11/20/2015
Animal Behavior
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11/20/2015
What is behavior and why is it important?
Behavior
is what an animal does and how it does it.
Response to stimuli in its environment
Why?
part of the phenotype (it has variation and it can be selected)
influences the distribution and abundance of animals, and their interactions
Causes of Behavior
Proximate causes
Asks “How” & “What” questions
What stimuli causes the behavior?
How does the behavior happen (mechanisms that make it)?
Ultimate causes
Asks “Why” questions
evolutionary significance
Why did the behavior evolved?
does it increase survival?
does it increase reproductive success?
does it increase the fitness of an individual?
Example: Monarch migration
proximate causes:
ultimate causes:
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11/20/2015
Behavior is the result of
both genes and environmental factors
Two Components of Behavior:
• Nature/genetic: instinct and genes determine behavior
• Nurture/ environment: experience and learning influence behavior
They are not mutually exclusive, but work together to influence behavior
Behaviors run the spectrum from more innate to more learned!
Innate behavior
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Invariable, predictable behaviors
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Programmed behavior : Important for survival!
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A specific stimulus triggers a Fix action Patterns (FAP)
sequence of behaviors that are essentially unchangeable
& usually conducted to completion once started
Example: Graylag goose retrieving an egg
•
Innate behaviors have a strong genetic control
but improve with experience
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Learning: Modification of behavior through experience
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Habituation: loss of response to a stimulus after repeated exposure
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Imprinting: learning limited to a specific time period in the animal’s life and it is
irreversible
Example: geese follow their mother
most important stimulus is movement
improved by sound
critical time for imprinting!
Salmon imprints on smells of streams
Learning: Modification of behavior through experience
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Associative learning: learn a particular stimulus is linked to a reward or punishment
Example: Pavlov’s dogs
In nature, trial and error learning: animal learns to associate his
behavior with a positive or negative effect
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11/20/2015
Learning: Modification of behavior through experience
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Observational learning: learning by observing and mimicking others
Example: Octopus
Learning: Modification of behavior through experience
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Problem solving: inventive behavior that arises in response to a new situation
it involves cognition: ability to store, process and use information
present in primates, cetaceans, birds
Examples:
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