Ethology

Question 1

What is behaviour? Define.

Answer 1

– from a series of reflexive muscle contractions to two
herds competing for the same resources
– an extremely broad range of activities in which
animals engage

Question 2

Ultimate and proximate questions in animal behaviour.

Answer 2

Proximate questons: ask about relative imminent causes or mechanisms responsible for a trait (means: coming soon or next) Ultimate questions: ask about the evolution of a task (means: coming at the end)

Question 3

Tinbergen’s four questions

Answer 3

● What is the causation of the behaviour?
– e.g. stimuli that stimulate or elicit the behaviour,
hormones, etc.)
● What is the function of the behaviour?
– e.g. how the behaviour adds to the animal’s reproductive
success
● How does the behaviour develop during ontogeny?
– the way a behaviour is modified by individual experiences
● How does the behaviour develop during phylogeny?
– an evolutionary question, involves the comparison of
related species

Question 4

Tinbergen’s practical approach

Answer 4

● this approach considered mental processes and
emotions associated with behaviour to be unavailable for research as they are not observable
● this lead to new branches of the science in the 70’s(cognitive ethology)
● yet, Timbergen’s questions are still the basis of research today
● new insights on the biology of the behaviour is very
useful in the keeping of any kind of animal in captivity

Question 5

The branches of modern ethology

Answer 5

– neuroethology: a research field on the neuro physiological basics of behavioural mechanisms.
– behavioural genetics: studies the heritability of behavioural traits and the effects of genetic characters on behaviour.
– classic ethology: studies the behaviour of individual animals. It uses comparative methods to test the behaviour of individuals
in different conditions or test the differences between the different species
– behavioural ecology: studies the organizational levels above the individual, similarly to ecology. It studies the role of animal populations in the biotope, and it studies the effects of environmental changes on the
behaviour of animal populations.
– cognitive ethology: it studies the mental mechanisms, thinking, cognitive functions and brain representations of the animals.
– human ethology: it studies the biological background and inherited components of human behaviour.
– applied ethology: in general, it studies the behaviour of domesticated animals, and gives practical informations for animal keeping.

Question 6

Why is applied ethology important?

Answer 6

• better understanding of our animals
  ● Welfare assessment
  – which are the most influential behaviour patterns for an
  animal?
  – how are the animals if they cannot behave like this?
  – is there any order of importance in activities?
  ● Optimizing production
  – a species-specific feeding rhythm = better feed utilization
  – social animals grow better when kept and fed together
  – weaning in a biologically adequate time and manner prevents
  negative results on production

control of animal behaviour
● Human-animal relationship
– knowing how animals perceive humans and how they remember
experiences may help farmers to a more smooth interaction
● Design of facilites
– knowing social hierarchy can help work out better technical
solutions for farms (e.g. electronic feeding station of sows,
number of stalls in a dairy barn etc.)
● Abnormal behaviour
– its characterization and understanding is a central aspect
– farm animals: e.g. cannibalism, stereotypies and many others
– companion animals: e.g. agression, uncontrolled urination and
defecation

Question 7

Animals do possess internal world

Answer 7

● They differentiate themselves from other creatures by
odour, visual, auditory etc. stimuli
● Fear and/or frustration is expression of subjective
suffer
● They do have basic emotions (pain, lust, stress, fear,
anxiety, rage etc.)
● They can feel the empathy on behalf of humans and
they do have empathy towards group mates
● Altruistic behaviour is also seen (see self-sacrifying
behaviour of mother defending offspring)
● Every animal has pain sensation

Question 8

Animals are sentient beings

Answer 8

● The term sentience has generally been used to mean
that the individual has the capacity to have feelings
(Kirkwood, 2006)
● Sentience implies a range of abilities, not just having
feelings.
● A broader definition is: a sentient being is one that
has some ability to evaluate the actions of others in
relation to itself and third parties; to remember some
of its own actions and their consequences; to assess
risks and benefits; to have some feelings; and to have
some degree of awareness. (Broom & Fraser, 2015)

Question 9

A list of provision that must be made for farm animals:

Answer 9

– 1. freedom from thirst, hunger and malnutrition;
– 2. freedom from discomfort;
– 3. freedom from pain, injury and disease;
– 4. freedom to express normal behaviour;
– 5. freedom from fear and distress.