Animal Behavior

Behavior is the way an organism reacts to changes in its internal condition or external environment. A stimulus is any kind of signal that carries information & can be detected. Examples of stimuli include hunger, phone ringing, alarm clocks.

Your reaction to this stimulus is called a response. Many organ systems can combine to provide a response.

Behaviors can be inherited or learned. Those that are inherited typically increase the survival of that organism. The fight, flight, or fright behaviors are examples of inherited behaviors.

Innate behaviors appear in fully functional form the first time they are performed even with no prior experience. An example of this is a baby nursing. Many animals show Fixed Action Patterns – behavioral sequences triggered by specific stimuli.

Types of Behaviors 1) Competitive – agonistic & dominance hierarchies, territorial 2)Foraging – finding/eating food 3) Migratory 4) Biological rhythms – circadian rhythms 5) Communication 6) Courting/Nurturing 7) Cooperative – altruistic & kin selection (family members help out relatives)

Learned behaviors are acquired. There are 4 types of these: 1) Habituation- simplest type – the animal decreases or stops behavior in response to a repetitive stimulus – loss of response to a stimulus - Chicken Little’s friends, Boy Who Cried Wolf

2) Classical conditioning - making a mental connection between a stimulus & reward or punishment – Pavlov’s dog

3) Operant conditioning - repeated practice – receives a reward or avoids punishment – used for training- trial & error learning – B. F. Skinner

4) Insight learning - most complicated form – applying old information to a new setting

Imprinting is learning based on early experience. Once it has occurred, the behavior cannot be changed. This is often seen in birds who follow the first moving object they see & in singing or salmon who can remember the odor of the stream where they were born.

Imprinting involves both innate & learned behavior. They must learn what object to follow. This process involves scent & sight.

Patterns of Behavior Animals respond to seasons & to daily changes. Some animals hibernate in the winter or estivate in the summer. This allows them to become dormant when conditions may be harsh.

Migration is the periodic movement from 1 place to another. Species that do this include butterflies, birds, whales, & sea turtles. Migration helps animals to have more plentiful food supplies & to escape predators more easily.

Animal Migration Spatial learning – use of landmarks to learn the layout of the environment Animals use cues such as physical boundaries (whales), chemistry (salmon), magnetism (whales & birds), & stars (birds).

Homing is the ability of an animal to return to its original nest site, burrow, or migratory grounds. This is done through 2 main types of navigation methods.

Circadian rhythms occur in daily cycles. It may involve sleep patterns or patterns of activity & rest.

Courtship behaviors help animals find healthy mates. An animal sends out visual, sound, or chemical signals to attract a mate.

Social behavior is often used to help the survival of that species & to make the organisms more efficient. Often, there is a division-of- labor setup & most, if not all, of the organisms are related to one another. Therefore, by sticking together, it increases the chances that those genes of the individual (which are also in the collective group) go on to future generations.

Examples of social animals include primates, bees, & wolves.

Many animals have a specific area they occupy called their territory & will sometimes violently defend this area. These areas contain resources, habitats, & mates. Competition may result if another animal invades this territory & displays of aggression are often common.

Animals can communicate through visual, sound, touch, or chemical signals.

An example of a visual signal is the peacock’s tail.

An example of a chemical signal is the use of pheromones.

An example of a sound signal is a dog barking.

An example of a language signal is dolphin chatter.