Animal behaviour and diversity

What are Niko Tinbergen's 4 questions?

Why did the animal respond with the behaviour?

Function and fitness consequences

Development of behaviour (ontogeny)

Evolution of Behaviour

Ontogeny

The history of development of an individual organism during its lifetime.

Biologging

The use of miniaturised animal-attached tags for logging and/or relaying data about an animal's movements, behaviours, physiology and/or environment

Biotelemetry

the remote measurement off the physiological conditions and activity/behavioural state of animals

Movement

a change in the spatial location of the whole individual over time

Stochastic

randomly determined

Sedentarism

most animals keep to their proper homes, and do not needlessly wander about

Dispersal

one way movement without return

Migration

directed, oriented movements

Aggression

Defensive posture or attack through threat or competition

Kelptoparasitism

Parasitism by theft

The laws of battle

the greater the potential reward, the greater degree of tolerated potential damage - in nature animals generally avoid injury

Mobbing

Animals join together to protect themselves or offspring

Parental care aggression

Promotes independence

Contentious

quarrelsome, inclined to argue

Amorphous behaviour

difficult to pin down a meaning - ambiguous phrases used

3 types of play

object

Locomotor

Social

Ways to avoid being eaten

Defend, Pretend, team up

Müllerian mimicry

two or more toxic species sharing common predators resemble each other

Batesian mimicry

mimic the appearance of dangerous organisms to deter predators

Pretence

Death faking mimicry

Startle mimicry - eye spots

Red Queens race

The essence of the evolutionary arms race

Benefits of grouping

Many eyes to spot danger

Dilution and confusion

More efficient at locating prey and attacking prey

More efficient problem solvers

Defend larger territory

Altruism

Cooperative behaviour

Kin selection theorist

William Hamilton - evolutionary strategy that favours the reproduction of ones relatives

Mutualism

reciprocal alturism e.g. eels and groupers

Biological market theory

Grooming is exchanged for grooming or other resources

Generalists

feed on a wide variety of food items

Specialists

feed on specific food items

Hunters

predators - rely on keen senses

Ambush predators

Use camouflage and stealth

Browsing

feed on leaves, twigs, and shoots

Basal metabolic rate

the energy spent when doing nothing

Optimal foraging theory

for individuals to maximise fitness, they should adopt a foraging strategy that provides the most benefit (energy) for the lowest cost (time, effort) maximising the net energy gained.

Marginal value theorem

predicts the optimal time to leave a resource patch based on diminishing returns.

E = average rate of resource intake

t = time spent foraging in current patch

T = travel time between patches

Diet choice models

Predicts the optimal diet composition by considering energy content and handling time of different prey items

Patch use models

Predicts how organisms should allocate their time between patches of resource to maximise their energy intake

Assumptions of optimal foraging theory

Individuals from same species in similar environments have same preferences

Predators have perfect knowledge of their environment

Predators make prey choices in the absence of competition

Developmental behaviours

innate

not learnt behaviours

Innate behaviour

genetic component hardwired; all individuals can perform the same thing

Single stimulus

non-associative - no paired stimuli

Habituation

no reaction to stimuli

Stimulus-stimulus

(associative) one stimulus results in a specific outcome

Pavlovian conditioning/classical conditioning

Appetitive stimulus

a stimulus that is pleasant

Aversive stimulus

a stimulus that is unpleasant

Contiguity is essential because

the two stimuli must be close together to learn behaviours

Response-reinforce (associative)

response is reinforced by a reward or punishment (requires continuity)

Social facilitation

Presence or activity of another animal serves to increase motivation or activity level

Local enhancement

the direction of an individual's focus to a particular part of the environment by the presence of another

Response facilitation

reaction to evolved signal e.g. alarm calling a specific danger

Autecology

study of ecology of one species

What stimulates the release of hormones?

changes in the physical and social environment

Axon

the part of the neuron that carries information away from the cell body toward other cells

What is the most common neurotransmitter?

glutamate

Detect chemicals in water

gustation

Detect chemicals in the air

olfaction

Ethology

study of animal behavior

Classical conditioning in animal behaviour

Ivan Petrovich Pavlov - e.g. food causes salivation in dogs - bell = food = salivation - at the end bell = salivation

Proximate

things that happen immediately around you - stimuli e.g. temperature

Ultimate

the best strategy or solution to achieve the trait required - the evolutionary adaptations/selection pressures

Empirical

based on observation or experiment

Who founded ethology?

