BEHAVIOR OF ORGANISMS

1. BEHAVIOR OF ORGANISMS

2. What is Behavior? • Anything an animal does in response to a stimulus in the environment

3. Mimicry, Camouflage and Protective Coloration Mimicry is A structural adaptation that allows one species to look like another. A harmless species may resemble a harmful species, sopredatorswill ignore them. Protective Coloration is when harful species resemble eachother in coloration and others learn to avoid. Camouflage allows species to blend in with its surroundings. Hiding in plain sight! Amazing Octopus!

4. PARENTAL BEHAVIOR • Parental care is a behavior in which adults give food, protection, and warmth to eggs or young. • Often a female responsibility but males do help • Fewer young, more important parental care to ensure survival. • Fish produce 1000’s of eggs, offer little parental support, few survive to reproduce. • Humans, wolves, birds, squirrels produce few offspring, so offer plenty of parental support to ensure some survive and reproduce

5. FEEDING STRATEGIES Do you think feeding strategies innate or learned? • Honeybees: complex feeding behavior, talk to each other indicating food location. “Talk” is the waggle dance, moving in a figure 8, bee faces direction of food, # abdomen wags indicates distance • Waggle Dance

6. INHERITEDBEHAVIOR • An animal’s genetic makeup ultimately determines how it reacts to certain stimuli • Behavior pattern is often the result of natural selection • Individuals having certain behavior patterns that are adapted better for their environment are more likely to survive and reproduce. The offspring will have inherited the basic behaviors for success. Examples include: • Taxis • Reflexes • Instincts • Aggression • Heirarchy • Japanese Hornets vs Bees

7. - Taxis • - Taxis is “a motion or orientation of a cell, organism, or part in response to an external stimulus” • Phototaxis - Response to light (video) • Chemotasxis – Response to chemicals (video) • Hydrotaxis? • Moving away from a stimulus is considered a negative response – towards is a positive response.

8. Reflexes • Simple, automatic response involving no conscious control • Blinking, knee jerk • Withdrawal from hot object • Fight-or-flight response (automatic, adrenalin hormone controlled) • Adaptive values: protection and survival • Scientists have shown that the average person blinks 15-20 times per minute. That's up to 1,200 times per hour and a whopping 28,800 times in a day--much more often than we need to keep our eyeballs lubricated. In fact, we spend about 10 percent of our waking hours with our eyes closed

9. INSTINCTS • A complex pattern of innate behavior taking longer to perform • may involve several parts and take weeks to complete. • Young’s survival may depend on the behavior • Ie. Suckling behavior in young animals

10. Territoriality and Aggressive Behavior • Territory is the space an animal defends against another of its species. • Reduces conflicts – once territories are established • More efficient uses of environmental resources. • Improves chances of young surviving, and therefore survival of the species. • Animals markterritory with pheromones (chemical used for communication) or physical displays • Aggressive behavior is use to intimidate another member of the same species • Done to defend young, territory, or resources • Includes: • Fighting • Bird calling • Teeth baring • Animals of the same species rarely fight to the death Bucks Fighting

11. SUBMISSION LEADS TO DOMINANCE HIERARCHIES • Social ranking within group in which some individuals are subordinate to others • One dominant individual other ranked below • Chickens, wolves

12. LEARNED BEHAVIORS • Behavior that changes through practice or experience • Has survival value in changing environment because it allows behavior to change to varied conditions (Adaptation!).

13. Habituation • When an animal is repeatedly given a stimulus that is not associated with any punishment or reward and eventually ignores stimulus.

14. Imprinting • An animal at a specific critical time of its life forms a social attachment to another object • Usually occurs early in life and is irreversible. • Ex: Ducks, geese • Mom leads the way!

15. CONDITIONING LEARNING BY ASSOCIATION • Learning to response to a stimulus that does not use usually produce that response • Pavlov's Dogs

16. Trial and Error • Animal receives a reward for making a particular response. • Motivation an internal need causing an animal t o act is a requirement for learning to occur • Crow Experiments • Squirrels

17. Insight • Animals use previous knowledge to respond to a new situation

18. BIOLOGICAL CLOCKS AND RHYTHMIC BEHAVIOR OF ORGANISMS • Behavior resulting from internal and external cues 2. Cues may be hormonal or environmental changes such as temperature or length of day

19. CIRCADIAN RHYTHMS • A 24 hour cycle of behavior • Instinctive behavior in response to internal biological rhythms. • Humans sleep at night awake during the day • Owls reverse the pattern; they are nocturnal. • Pattern continues without external cues

20. MIGRATION • Behavior in which animals move from one place to another in response to seasonal changes, therefore an annual rhythm. • Animals migrate in search of food, better temperatures, more suitable reproductive areas. • Animals use the sun, stars and landforms to help with direction. • Innate and learned behavior

21. Animals That Migrate. Freshwater eels and salmon migrate to their spawning ground Monarch butterflies and ruby throated hummingbirds fly south for the winter Caribou migrate north to the tundra for the summer

22. HIBERNATION • A state in which the body temperature drops, oxygen use decreases, and breathing rate slows. • Physiological changes conserves energy. • Eat large amounts before hibernation to build up body fat for fuel during period.

23. ESTIVATION • A state of reduced metabolism when animals live in intense heat • Response to drought or lack of food • Associated with desert animals • Innate behavior dependent upon internal and external cues.

24. COURTSHIP RITUALS • Behaviors used by males and females to attract another of the same species for mating • Male frogs and crickets make sounds. • Male peacock spreads tail • Female silk moths give off PHEROMONES, carried by the wind, she picks one male from the suitors. • Some male spiders bring nuptial gifts to prevent being eaten before mating

25. COEVOLUTION • Occurs when two or more species evolve in response to each other. • Bahama woodstar takes nectar from a Hibiscus flower. It’s long narrow bill coevolved with long narrow floral tubes.

26. PROTECTIVE BEHAVIORS • Alaskan musk oxen live together in a herd for protection. • Form a ring around young when attacked by wolves. Older larger animals fight if necessary.

27. SOCIAL BEHAVIOR • Social insects: bees, termites, and ants live in groups dividing the work between them. • Bees: Workers: non reproductive females who gather food, clean and protect the queen Drones: males that mate with the female. Queen: only female in hive that reproduces. • Ants and termites also have soldiers to protect to whole colony. (Use pheromones to communicate.) • Social insects live together for protection