Exam 3 - Rogers UARK Animal Behavior

Spacing Behavior

The actions of an animal in relation to its nearness or distance from conspecifics

Individual Space

Moves with the animal

Home range/territory

Static area utilized by the animal

Exceptions to Spacing Behavior

Sexual behaviors, maternal behaviors, aggressive behaviors

Flight distance/Zone

The radius of space in which the animal will not voluntarily permit the intrusion of man or other animals that might be dangerous without escaping

Primary Motivation for Spacing

Food/eatingS

Secondary Motivation for Spacing

Protection of food source - defending territory

Agnostic (Aggressive) behavior

defensiveness, threatening, or attack

Home Range

Learned area in which the animal moves about, habitually utilized

Territory

Area that is actively defended, may not be permanent

Indvidual Space

The minimum distance within which approach elicits avoidance or attack

Spatial Features

Animals may select or avoid certain areas based on importance or implications of environmental features (edge of a river, woods, cliff, caves, open space, tall trees, etc.)

Avoidance

The inverse response to agnostic behavior, the primary behavior that maintains social structure

Quantitative Space Needs

Is the area physically large enough for the animal to move about freely/normally

Qualitative Space Needs

Does the space provide enough food, shelter, proper climate, opportunities to explore or hide, opportunities for proper body care

Crowding

Occurs when an individual’s movements are restricted by the physical presence of others

Overcrowding

Occurs when a high social density causes adverse effects on the fitness of individuals

Spacing in Dogs

Intrusion may result in growling or biting - male dogs urinate to mark defendable territory

Spacing in Cats

Scent marking with facial and tail-based glands, males will spray urine

Spacing in Cattle

Head-butting or threatening to do so, digging in dirt with front feet and horns

Spacing in Horses

Biting, kicking, striking, rearing, chasing

Spacing in Sheep

Threaten with head movements, pushing, butting, tugging at wool, and often direct eye contact

Spacing in Pigs

Head movements, barking, pushing with nose, shoulder barging

Spacing in Poultry

Breeding season - cockerels raise a brood within home range

Not breeding season - males maintain harems with overlapping home ranges

Resting

Occurs in recumbent posture, evident wakefulness, grooming and rumination may still occur

Sleep

Defined by brain wave changes - slow delta waves, loss of behavioral response to stimuli, and includes REM

Biological Rhythms

Internal clock that sends signals to the body when its time to sleep and wake up, among other activities.

Diurnal

Awake and active most during the day

Nocturnal

Awake and active most during the night

Crepuscular

Active and awake mostly at dusk and dawn

Circadian Rhythms

Rhythms that occur over approx. 24hr. period.

4 requirements

• persists under constant conditions

• shows a phase shift from day-to-day

• is greater or less than 24 hours

• can be entrained by a zeitgeber (a time giver)

Slow wave sleep

High voltage waves, slow activity, delta waves

REM Sleep

Low voltage waves, faster activity, difficult to arouse, theta waves

4 Stages of Sleep

Stage 1 - fleeting, lasts only minutes

Stage 2 - lasts longer as you enter deeper sleep

Stage 3 - Delta rhythms occur for the first time, usually no eye or body movements

Stage 4 - Deepest sleep with highest amplitude waves, can last between 20 and 40 minutes

Passive-Stay Apparatus

Horses - a group of muscles, ligaments, and tendons that lock major joints in place

Unihemispheric Sleep

Chickens - one cerebral hemisphere sleeps will the other stays awake. Birds can control it

Locomotion

The essence of behavior is bodily movement

Symmetrical gaits

Walk, pace, trot

Asymmetrical gaits

Canter, lope, gallop

Stride

full movement of a limb

Stride Length

the distance covered between successive imprints of the same foot

Beat

The sound produced when the foot strikes the ground

Walk

slow, regular symmetrical gait

4 beats

Trot

Medium speed, symmetrical

2 beats

Pace

Medium speed, symmetrical

2 beats

Canter

Slow gallop, asymmetrical

3 beats

Gallop

High speed, asymmetrical

3 beats

Social Behavior

When animals interact with each other

Benefits of Social Behavior

Allows group-living

Safety in numbers

Increased foraging/feeding

Types of Social Behavior

Competition

Sexual Behavior

Parent-offspring

Play

Mutualistic Behavior

Both parties benefit

Selfish behavior

Only the initiator benefits, while the receiver experiences cost

Altruistic behavior

The initiator experiences cost while the receiver benefits

Hamilton’s Rule

• Mathematical description of Kin- Selection Altruism

• Biologically related individuals are more likely to go out of their way to care for their kin

• R = the coefficient of relatedness

  • Full siblings: r = 0.5

  • For a behavior to persist in the population, B(0.5) > C or B > 2C

B is reproductive benefit, C is reproductive cost

Competition

Display of behavior depends on volume and distribution of resources

Dominance Order/Hierarchy/Pecking Order

Helps provide social stability

Does not fully describe the scope of social behavior

Avoidance Order

Maintained by subordinate

Characterized by flight and submission

Sexual Behavior - Mate Choice?

