Behavioral Biology

Chapter 51

http://classroomclipart.com/cgi-bin/kids/imageFolio.cgi?action=view&link=Animations/People&image=sleeping.gif&img=&tt=

• Behavior – what an animal does and why they do it.

• Has proximate (immediate responses) and ultimate (evolutionary reasons) causes.

• Innate behavior – present at birth.

• Fixed action pattern (FAP) – acts that are unchangeable and carried to completion.

• Triggered by a stimulus.

• Optimal foraging theory – foraging is balance between cost and reward.

• Animals expend the least amount of energy to get the most food.

http://www.cquest.utoronto.ca/cgi-bio150/foraging/book.cgi?from=intro*section2&book=optimal&page=models

Hummingbirds must constantly eatin order to keep up with demand.

Learning

• Modification of behavior because of specific experiences.

• Different from maturation (change due to development in neuromuscular system)

• If stimulus is overused, habituation occurs. (no response)

http://www.jolyon.co.uk/illustrations/vision/jpg_8.1_habituation.htm

• AImprinting – learning limited to specific period in animal’s life (sensitive period)

• Seen in songbird’s song – bird must learn song during sensitive period or it won’t learn it.

http://www.pigeon.psy.tufts.edu/avc/zentall/images/defaul5.jpg

• BAssociative learning – associating one stimulus for another.

• 1Classical conditioning – one stimulus gives reward or punishment (Pavlov’s dogs)

• 2Operant conditioning – trial and error learning

http://www.geocities.com/skews_me_too/img/pavlovdog.jpg

http://www.psy.pdx.edu/PsiCafe/Overheads/OperantCond.jpg

• CPlay – no external goal, but has goal-directed behaviors.

• Could be for exercise or for practice (i.e. play fighting)

http://www.milwaukeedogparks.org/images/9-28%20crop%20Talih%20%20Henley%20001.jpg

Cognition

• Ability of animal’s nervous system to perceive, store, process, and use information gathered by receptors.

• 1Kinesis and taxis – kinesis – change in activity due to stimulus; taxis – movement towards/away from stimulus.

http://www.uky.edu/Ag/Entomology/entfacts/trees/ef406sow.gif

Sowbugs exhibit kinesis – they are more active in dry areas, less in humid areas. This ensures they will always be in wet areas.

Before adding light After adding light

http://users.rcn.com/jkimball.ma.ultranet/BiologyPages/T/Taxes.html

The organisms exhibit positive phototaxis and orient towards the light.

• 2Landmarks – more complex; ability to use objects as memory tools.

• 3Cognitive maps – code of spatial relationships among objects.

• Blue jays can remember thousands of storage areas for food.

• Cognition studied through migration (movement over long distances)

http://www.paulnoll.com/Oregon/Birds/Avian-migration-Swans.jpg

Social behavior• Any interaction between 2 +

animals, usually the same species.

• 1Agnostic behavior – involves threatening/submissive behavior – winner earns something (mate, food)

• Involves rituals, reconciliation behavior.

http://www.worldbook.com/features/birds/html/how_familylife.html

Ritual behavior in birds

• 2Dominance hierarchy – pecking order from top-ranked to bottom.

• 3Territoriality – defends territories for mating, feeding, etc.

http://alaskabeartours.com/images3/big/fight2.jpg

Dominance hierarchy in bears

Mating behaviors

• 1Courtship – behavior patterns leading to mating.

• Amount of time proportional to parental investments (amount of time needed to produce/raise young)

http://www.cartoonstock.com/newscartoons/cartoonists/cga/lowres/cgan141l.jpg

• 2Mating systems – vary in species.

• APromiscuous – no strong relationships.

• BMonogamous – one male/one female.

• CPolygamous – more than one partner; polygyny – 1 male/<1 female; polyandry – 1 female/<1 male

• DSignals – behavior that causes change in behavior in other animal.

• 1Phermones – chemical signals emitted from animals.

http://www.cartoonstock.com/lowres/bgr0004l.jpg

• Altruism – reduces individual fitness but increases fitness of recipient.

• Leads to inclusive fitness – total effect an individual has on passing on genes by producing offspring and helping to raise close relatives.

http://content.answers.com/main/content/wp/en/9/9d/Monkeysgrooming.jpg

• Kin selection – form of altruism specific to families.

• Weakens with hereditary distance.

• Reciprocal altruism – altruism outside of family (seen rarely; i.e. humans)