Untitled Flashcards Set

Classical ethology

Behaviour: Behaviour refers to observable actions or responses of animals from internal or external stimuli. It includes innate (instinctive) behaviours and learned behaviour.

Instincts: Instincts are behaviour that are innate and that do not need to be learned.

Imprinting: A way to learn the behaviour of the own species, ex. Ducklings following their mother, ducklings can imprint on humans as well, copying behaviour of the first adult species they see

Stimuli: A stimulus is a sudden change in the internal or external environment that triggers a response in an animal. Stimuli can be external (light, sound, temperature, presence of a predator etc.) or internal (hunger, hormones, pain etc.)

Key stimuli: Key stimuli is also a trigger for a behaviour in an animal. But the trigger for the behaviour is very specific. An example is a red stain on the beak of a seagull which makes the chick peck at it, triggering the seagull to feed it.

Conditioning: Associating a behaviour with a selected signal. Ex pavlova dogs, dogs salivate when they are getting

food, pavlov rang a bell when he fed the dogs, the bell became a signal for the dogs to salivate. Positive or Positive or negative reenforcement, reward or punishment.

Supernormal stimuli: Stronger stimuli than normal, ex. Cuckoo bird, eggs hatch in other birds nest and push out the other birds and tricks the other birds in to thinking that the cuckoo’s chicks is the other birds chicks.

Displacement activity:  When an animal experiences high motivation for two or more conflicting behaviours ex. Fight or flight, fight or eat etc.

Redundant action: The motivation to perform a behaviour is great but the right stimuli  is missing. Common among animals in captivity. Ex. Cats wanting to hunt despite being fed.

Resources

Behavioural ecology

Avoiding predators

• Camouflage: Camouflage is a way for animals to hide from predators by blending in to the environment. These animals have adapted to look like the environment they live in, making it harder for predators to spot them.

• Warning signals: Warning signals are auditory warnings sent out by certain animals to warn others that a predator is nearby. Some birds have a specific word song.

• Aposematic colouring: Aposematism is when animals, like snakes and certain frogs, have adapted to have very bright colours. These bright and distinct colours warn predators that they are toxic, unpalatable or dangerous. This defence mechanism prevents these animals from being eaten, since predators learn to associate the bright colours with a negative experience.

• Mimicry: Mimicry is the phenomenon where one organism evolves to resemble another organism or object, often to gain an advantage such as protection from predators. There are multiple forms of mimicry, including Batesian mimicry and Müllerian mimicry.

Communication

• Visual: Visual communication can serve multiple purposes, such as protection from predators or help finding food. Examples include butterflies with markings that make them look like bigger animals or bees (the waggling dance) to direct other bees towards nectar.

• Auditorial: Auditorial communication can be used to warn other animals from predators ex. Monkeys making specific calls to warn about different predators. It can also be used to attract mates ex. Birds singing to attract mates.

• Olfactory: Olfactory communication is when animals communicate through scent. Examples of this is dogs urinating to mark their territory, skunks producing a foul odour to protect themselves and certain types of ants using pheromones to mark their territory.

• Tactile: Tactile communication in animals involves the use of touch to convey messages, form bonds, and express emotions. This type of communication is crucial for social interactions, mating behaviors, and even conflict resolution among various species. Example of this is primates (chimps, gorilla etc.) engaging in grooming behaviours. This helps remove parasites as well as strengthening their social bond.

Social systems

• Solitary: A solitary animal is an animal that lives alone. Advantages of being a solitary animal is that they get to keep all the food they hunt. A disadvantage is that they have no one to keep watch while they eat and they may have a hard time finding food.

• Pack living: Pack animals are animals that live in groups. Advantages of being a pack animal is that its easier to detect predators and the chance of being singled out by a predator is smaller. A disadvantage of being a pack animal is that you don’t get to keep all the food you hunt.

Reproduction and sexual selection

Sexual strategies: Males don’t use a lot of energy to create sex cells. This means that males can fertilise many over a short period of time, they have high sexual motivation, they don’t have to be picky with choosing a mating partner and they focus on quantity of offspring rather than quality. The males strategy is competition for mating.

Females spend a lot of energy of creating sex cells. This means that they have a limited time of fertilisation, they place large investments in the offspring and they are “picky” when choosing a partner because of the energy they spend carrying the offspring. Females focus on quality of offspring rather that quantity. The females strategy is careful selection of partners.

Sexual selection: Females choosing males leads to certain traits in males being favoured. Some traits that make male “beautiful” makes them chance of the chances of the male being hunted by a predator higher. This reduces the chance of survival for the males but increases the chance of procreation

Gender dimorphism: Different appearances in males and females -> secondary sexual characteristics. High competition for females benefit outer properties. This leads to sexual dimorphism e.g. antlers. Low competition for females favours internal properties instead -> no sexual dimorphism, sexes look alike ex. swans.

Secondary sexual characteristics: Secondary sexual characteristics are traits that develop during sexual maturity and are not directly involved in reproduction, such as body size, coloration, and ornamentation. In ethology, these characteristics are studied to understand their role in sexual selection and mating behaviours among different species

Sexual systems

• Monogamy: One female and one male partner that share the care of the offspring.

• Polygamy: Polygamy means that there are multiple partners involved in reproduction, usually only one partner cares for the offspring. There are different types of polygamy. Polygany means that means that there is one male and several females. Polyandry means that there is one female and several males.

• Mating behaviours: Mating behaviours in ethology refer to the various actions and rituals animals perform to attract mates and reproduce. These behaviours can include visual displays, vocalisations, and chemical signals, and they often evolve to enhance reproductive success and species survival. For example, male peacocks display their extravagant tail feathers to impress females, while male giraffes taste female urine to determine fertility. Mating behaviour in females, particularly in ethology, often involves careful selection of mates based on traits that indicate genetic fitness and resource availability.