Animal Behavior Flashcards
Discrete Sensory Inputs and Behavior
Behavior: Actions muscles do, controlled by the nervous system.
Niko Tinbergen's Four Questions:
What triggers the behavior and how does the body do it?
How does experience and growing up affect it?
How does it help the animal survive and have babies?
How did the behavior evolve over time?
Behavioral ecology: Studying how animal behavior helps them in their environment and how it evolved.
Fixed Action Pattern: A set of actions that an animal does automatically when triggered by something simple.
Migration and Behavioral Rhythms
Migration: Moving a long distance regularly; animals use the sun, stars, and Earth's magnetic field to navigate.
Circadian Rhythm: Daily cycle of activity and rest.
Circannual Rhythm: Behaviors that happen with the changing seasons.
Animal Signals and Communication
Signal: An action that changes another animal’s behavior.
Communication: Sending and receiving signals (using sight, smell, touch, sound).
Pheromones
Nocturnal animals: Communicate with smells and sounds.
Diurnal animals: Communicate with sight and sound.
Learning and Behavior
Innate behavior: Something an animal is born knowing how to do.
Imprinting: Learning a behavior that sticks for a long time, usually during a specific time in their life.
Spatial Learning and Cognition
Cognitive Map: A mental picture of where things are.
Associative Learning
Associative Learning: Connecting one thing with another.
Classical Conditioning: Learning to associate a random thing with a reward or punishment.
Operant Conditioning: Learning to do something based on reward or punishment (trial-and-error).
Cognition and Problem Solving
Cognition: Thinking and understanding.
Problem Solving: Figuring out how to get past obstacles.
Social Learning and Culture
Social Learning: Learning by watching others.
Culture: Passing information that affects behavior and survival.
Selection and Reproductive Success
Foraging: Finding and getting food.
Evolution of Foraging Behavior
Optimal Foraging Model: Balancing the benefits of food with the effort of getting it.
Mating Behavior and Mate Choice
Mating behavior includes:
Finding a mate
Choosing a mate
Competing for mates
Taking care of babies
Mating and Parental Care
Paternity certainty: Influences how much care parents give; more care when they are sure the babies are theirs (higher with external fertilization).
Sexual Selection and Mate Choice
Sexual dimorphism: Differences in appearance between males and females because of sexual selection.
Intersexual selection: Choosing a mate based on their traits.
Intrasexual selection: Competing for a mate.
Mate Choice and Competition
Females choosing males: Drives sexual selection through specific behaviors/anatomy.
Mate-choice copying: Copying who others choose as mates.
Male competition: Reduces differences among males.
Game Theory
Game theory: Figuring out the best strategies when what you do affects others.
Genetic Analyses and Inclusive Fitness
Animal behavior: Affected by genes and environment.
Inclusive fitness: Explains why animals do selfless things.
Genetic Basis of Behavior
Master regulatory gene: Controls many behaviors.
Genetic Variation and Evolution
Behavioral variation: Shows how animals have evolved to fit their environment.
Altruism and Inclusive Fitness
Altruism: Helping others even if it hurts you.
Inclusive fitness: Helping your genes get passed on by having kids and helping relatives.
Hamilton’s Rule and Kin Selection
Hamilton's Rule: rB > C
Benefit to recipient (B).
Cost to altruist (C).
Coefficient of relatedness (r).
Kin selection: Helping relatives reproduce so your genes get passed on.