Behavioral Ecology

Question 1

study of how and why animals interact with each other (both within and among species) and their environment

Answer 1

animal behavior

Question 2

mechanisms responsible for interactions

Answer 2

proximate questions-how

Question 3

how these interactions influence an individual’s survival and reproduction

Answer 3

ultimate questions-why

Question 4

examples

Answer 4

mate choice
predation
intrnxns-envi
male competition
parasitism
foraging
alarm calls
mutualism
nest site selection
parental care
competition
imprinting

Question 5

why study behavior ecology?

Answer 5

• possible first science
• control/management of species
  -understanding/modification of our own behavior
  -curiosity
• achieve a better understanding of the species we share the earth with
  -almost any behavior performed by any animal may be interesting to study

Question 6

provide indirect evidence that primitive humans observed the behavior of animals

Answer 6

Paleolithic art from 40,000+ years ago

Question 7

portray herding animals in groups, animal migration, certain predators hunting in packs, and solitary animals alone

Answer 7

cave paintings

Question 8

cave paintings portray

Answer 8

• herding animals in groups
• animal migration
• certain predators hunting in packs
• solitary animals alone

Question 9

documented Kalahari bushmen’s (!Kung) knowledge of animal behavior

Answer 9

Blurton-Jones

Question 10

what did Blurton-Jones documented?

Answer 10

Kalahari bushmen

Question 11

How do we often interpret animal behavior

Answer 11

anthropomorphism

Question 12

objective description of behavior in the field, using observation

Answer 12

ethology

Question 13

coined the term instinct to desc the display patterns of pigeons

Answer 13

C.O. Whitman

Question 14

a graph of the time course or switch points in a sequence of behaviors, became a way of categorizing species-typical behavior

Answer 14

ethogram

Question 15

• realized that traits related directly to mate acquisition and mate choice, were distinctly different from other traits under natural selection
  -he coined the term sexual selection to emphasize the distinction between the two process

Answer 15

Charles Darwin

Question 16

what term did Charles Darwin coin

Answer 16

sexual selection

Question 17

it depends on the success of certain individuals over others of the same sex, in relation to propagation of the species

Answer 17

Sexual selection

Question 18

founders of the field of animal behavior

Answer 18

Niko Tinbergen
Konrad Lorenz
Karl von Frisch

Question 19

“for their discoveries concerning organization and elicitation of individual and social behavior patterns” the founders received

Answer 19

The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1973

Question 20

the study of the evolution and functional significance of behavior

Answer 20

modern ethology

Question 21

examined genetically programmed behaviors in young and imprinting

(ex: young geese; if the hatchlings first encounter a human, they will imprint on him and follow him around as if he were their mother)

Answer 21

Konrad Lorenz

Question 22

-pioneered studies in bee communication and foraging
-demonstrated that honey bees have color vision

Answer 22

Karl von Frisch

Question 23

to communicate the location of resources to other bees honey bees use

Answer 23

dance language

Question 24

-formulated a method studying animal behavior
- his approach had a strong Darwinian influence: understand the ultimate (evolutionary) reasons for behavior
-demonstrated that digger wasps used visual landmarks to relocate their nests

Answer 24

Niko Tinbergen

Question 25

refers to the organism

Answer 25

A- animal

Question 26

refers to the observable actions of the organism

Answer 26

B- behavior

Question 27

refers to the proximate causes of behavior such as genes, hormones, and nerve impulses that control the expression of behaviors

Answer 27

C- causation

Question 28

refers to the ontogeny of behaviors such as imprinting, or in the case of cognition, learning

Answer 28

D- development

Question 29

refers to the phylogenetic context in which behaviors are found.
(ex: the prevalence of parental care in birds, but not reptiles is an example of the taxonomic affiliations of some behaviors

Answer 29

E- evolution

Question 30

refers to the adaptive value or contribution that the behavior makes to fitness

Answer 30

F- function

Question 31

the ethological approach of Lorenz, Tinbergen, and von Frisch largely focused on the

Answer 31

behavior of organisms in their natural environment

Question 32

idea of behaviorism
- experimental studies of behavior in the laboratory l, using manipulation “universal principles” of behavior
-his work lead to the development of the use of learning paradigms

Answer 32

B. F. Skinner

Question 33

what did Skinner invent

Answer 33

Skinner Box

Question 34

• a synthesis between the evolutionary traditions of modern ethology, and the mechanistic studies of comparative psychology

(Krebs and Davies)

Answer 34

Behavioral ecology and sociology

Question 35

• how do the principles of modern ethology explain the evolution of complex social systems
• the theory has been the target of much controversy because of its application to humans

(E.O. Wilson)

Answer 35

Sociobiology

Question 36

• use the approaches of behavioral ecology and sociobiology to explain human behavior (murder, female choice)

Answer 36

evolutionary psychology

Question 37

The Debate on Nature versus Nurture

what influences behavior - genes or environment?

Answer 37

there is no simple answer, we need to examine the complex interaction between genes and the environment