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Biology 3401 - Animal Behaviour
Introduction
Scientific Method
Make Observation
Formulate hypothesis to
explain observation
Pass
Test Hypothesis
Fail
Pass Many
Hypothesis
Pass
Theory
Test Theory
Fail
Pass Many
Theory
Law
Fail
The Scientific Method
Tinbergen's Observations on the Bee Wolf - Philanthus triangulum
The Scientific Method
Tinbergen's Observations on the Bee Wolf - Philanthus triangulum
1.Observation - Female flies in a circle before going to hunt?
2. Hypothesis - Female is using landmarks to find the nest.
3. Prediction - Female will return to a landmark to find the nest.
4. Test - Place an artificial landmark around the nest and
move it when the female is away
5. Result - Female orients to new landmark.
6. Confirm hypothesis

The Scientific Method
Tinbergen's Observations on the Bee Wolf - Philanthus triangulum
1. Question – Is the female responding to the cones or their scent.
2. Hypothesis - Female is using visual cues to find the nest.
3. Prediction - Female will return to a landmark to find the nest.
4. Test - Place an artificial landmark around the nest and
include scented (pine oil) pads.
5. Move the cones and add unscented pads when the female is
away but leave the scented pads at the nest
6. Result - Female orients to pine cones
and not scented pads.
6. Confirm hypothesis

First Representations of Animal Behaviour
Greek Philosophers
Aristotle
(384-322 BCE)
Perfect ‘Type’
e.g.
COMPARISON OF ETHOLOGY
AND PSYCHOLOGY
Ethology
Psychology
- origins in natural history
- origins in physiology & medicine
-early focus
-understanding adaptive
value of behaviour in the
wild
-early focus
-understanding causation
and motivation of human
behaviour using animal
models
- field-based
- laboratory-based
- initially more observational
- initially more empirical
Historical Figures
1. Charles Darwin
Darwin - Published Books
1835
Journal of researches (or voyage of the Beagle)
Questions about the breeding of animals
The structure and distribution of coral reefs.
Geological observations on the volcanic islands
visited during the voyage of H.M.S. Beagle.
A monograph of the sub-class Cirripedia,
1840
The zoology of the voyage of
H.M.S. Beagle
1845
Geological observations
on South America.
1850
Fossil Cirripedia
1855
The various contrivances by which
orchids are fertilised by insects.
The variation of animals and plants
under domestication.
The expression of the emotions
in man and animals.
The effects of cross and self
fertilisation in the vegetable kingdom.
1860
1865
1870
1875
On the Origin of Species
The movements and habits of
climbing plants.
The descent of man, and
selection in relation to sex.
Insectivorous plants.
1880
The different forms of flowers on
plants of the same species.
1885
The formation of vegetable mould,
through the action of worms.
The power of movement in plants.
Darwin - Published Books
1835
Journal of researches (or voyage of the Beagle)
Questions about the breeding of animals
The structure and distribution of coral reefs.
Geological observations on the volcanic islands
visited during the voyage of H.M.S. Beagle.
A monograph of the sub-class Cirripedia,
1840
The zoology of the voyage of
H.M.S. Beagle
1845
Geological observations
on South America.
1850
Fossil Cirripedia
1855
The various contrivances by which
orchids are fertilised by insects.
The variation of animals and plants
under domestication.
The expression of the emotions
in man and animals.
The effects of cross and self
fertilisation in the vegetable kingdom.
1860
1865
1870
1875
On the Origin of Species
The movements and habits of
climbing plants.
The descent of man, and
selection in relation to sex.
Insectivorous plants.
1880
The different forms of flowers on
plants of the same species.
1885
The formation of vegetable mould,
through the action of worms.
The power of movement in plants.
Historical Figures
1. Charles Darwin
Historical Figures
2. Douglas Spalding
Historical Figures
3. Lloyd Morgan
Historical Figures
4. Julian Huxley - Courtship habits of the great crested grebe
Historical Figures
5. J.B. Watson
6. B.F.Skinner
Historical Figures
7. Karl von Frisch
Historical Figures
8. Konrad Lorenz
Historical Figures
9. Niko Tinbergen
Nobel Prize in Medicine and Physiology -1973
Konrad Lorenz
1903 - 1989
Karl von Frisch
1886 - 1982
Niko Tinbergen
1907 - 1988
Behaviour - What is it?
Behaviour - movement (or motor patterns)
Includes:
Movement
Vocalization
Colour change
Chemical release
Behaviour - series of coordinated muscular contractions
-organized into motor patterns or units
Tinbergen’s Four Questions (The 4 Why’s)
Why is this bird singing?
(This is actually 4 questions)
1. What causes this bird to sing (or: what are the anatomical and physiological
mechanisms underlying the behaviour)?
2. How did this behaviour develop in the lifetime of the bird?
3. What is it singing for (territory, mates)?
4. How did this behaviour evolve?
Tinbergen’s Four Questions
A. Proximate Causes
a. What is the immediate cause of a behaviour?
- genetic bases
- neural mechanisms
- hormonal mechanisms
- environmental (external stimuli)
- precedent events
Tinbergen’s Four Questions
A. Proximate Causes
a. What is the immediate cause of a behaviour?
b. What is the ontogeny (or development) of a behaviour
- changes with age
- interaction of genes with environment (over tim
- innate vs. learned components
Tinbergen’s Four Questions
A. Proximate Causes
a. What is the immediate cause of a behaviour?
b. What is the ontogeny (or development) of a behaviour?
B. Ultimate Causes
a. What are the functional (adaptive) reasons for a behaviour?
- contribution of a behaviour pattern to individual fitness
- how does natural selection influence a behaviour?
Tinbergen’s Four Questions
A. Proximate Causes
a. What is the immediate cause of a behaviour?
b. What is the ontogeny (or development) of a behaviour?
B. Ultimate Causes
a. What are the functional (adaptive) reasons for a behaviour?
b. What is the evolutionary history of a behaviour?
- expression of a behaviour in related species
- evolutionary changes in behaviour in related lineages
SUMMARY
BEHAVIOUR PATTERN(S)
Neural mechanisms
Genetic mechanisms
Physiological mechanisms
Developmental mechanisms
Individual survival &
reproductive success
Gene pool of next generation
Levels of Analysis in Ethology
Proximate Causes
Genetic/Developmental
Mechanisms
-effects of heredity
-development of sensorymotor systems
-gene-environment
interactions
How?
Sensory/Motor
Mechanisms
-nervous systems for
stimulus detection
-hormone systems for
adjusting response levels
-muscles for carrying out
responses
Ultimate Causes
Historical
Pathways
Selective
Processes
-evolutionary
development
of a trait
-adaptive context ?
Why?
Ecology
Population Biology
Evolutionary
Biology
Genetics
Sociobiology
Ethology
Endocrinology
Neurophysiology
Physiology