Animal Behavior: Conceptual Framework

• This is a conceptual framework for studying animal behavior and understanding why animals do what they do.
• This framework is applicable to any species and any behavior.
• This framework works for normal and abnormal behavior and it works for managed and wild animals.
• This framework is rooted in animal behavior science, emphasizing its place as a branch of biology.

Themes

• Behavioral phenotypes result from the interaction between genes and environment (P = G x E).
• Animal behavior can be explained by proximate (mechanism, ontogeny) and ultimate causes (phylogeny, adaptive significance).
• These causes integrate, enabling a complete understanding of animal actions.
• Animal behavior's scientific study comes from many fields of biology, cutting across ethology's "4 questions," facilitating understanding of "whys."

Seal Mother Pup Example

• Seal mothers remain close to their pups because of ontogeny, mechanism, phylogeny, and adaptive significance

Applying the Conceptual Framework

• Applying this framework to managing animal behavior.
• Assessing learning of these concepts and associated skills as a solid foundation for building upon.
• The importance of understanding behavior to improve animal care and management as animal managers.
• This understanding comes from the process of science.

Using Science to Understand Animal Behavior

• Use science in animal behavior at a professional level.
• Identify primary literature and know where to find it.
• Approach a paper purposefully to grasp key ideas at scientific understanding level from any behavior paper.
• Communicate key ideas to someone who has not read the paper and use pre-recorded lectures posted in Brightspace for refreshers.
• Identify the 4 questions being addressed by a research project to know what the 4 questions including what types of questions they ask.
• Knowing "why" or "how" helps identify addressed questions.
• Determine if research asks a proximate question (why is animal doing behavior at this time) or an ultimate/evolutionary question (how/why is behavior the way it is in this species).
• Studies could address more than one element.

Confusion with Ontogeny

• If ontogeny is being studied, research must measure behavior at different time points in individual, or different age classes using young, juvenile, and adult animals.
• Additionally, measurements should be taken before, during, and after training.
• Mechanism studies can yield ontogeny hypotheses.
• Observations are needed through the relevant time points for various species.

Confusion with Phylogeny

• Consider where trait came from on evolutionary time scales.
• Comparing mechanisms in different dog breeds secondarily talks phylogeny of behavior.
• Adaptive significance measures survival, health, and reproduction.

Examples of Adaptive Significance

• Includes body condition, disease prevalence, litter size, offspring mass, and offspring survival.

Understanding Behaviour

• Identify dimension(s) of behavior being measured including quality (description), frequency (count, duration, etc.), or sequence (transitions between behaviors, expressed as a % or proportion).
• Identify the ethogram and study methods including observational, experimental, and quasi-experimental methods.

Real Quick Dive into a Paper

• To quickly dive into a paper, pick one or more papers Wolves and Dogs, Pig Gait, Pig Nursing, or Flamingos.
• Quickly identify the "why" question that is being asked and attempt to identify which of the 4 questions is explored by your paper.

Research Papers Discussion

• For each paper, identify the type of study (observational, experimental, quasi-experimental) and where the ethogram is defined, including which behaviors are important to the study.
• Identify what dimension(s) of behaviors were relevant to the hypothesis (quality, frequency, sequence).
• Identify which of the 4 questions is being addressed and explain why the dimension related to hypothesis.

Examples Study Methods

• Horses: quasi-experimental, frequency, mechanism, and ontogeny.
• Cats hunting: observational, frequency, and adaptive significance.
• Birds: quasi-experimental, frequency, and adaptive significance.
• Pandas: observational and experimental, quality and frequency, and adaptive significance.

Research Transfer

• Research fits with other research to explain why animals do what they do, and behavior research is integrative as behavior is affected by genetic and environmental factors.
• Determine how applicable the research to management situation and how the behavior research works.
• Understanding ethological concepts is relevant to careers in animal science, which enables usage of knowledge.

Exam #1 Breakdown

• There is a timed exam, (75 min).
• The exam assesses the subject's ability to think on your feet, which is of course important in animal management.
• The exam covers conceptual questions using the context of a paper provided.
• Open ended questions will demonstrate conceptual question understanding.
• Read paper first prior to answering questions.

Grey Seals Study

• "This graph shows that social integration score is positively correlated with foaling success"-Mares who spent more time socializing with other mares in a group were more likely to give birth than mares who were less social.

The exam will be ~10% of grade, and less than the points that you earn for being engaged in class (55 points so far).

• Check on skills and knowledge as we move into the more applied aspects of animal behavior.

Grey Seal Pups

• Dispersal of grey seal pups in Norway has individual variation.
• If pups swim, there is a risk of losing mother, freezing, and exhaustion.