Ethologists

Aristotle

• systematic observations of behavior

• proposed the ‘ladder of life’ or ‘chain of being’

• a hierarchy where animals were ultimately classified according to function and complexity, with complex organisms occupying positions further upon the ladder and humanity at the apex

chain of being

created by Aristotle

• hierarchical according to complexity of structure and function

• final causes drove natural processes

• graded scale of perfection rising from plants to humans

• eleven grades arranged according to “the degree to which they are infected with potentiality”

John Ray

Published the wisdom of god manifested in the works of creation

believed that while the birds displayed this innate behavior, it involved no understanding on the bird’s part

• observations of animal behavior were groundbreaking beginning of taxonomy

Charles George Le Roy

French gamekeeper at menagerie maintained at the versailles palace outside of Paris

• author of some of the first books on animal behavior

• focuses on:

  • clear definitions of behaviors

  • likely one of the first to develop complete catalogs of behaviors (ethograms)

  • believed that animals were not entirely mechanistic but rather influenced by needs and motivations

Charles Darwin

theory of natural selection

• first to recognize the science of natural animal behavior

• explained that animal behavioral routines were adaptations to their environment with the aim at increasing overall fitness

Douglas Spaulding

fascinated by the concept of instinct and the first to describe what would later be called “imprinting”

• held an experiment where as a chick was hatching he would slip hoods over their head or fill their ears with was to prevent sight or smell

• identified instinctual behavior and recognized imprinting when birds would bond with first thing they saw when hood was removed

Oskar Heinroth

• species specific instinctive action

• first to apply methods of comparative morphology to animal behavior

• interested in what he called the “finer details” of bird behavior

• argued that behavior patterns are highly instructive for reconstructing the phylogenies of ducks and geese

Konrad Lorenz

• mentored by Oskar heinroth

• known for work describing the principle of attachment or imprinting

• made the term “imprinting” famous

• furthered understanding critical sensitive periods

Karl von Frisch

work centered on investigations of the sensory perceptions in animals

• decoded the waggle dance of bees