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Animal behavior How do we study it? How do we classify it?
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Transcript of Animal behavior How do we study it? How do we classify it?
Animal behavior
How do we study it?
How do we classify it?
The science of animal behavior
How do animals behave?proximate causationwhat physiological mechanisms enable this
Why do they behave as they do?ultimate causationevolutionary origin and purpose of thebehavior
These areas of study may not overlap much
Many approaches to the study of animal behavior
Comparative psychologyare there general laws of behavior?
originally studied by inference
later: controlled experimentsrats, pigeons, dogs, primates
Out of context; no evolutionary perspective
Ethology: study of animal behavior in itsnatural habitat
Founders: Konrad Lorenz, Karl von Frisch,Niko Tinbergen
Techniques:field observationusing natural variables but manipulating
themperforming laboratory experimentsbut comparing results with natural ones
Insights:behavioral traits can be measured
behaviors have evolutionary histories
Sociobiology (E.O. Wilson. 1970s)social behavior is reciprocal, cooperativeorganisms depend on each other
Examples:colonial vertebratessocial insectsmammals such as dolphins and elephantshumans
Controversial: to what extent is humanculture biologically determined?
All of the above approaches can be appliedto behavioral ecology (patterns will befavored that promote survival andreproductive success)
Song repertoireCost-benefit analysis of foraging
How do you describe behavior?
1930s egg-rolling in greylag goose
Sequence was carried out to completionregardless
Stereotypical behaviorreleaser (triggering stimulus)
sign stimulus
Seen even when inappropriate
What happened:male stickleback is territorialbelly becomes red; male will becomeaggressive against another red-bellied male
Tinbergen: males reacted to red objects in theirenvironment
Made models with and without red undersides
English robins react the same way
Costs and benefits of such behaior?
FAP (fixed action pattern)
May be “expensive” if activated incorrectly
Otherwise may be the most efficient way ofdoing things
Are these behaviors innate?no teaching necessaryappear suddenly and are as successful asbehavior in older animals
How to account for environment?
When is learning appropriate? (modifying behavior due to past experiences)
Learning vs (neurological) maturation
Habituation as a form of learning
Loss of response to stimuli that are not helpful
Many examples, e.g., aquatic snail Aplysia(Kandel et al.)
Some neural pathways became less active
New neural pathways may also be formed,or can change
Imprintingis time sensitiveis usually irreversible
usually very reliable
Social behavior
What do we mean by social behavior (inter-action between one member of a speciesan another of the same species)
Groups may respond to the same environmentalsignal (light, temperature, etc.)
Social aggregations; animals signal to each other
What are some examples of social interaction?
Breeding (may be the extent of it for some animals!)
Defense
Finding food
Division of labor
Parent-child interactionslearning
Japanese macaques
One female started washing sand off of sweet potatoes
Others imitated her; they later taught theiroffspring to do so. She later learned to dothis with grain.
Her peers imitated her; the older males did not!
Any disadvantages to social living?
Depends on the circumstances
May need more room
May be safer when dispersed
Aggression and dominance
Cooperativity and competition
Many animals have ritualized ways of showingaggression, submission, etc.
Sometimes the roles are not as clear-cut, sodominant animals are challenged
Territoriality
Against “intruders” of the same species
Crustaceans, insects, fishes, amphibians,lizards, birds, mammals(are humans territorial?)