Communication and information use

sensory cue

features/behaviors used to interpret environment/guide actions NOT deliberately provided, e.g. yawning

signal

behavior/feature conveying info about sender/environment that IS deliberately provided, e.g. growling

signal characteristics

1. influences receiver

2. sent via sensory-nervous system

3. advantageous to one or both parties

ground squirrels and tail flagging

GS tail flag to warn off specifically rattlesnakes, advantages for both (squirrel lives, rattlesnake isn’t beat up)

ways of signal evolution

ritualization, sensory exploitation, sensory bias 

ritualization

sensory cue evolves over time into a signal to reduce ambiguity

masked birch caterpillars and ritualization

crawling turns into vibratory displays (anal scraping, mandible drumming, etc.) to warn off intruders

intention movements

doing something then changing mind, e.g, starting to fly then stopping

ambivalent behavior

out of context behavior, e.g. fighting then stopping to roll around

what are signals selected for?

best response from receiver and decreasing ambiguity

selfish signallers

using ambiguity to your advantage, e.g. making yourself seem bigger

‘mind-reading’ receivers

reading through purposefully ambiguous signals

sensory exploitation

exploiting a preexisting behavior for your own advantage, e.g. insects that make ultrasound clicks and freeze in response to bat cries use ultrasound courtship signals so male can approach female

maternally-induced defense

defensive responses to predators induced in one generation can affect the offspring of the next generation

ethogram

table of different types of behavior observed in an animal

state

ongoing, e.g. walking

event

immediate, e.g. sniffing

measurements of behavior

latency, duration, frequency

latency

how long until the behavior occurs?

duration

how long does the behavior go on for?

frequency

how often does the behavior occur?

sampling rules

which subjects to watch, and when?

ad libitum sampling

whatever is visible; used for preliminary observations; bias towards sus behavior

focal sampling

pick one/a few individuals to focus on; accurate and widely used

scan sampling

rapidly scan the whole group at intervals and record individual behavior; quick but difficult to ID animals

behavior sampling

observe the whole group and record interesting behavior with animal ID; used for rare behavior like fighting

sampling unit

individual, pair, or group

recording rules

how should the behavior be recorded?

continuous recording (CR)

each behavior recorded with start/end times, uses focal sampling

instantaneous recording (IS)

record behavior at specific intervals, used in scan sampling

one-zero recording (1,0)

‘did behavior happen or not?’ at specific intervals; not widely used as not accurate for frequency/duration