How do we make sense of the behaviours animals do? (Ethology)

Question 1

What is ethology?

Answer 1

Study of animal behaviour and delving into the reasons into why an animal behaves the way it does

Question 2

What is ethology often linked back to?

Answer 2

Evolutionary adaptations gained to aid survival - natural selection

Question 3

What is Darwin (1872) theory of natural selection?

Answer 3

Advantageous phenotypes arise through random mutations in the genome, it’s then selected for and passed onto offspring.
Trait has usually led to avoiding predation, allowing success in competition and successful reproduction

Question 4

How was ethology studied in the 17th-19th century?

Answer 4

Long term monitoring species in their natural habitat

Question 5

How has ethology been studied between the late 19th century and 20th century?Citation example

Answer 5

Became more laboratory based

E.g. Tinbergen (1951) studied honeybee foraging choice by using paper flowers and artificial odours

Question 6

What does the common theme seem to be in animal behaviour’s old studies?

Answer 6

Studied at two ends of the spectrum - either highly artificial or highly natural settings - both hold many pros and cons

Question 7

What is the modern day ethology framework?

Answer 7

Observation, Question, Hypothesis, Prediction and Testing (Old Queen Has Pretty Teeth)

Question 8

What two things have progressed animal behaviour?

Answer 8

Technology and genomics

Question 9

What is observation?

Answer 9

Observing a new behaviour is the first step into delving into an animals life history - reason for study

Question 10

How has technology advanced observational studies?

Answer 10

Allows close observation without close human proximity - removes extraneous variables that could affect animals behaviour

Question 11

Table for observation:

Drones (UAV) - Example citation

Answer 11

A breakthrough for ethologists, monitoring at individual level
Lavars (2014) - used drones to assess health status by monitoring behaviour of endangered Orcas - support and manage populations

Question 12

What is the pros and cons of drones?

Answer 12

Pros:
Allows natural observation of species in extreme and remote habitats out of reach - oceans, volcanoes and high canopies
Able to follow individuals

Cons:
Holland (2015) Migrating birds fly into them and have been banned at Utah national park as found to scatter young Bighorn sheep from mothers
Very expensive tech
Privacy ethics

Question 13

Table for observation

Camera traps - Example citation s

Answer 13

Can be set up in remote places and gathering place
Example - watering holes - bathing and wallowing activities of Giant Anteater (Emmons et al, 2004)
Road crossing activities of Wombats (Crook et al, 2013)
Useful for reserves to monitor activity of their animals - Mankwe

Question 14

Table for observation

Live webcams - Example citations

Answer 14

Continuous monitoring of animals

Weber and Fisher (2019) monitored Californian mice using live webcams continuously as they are nocturnal.

Question 15

Pros and cons of webcams

Answer 15

Follows behaviours continuously - allows all platforms to watch - internet users - tune in freely - wide audience
Used in and out of the lab - useful for mating behaviour
Useful in nest boxes in natural settings - paternal care in tree swallows (Whittingham et al, 1993)

Expensive tech and could influence the animal behaviour

Question 16

Pros and cons of camera traps

Answer 16

Pros:
Allow for social species that gather - watering holes - monitor species - one example is how they cope with the death of an individual
Provide lots of data
Non - invasive

Cons:
Knocked off - loss of data
Only still images - can’t record long behavioural sequences
Sounds emitted can be picked up by animals - disrupt natural behaviours - Caravaggi et al (2017)

Question 17

Table for observation

Social media - citation example

Answer 17

Facebook sharing - groups of wildlife enthusiasts, twitter, snapchat and YouTube
Dylewiski et al (2017) public fascination has helped shape animal behaviour studies - looked at shrikes on YouTube and found tonnes of vids that have correlated with lab research and have helped have a better understanding of shrike behaviour

Question 18

Pros and cons of social media

Answer 18

Pros
Millions of viewers - lots of chance to see new behaviour’s
Citizen science projects
Uploads of domesticated animals

No control over how the behaviour was observed - majorly influenced?
Dangerous - wildlife selfies and people not trained to work with animals
Ethics not in place?

Question 19

How do we form questions and hypotheses in animal behaviour?

Answer 19

Tinbergen’s four questions (Tinbergen, 1963)

Question 20

What are Tinbergens four questions?

Answer 20

1. Survival adaption or function of behaviour?
2. Causation? How did it arise in animals lifetime?
3. How does the function work and how has it developed?
4. How did it evolve over the history of species?

Question 21

How can behaviour be related to the survival adaption or function?

Answer 21

Whats the adaptive significance? Is it to serve the individual or the group?

Question 22

How can behaviour be related to the causation (animals lifetime)? Whats the common argument?

Answer 22

Is it linked to attachment, imprinting or mimicry behaviour
Argument to whether genes and inheritance are causation or behaviour - learning, taught to offspring - parents set up the environment
Genes and resource/learning inherited to occupy a niche

Question 23

How can behaviour be related to how it functions?

Answer 23

A mix of molecular components but also behavioural perspectives, need a middle ground perspective

Question 24

How can behaviour be related to how the behaviour evolved over the animals evolutionary history?

Answer 24

Combination of biological and mechanisms - exaptation - trait is coopted to meet a new requirement set by the environment
Historical knowledge - individual development
Researchers often try and always link back to natural selection but could be a well designed behaviour that doesn’t particularly aid survival - milk top opening in tits
The character enhances survival is better to say than this evolved to serve a particular function

Question 25

What should we use to base a hypothesis or question off?

Answer 25

Info of the species ecology and how individuals compete for resources - understand why it behaves the way it does to occupy a niche in ecosystem

Question 26

How can we predict behaviour?

Answer 26

Modelling

Question 27

What is teleological determinism in regards to mathematical modelling?

Answer 27

Everything happens for a reason

Subjects choose behaviour based on what gives them the better pay off in the future

Question 28

What models are based around teleological determinism? Citations

Answer 28

Game theory - model applied to animal behaviour - incorporates conflict and cooperation behaviours (Maynard Smith, 1974)
Operant behaviour model - Based on learning and consequence Skinner (1973)

Question 29

What is causal determinism in regards to mathematical modelling?

Answer 29

Animal is compelled to perform a predetermined behaviour in response to stimuli
Drug effect models and individual based models
Tsibulsky and Norman (2007)

Question 30

What are the three ways of testing animal behaviours?

Answer 30

Observation, comparative and experimental

Question 31

What are the pros and cons of lab based experiments?

Answer 31

Pros
Controlled conditions, determine cause and effect, remove extraneous variables, genetic analysis - parasites have host manipulation genomes , molecular explanations
Better for testing causal determinism
Cons
Extremely artificial, not applied to natural world, not ideal for larger animals, study organisms only that can apply for all

Question 32

What is a famous example of a lab based experiment?

Answer 32

Ivan Pavlov (1897) - classical conditioning with dogs and saliva by ringing a bell - reward system

Question 33

Pros and con of field experiments

Answer 33

Pros
Observations without manipulation, natural behaviours, observe the species needed not study organism

Cons
Remote places, less control of variables, tracking, takes days, closer proximity

Question 34

What tech can assist testing animal behaviours?

Answer 34

GPS - tracking systems - track migrations
Filming
Social media - incorporate citizen science projects
I record and ID and track location behaviours