Behavioral Ecology

types of animal communication

visual, auditory, pheremone, chemical (scent), tactile

altruism

behavior that benefits others at a cost to oneself

kin selection

behavior that lowers individuals own fitness, but increases relatives fitness

inclusive fitness

total # of copies of genes passed on through relatives/offspring

reciprocal altruism

organism provides a benefit to another expecting something in return later on

genetic relatedness

impacts the evolution of social behaviors; favors altruistic

Hamiltons Rule

predicts altruistic behavior based on genetic relatedness

polygyny

one male with many females; males fight other males

polyandry

one female with many males

monogamy

one male with one female

promiscuity

male and female have multiple partners

sexual dimorphism

physical and significant difference between the sexes

innate behaviors

behaviors your born with; fixed action patterns and migration

fixed action patterns

involuntary, automatic behavior triggered by a specific stimulus

migration

seasonal, long-distance movement driven by genetic/environmental cues

list learned behaviors

foraging, imprinting, classical conditioning, operant conditioning, cognitive learning

foraging

searching/exploiting food resources

imprinting

learing at a specific life stage where yound learn and form attachments to their parents

classical conditioning

animal learns to associate a neutral stimulus with a significant one; Pavlolv dog

operand conditioning

behavior is shaped by reward/punishment; rat pressing lever to recieve food

cognitive learning

involves understanding, problem-solving and reasoning often through observation; cimpanzees using tools to obtain food