1. Behave Yourself! A Summary of Animal Behaviors

2. Innate Behaviors Also known as instinct Born with it, not learned
Generally essential to organism’s survival.
Example: a spider building its first web.
“Hard-wiring” of the nervous system, usually inflexible (a given stimulus triggering a given response)

3. Suckling A mammal is born knowing how to nurse
Example: Pigs suckling at birth

4. Imprinting
Fly Away
Home Trailer
Some baby bird species will follow the first moving object they see, usually the mother.
Example: ducks

5. Migration
Organisms move from one place to another periodically, generally in response to temperature or food availability.
Wildebeast, geese, monarch butterflies

6. Hibernation
Hibernation
& Homing
An organism goes dormant for a long period of time to escape cold temperatures.
Bears, chipmunks, frogs

7. Estivation
An organism goes dormant for a long period of time to escape hot temperatures.
Example: African bullfrog, fringe toed lizard, turtle

8. Positive Chemotaxis
An organism responds to a chemical by moving towards it.
Example: Male cockroach pheromones attract females

9. Negative Chemotaxis
An organism responds to a chemical by moving away from it.
Example: the smell of a skunk repels other animals

10. Positive Phototaxis
An organism responds to light by moving towards it.
Example: Moths to a light

11. Negative Phototaxis
An organism responds to light by moving away from it.
Example: Moles live underground

12. Circadian Rhythms Periods of sleep and waking in a 24 hour period.
Example: Human alertness during the day

13. Mother bear teachers her cubs what to eat.
Learned Behaviors
A behavior that is altered as a result of experience
: Nest building
Mother bear teachers her cubs what to eat.

14. Classical Conditioning
Any time an animal learns to make a connection between a certain behavior and a given reward or punishment.
Example: Training a dog

15. Trial and Error (Operant Conditioning)
When faced with two choices, an organism can learn to choose the option with the best reward.
Ex: Learning to press a lever for food.

16. Trial and Error (Operant Conditioning)
When faced with two choices, an organism can learn to choose the option with the best reward.
Ex: Students who study to improve their grades.

17. Habituation
An organism learns to ignore a stimulus because it is repetitive and is not providing any valuable information.
Example: Dog ignores all cars driving by until your car pulls up.

18. Social Behaviors
The various ways in which an organism interacts with members of its own species.
Can vary greatly, depending on whether the organisms live together or lead solitary lives (interacting only to reproduce).

19. Courtship
Flamingo
courtship
An individual performs a ritual – e.g., sounds, visual display, pheromones – to attract a mate or strengthen an existing bond
Example: Necking, dancing for mates in condors
Courtship grooming and feeding among birds and mammals
Scorpion
courtship

20. Territoriality An organism defending or marking a defined living space
Example: Wolves mark their territory; male bettas fight other males in their territory

21. Parental care Care of young, e.g., feeding, grooming, defense of young
Example: primates nursing young, elephant mother defending baby elephant, gull regurgitation

22. Communication
Occurs when one organism passes along a signal to another, generating a response; signals include:
Visual
Sound
Touch
Chemical/electrical

23. Visual Signals
Killdeer
broken wing
An organism displays defined movements, coloration, or other behavior that can be seen
Cuttlefish changes colors to indicate mood.
White tail deer flash underside of tail for warning
Killdeer perform “broken wing” display to distract predators

24. Sounds Birds – singing Dolphins – signature ‘whistle’ and echolocation
Primates & Humans - language

25. Chemical Signals (Pheromones)
Bees use pheromones (and visual “dance”) to help indicate to other bees where to find food, nectar, and the hive.
Lions use pheromones to indicate readiness to mate and to identify their cubs.