Introduction To Primate (Animal) Behavior PDF

Anthropology 311 INTRODUCTION TO PRIMATE (ANIMAL) BEHAVIOUR ↳  WHY DO THEY DO WHAT THEY DO? - Why are we Why do birds sing? attracted to who...

Anthropology 311 INTRODUCTION TO PRIMATE (ANIMAL) BEHAVIOUR ↳  WHY DO THEY DO WHAT THEY DO? - Why are we Why do birds sing? attracted to who we’re attracted to? Why do gorillas beat their chest? 2  There may be a lot of different reasons for these things … … also, many different conceptual approaches that could be adopted to even start to explore this diversity. Cultural approaches Sociological approaches Historical approaches Religious approaches maybethere is a - psychological Approaches stressing idiosyncratic individual factors reason Our approach will be BIOLOGICAL/EVOLUTIONARY… It will stress the evolutionary processes that have shaped behaviour. Even here, though, there will be multiple reasons to consider. 3  1. “It’s fun [feels good]!” 2. “It relieves stress!” WHY DO YOU HAVE SEX ? 3. “It bonds...” 4. “To have a family” Lots of possible answers … which one is right? 4 17. 00 mic We need a formal scheme for asking and answering questions about behavior “Why” questions are really questions about the ‘causes’ of behavior. Why does an animal do THAT? = What ‘causes’ it to do THAT? And there can be ‘causes’ for behavior at multiple levels... S  first level -PROXIMATE LEVEL – (What are the short-term causes of behavior?) 1. What are the immediate (proximate) mechanisms governing the behavior?... That is, what stimuli elicit the behavior and what neural, hormonal and other internal systems control it? ex : Why do we want to have sex [Bodily features/actions/behaviors... trigger wants, feelings, desires... love? Associated with increased heart rate, blood pressure, vasodilation … and other stuff...] 6  - PROXIMATE LEVEL - (continued) 2. What are the developmental influences on the behavior?... That is, how does the behavior arise in the lifetime of the individual? How is the behavior “assembled” based on the many internal (physiological) and external (experiential) influences? Gasb [Hormonal influences and social experiences interact to make certain partners attractive, sexy, bondable... ]  - ULTIMATE LEVEL - What are the longer-term causes of behavior? 3. What is the adaptive function of the behavior?... · why questions, · What does it do · what is the function That is, how does the behavior contribute to survival and reproduction? [Sex is an adaptive solution to the problem of reproducing It functions to promote reproduction.]  - ULTIMATE LEVEL - (continued) 4. What is the evolutionary history of the behavior?... It is taking a That is, how did the behavior evolve in the history phylogenetic approach of the species? [Sex has arisen from asexual ancestors several times in evolutionary history] ex : Female bonded groups in primate ↳ we that could be reason.... 25 : somic might say a  WHY SEX? Longer-term: across generations Shorter-term: within lifetime Evolutionary ‘Propagate genes’ history Adaptive ‘Bond/intimacy’ (very long) benefits Developmental ‘Feels good’ (longer still) influences (a little longer) Immediate proximate mechanisms (short-time scale) the now yes it feel so good & T but why this person thel to procreate ex: 17 feels Why , if there is TIME the level of Here and now good no response there Will be consequences response ULTIMATE PROXIMATE CAUSES 31 min CAUSES [WHY] [HOW] behaviour listen to audio 32 min ecologiet  How do we answer questions about function? Hypothesis testing (aka. The “scientific method” – Start with a question 1 they answerable researching are behaviour ex : and man-man you choose a that is specie monugamous – Propose a possible answer (ie. a hypothesis) 2 – Establish predictions (eg. “if hypothesis A is 3 true, I predict xyz”) – Collect data very Y > - replicable important, must be so its letter to have a large choosing sample are you right , the data – Retain or reject hypothesis S Need good sample size a Often there is a correlation between two things rather than a cause and effect  SUMMARY POINTS 1. Behavior has multiple inter-related causes … that have to be kept distinct, but also finally integrated into complete explanation 2. Organisms behave based on proximate motivations… normally without any awareness of the ultimate effects (and sometimes - - despite it) :contraction * want to do it cuz if feels good , not because I want kids 3. Animal behavior is a scientific field that uses hypothetico- deductive method (i.e., hypothesis testing using observational and experimental data). 4. Science is ‘dynamic’ … answers are open to debate and can be modified/refined based on new data Adaptation and Evolution – processes of biological change over time does a not equate ~ Evolution = change over time M from generation to generation (aka - can be seen in data microevolution) that has the affect on the phenotype 47 : 20 min over many generations and the appearance of new species (aka macroevolution) longer look a term change Possile records Evolution is really about the emergence of adaptations  What exactly IS an ADAPTATION ??? Adaptations are things -- ‘TRAITS’ -- that suit organisms to their environments...... meaning that they FUNCTION to improve survival and reproduction. For example...  behavioural trait behavioural cognitive trant SONG SEX ADAPTAT I O N S CRYPTIC COLORATION trait physical ALARMING STRUCTURES physical trait that's a Caterpillar &  Variations of morphology or behaviour that function to promote survival (cryptic coloration, alarming structures or displays) or reproduction (sex, birdsong) = adaptations How do such adaptations come about? Pre-Darwin eurocentric jeudo-Christian approach 1. God’s creation... 2. Evolution by use Natural and disuse... Jean-Baptist theology Lamarck (Lamarckian adaptation) ↳ If there is evidence of good design , ↑ must be there a designer 53 min There is a mechanism that causes ex : elephant is smelling sometimes all the time, there the truck starts to grow, and then the offsprings would be born with that - epigenetics could be a Lamarcam adaptation So, if not by use and dis-use, how do species change over time? By a process called Natural Selection Natural selection is the primary mechanism of biological change over time (adaptation and evolution). Natural Selection Proposed by Darwin (and Alfred Wallace) of the idea of natural selection paper > co-author - ↑ ↳ Based on 3 fundamental observable facts: Variation in nature Inheritance of characteristics Overproduction and competition Y Variation - Lots of variation within and between species Inheritance - Variation appears to be passed from parents to offspring Principles of inheritance were not known when Darwin wrote Origin of Species Overproduction – there are always more offspring born than can or do survive to adulthood r-selected species  Overproduction means competition more than the