Animal Behavior Flashcards
What two things influence an animal’s behavior?
genes (nature) and the environment (nurture)
how do genes affect an animal’s behavior?
innate behaviors that are developmentally fixed
how does the environment affect an animal’s behavior?
learned behaviors usually learned from parents or trial and error
what is the study of animal behavior called? break it down
ethology; “etho”= character, “ology”= study of
4 reasons why any behavior evolved?
- made the organism fit the environment better
- made it more likely to survive
- pass on genes
- optimized organism’s Darwinian fitness
who made the demonstration of 3-spined stickleback fish?
Niko Tinbergen
what do male 3-spined sticklebacks do to fish invading their territories?
attacked the red underside of an intruder
what does the red underside serve as to the males?
a sign stimulus to attack
what is FAP? Give an example
It’s called a fixed-action pattern, it’s a sequence of innate behaviors linked to a simple stimulus. Sticklebacks attack anything with a red underbelly– even nonfishlike objects
what is foraging?
searching for food and feeding
what is optimal foraging? give an example
what an animal eats is based upon this: they weigh the costs and benefits of getting a meal. Bluegill sunfish feed on Daphnia, and will choose the smaller closer one instead of the further bigger one.
What is habituation? what is it known as? give an example
a type of learning that involves a loss of responsiveness to a stimulus. Hydras eventually stop contracting when touched repeatedly. it’s also known as the ‘cry wolf’ effect
what is another type of long-lasting learning at a specific stage in life to a particular individual and is limited to a time range? what is that time range called?
Imprinting; sensitive/critical period
who became famous for his imprinting experiment? with what?
Konrad Lorenz; grayleg geese
what did lorenz discover?
if geese spent time with a human for the first hours of their lives, they will follow that person and will show no sign of recognizing the adults of their species
what does “operation migration” do to help migrate whooping cranes?
humans dressed in crane suits
how do salmons know how to get back to their freshwater stream after migrating to salt water?
the chemical scent of the stream is imprinted on them
how do nocturnal animals migrate over the long distance? diurnal animals? what happens if the weather’s cloudy?
North star; sun; use the Earth’s magnetic field as they can see it as they either have magnetite in their heads or have photoreceptors in their eyes
what is magnetite?
a magnetic iron material
what is using photoreceptors in the eyes to see the magnetic field called?
magnetoreception
what are the two types of movement? define both
taxis- a directed movement toward or away a stimulus
kinesis- a change in activity rate in response to a stimulus/nondirectional/random movement
what learning is the ability to learn to associate one environmental feature with another?
associative learning
what two types of associative learning are there?
classical conditioning and operant conditioning
what is classical conditioning?
occurs when an arbitrary stimulus is associated with a particular outcome
who is famous for classical conditioning? what did he do?
physiologist Ivan Paulov. made dogs associate a bells ring to getting meat power, resulting in them salivating at the sound of a bell
what is operant conditioning?`
it’s when an animal learns to associate their own behaviors with rewards/punishments and continues/stops that behavior
who is famous for conducting operant conditioning? what did he do?
BF Skinner; he placed birds or rats in a Skinner box. in the box, rats found a lever and were rewarded with pieces of food. soon the rats associated pushing the lever with getting a treat.
what is cognition/insight?
performing higher level reasoning/ problem solving
what did jane goodall study?
cognitive abilities of chimpanzees
what cognitive task did goodall obersve?
chimpanzees would ‘termite-fish’. sticking a stick in a mound and pulling it out, eating the termites that were on the stick
what other animals have been observed performing cognitive tasks? what were the tasks?
crows- dropping stones to increase water level
elephants- burial rituals
dolphins- recognizing themselves in mirrors
what is proximate causation?
how a behavior occurs/what the organism does
what is ultimate causation?
why a behavior occurs from an evolutionary standpoint
example of proximate and ultimate causation.
male fiddler crabs wave their large claw in the air (proximate) to repel males and attract females (ultimate)
what is a circadian rhythm? give an example
an internal mechanism that maintains a 24 hour clock. 4 o clock flowers blook at 4, and animal’s pineal glands produce melatonin that sets sleep when it gets dark
what are other animals that do not naturally mate exclusively in one season?
bonobos, pigs, dolphins, humans
how do monkey and apes differ?
monkeys have tails, apes don’t
what are some characteristics of primates? give examples.
monkeys, apes, and humans.
