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 dancewaggle 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 birdsimprinting – 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 1 st 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 1 st, behavior 2 nd Pavlov’s dogs Operant conditioning – Trial-and-error learning – Perform behavior to receive reward or avoid punishment Behavior 1 st, reward 2 nd 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 Warning coloration: behave conspicuously to further announce they are dangerous prey Prairie dog searches for food in the winter

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 Male impalas rubbing heads, exchange scents and establish relationships An aggregation of ladybird beetles 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 Type of Behavior BehaviorCodeDescription of Behavior SolitaryGroom selfGS Animal engages in washing or smoothing its own fur or hair using tongue or forelimbs SleepS Animal assumes specie-specific position for sleep, stays on one place and is not alert to environmental changes RestR Animal stays in one place but may be roused easily by environmental changes LocomoteL Animal moves from place to place Food RelatedEatE Animal consumes food it finds in its environment Look for foodLF Animal searches the environment for food items DrinkD Animal consumes water or other liquids found in its environment SocialGroom othersGO Animal engages in washing or smoothing the fur or hair of another animal in its environment PlayP Animal engages in interactions with others that may involve locomotion, climbing, manipulating objects or other activities that show a relationship between two or more interacting animals AggressiveFightF Animal engages in physical conflict with another animal in its environment Steal foodSF Animal approaches another animal that has located food in the environment and either by physical force or distraction, removes the food item form the vicinity of the other animal

25. Sample Ethogram