Animal Behaviour Flashcards
1
Q
animal behaviour
A
- carried out in response to internal + external stimuli (solitary or social, fixed or variable)
- enables organism to hide, search for food, find a mate
- proximate causes = immediate, genetic, physiological, neurological, development mechanisms to dedtemine how individual behaves
- ultimate causes = evolutionary pressures that fashioned behaviour
2
Q
fixed action pattern
A
- innate, seemingly highly stereotypic behaviorthat once begun is continued to completion
- initiated by external stimuli: sign stimuli
- when stimuli exchanged between same species, known as releasers
e.g. stickleback fish, which attacks other males that invade territory
releaser for attack is red belly of intruder
will attack a nonfishlike wooden model as long as splash of red visible
3
Q
migration
A
- migrates in response to environmental stimuli (changes in day length, precipitation + temperature)
- some animals track position relative to sun against circadian clock
- nocturnal animals keep track of position using North Star
- pigeons track positions relative to magnetic field
- gray whales migrate seasonally and do it knowing + remembering elements in environment (piloting)
4
Q
animal signals + communication
A
- mark territory with chemical signals (pheromones)
- chemical signals also alarm signals (catfish release signal when injured to induce response in other fish)
- visual signals effective in open places in daylight, information about sex, strength, social status
5
Q
learning modifies behaviour
A
- sophisticated process in which responses of organism modifed as result
- capacity to learn tied to life span + brain
6
Q
habituation
A
- simplest form of learning
- animal ignores persistent stimulus so it can continue thriving
7
Q
associative learning
A
- learning in which one stimiulus is linked to another
- classical conditioning = Pavlov’s dog, would salivate just at ring of bell
- operant conditioning (trial and error) = learns to associate behaviour with reward/punishment and then repeats/avoids behaviour
8
Q
imprinting
A
- learning during sensitive/critical period in early life of individual
- e.g. geese hatchlings follow first thing they see moving
9
Q
social behaviour
A
- any interaction among 2+ animals, usually same species
- cooperation, agnoistic, dominance hierarchies, territoriality, altruism
10
Q
cooperation
A
enables individuals to carry out behaviour that group can do better than individual (e.g. hunting)
11
Q
agonistic behaviour
A
- aggresive behaviour
- variety of threats or actual combat to settle disputes
- can be symbolic (don’t have to kill each other)
- loser/one that gets scared engages in submissive behaviour
12
Q
dominance hierarchies
A
- dictate social position animal has in culture
- alpha controls behaviours of all others
13
Q
territoriality
A
- area organism defends and other members in community excluded
- used for capturing food, mating, rearing young
14
Q
altruism
A
- behaviour that reduces individual’s reproductive fitness but increases fitness of colony/family
- individual dies but relatives survive to pass on genes (kin selection/inclusive fitness)
