BI158 Chapter 51 Animal Behavior

Behavior

An action carried out by muscles under control of the nervous system.

Feeding, reproduction, and maintain homeostasis

What are the three things behavior is involved in?

Behavior ecology

The study of the ecological and evolutionary basis for animal behavior

Proximate and ultimate explanations for animal behavior

What two things does behavior ecology integrate?

Claw waving (in fiddler crabs)

A behavior used to repel other males and attract females.

Proximate causation

Addresses 'how' a behavior occurs or is modified.

Ultimate causation

Addresses 'why' a behavior occurs in the context of natural selection.

Fixed Action Pattern (FAP)

A sequence of unlearned acts directly linked to a simple stimulus, usually carried to completion once initiated.

Sign stimulus

An external cue that triggers a fixed action pattern.

Migration

A regular, long-distance change in location engaged in by many animals.

1. The position of the sun and their circadian clock (internal 24-clock that is an integral part of their nervous system

2. The position of the North Star (nocturnal animals)

3. Earth’s magnetic field (birds & fishes)

How do animals orient themselves? (3)

Circadian rhythm

A daily cycle of rest and activity that affects some animal behavior.

Behaviors such as migration and reproduction

What two things are linked to changing seasons or circannual rhythm?

lunar cycle

they court more (reproduce more) prior to new and full moon phases

At these times, tides are at their greatest fluctuations, which gives hatched larvae a greater chance to disperse to deeper waters

Fiddler crabs courtship behavior is linked to what?

Signal

stimulus transmitted from one animal to another; behavior that causes a change in another animal’s behavior

communication

the transmission and reception of signals, and plays a role in proximate causation behavior

What four ways do animals communicate?

visual, chemical, tactile, and auditory signals

1. Male identifies a female of the same species through chemicals in the air and orients his body towards her.

2. Male alerts the female of his presence, touching female with a foreleg.

3. Male produces courtship song to inform female of his species; he extends and vibrates his wing.

Explain the fruit fly courtship through the three-step stimulus

Pheromones

Chemical substances emitted by animals for communication, often related to reproductive behavior.

• Female moth attracts a male moth several kilometers distant

• Honeybee queen produces a pheromone that affects the development and behavior of female workers and male drones.

• When a minnow/catfish is injured, an alarm substance in the fish’s skin disperses in the water, inducing a fright response among fish in the area

List three examples of pheramone usage in nature.

very low concentrations

Pheromones can be effective at?

innate behavior

developmentally fixed and does no vary among individuals

Tinbergen’s Q2

refers to the impact of development and experience on behavior

learning

the modification of behavior based on specific experiences

Imprinting

The establishment of a long-lasting behavioral response to a particular individual or object, usually irreversible.

Associative learning

Blue jay will avoid eating monarchs and similar looking butterflies after an experience with a distasteful encounter with a monarch butterfly.

A learning process in which animals associate one feature of their environment with another.

Give an example of this learning.

Cognition

• honeybees can distinguish “same” from “different”

  • Two groups of honeybees were trained in the color maze. They learned to associate food reward with an entrance stimulus that was either the same of different color as the arm entrance

  • They were then put into a bar maze (b&w patterns) and correctly chose same or different pattern, based on the previous training with colors

  • Hence, they are cognizant of using same or different in different contexts to make decisions

A process of knowing that may include awareness, reasoning, recollection, and judgment.

Give an example of this.

Spatial learning

more complex modification based on experience with the spatial structure of the environment

• Niko Tibergen showed how digger wasps use landmarks to find nest entrances

  • Tibergen manipulated objects around nest entrances

  • He found that they used these landmarks to find their nest when they returned

  • Thus, they perform spatial learning

Explain Niko Tibergen’s study on digger wasps and how they use spatial learning.

Social learning

Learning through observation of others, forming the roots of culture.

culture

system of information transfer through observation or teaching that influences behavior of individuals in a population

• Culture can alter behavior and influence the fitness of individuals in relatively short time

• Natural selection’s influence on behavior happens in relatively long time frames

describe the difference between culture and natural selection

Foraging

Food-obtaining behavior that involves recognizing, searching for, capturing, and eating food items.

Cross-fostering study

A study that places young from one species in the care of adults from another species to measure environmental influence on behavior.

Cognitive map

An internal representation of spatial relationships between objects in an animal’s surroundings.

Trial-and-error learning

Also known as operant conditioning, this involves associating a behavior with a reward or punishment.

Circannual rhythm

Behaviors linked to changing seasons.

Cultural behavior

A system of information transfer through observation or teaching that influences behavior of individuals in a population.

twin studies allow researchers to compare the relative influences of genetics and environment on behavior

What do twin studies allow in humans?

Genes ←——→ Environment

Usually learning and behavior itself is determined by influence of both?

sensitive period

a limited developmental phase that is the only time when certain behaviors can be learned

problem solving

chimpanzees can stack boxes in order to reach suspended food

process of devising a strategy to overcome an obstacle

give an example of this

Problem solving appears to be highly developed in some mammals (espeically primates & dolphins) and present in some birds (corvids—crows and ravans)

In what species is problem solving seen in?