Animal Behavior Chapter 13. Sec 1: What is Behavior? The Behavior of Animals – An animals behavior...

Animal Behavior

Chapter 13

Sec 1: What is Behavior?

• The Behavior of Animals– An animals behavior consists of all the actions it

performs– Examples: behaviors include actions an animal

takes to obtain food, avoid predators, and find a mate

– Like body structures the behaviors of animals are adaptations that have evolved over long periods of time


• The Behavior of Animals– Most behavior is a complex process in which

different parts of an animals body work together– Think about what happens if a water current

carries a small animal to a hydra’s tentacles. After stinging cells on the tentacles catch the prey, the tentacles bend toward the hydra’s mouth. At the same time, the hydra’s mouth opens to receive the food


• The Behavior of Animals– Behavior as Response• The touch of the prey on the tentacles acts as a

stimulus to the hydra• A stimulus is a signal that causes an organism to react

in some way• The organisms reaction to the stimulus is called a

response• The hydra’s response to the prey is to sting it• All animal behaviors are caused by stimuli


• The Behavior of Animals– The Functions of Behavior• Most behaviors help an animal survive or reproduce• When an animal looks for food or hides to avoid a

predator, it is doing something that helps it stay alive• When animals search for mates and build nests for

their young, they are behaving in ways that help them reproduce


• Behavior by Instinct– Animals perform some behaviors by instinct,

without being taught– An instinct is a response to a stimulus that is

inborn and that an animal performs correctly the first time

– Example: a newborn kangaroo instinctively crawls into its mother’s pouch and attaches itself to a nipple. Without this instinct, baby kangaroos could not obtain the milk they need to survive


• Learned Behavior– Learning is the process that leads to changes in

behavior based on practice or experience– Learned behavior include imprinting, conditioning,

trial-and-error learning, and insight learning– Cause learned behaviors result from an animals

experience, they are not usually done perfectly the first time


• Learned Behavior– Imprinting: certain newly hatched birds and

newborn mammals recognize and follow the first moving object they see (usually the mother)

– Imprinting involves a combination of instinct and learning

– The young animal has an instinct to follow a moving object, but is not born knowing what is parent looks like


• Imprinting– Once imprinting takes place, it cannot be changed– Imprinting is valuable for two reasons. First, it keeps

young animals close to their mothers, who know where to find food and how to avoid predators

– Second, imprinting allows young animals to learn what other animals of their own species look like

– The ability protects the animals while they are young. In later life, this ability is important when the animals search for mates


• Learned Behavior– Conditioning: learning that a particular stimulus or

response leads to a good or a bad outcome– Here is how the conditioning works: at first, a puppy

rarely comes when you call. Each time the puppy comes when you call, you give it a dog biscuit. Your puppy will soon learn to associate the desired response – coming when called – with the good outcome of a food reward. To get the reward, the puppy learns to come every time you call. After a while, the puppy will come to you even if you don’t give it a dog biscuit


• Learned Behavior– Trail-and-Error Learning: an animal learns to

perform a behavior more and more skillfully– Through repeated practice, an animal learns to

repeat behaviors that result in rewards and avoid behaviors that result in punishment

– Many animals learn by trial-and-error which methods are best for obtaining food

– They also learn which methods to avoid• Example: snunk


• Learned Behavior– Insight Learning: when you solve a problem or

learn how to do something new by applying what you already know, without a period of trial-and-error

– Insight learning is most common in primates, such as gorillas, chimpanzees, and humans

– Example: chimps use twigs to probe into the nests of termites and other insects that they eat

Sec 2: Patterns of Behavior

• Communication– Animals use mostly sounds, scents, and body

movements to communicate with one another– An animals ability to communicate helps it interact

with other animals– Animals communicate many kinds of messages

using sound– Some animals use sound to attract mates• Example: female crickets, are attracted to the sound of

a male’s chirping


• Communication– Animals may also communicate warnings with sound

• Example: when a coyote or other predator approaching, a prairie dog makes a yipping sound that warns other prairie dogs to take cover in their burrows

– Animals also communicate with chemical scents– A chemical release by one animal that affects the

behavior of another animal of the same species is called a pheromone• Example: perhaps you have seen a male house cat spraying a

tree, this scent advises other cats in the neighborhood of his presence


• Competitive Behavior– Animals compete with one another for limited

resources, such as food, water, space, shelter, and mates

– Competition can occur among different species of animals• Example: a pride of lions may try to steal a prey from a

troop of hyenas that has just killed the prey

– Competition can also occur between members of the same species


• Competitive Behavior– Showing Aggression• Aggression is a threatening behavior that one animal

uses to gain control over another– Example: before a pride of lions settles down to eat its prey,

individual lions show aggression by snapping, clawing, and snarling

• Aggression between members of the same species hardly ever results in the injury or death of any of the competitors


