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Animal Behavior The link between where we have been and where we are going… Behavior Links… • • • • Genetics Morphology Physiology Ecology • Niche • Habitat • Evolution • Behavior is an indicator that tells us something about all of these things! Behavioral Ecology • Behavior = everything an animal does & how it does it • INNATE = inherited • LEARNED = develop during animal’s lifetime • Behavior is part of phenotype acted upon by natural selection • lead to greater fitness? • greater reproductive success? • greater survival? Questions to Ask When Observing Behavior • Proximate causes of behavior • “how” & “what” • How does a songbird sing? • What is the immediate trigger of the singing? • Ultimate causes of behavior • evolutionary significance • “why” questions • Why does a crane imprint? • Why is this advantageous? Types of Behaviors 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Innate Fixed Action Pattern (FAP) Imprinting Associate Learning Habituation Observational Learning Insight Inherited Reflex Complex Problem Solving Innate Behaviors • Inherited (DNA) • Automatic all individuals exhibit the behavior • Triggered by a stimulus Innate Behavior Example • Coordinated movements (walking, swimming, etc.) that occur in response to an external stimulus • Taxis = change in direction • automatic movement toward (+ taxis) or away from (- taxis) a stimulus • phototaxis • chemotaxis • Kinesis = change in rate of movement in response to a stimulus Fixed Action Pattern (FAP) • Inherited • Sequence of unlearned, unchangeable behaviors that are usually conducted to completion once started • sign stimulus triggers FAP attack on red belly stimulus court on swollen belly stimulus FAP Example Digger wasp Imprinting • Both innate & learning components • Learning at a specific critical time Konrad Lorenz Imprinting Example • Salmon Run • During critical period, the animal acquires memory of certain salient stimuli in its "home" environment (taste of the host plant, smell of the nest site, etc.) Associative Learning • Learning to associate one feature of the environment (stimulus) with another • Operant conditioning • trial & error learning • associate behavior with reward or punishment • Classical conditioning • Pavlov’s Dogs • associate a “neutral stimulus” with a “significant stimulus” Operant conditioning • Skinner box • “trial & error” mouse learns to associate behavior (pressing lever) with reward (food pellet) Classical conditioning • Ivan Pavlov’s dogs • Connect reflex behavior (salivating at sight of food) to associated stimulus (ringing bell) Habituation • Learned, no innate, inherited component • Loss of response to stimulus • “cry-wolf” effect • Learn not to respond to repeated occurrences of stimulus • Increases the fitness of the species overall Spatial Learning • Establishment of a memory that reflects environment’s spatial structure • Behavior changes or is established by spatial memory • Digger wasps Observational Learning • Watch & learn • Memory of patterns or events when there is no apparent reward or punishment Cognition • Requires intelligence and social behaviors • Process of knowing represented by • • • • Spatial awareness Reasoning Recollection Judgment • Original Thought Problem Solving Types of Social Behaviors • • • • • • language agonistic behaviors dominance hierarchy altruistic behavior territoriality mating behavior Language • Honey bee “waggle dance” communication • Dance shows location of food source Agonistic Behaviors • threatening & submissive rituals • symbolic, usually no harm done Dominance Hierarchy • Social ranking within a group Altruistic Behavior • Reduces individual fitness but increases fitness of recipient • Paradox: self-sacrificial men “would, on average, perish in larger number than other men” • KIN SELECTION meerkats • Old view: survival of the fittest organism • New view survival of the fittest GENE (family genes) Territoriality • Define: methods by which an individual (or group) protects its territory from others of its species • Mark boundaries, chase, fight • Increases during breeding season • Cost: might get hurt (survival risk) • Benefits: uninterrupted mating, raise young in area with less competition (reproductive benefit) Mating & Parental behavior • Genetic influences behavior changes at different stages of mating (Innate) • Environmental influences can modify behavior (Innate and Learned) • Depends on: • Quality of diet • Social interactions Social Interaction Requires Communication • Pheromones • chemical signal that stimulates a response from other individuals • alarm pheromones • sex pheromones Pheromones Female mosquito use CO2 concentrations to locate victims marking territory Spider using moth sex pheromones, as allomones, to lure its prey The female lion lures male by spreading sex pheromones, but also by posture & movements Regulatory Genes and Behavior • Genetic manipulation of fru gene • Changes who is courting who in both male and female fruit flies • Implications of sexuality in all animals?