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Chapter 50

Chapter 50. Animal Behavior. Behavioral ecology Scientific study of behavior in natural environments from an evolutionary perspective Behavior What an animal does How it does it Usually in response to stimuli from the environment. Proximate causes of behavior

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Chapter 50

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  1. Chapter 50 Animal Behavior

  2. Behavioral ecology • Scientific study of behavior in natural environments from an evolutionary perspective • Behavior • What an animal does • How it does it • Usually in response to stimuli from the environment

  3. Proximate causes of behavior • Immediate causes that permit a specific behavior • Genetic, developmental, and physiological processes • Answer “how” questions

  4. Ultimate causes of behavior • Evolutionary explanations for behavior • Answer “how” questions

  5. Cost-benefit analysis to determine whether a behavior is adaptive • Contribute to direct fitness • Animal’s reproductive success measured by the number of viable offspring • When benefits outweigh costs, behavior is adaptive

  6. Behavior • Results from the interaction of innate behavior and environmental factors • Learned behavior • Behavior is modified in response to environmental experience

  7. Motor programs • Coordinated sequences of muscle actions • Walking is an example • Fixed action pattern (FAP) • Automatic behavior that, once activated, continues to completion regardless of feedback • Can be triggered by sign stimulus

  8. Egg-rolling behavior in the European graylag goose

  9. Habituation • Type of learning in which an animal ignores a repeated, irrelevant stimulus • Imprinting • Establishes a parent-offspring bond • Ensures that the offspring recognizes the parent

  10. Imprinting

  11. Classical conditioning • An association is formed between some normal body function and a new stimulus • Operant conditioning • Learns a behavior by positive reinforcement or to avoid punishment

  12. Classical conditioning

  13. Operant conditioning

  14. Insight learning • Ability to adapt past experiences to solve a new problem • Play • May give young animals a chance to learn and practice adult behaviors

  15. Insight learning

  16. Biological rhythms • Circadian rhythms are daily cycles • Diurnal animals active in the day • Nocturnal animals active at night • Crepuscular animals active at dawn and/or dusk • In mammals, the biological clock is located in the hypothalamus

  17. Migration • Periodic long-distance travel due to, for example, seasonal weather changes • Directional orientation • Travel in a specific direction, which requires compass sense • Navigation requires both compass and map sense

  18. Navigation by light and magnetic field

  19. Optimal foraging • The most efficient strategy for an animal to get food • Often enhances reproductive success

  20. Social behavior • Adaptive interaction, usually among members of the same species • Animal communication involves exchange of recognizable signals • Pheromones are chemical signals that convey information between members of a species

  21. Optimal foraging and group size in lions

  22. Dominance hierarchy • Ranking of status within a group • More dominant members are accorded benefits, often without overt aggressive behavior

  23. Communicating dominance

  24. Home range • Geographic area they seldom leave but do not necessarily defend • Territory • Defended area within a home range • Costs include time, energy, and risk • Benefits include rights to food and reduction in conflict among members

  25. Home range

  26. Society • Group of individuals within the same species that may work together • Insect societies tend to be rigid, narrowly defined, and with the division of labor determined by age • Vertebrate societies are more flexible, with some species developing culture

  27. Maintaining a complex social structure

  28. Sexual selection • Polygyny • A male mates with many females • Polyandry • A female mates with several males • Monogamy • Mating with a single partner • Pair bond is a stable relationship between a male and a female

  29. Helping behavior • Cooperative behavior includes reciprocal altruism • In altruistic behavior, an individual behaves in a way that benefits others • Inclusive fitness • Number of offspring and offspring of kin • Kin selection increases inclusive fitness through reproduction of close relatives

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