Behavior

Animal Behavior: an action, activity or process which can be observed and measured, which is generally initiated by some external or internal stimuli

  • External → environment, other beings

  • Internal → endocrine, physiological condition, thoughts

Types of Behavior

simple behavior: nerve stimulus resulting in striated muscle contraction

complex behavior: mating rituals, migration, grooming, feeding, agression

Investigative behavior

exploration of environment to gain input

  • feed resources

  • security for rest

  • risk assessment

  • repro selection

  • learning new tasks

Ingestive behavior

Physical process of eating

feed sorting: sorting what they like/don’t like based on taste

prehension, mastication, rumination, rooting

Competitive Behavior

to procure resources

  • mate(fight for females)

  • food

  • territory

Allelomimetic Behavior (mimicry)

  • stimulus to follow others behavior

  • aka “contagious behavior” or “synchronized”

  • group cohesion → Social animals often benefit from behaving in a similar manner to others within their group

  • only associated w/ innate behaviors

  • ex. school of fish

  • promotes safety, efficient foraging, and social bonding

Communication

  • relaying a message from one organism to another

  • visual (most common: body language)

  • auditory

  • olfactory (smell)

  • tactile (touch)

  • electro (fish communicate through electricity waves)

Giving + Soliciting behavior

  • establishment of social bonds

  • reciprocating

  • health (bugs, grooming)

Maternal + neonatal behavior

*much rooted in endocrine

  • dam + offspring

  • brooding behavior in birds (prolactin) → same as lactation hormone

  • maternal agression

Reproductive behavior

  • activity directed toward perpetuation of a species

  • estrus play important role

    • “standing estrus” → female allows male to mount

  • male procurement (female selects a male)

  • breeding process

  • endocrine influence

  • pheromones: chemical signal release

Resting + Sleeping behavior

  • characterized by reversible unconsciousness, and reduced responsiveness to external stimuli

Social Behavior Structure

Type I

social/herd bound

  • constantly changing

  • often have hierarchies

  • purpose: group stability: repro, safety, resources

  • beneficial to domestication

    • help us stay in dominant/controlled position because tend to be prey and are not aggressive

Type II

solitary/territorial :

  • tend to defend small territory, allowing females to come and go for reproduction

  • territory must have adequate resources (food, water, shelter) so they don’t have to leave

Stereotypies

  • repetitive behavioral action/activity with no obvious goal or function

  • animals perform behavior longer than expected

  • often happens to animals in captivity

    • pacing

    • cribbing

    • stall kicking

Species differences in stereotypies

  • relates to natural behavior

    • carnivores pace the most → as if they’re paroling the area

    • herbivores have more oral stereotypies → mimick grazing

Behavioral economics

  • motivation: balances cost vs. benefit

  • activity due to motivation, relative to risk