-opposable thumbs
-large brain to body ratio
-nails
-less teeth than other mammals
-stereoscopic color vision/depth perception to see an object with two eyes at the same time
-reduced sense of smell
what is a niche?
an organism’s role, their habitat, what it eats, whom it mates with, etc
what causes competitive social behaviors? give examples
when members of a population who share a common niche live in the same area, conflict arises. territoriality and agnostic behavior ritualized contests. gorillas with beating their chests and baring their teeth
what is it called when social groups are maintained by agonistic behaviors? what organisms are they the common in?
dominance hierarchy; birds, social insects such as bees and ants, fish, and primates
explain the pecking order in hens
alpha controls behavior of all, beta of all but the alpha, and omega is at the very bottom
who developed a game theory that states the outcome depends on the strategies of all individuals involved?
john nash
how is game theory prevalent in male California side-blotched lizards?
orange-throats are very aggressive and defend large territories. blue-throats are less aggressive and defend smaller territories. yellow are not aggressive, and use sneaky tactic not being territorial. when orange and blue fight, yellow sneaks in and mates
what does the mating success of each male California side-blotched lizards depend on?
relative abundance of other types
what is the difference between home range and territory?
a home range is where an organism wanders but does not defend
a territory is what an organism protects, it provides the animal with resources, a breeding area, and a place to raise young
why are females more selective than males?
they have greater parental investment as it takes time, energy, and resources on behalf of the females to produce and raise offspring
to be the chosen male, how have males evolved?
they evolved secondary sexual characteristics known as dimorphism.
how do males engage in courtship behaviors to attract females?
colorful plumage, large antlers
what do the mating dances of albatross birds consist of?
high choreographed clicks, sounds, and movements
how is the specific light in male firefly beetles to attract females produced?
it is bioluminescent by using the enzyme luciferase to convert pigments that release energy(ATP)
what does it mean when there are no strong pair bonds in mating?
mating is promiscuous
examples of monogamous animal relationships
wolves, bald eagles, swans
advantage of monogamy
help leave more off springs since both parents take care of kids
two types of polygamy
- polygyny - one male many females (rooster and chickens)
- polyandry - one female many males (squirrels, prairie dogs)
what is the term for half female and half male?
gynandromorph
what causes gynandromorph?
a nondisjunction in mitosis/cleavage. the sex chromosomes do not divide properly- ex. turners syndrome (x) and Jacob’s (xyy) causing one sex cell that causes female development and the other male development.
what do many animals rely on in the night?
auditory and olfactory signals
what chemical signals do animals that communicate with odors use?
pheremones
what type of male moth has receptors that can detect femal0producing sex pheromones from several km away?
male silkworm moths
explain the social order of bees
queen is fed royal jelly (contains royalactin) which allows her to grow ovaries to be fertile. worker bees are females and they feed the babies, maintain the hive, collect pollen. drones are males and they only mate
what are flowering plants called?
angiosperms
what is honey? how is it created?
bee vomit. flower nectar is mixed inside a bee’s stomach with proteins and enzymes and then regurgitated. using their wings, the vomit is dehydrated and thickens.
what is an essential interaction between individuals?
communication- transmission and reception of signals
what do honeybees use to communicate? what does it mean?
the waggle dance; distance and direction toward food
why do bird vocalizations differ?
songs- longer and complex and are used for courtship
calls- alarms to warn and keep members in contact
what is altruism?
when animals behave in a way that reduces their individual fitness for benefit of others
what does altruistic behavior depend on?
the coefficient of relatedness’- the proportion of genes that are shared
coefficient of relatedness in family
parent/full sibling - .5
half sibling- .5
grandparent/aunt/uncle/nephew/niece-.25
first cousins- .125
what is reciprocal altruism? who is most likely to exhibit it?
behaving altruistically without any relatedness; humans