• Competitive Behavior– Establishing a Territory• A territory is an area that is occupied and defended by

an animal or group of animals• If another animal of the same species enters the

territory, the owner will attack the newcomer and try to drive it away• Birds use songs and aggressive behaviors to maintain

their territories• Other animals may use calls, scratches, droppings, or

pheromones


• Competitive Behavior– Attracting a Mate

• A male and female salamander swim gracefully in the water, moving around one another

• Courtship behavior is a behavior in which males and females of the same species prepare for mating

• Courtship behavior ensures that the males and females of the same species recognize one another, so that mating and reproduction can take place

• Courtship behavior is typically also competitive– Example: in some species, several males may perform courtship

behaviors for a single female. She then chooses one of them to mate with


• Group Behavior– Living in groups enables animals to cooperate– Although many animals live alone and only rarely

meet one of their own kind, other animals live in groups

– Some fishes form schools, and some insects live in large groups

– Hoofed mammals, such as bison and wild horses, often form herds


• Group Behavior– Safety in Groups• Living in groups often protects animals against

predators (fishes that swim in schools are often safer then fishes that swim alone)• Animals in a group sometimes cooperate in fighting off

a predator – Example: Fig 13 p448


• Group Behavior– Animal Societies• Some animals, including ants, termites, honeybees,

naked mole rats, and pistol shrimp, living in groups called societies• A society is a group of closely related animals of same

species that work together in a highly organized way• In a society, there is a division of labor – different

individuals perform different tasks


• Behavior Cycles– Some animal behavior, called cyclic behaviors,

occur in regular, predictable patterns– Cyclic behaviors usually change over the course of

the day or a season


• Behavior Cycles– Daily Cycles

• Behavior cycles that occur over a period of approximately one day are called circadian rhythms

• For example, blowflies search for food during the day and rest at night

• In contrast, field mice are active during the night and rest by day

• Animals that are active during the day can take advantage of sunlight, which makes food easy to see

• On the other hand, animals that are active at night do not encounter predators that are active during the day


• Behavior Cycles– Hibernation

• Other behavior cycles are related to seasons• Example: some animals, such as woodchucks and chipmunks, are

active during warm seasons but hibernate during the cold winter• Hibernation is a state of greatly reduced body activity that

occurs during the winter when food is scarce• During hibernation, all of an animals body processes, such as

breathing and heartbeat, slow down• This slowdown reduces the animals need for food • In fact hibernation animals do not eat; their bodies use stored fat

to meet their reduced nutrition needs


• Behavior Cycles– Migration: is the regular, seasonal journey of an animal

from one place to another and back again– Some animals migrate short distances

• Example: Dall’s sheep spend summers near the tops of mountains and move lower down for the winters

– Other animals migrate 100’s of miles such as birds– Animals usually migrate to an area that provides a lot of

food or a good environment for reproduction– Most migrations are related to the changing seasons and

take place twice a year, in the spring and in the fall

Sec 3: Tracking Migrations

• Technologies for Tracking– Electronic tags give off repeating signals that are picked up

by radio devices or satellites. Scientists can track the locations and movements of the tagged animals without recapturing them

– In the fall of 1803, American naturalist John James Audubon wondered whether migrating birds returned to the same place each year

– So he tied a string around the leg of a bird before it flew south

– The following spring, Audubon saw the bird with the string. He learned that the bird had indeed come back


• Technologies for Tracking– Radio Tracking• Tracking an animal by radio involves two devices• A transmitter attached to the animal sends out a signal

in the form of radio waves, just as a radio station dose• A scientist might place the transmitter around an

animals ankle, neck, wing, or fin• A receiver picks up the signal, just like a radio at your

house• The receiver is usually in a truck or an airplane


• Technologies for Tracking– Satellite Tracking

• Receivers can be placed in satellites as well as in airplanes and trucks

• A satellite is an instrument in orbit thousands of kilometers above Earth

• Networks, or groups, of satellites are used to track animals• Each satellite in a network picks up electronic signals from

a transmitter on an animal • Together, the signals from all the satellites determine the

precise location of the animal


• Why Tracking is Important– Electronic tracking tags are giving scientists a

complete, accurate picture of migration patterns• Example: when scientists used radio transmitters to track

one herd of caribou, they learned two important things

– First, they learned that the herd moves over a larger area than previously thought

– Second, they learned that each year the herd returns to about the same place to give birth to its young


• Why Tracking is Important– Tracking migrations is an important tool to better

understand and protect species• Example: Florida manatees are an endangered species,

and therefore they need protection so tracking them can help with their protection

– Technologies for tracking animals may also help people whose work or recreation affects animals• Example: suppose officials at a state park want to protect a

group of migrating animals during the spring; the officials plan to ban fishing or boating for the entire spring season

Animal Behavior Chapter 13. Sec 1: What is Behavior? The Behavior of Animals – An animals behavior...

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