B3 Topic 2 - Behaviour And Evolution Flashcards
What is innate behaviour?
An innate behaviour is one that is inherited, an organism will react in this way to a stimulus, even if they have never encountered it before.
Reflex actions are examples of simple inherited behaviours, e.g. Sneezing, blinking, where a stimulus produces a fairly simple response.
Other types of reflexes are more complex, such as negative photo taxis in earthworms etc.
What is learned behaviour?
Learned behaviour is learnt from past experiences and help an organism react to similar situations again in the future.
One example of this is habituation where animals learn to ignore a repeated stimulus if it neither benefits nor harms the organism. By ignoring these stimuli, the animal can use its energy and time more efficiently by not wasting energy reacting to something that is non-rewarding and non-threatening.
What is imprinting?
Imprinting is when an animal learns to recognise its parents and follows them. Animals which imprint will look for the first moving object which it sees and then imprint themselves onto it.
What are the two types of conditioning and how do they work?
Classical conditioning:
When an animal passively learns to associate a neutral stimulus with an important one. The response becomes automatic and is reinforced by repetition. E.g. Pavlov’s dogs, rang a bell which made them salivate as they associated it with food.
Operant conditioning:
Operant conditioning is when an animal actively finds the association between an action with a reward or punishment. E.g. Skinner’s Box, put rats and pigeons in boxes with red and green buttons, once they pressed the correct button, they would get food.
What are the three methods of communication between animals?
Sound - communication through different noises to signify different meanings
Chemicals - pheromones can be released by animals to communicate with others, many animals use scents to mark out their territory
Visual Signals - many animals use visual communication to sent signals to other animals. Bees move in certain ways to direct others to sources of food; many mammals use body language and gestures to communicate between themselves; facial expressions can also be used to convey a multitude of different meanings to other animals
What did the ethologist, Tinbergen, study?
Innate behaviour in herring gulls:
Newly hatched chicks always pecked a red spot on their parents’ beaks to ask for food. Tinbergen showed cardboard cutouts of gulls head with different coloured spots to newborn chicks to see which would get pecked the most. The cardboard heads with red spots were pecked most often, even though though they had never seen their parents. From this Tinbergen concluded that herring gull chicks are born with the instinct to peck at a red spot.
What did the ethologist, Lorenz, study?
Imprinting in geese:
Lorenz studied how baby birds, such as ducklings, recognise their mother and learn to follow her around. He took two groups of goose eggs and let one group be born with their mother, while the other was kept in an incubator to hatch. When the second group was born, the first moving thing they saw was Lorenz and so they followed him around wherever he went, while the first group followed their mother as she was the first moving thing that they saw.
What is an organism’s behaviour?
Behaviour is how an organism responds to events going on in its environment. It can be either inherited, learnt or a combination of the two.
What did the ethologists, Fossey and Goodall, study?
Social Behaviour in Apes:
Dian Fossey - mountain gorillas
Jane Goodall - chimpanzees
They both studied apes in their natural habitats as to not disturb them. They watched the animals’ behaviour and recorded their findings. They saw the apes work together to search for food and protect each other from attacks. They also had a social hierarchy with the dominant males on top. This helped prevent fights as everyone knows their place in the group. Finally, the apes also groomed each other to keep themselves clean but also to reinforce social bonds within the group.
Which different methods do animals use to attract mates?
Song or call - whales, birds, frogs
Pheromones - insects, e.g. Moths
Fighting other males to show strength - deer
Courtship displays - mandrill
Describe some different mating patterns in different organisms.
Monogamy - staying with one mate, usually happens with birds
Males take no part in bringing up young
Male will mate with one female each season, not always the same one
Some mammals, male may have a group of females which he mates with
Describe some reasons for animals staying with their young after birth.
Protection - parents may stay with the young to protect them from predators
Feeding - if a species both feeds and protects its young, both parents are normally involved, one to find food and the other to protect
Teaching skills - there are some skills that aren’t innate that a parent must teach its child, most young learn by imitation
State some benefits of looking after young.
Parental care greatly increases the proportion of young that survive until adulthood
Looking after young is much less dangerous than being pregnant, if a species looks after its young, it can give birth to more underdeveloped babies and then look after them
How do plants communicate? What do they use this method to do?
They release chemicals to communicate. Can be used to: Attract pollinators Attract insect predators Warn other plants of predators
Give some examples of co-evolution between plants and animals.
Plants and their pollinators:
Insect gets nectar from plant, plant spreads pollen to other plants
If only one species of insect goes to a plant, it will be more likely to have nectar. Also, that insect will pollinate only that plant’s species.
Orchids and moths
Plants and predators:
Plants can release chemicals which are toxic to insects or predators so that they aren’t eaten. If an animal can eat this poisonous plant without dying, it gets more food because other animals can’t eat the plant. Cinnabar moth eat poisonous plants such as ragwort which is poisonous to other animals
Acacia tree and acacia ants, tree makes home for ants, ants protect tree from insects and creepers etc.
