1. Chapter 51 ~ Behavioral Biology

2. Behavior l Ethology ~ study of animal behavior l Causation: proximate ~ physiological & genetic mechanisms of behavior ultimate ~ evolutionary significance of behavior l Sign stimulus ~ external sensory stimulus l Fixed action pattern (FAP)~ sequence of acts; unchangeable; carried to completion l Ex: 3-spined stickleback (Tinbergen ‘73 Nobel) Supernormal stimulus

3. Learning? l Maturation~ behavior due to developing physiological changes l Habituation~ loss of responsiveness to stimuli that convey l no information; simple learning l Imprinting~ limited learning within a specific time periodcritical period (Lorenz, ‘73 Nobel) l Associative learning: classical conditioning~ Pavlov’s dogs operant conditioning (trial and error)~ “Skinner’s box”

4. Social behavior l Sociobiology~ evolutionary theory applied to social behavior (Hamilton) l Agonistic behavior ~ contest behavior determining access to resources l Dominance hierarchy ~ linear “pecking order” l Territoriality ~ an area an individual defends excluding others l Mating systems: promiscuous ~ no strong pair bonds monogamous ~ one male/one female polygamous ~ one with many polygyny ~ one male/many females polyandry ~ one female/many males

5. Altruistic behavior l Inclusive fitness ~ total effect an individual has on proliferating its genes by its own offspring and aid to close relatives l Coefficient of relatedness ~ proportion of genes that are identical because of common ancestors l Kin selection ~ aiding related individuals altruistically l Reciprocal altruism ~ exchange of aid; humans?