transcript Animal Behavior

Animal Behavior
Ethology
• Study of how animals behave
• 4 main questions
1. What stimulus elicits a behavior and what
physiological mechanisms mediate a response?
2. How does the animals experiences during
development influence the response
3. How does the behavior aid survival and reproduction
4. What is the behaviors evolutionary basis.
Behavioral Ecology
• Study of the ecological and evolutionary basis
of behavior
• Proximate cause – focuses on immediate
causality (how it happens)
• Ultimate cause – focuses on the bigger picture
(why it is evolutionarily beneficial)
Movement
• Kinesis – change in activity due to a stimulus
• Taxis – orientation towards or away from a
stimulus
Migration
• Migration – a long distance change of locations
done at regular intervals
• Usually stimulated by seasonal changes
• Use the sun, north star, or the earth magnetic
field
Rhythms
• Circadian rhythms – daily cycles (rest, eating,
etc), usually regulated by light and dark
• Circannual rhythms – yearly cycles usually
linked to seasons.
• Cortisol, released by the adrenal gland
Signaling
• Usually, visually, chemical, or auditory
Instincts
• Innate behavior – fixed
behaviors that all the
animals in a population
are born with (instinct)
• Fixed action pattern –
a sequence of innate
behaviors initiated by
a stimulus.
Learning
• Habituation – a reduction or loss of reaction to a
stimuli (crying wolf)
Imprinting
• Imprinting – a life long reaction or bond to an
object or individual created at a young age
• Usually a baby raised by a different species
mistakenly believes he is of that species
Spatial Learning
• Spatial learning – able
to remember the
structures in
an environment
(using landmarks)
Cognitive Maps
• Cognitive maps – a memorized mental
representation (map) of an environment. (do not
have to rely on land marks.
Associative Learning
• Associative learning – the ability to connect two
environmental factors as being related (color
and taste)
• Classical and operant learning
Classical conditioning
• Classical conditioning – a stimulus elicits a
response
• Povlov’s dog – ringing a dinner bell before
dinner causes the dog to salivate without food
being present
Operant Conditioning
• Operant conditioning – an animal connects his
behavior with a good or bad response (trial and
error)
• Pups or cubs with porcupines
Cognition
• Cognition – the ability to think, reason and
process information.
• Cognition can be used to problem solve
Selection and Survival
• Most behaviors are ultimately formed by natural
selection for survival and reproduction
Foraging
• Foraging – activities and strategies an animal
uses for survival.
• optimal foraging model – benefits should
outweigh costs
Fight or Flight
• The decision to fight or run is also measured by
risk and reward (benefits should out weight
costs)
Mating Systems
• Promiscuous – no mating bonds
• Monogamous – strong bond forms one male
one female for a long period
• Polygamous – one sex mates with others
Polygyny –the males mate with many females
Polyandry – the females mate with many males
Antagonistic behavior
• Competition to gain access to a resource.
Game theory
• Evaluates the success of strategies used when
the strategies depend on other strategies
(paper, rock, scissors.)
• Orange aggressive, blue small territory, yellow
sneaky
Altruism
• Altruism- animals reduces their individual
fitness to increase the population fitness
• Inclusive fitness – total of an individual getting
their genes into the next generation through
their own offspring or a relatives offspring.
• Kin selection – selection favors altruism
Social Learning
• Social learning – an individual learns by
copying the behavior of a more experienced
individual.
• This breeds culture.
• Passes behavior
to increase fitness
Mate choice copying
• Mate choice copying – females choose mates
that other females find attractive