Animal Behavior

1. Animal Behavior Things Animals Do…

2. Animal Behavior Vocabulary • Ethology = study of animal behavior • Behavior = action performed in response to stimulus • Stimulus = something that elicits a response

3. Animal Behavior Vocabulary • External Stimulus = Something outside the animal – taken in with senses • e.g. sound, sight, smell, etc, presence of another animal

4. Internal Stimulus = something inside the animal • e.g. hunger, fatigue, feeling cold, hormones

5. Animal Behavior Vocabulary • Anthropomorphism = attributing human emotions to animals **** We need to be careful about ascribing human emotions to animals*** • E.g. the animal is happy

6. How We Behave • Cause by a mixture of the Nervous System and the Endocrine System: • Nervous System • Detects processes and integrates information about stimuli. • Commands muscles and glands to make suitable responses. • Endocrine System • Produces hormones in response to neural stimuli. • Hormones influence behavior.

7. Causes of Behavior Development • Instinctive • Performed without having been learned. • Usually triggered by simple sign stimuli. • Response is a stereotyped motor program, a fixed-action pattern. • Learned • Responses change with experience. • Some categories of learned behavior • Imprinting Spatial learning • Insight learning • Habituation • Classical conditioning • Operant conditioning

8. Causes of Behavior Development 1. Natural Selection • An animal that successfully completes a helpful behavior survives to pass on the behavior to offspring. • Those whose genes fit the conditions survive.

9. Causes of Behavior Development 2. Innate Behavior • Appear in fully functional form when first performed • Performed without having been learned. • Usually triggered by simple sign stimuli. • E.g. Startle behavior – purpose = self-preservation • E.g. web building, suckling, bird begging

10. Causes of Behavior Development 3. Learning • development of behaviors through experience determines final shape of innate behaviors • Responses change with experience. • Some categories of learned behavior • Imprinting • Habituation • Conditioning

11. Types of Learning • Imprinting (both innate & learned) • occurs only during a critical time frame • once learned, can’t be changed • Conrad Lorenz with ducklings • Time-dependent learning. • Triggered by exposure to a sign • stimulus during a sensitive period.

12. Types of Learning 2. Habituation • Animal learns to ignore frequent, harmless stimulus • E.g. scarecrow, habituation to observer

13. Types of Learning 3 Classical Conditioning • Animal learns to associate unrelated response with a stimulus • E.g. Pavlov’s experiments bell ringing, food, 􀃎 salivation bell ringing, salivation (even if no food is given)

15. Conditioning Continued (Operant) • Animal learns to behave in a certain way through repeated practice • Trial & error learning – animal tests conditions for desired response • e.g. Skinner box • Animal learns that a behavior gets a certain response • e.g. rat presses lever, gets food

17. Types of Behavior 1. Foraging = feeding • e.g. locate, obtain & consume food

18. Types of Behavior 2. Parental Care = ensuring survival of young • e.g. carrying, nursing, cuddling, holding young

19. Types of Behavior 3. Courtship = attracting a mate • e.g. courtship displays, bright feathers, songs, other vocalizations, head butting, fighting

20. Types of Behavior 4. Reproductive = • e.g. mating, giving birth

21. Types of Behavior 5. Offensive/Defensive = aggression, submissive behavior, defense from aggressors • e.g. hiding, fighting, escape, threatening

22. 6. Territorial = protect a resource for exclusive use • e.g. scenting / marking, birdsong, protection of mate / offspring, space, food or water source

23. Types of Behavior 7. Social = work to create alliances, help the group • e.g. grooming, babysitting, play, play fight • Lots of insects – bees, termites, ants

24. Social behavior • Pheromones • Chemical signals that diffuse through air or water. • May bring about behavioral change in receiver or cause physiological change

25. Types of Behavior 8. Migratory = movement to a more suitable environment as seasons change • e.g. dry vs. rainy seasons, winter vs. summer range for browsers & birds • e.g. salmon upriver to spawn, arctic tern – 1800 m from Arctic to Antarctic, 2x/year

26. Types of Behavior 9. Communication = signaling between one animal & another • Greeting e.g. sniff, hug, kiss “bite” • Aggression e. g. charge, bite, hit, fight, etc. • Non-aggression e.g. patting, head butting, stroking • Grooming (bonding, alliances, keeping clean) • Group hunt ( e.g. hyenas, lions)

27. Communication

28. Types of Communication • Vocalizations • e.g. bark, growl, snort, howl, hoot, chirp, whinny, alarm sound, • Non-verbal signaling • e.g. body, head, ear, & / or tail position • showing teeth, smiling, looking away, • looking directly at, gesturing, thumping, • beating chest, raising hood, drumming, tail slap, snort, scenting, pheromones, sign language

29. Types of Behavior 13. Play Purpose = training for life (defense, hunting)

30. Communication • Why Communicate? • Defense (warn away) • Alliance (get helper or mate) • Elicit play