ANSC3106 - Animal Behaviour and Welfare (Vocabulary Flashcards)

Vocabulary flashcards covering key terms from the lecture notes.

What is and are Tinbergen's Four Questions

A framework for analysing behaviour using four questions: Function (adaptive value), Evolution (phylogeny), Causation (mechanism), and Development (ontogeny).

Function

The adaptive purpose or survival value of a behaviour (one of Tinbergen's four questions).

Evolution

How a behaviour originated and changed across generations through natural selection.

Causation

Proximate mechanisms that produce the behaviour (neural, hormonal, physiological processes).

Development

Ontogeny; how a behaviour develops over an individual's lifetime.

Proximate causes

The mechanisms (causation and development) that produce a behaviour—how it works and develops.

Ultimate causes

Why a behaviour exists in terms of fitness, function, and evolutionary history.

Imprinting

Innate learning during a sensitive period that forms strong, lasting attachments or recognitions.

Sensitive period

A biologically defined window when imprinting or certain learning is most effective.

Irreversibility

Imprinting associations are long-lasting and difficult to change.

Social learning

Learning from others within a social group; guidance from conspecifics.

Cultural transmission

Learning through observation or teaching within a social group, persisting across generations.

Predation - Primary defence

Early, constant defence strategies to deter predators regardless of their presence.

Predation - Secondary defence

Defences activated after predator detection, such as flight or evasion.

Domestication

Process by which animals become adapted to humans and captive environments via genetic changes and developmental effects across generations.

Domestication Syndrome

A suite of traits distinguishing domesticated from wild ancestors (e.g., tameness, pigmentation changes, brain size).

Relaxed natural selection

Reduction of natural environmental pressures in captivity, allowing persistence of diverse alleles and rapid trait changes.

Resource Allocation Theory

Domesticated animals are selected to invest more energy in reproduction/production traits; high-energy behaviours decrease in captivity.

Pre-adaptations for domestication

Traits that facilitate domestication, such as tolerance of humans and social adaptability.

Viviparity

Live birth; offspring develop inside the mother.

Oviparity

Egg laying; offspring develop outside the mother's body.

Ovoviviparity

Eggs hatch inside the mother; live birth occurs.

Altricial

Born helpless and dependent on parental care; often immobile and unable to thermoregulate well.

Precocial

Born relatively mature, mobile, and able to feed soon after birth.

Semi-precocial

Intermediate development between altricial and precocial.

Super-precocial

Extremely mature at birth in some species.

Parental investment

Energy and resources parents devote to offspring survival and future reproduction.

Biparental care

Care provided by both parents (common in birds).

Uniparental care

Care provided by a single parent (common in many mammals).

Nest-building

Activity of constructing a nest site for incubation and rearing offspring.

Parturition

Birth process; expulsion of offspring during labor.

Post-parturition

Period after birth including placenta expulsion and neonatal care.

Maternal bond

Bond between mother and offspring; crucial for survival and development.

Monogamy

One male with one female pair; duration can affect reproductive success.

Polygyny

One male with multiple females; common in many mammalian systems.

Lekking

Males display in clustered leks; females choose mates based on displays.

Attractivity

Traits in females or males that attract mates.

Proceptivity

Behaviours that invite or solicit mating from the partner.

Receptivity

Willingness of a female to mate; readiness to copulate.

Oestrus

Female sexual receptivity and ovulation cues driven by hormonal cycles.