AI (not chatgpt)

Individual animal choice

Monogamy

Male and female bond, both care for offspring

Polygyny

Males mate with multiple females, females only mate with one male, females care for offspring

Polyandry

Females mate with multiple males, males only mate with one female, males care for offspring

Promiscuity

Mixture of polygyny and polyandry

Parent-Offspring

Arguably, some of the most important social interactions of animal’s life

Parental Behavior Motivations

Food, shelter, protection from harm, hormonal influences

Separation Calls

Parent

Soliciting Calls

Offspring

Play

Behavior that mimics the process of other functional behaviors, like hunting and fighting

Important for social skills development

Courtship, appeasement, competition

Mating Systems

Determines the relative roles of males and females in providing progeny for the next generation

Monogamy

Neither sex monopolized additional members of the opposite sex

Reproduction typically involves one male and one female

Pairs may associate for a season (many songbirds) or for as long as their mate lives

Social Monogamy

Monogamous pair associations (bonds) involving one male and one female

Sexual Monogamy

Pairs that confine sexual relations to one another

Social Monogamy does not guarantee Sexual Monogamy

Polygamy

Individuals gain access to multiple mating partners

May occur simultaneously or sequentially

Pair bonds are either temporary or non-existent

Parental care not shared

Polygyny

Males have multiple mating partners in each breeding season

3 forms

Female Defense Polygyny

Males control access to females directly

Resource Defense Polygyny

Males control access to females indirectly by monopolizing critical resources

Male Dominance Polygyny

Occurs when it is not feasible for males to monopolize mates or critical resources

Males aggregate during the breeding season and females select mates from these aggregations

More dominant males are most successful in attracting females and intimidating rival males

Polyandry

Females mate with more than one male

2 forms

Resource Defense Polyandry

Females control access to males indirectly by monopolizing critical resources

Female birds lay clutches of eggs for males on their respective territories and provide replacement clutches if nests are lost through predation

Female Dominance Polyandry

Females do not defend resources essential to males but gain access to males through dominance

Honeybee Queen

Great Rheas

Males are simultaneously polygynous, and females are sequentially polyandrous

• As mating season approaches, adult males associate with and defend a harem of 2 to 12 females

• Together, they participate in nest building, mating, and egg laying over a period of 30 to 45 days

• Females then depart, leaving the male with incubation duties and care for the young

• Temporarily unattached females subsequently become integrated into another male's harem, lay eggs, and the cycle is repeated

Canada Geese

Monogamous and mate for the life of their partner

Males participate in the care of the young and both mother and father stay with their young through the first year

Sexual Selection

Defined as natural selection between members of the same sex, which results in the evolution of traits that enhance an individual’s ability to acquire mates

Natural selection in which individual males or females compete with conspecifics of the same sex to gain the favor of the opposite sex

The Ocellated Wrasse

• The dominant (nesting) male is large and colorful (lots of energy)

• Nesting male builds the nest and nurtures eggs until hatching

• The sneaker male mimics the female

• The sneaker uses his energy to create more sperm

• The females have adapted their ovarian fluid to be selective to the nesting male sperm

• Either way, the female gets to choose who fertilizes her eggs

Male-male competition

Results intrasexual selection among males is significant in species exhibiting polygyny because males are expendable.

Size

Body size and physical adornments

Relative vigor of the males as they interact with females

Many secondary sexual characteristics are controlled by androgens

Secondary Sexual Characteristics

Larger males favored over smaller ones

Males which vigorously attend to females will be more likely to attract their interest

Incest

Breeding of close relatives

Results of Incest

Reduced reproductive success

Reduced vigor of offspring due to the concentration and expression of lethal genes

Libido

The motivational component of sexual behavior (the drive)

Serving Capacity

The number of ejaculations attained in a given time period

Mating Efficiency

The total number of females impregnated by a male during a particular (restricted) breeding period

Ideal Mating Efficiency

The most efficient males are those which impregnate the largest number of females in the shortest period of time, and with the fewest total number of mounts and ejaculations

Evolutionary Considerations

Not all males exhibit adequate sexual performance when exposed to a female

Males may be selected without concern for sexual performance

Heritability

The measure of the amount (or proportion) of phenotypic variation that can be passed from parent to offspring.

Carcass traits have high heritability, while reproductive traits tend to have low heritability.

Environmental Effects

Isolations of males from females and other males

• Prevents injuries

• Prevents unwanted pregnancies

• Ensures proper/adequate nutrition

Advantages of Social Dominance

Dominant males can inhibit the sexual activities of subordinates merely by their presence

Hand-mating

When males and females are brought together for the sole purpose of mating

Spectator Effect

Repeated/observed in dairy goats

Not repeated/observed in sheep

• they don’t like looking at each other

Sensory Influences

Female pheromones

• Flehmen response

Visual cues

• Mares are very animated