1. AP Biology Animal Behavior meerkats

2. AP Biology Why study behavior?  Evolutionary perspective…  part of phenotype  acted upon by natural selection  lead to greater fitness?  lead to greater survival?  lead to greater reproductive success?

3. AP Biology What questions can we ask?  Proximate causes  immediate stimulus & mechanism  “how” & “what” questions  Ultimate causes  evolutionary significance  how does behavior contribute to survival & reproduction  adaptive value  “why” questions male songbird  what triggers singing?  how does he sing?  why does he sing? male songbird  what triggers singing?  how does he sing?  why does he sing?  how does daylength influence breeding?  why do cranes breed in spring?  how does daylength influence breeding?  why do cranes breed in spring? Courtship behavior in cranes  what…how… & why questions Courtship behavior in cranes  what…how… & why questions

4. AP Biology The heart of Ethology……. 1. What is the basis of the behavior, including chemical, anatomical and physiological mechanisms? 2. How does development of the animal, from zygote to mature individual, influence the behavior? 3. What is the evolutionary history of the behavior? 4. How does the behavior contribute to survival and reproduction?  Developed by Tinbergen in 1963

5. AP Biology What is behavior?  Behavior  everything an animal does & how it does it  response to stimuli in its environment  innate behaviors  automatic, fixed, “built-in”, no “learning curve”  despite different environments, all individuals exhibit the behavior  ex. early survival, reproduction, kinesis, taxis  learned behaviors  modified by experience  variable, changeable  flexible with changing environment

6. AP Biology attack on red belly stimulus court on swollen belly stimulus Innate behaviors  Fixed action patterns (FAP)  Sequence of unlearned acts that are triggered by a sign stimulus.  Usually carried out to completion male sticklebacks exhibit aggressive territoriality

7. AP Biology Complex Innate behaviors  Use of environmental cues to carry out behavior  Migration, Hibernation, Estivation, Courtship  “migratory restlessness” seen in birds bred & raised in captivity  navigate by sun, stars, Earth magnetic fields Monarch migration Sandpiper ancient fly- ways Bobolink Golden plover

8. AP Biology Innate: Directed movements  Taxis  Response movement toward (positive taxis) or away from (negative taxis) a stimulus  phototaxis  chemotaxis  Kinesis  Random movement in response to a stimulus ex: stopping, starting, or turning. ex: sowbug activity increases when conditions are dry.

9. AP Biology Learning: Imprinting  Young animals go through a “critical period” whereafter they follow the organisms present during the period. Konrad Lorenz

10. AP Biology Learning: Associative  learning to associate a stimulus with a consequence  operant conditioning  trial & error learning  associate behavior with reward or punishment  ex: learning what to eat  classical conditioning  Pavlovian conditioning  associate a “neutral stimulus” with a “significant stimulus”

11. AP Biology Operant conditioning  Skinner box mouse learns to associate behavior (pressing lever) with reward (food pellet) Basic animal training with rewards for behaviors.

12. AP Biology Learning: Habituation  Loss of response to stimulus  “cry-wolf” effect  decrease in response to repeated occurrences of stimulus  enables animals to disregard unimportant stimuli  ex: falling leaves not triggering fear response in baby birds; animals standing next to hwy

13. AP Biology Learning: Spatial  Establishment of memories that reflect the physical structure of the environment.  Squirrels using physical markers to find buried food.  Wasps using physical markers to find their nest.

14. AP Biology sea otter Learning: Problem-solving/Cognition  Involves reasoning, awareness, recollection and judgment tool use crow Insight learning

15. AP Biology Social behaviors  Interactions between individuals that develop into evolutionary adaptations  communication / language  agonistic behaviors  dominance hierarchy  cooperation  altruistic behavior

16. AP Biology Language  Honey bee communication  dance to communicate location of food source  waggle dance

17. AP Biology Communication by song  Bird song  species identification & mating ritual  mixed learned & innate  critical learning period  Insect song  mating ritual & song  innate, genetically controlled Red-winged blackbird

18. AP Biology Social behaviors  Agonistic behaviors  threatening & submissive rituals  symbolic, usually no harm done  ex: territoriality, competitor aggression

19. AP Biology Social behaviors  Dominance hierarchy  social ranking within a group  pecking order

20. AP Biology Social behaviors Pack of African dogs hunting wildebeest cooperatively White pelicans “herding” school of fish  Cooperation  working together in coordination

21. AP Biology Social interaction requires communication  Pheromones  chemical signal that stimulates a response from other individuals  alarm pheromones  sex pheromones

22. AP Biology Pheromones Spider using moth sex pheromones, as allomones, to lure its prey The female lion lures male by spreading sex pheromones, but also by posture & movements Female mosquito use CO 2 concentrations to locate victims marking territory

23. AP Biology Behaviors should increase fitness!  Foraging behavior – cost and benefits  Mating systems – monogamy vs. polygamy  Certainty of paternity  Agonistic behavior  Game theory – California lizard species Orange outcompetes blue Blue outcompetes yellow Yellow outcompetes orange

24. AP Biology Social behaviors  Altruistic behavior  reduces individual fitness but increases fitness of recipient  kin selection  increasing survival of close relatives passes these genes on to the next generation How can this be of adaptive value? Belding ground squirrel

25. AP Biology Make sure you can…  Provide proximate and ultimate explanations for behaviors  Compare innate and learned behaviors and provide examples of each  Describe how a particular behavior can evolve  Explain how particular behaviors contribute to an organism’s fitness  Explain how altruistic behaviors can evolve in a population