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Animal Behavior

Animal Behavior. Chapter 35. What is Behavior?. Responses of animals to environmental cues What and why it is done Controlled by nervous and endocrine systems Some are innate Heritable, stereotypic, and intrinsic Orb spider webs and newborn reflexes Some are learned

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Animal Behavior

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  1. Animal Behavior Chapter 35

  2. What is Behavior? • Responses of animals to environmental cues • What and why it is done • Controlled by nervous and endocrine systems • Some are innate • Heritable, stereotypic, and intrinsic • Orb spider webs and newborn reflexes • Some are learned • Nonheritable, adaptable, and extrinsic • Bird song and migration patterns

  3. Karl von Frisch • Initial use of experimental methods in behavior • Studied senses of bees • Identified bee communication • Translated meaning of the waggle dance • Length and number of waggles = distance • Angle of waggle run to vertical of hive = angle of food from sun

  4. Konrad Lorenz • Founder of behavioral behavior • Studied instinctive behavior in animals • Principle of imprinting in ground nesting birds • Greylag geese experiment

  5. Nikolass (Niko) Tinbergen • Originated 4 questions to ask about any behavior • Causation  what are the proximate causes? • Development  what is the ontogeny/development? • Function  what is the survival value? • Evolution  what is the evolutionary history? • Cornerstone of modern ethology • Worked with Lorenz on fixed action patterns

  6. Studying Animal Behavior • Proximate causes examine HOW an animal behaves • Factors behind a biological system working at a particular time and place • Mechanisms and structures within an animal that produce the behavior • Ultimate causes examine WHY they behave that way • Identify and reconstruct evolutionary history of the behavior • Purpose of this behavior • Evolution of the behavior • Adaptability of the behavior

  7. Innate Behaviors • Programmed by genes • Highly stereotyped • Four categories • Kinesis: random movement in response to stimulus • Sow bugs (pill bugs) movement to water • Taxis: deliberate movement toward or away from a stimulus • Stream fish face upstream for food • Reflex • Fixed action pattern (FAP) Taxis

  8. Fixed Action Patterns • Stereotyped, often complex series of movements • Response to a specific stimulus = ‘releaser’ • Fully functional 1st time performed • Completed fully once started • Not modified by experience • E.g.: suckling behavior of newborns egg retrieval of graylag goose courtship rituals yawning

  9. Learned Behavior • Acquired during an animal’s lifetime • Modified by experiences • Categories • Imprinting • Habituation • Associative learning • Problem solving • Spatial learning • Cognitive mapping • Social learning

  10. Imprinting • Occurs during a ‘sensitive’ or ‘critical’ development period • Imprinting of baby geese on mother was studied by Konrad Lorenz

  11. Habituation • Decline in response to a harmless, repeated stimulus • Acts as a filter • Prevents wasting energy on irrelevant stimuli • Adaptive Prairie dog warning calls  decrease when homes near human populations

  12. Associative Learning • Forms association between 2 stimuli • Classical conditioning • Animal learns to perform old response to new stimulus • Stimulus 1st, behavior 2nd • Pavlov’s dogs • Operant conditioning • Trial-and-error learning • Perform behavior to receive reward or avoid punishment • Behavior 1st, reward 2nd • Clicker training

  13. Problem Solving • Manipulate concepts to arrive at an adaptive behavior • Internal memory used as additional sensory/information source • Mental trial-and-error

  14. Spatial Learning • Enables an animal to learn and use information about its physical environment • Bees and wasps use to locate nest • Tinbergen used digger wasp nests to test • Cognitive mapping • Internal representation of spatial relationships in an animal’s surroundings • Examples • Bird food storage caches • Migration • Piloting and homing animals find their way by orienting to these landmarks

  15. Social Learning • Involves observing and imitating members of the same species • Food washing in Japanese macques • Female learns and imitated by younger group members • Calling by vervet monkeys • Young vs adult • Eagle vs snake vs any flying animal

  16. Individual Behavior • Foraging • Eating • Searching • Recognizing • Capturing • Communication • Visual • Auditory • Chemical • Tactile • Moving • Grooming Prairie dog searches for food in the winter Warning coloration: behave conspicuously to further announce they are dangerous prey

  17. Social Behavior • Involves interactions with members of the same species • Types • Affiliative: promote group cohesion • Agonistic (aggressive) • Territorality • Dominance • Reproductive • Parental • Advantages • Hunting efficiency • Protection from predators • Energy conservation • Access to mates • Disadvantages • Increased competition within group • Increased risk of infection • Risk offspring being killed by group • Risk of being spotted by predators An aggregation of ladybird beetles Male impalas rubbing heads, exchange scents and establish relationships Male lion with his pride

  18. Agonistic Behavior • Occur over limited resources • Threats, displays, or combat • Displays often to minimize injury • Reinforce social hierarchy • Stable for periods of time • Alpha individual and others understand position Silverback male mountain gorilla

  19. Territoriality • Establishing and maintaining a space • Requires maintenance of boundaries • Olfactory marking • Singing • Occasional physical interactions • Size of territory depends on required maintenance • Access to resources and mates

  20. Sexual Reproduction • Requires communication • Stereotyped displays (FAPs) • Sexual dimorphism • Pheromones • Conditions for success • Identify species • Identify opposite sex • Identify availability • Mating systems • Promiscuous • Monogamous • Polygamous

  21. Parental Behavior • Approaches and care for young • Maternal, paternal, both, or none • Defense • Maternal aggression • Offspring or conspecifics • Feeding • Nest building

  22. What is an Ethogram? • List of natural behaviors in an animal • Can be individual or social • Based on natural or semi-natural environmental observations • Distinguishes frequencies and durations of behaviors • Seasonal and geographic effects • Gender and development effects

  23. Preparing an Ethogram • List different behaviors expected to see • Organize into types • Solitary or social • Food or reproductive related • Affiliative or aggressive • Multiple individuals need identification codes • Prepare a chart to allow monitoring • Break into a given time increment (1-2 minutes good) • Record everything done as checks and/or letter designator for each period • Glossary explains detailed behaviors for other observers to interpret

  24. Sample Ethogram Glossary

  25. Sample Ethogram

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