Tinbergen, Lorenz, von Frisch

what are the 4 fundamental questions in behaviour?

How does the trait emerge across lifespan?

How does the trait work?

How did the trait evolve?

Why is the trait adaptive?

Characteristics of mammals

Hair

Mammary glands

Teeth

Bones have epiphyses

Diaphragm

Four chambered heart

Homeotherms

Function of hair

insulation

camouflage

signalling/warning

sensory function

3 types of mammary glands

abdominal

thoracic

inguinal

Mammalian teeth

Socketed (thecodont) and differentiated (heterodont)

mammalian classification

Subclass Prototheria

Subclass Theria

Subclass Prototheria

order monotremata - egg laying mammals - echidnas and platypus

Subclass Theria

Infraclasses Metatheria (marsupials) and Eutheria (placental animals)

Orders Didelphimorphia and Paucituberculata

The opossums

The shrew opossums

Oldest primate fossil

Archicebus achilles

55 mya

Primate groups

Prosimians

Anthropoidea

Prosimians

Lemuriformes (lemurs)

Lorisiformes (bush babies)

Anthropoidea

Tarisiiformes (tarsiers)

Platyrrhini (new world simians) - Cebidae (true monkeys), Callitrichidae (marmosets and tamarins)

Cataarrhini (old world simians) - Cercopithecoidea (OW monkeys)

Hominoids (apes and humans)

how much of our alleles to humans share with chimps?

98%

Hominids 5.8-5.2 mya

Ardipithecus kadabba

Hominid 4.4 mya

Ardipithecus ramidus

Australopithecus afarensis

Hominid - 2.9-39 mya

900000 years of species survival

homo habilis

Hominid 2.4-1.4 mya

Homo erectus

1.9 mya - 143000 years ago - rafts/fire -greater intelligence

Homo neanderthalensis

400,000 - 40,000 years ago closest extinct human relative

Homo sapiens

100,000 years ago - present - increased brain size

When did tetrapods evolve?

365 mya

problems with living in freshwater

oxygen depletion

often choked with logs/weeds

more likely to dry up than oceans

lakes can get starved of food

Challenges of colonising land

gravity

desiccation

respiration

locomotion

senses

What were the early tetrapods?

amphibians

Labyrinthodonts - skull bones like fish

no attachment of hip to vertebral column

no ankles

lateral line system

What was the largest early tetrapod?

Prionosuchus plummeri - 9 meters

Class amphibia characteristics

Multiple respiration methods

Permeable skin

Glands - mucous and granular glands (poison)

Senses

Teeth modifications

Amphibious gas exchange

Gills - as aquatic larvae

Cutaneous - through skin

Buccopharyngeal - the lining in the mouth

Pulmonary - simplified lungs

What are nares?

Nares is the anatomical term for nostrils.

Amphibia groups

Gymnophiona - caecilians

Caudata - salamanders and newts

Anura - frogs and toads

Gymnophiona

legless, aquatic, burrowing

Blind as adults

Sensory tentacles

Caudata

all have elongated trunks and tails

4 equal sized legs

Anura

Hind limbs longer than forelimbs

Short bodies, large heads

Anura breeding

explosive breeding - large aggregations - few days

Prolonged breeders - months - strong mate choice

Amplexus - embrace of male and female frog - brings cloacae in close proximity

Reptile characteristics

Lay hard-shelled eggs

Bodies covered in scales

Clawed toes

Ectothermic/. poikilothermic metabolism

Lack of feathers or hair

heart with partially divided ventricle

Respire solely with lungs

The amniotic egg

Amnion - cushions embryo

Yolk sac - contains food

Allantois - stores waste; gas exchange with embryo

Chorion - allows O2 and CO2 through the shell

Reptile reproduction

Internal fertilisation

Oviparous and some ovoviviparous/viviparous

mostly no care for young

How do scales develop?

They develop as surface cells that fill with keratin