Section 1 - Intro to Animal Behavior 101

What are the three criteria that an organism must meet to be an animal?

Feed on organic matter, able to move, multi-cellular and produce collagen

What is collagen?

Protein that gives structure to animal cells

What type of cells are animal cells?

Eukaryotic Cells

What are fungi’s substitute for collagen?

Chitin

How do we define movement in terms of the criteria for animals?

Ability to move the entire organism from one place to another

What are mammals defined by according to the packet?

Has spinal cord and brain, produces milk, has hair, and 3 middle ear bones

What is the spinal cord used for?

Communicates sensory information to the brain

What does viviparous mean?

Give birth to live young

What are two exceptions to mammals that do not give birth to live young?

Platypus and Echidna

What does oviparous mean?

Animals that reproduce by egg

What does ovoviviparous mean?

Animals that give birth via egg but egg is inside body

How many body segments do most insects have?

3

How many legs do most insects have?

6

How many body segments do most arachnids have?

2

How many legs do most arachnids have?

8

What substance is circulated throughout an insects’ body to help oxygenate them?

Hemolymph

How are arthropods different compared to other animal types?

No internal skeleton(They have exoskeleton), no spinal cord

Where is the Goliath bird eater found?

South America

What percentage of all animal species is accounted by Arthropods?

80-85%

What does behavior refer to?

Ways that animals interact with organisms, internal signals, and environment

What is an example of a response to an internal stimuli?

Shivering

What are the two types of stimuli?

Internal and External

What is the hypothesis surrounding on why social behavior exists?

Helps animals get along better in groups = Group can find more food/avoid predators

What is ecology?

Study of how organisms interact with environment to maximize fitness

What are the levels of ecology?

Individual, Population, Community, Ecosystem, Biome, Biosphere

How is a community classified in ecology?

Multiple different populations together

What are some things that animals compete in when in an area with higher density of animals?

Territory, Food, Mates

What is a keystone species?

A species in an ecosystem that if removed, would cause the ecosystem to collapse

What is a binomial name?

Usual scientific name of animals

Who developed the modern concept of taxonomy?

Carl Linnaeus

What occupation did Carl Linnaeus have?

Botanist

What nationality is Carl Linnaeus?

Swedish

When did Carl Linnaeus develop taxonomy?

1735

What is taxonomy?

The classification of all organisms

Why was Latin chosen for the names of plants and animals in taxonomy?

Its a dead language

What are the levels of taxonomy?

Domain, Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species

What is the broadest category in taxonomy?

Domain

How does a phylogenetic tree work?

Closer the branches, the more related the animals/species are

What is each line on a phylogenetic tree called?

Branch

What is the point where two branches meet on a phylogenetic tree called?

Internal Node

What does an internal Node mean?

Last common ancestor of the animals

What is a divergence event?

Point at which two species can no longer breed together

What does a longer branch indicate on a phylogenetic tree?

More genetic change occurring

When was the Last Universial Common Ancestor?

4.2 Billion years ago

How old is the earliest evidence of animals living in ancient oceans?

910 million years

What did the oldest animals living in ancient oceans resemble?

Jellyfish and sponges

What was the first animal to transition from water to land?

P. newmani

When did P. newmani live before on Earth?

420 million years ago

What was the first creature known to breathe oxygen and walk on land?

P. newmani

When were the first animals with bones and spines on Earth?

375 million years ago

What is the oldest known mammal?

Basilodon

When did Basildons exist on Earth?

225 million years ago

What percentage of mammal species survived the mass extinction event that killed the dinosaurs?

7%

Why were mammals able to survive the mass extinction event that Dinosaurs died in?

Broad diet and small size allowed them to find food

What domain do animals belong in according to taxonomy?

Eukarya

What kingdom do animals belong in according to taxonomy?

Animalia

What phylum contains animals that have spinal cords?

Chordata

What is fitness in evolutionary terms?

Measure of individuals that are most suited to their environment and successful at reproducing

What are traits in evolutionary terms?

Manifestation of genetic code displaying a characteristic

Who developed the theory of Natural Selection?

Charles Darwin

What is natural selection driven by?

Selective pressures

What are the “limitations” of evolution?

Laws of Physics

What is one theory that provides a reason as to why dinosaurs and insects were so large during the Mesozoic era?

Atmospheric Oxygen was very high

What is the rate of evolution primarily dependent on?

Rate of reproduction

What determines a behavior to be insinctual?

When it is controlled by genetics

What determines an animal’s behavior to be learned?

When it is gained due to outside factors

What is the theory called that provides an explanation as to why animals risk themselves for others?

Kin Selection

What is the theory of kin selection?

Animals risk themselves for others that are genetically related because it overall increases the survival and reproduction rate of its genes

Who is the first person to write specifically about animal behavior and their connection with humans?

Aristotle

When did Aristotle document animal behavior?

300 BCE

What does ethology refer to?

Science of animal behavior

Who pioneered the modern concept of ethology?

Charles Darwin

When did Darwin publish On the Origin of Species?

1859

Who are the fathers of ethology after Darwin?

Lorenz, Tinbergen, and von Frisch

What prize did the Father of Ethology received in 1973?

Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine

What is Konrad Lorenz’s nationality?

Austrian

What is Konrad Lorenz most known for?

Imprinting behavior

What animal was Lorenz studying when developing his theory of imprinting behavior?

Graylag Geese

What is Nikolaas Tinbergen’s most notable work?

Discovering that seagulls recognize faces/voices of other seagulls

Who developed the framework known as the “Four Questions” in determining the reasons on why behavior exists?

Nikolaas Tinbergen

What nationality was Karl von Frisch?

German-Austrian

What was Karl von Frisch’s main study/work?

Theories on sexual selection and mate choice

What achievement did Von Frisch find in regards to honeybees?

They dance to communicate nectar sources

How does animal behavior research help us in the modern world?

Aid in understanding human behavior, development of vaccines and medications, preserving the natural world

When did Nikolaas Tinbergen develop his Four Questions to understand animal behaviors?

1963

What are the Four Questions that Tinbergen developed to understand animal behavior?

Function, Evolution, Causation, and Devlopment (FECD)

What does the function/adaptation component of the Four Questions mean?

What is the function of this behavior? ie. How does it help the animal survive and increase fitness

What does the evolution/history component of the Four Questions mean?

How the behavior has come to be and where it originated

What does the cause/mechanism component of the Four Questions mean?

What factors/stimuli caused the behavior to trigger at a specific moment

What does the development/ontology component of the Four Questions mean?

Is it a learned behavior or is it behavior from our genes?

What is anthropomorphism?

When viewing animal behavior through the lens of human behavior

Why do chimpanzees bare their teeth?

They are in an act of submission as they are fearful

What was the earliest form of animal behavior research?

Observations

What can observational studies of animal behavior help to accomplish?

Describing the frequency of a behavior

What is a limitation/thing that observational studies of animal behavior cannot conclude?

Reason of an animal behavior

How do researchers often use observational studies now?

To first learn more about the species

What is an example of an observational study with natural manipulation?

Covid-19 Pandemic to compare the behavior of animals when humans were limited

What are the benefits of controlled laboratory studies for animal behavior?

Able to test single, isolated variables influencing behavior, existence of control groups, and able to measure other biological signals

What is a control group in an experiment?

Group in a study that is not manipulated at all

What is the limitation of laboratory studies for animal behavior?

Behaviors do not happen in a vaccum/not representative of what happens in the wild