Mark Elgar

Animal Behaviour

Asking Questions

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Outline

Asking the right question

Anthropomorphism

Proximate vs ultimate factors:- Tinbergen’s four questions

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Asking the right question

Are dolphins happy and content at this time of the day?

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Asking the right questionStress levels of dairy cows vary depending on the company they keep.

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Avoid anthropomorphism

"the ascription of … a human attribute or personality to anything impersonal or irrational"

Oxford English dictionary

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Avoid anthropomorphismAvoid anthropomorphism

Tree kangaroo Eastern grey kangaroo

vs

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Avoid anthropomorphism

dead male

Argiope sp.

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Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)?Exposure to extreme trauma can result in post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

Disruptions to familial bonding process upsets regulation in developing brain

Infants develop an enduring right-brain dysfunction that predisposes them to violence

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Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)?

The orphans were elephants and the victims were rhinoceros

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There are questions, and there are questions...

Different answers to the same questions:

• development• causation• evolutionary history• survival value

?

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Why do male bower-birds build bowers in springtime?

Bowers are associated with courtship and mating; chicks are not raised in them

Photograph by Summhttp://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ASatin_Bowerbird_nest.jpg

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Why do male bower-birds build bowers in springtime?

Bowers are associated with courtship and mating; chicks are not raised in them

Photograph by Summhttp://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ASatin_Bowerbird_nest.jpg

Why do bowerbirds pay so much more attention to building, renovating and decorating their bowers in springtime?

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Why do male bower-birds build bowers in springtime?

i) causation:the hours of daylight increase during springtime, and this might trigger changes in hormones that consequently stimulate bower-building behaviour

Photograph by Summhttp://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ASatin_Bowerbird_nest.jpg

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Why do male bower-birds build bowers in springtime?

i) causation:the hours of daylight increase during springtime, and this might trigger changes in hormones that consequently stimulate bower-building behaviourii) adaptive value:males build bowers in order to attract females for breeding — no bower, no partner

Photograph by Summhttp://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ASatin_Bowerbird_nest.jpg

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Why do male bower-birds build bowers in springtime?

i) causation:the hours of daylight increase during springtime, and this might trigger changes in hormones that consequently stimulate bower-building behaviour

iii) evolutionary history:complex bowers may have evolved from more simple constructions (or nests) built by the ancestors of bowerbirds

ii) adaptive value:males build bowers in order to attract females for breeding — no bower, no partner

Photograph by Summhttp://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ASatin_Bowerbird_nest.jpg

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Why do male bower-birds build bowers in springtime?

i) causation:the hours of daylight increase during springtime, and this might trigger changes in hormones that consequently stimulate bower-building behaviour

iii) evolutionary history:complex bowers may have evolved from more simple constructions (or nests) built by the ancestors of bowerbirds

ii) adaptive value:males build bowers in order to attract females for breeding — no bower, no partner

iv) development:males have learned the behaviour from their parents or neighbours

Photograph by Summhttp://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ASatin_Bowerbird_nest.jpg

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Proximate vs Ultimate explanations

ultimate questions = the evolutionary, historical causes of behaviour

proximate questions = immediate causes of behaviour controlled by underlying genetic and developmental mechanisms

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Proximate vs Ultimate explanations

ultimate questions = the evolutionary, historical causes of behaviour

proximate questions = immediate causes of behaviour controlled by underlying genetic and developmental mechanisms

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Summary

To ask the right questions:

Avoid anthropomorphism

Understand the four levels of analysis(Tinbergen’s four questions)

Consider proximate vs ultimate factors

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Cita%ons

Slide-3h"p://www.flickr.com/photos/beingzoe/2925650374"Porpoise@in@Carlsbad,@CA"(h"p://www.flickr.com/photos/beingzoe/2925650374)@by@zoe@somebody@(CC@BY@2.0)@Slide-4"grazing@calves@at@Warea"@(h"p://www.flickr.com/photos/dcysurfer/4989259522/)@by@"dcysurfer"@(CC@BY@2.0).@Slide-81)@Tree@Kangaroo@photograph@courtesy@of@Laura@PaUence@and@Mai@Truong2)@"kangaroo@at@dusk"@(h"p://freeaussiestock.com/free/Australiana/slides/kangaroos_dusk.htm)@by@"freeaussiestock.com"@(CC@BY@3.0)

Slide-9"CannibalizaUon(silk@spider)"@(h"p://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ACannibalizaUon(silk_spider).jpg)@by@"Kumon"@(CC@BY@2.0),@via@Wikimedia@Commons@Slide-10a)@"ACAV@and@M48@Convoy@Vietnam@War"@(h"p://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AACAV_and_M48_Convoy_Vietnam_War.jpg)@By@Starry,@Donn@A.@Mounted@combat@in@Vietnam.@DEPARTMENT@OF@THE@ARMY.@[Public@domain],@via@Wikimedia@Commons

b)@"Korean@War@Korean@civilianseca1951"@(h"p://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AKorean_War_Korean_civilianseca1951.jpg)@by@US@Government@/@NaUonal@Archives@and@Records@AdministraUon@[Public@domain],@via@Wikimedia@Commons

Slide-11a)@"African@Bush@Elephants"@(h"ps://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AAfrican_Bush_Elephants.jpg)@by@"Gorgo"@[Public@domain],@via@Wikimedia@Commonsb)@"South@AfricaeMpumalangaeRhino02"@(h"ps://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ASouth_AfricaeMpumalangaeRhino02.jpg)@by@Nick@Roux@(CC@BYeSA@1.0),@via@Wikimedia@Commons

Slide-12River@O"er@2@(h"p://www.flickr.com/photos/wcdumonts/8553582101/)@by@Mark@Dumont@(CC@BY@2.0)@Slide-13-&-14"SaUn@Bowerbird@Nest"@(h"p://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ASaUn_Bowerbird_nest.jpg)@By@Summ@(Own@work)@(CCeBYeSAe3.0),@via@Wikimedia@Commons

Slide-16“Video@of@spinyeleaf@insect@swaying”@by@Eunice@Tan@©@University@of@Melbourne

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