Animal Behavior 2024 PDF

Animal Behavior By Charles J Sharp - Own work, from Sharp Photography, sharpphotography.co.uk, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=67958546  Biological Basis of Behavior The modern scientific study of animal behavior in nature, als...

Animal Behavior By Charles J Sharp - Own work, from Sharp Photography, sharpphotography.co.uk, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=67958546  Biological Basis of Behavior The modern scientific study of animal behavior in nature, also called ethology, is generally attributed to the work of: the Austrian Konrad Lorenz (1903 – 1989) and the Dutchman Niko Tinbergen (1907 – 1988). With Karl von Frisch they were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1973 “for their discoveries concerning organization and elicitation of individual and social behavior patterns.”  Karl von Frisch Konrad Lorenz Niko Tinbergen https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/1973/frisch/biographical/ https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/1973/lorenz/biographical/ https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/1973/tinbergen/biographical/ Every Nobel Laureate (winner) writes a short (one to several page) autobiography providing a personal telling of how their life led to their work. Check out those for von Frisch, Lorenz, and Tinbergen at the links above. Their stories intertwine with each other and with the events and social upheaval of WWII. Although these are all male scientists featured in this lesson, many women have been awarded Nobel prizes in the sciences. For one of their stories you might take a look at the account by Linda Buck. She was awarded the prize for discovery of odorant receptors and organization of the olfactory system, a topic relevant to the previous lesson.  Researching Behavior According to Niko Tinbergen, four questions should be asked about behavior: 1. What stimulus elicits the behavior, and what physiological mechanisms mediate the response? 2. How does the animal’s experience during growth and development influence the response mechanisms?  Researching Behavior 3. How does the behavior aid survival and reproduction? 4. What is the behavior’s evolutionary history? These questions highlight the complementary nature of proximate (how?) and ultimate (why?) perspectives.  Innate Behavior A fixed action pattern is a sequence of unlearned, innate behaviors that is unchangeable. Once initiated, it is usually carried to completion. A fixed action pattern is triggered by an external cue known as a sign stimulus.  1 3 2 4 5 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUNZv-ByPkU  Signals A signal is a behavior that causes a change in another animal’s behavior. Communication is the transmission and reception of signals. Animals communicate using visual, chemical, tactile, and auditory signals. The type of signal is closely related to lifestyle and environment. Visual Communication Visual signals are expected to contrast with habitat backgrounds and often convey information about the signaler. Visual signaling can work over long distances but is limited by line of sight.  The waggle dance of honeybees communicates the location of food sources. A Movements in the dance 30° signal the position of food C relative to the hive and sun. B Beehive Location A Location B Location C  Chemical Communication Minnows before alarm Pheromones are hormones used in chemical communication between animals. Minnows after alarm Schreckstoff is a chemical alarm signal identified by the Austrian biologist Karl von Frisch that is released by physical damage. Tactile Communication Tactile communication is often associated with, and crucial to, copulation. Tactile communication functions over extremely short range.  Acoustic Communication Acoustic communication is used in territory maintenance, mating and in warning signals. Acoustic signaling is energetically costly but can be effective over long distances and in all directions. Although only humans possess well-developed language some animals use specific calls to represent specific threats. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1kXCh496U0  Learning Learning is the modification of behavior based on specific experiences. Imprinting is a behavior that includes learning and innate components and is generally irreversible. The learned component can only occur during a limited sensitive period early in life. Konrad Lorenz showed that when baby geese spent the first few hours of their life with him, they imprinted him as their parent. The imprint stimulus in greylag geese is a nearby object that is moving away from the young geese. Hetaoping Research and Conservation Centre  Making Connections In associative learning, animals associate one feature of their environment with another. The two forms of associative learning are: Classical conditioning Operant conditioning  Classical Conditioning Classical conditioning is associative learning in which a physiological response becomes associated with an arbitrary stimulus that can then bring about that response itself. Pavlov  Operant Conditioning Operant conditioning is associative learning in which an animal learns to associate one of its behaviors with a reward or punishment. It is also called trial-and-error learning. For example, a rat that is fed after pushing a lever will learn to push the lever to receive food. Operant conditioning chamber designed by B.F. Skinner (“Skinner Box”)  Figuring It Out Cognition is a process of knowing or learning that may include awareness, reasoning, recollection, and judgment. Problem solving is the process of devising a strategy to overcome an obstacle, including those never before seen.  Learning From Others Social learning is learning through the observation of others. For example, chimpanzees learn to crack palm nuts with stones by observing and copying older chimpanzees.  Altruism Natural selection favors behavior that maximizes an individual’s survival and reproduction (fitness). On occasion, some animals behave in ways that reduce their individual fitness but increase the fitness of others. This kind of behavior is called altruism.  Inclusive Fitness Altruism can be explained by inclusive fitness. Inclusive fitness is the total effect an individual has on proliferating its genes, by producing offspring and helping relatives (that carry the same genes) produce offspring.  Hamilton’s Rule William Hamilton proposed a quantitative measure for predicting when natural selection would favor altruistic acts. Three key variables in an altruistic act: – Benefit to the recipient (B) – Cost to the altruist (C) – Coefficient of relatedness (the fraction of genes that, on average, are shared; r) Kin selection is the natural selection that favors this kind of altruistic behavior by enhancing reproduction of relatives. Kin selection is more widespread in groups that have a higher degree of relatedness. Which sex of ground squirrel should act more altruistically? A) male 300 Mean distance (m) B) female Male moved from birthplace 200 100 Female 0 Belding’s ground squirrel 1 2 3 4 12 13 14 15 25 26 Age (months)