Lecture 13: Animal Behavior Flashcards
What are the categories we use to analyze animal behavior? (Fruit fly example) (4)
(Mechanism)
What sensory stimuli cause males to box?
(Development)
Do they box better with age/experience?
(Function)
Does winning a contest benefit males?
(Evolution)
Did ancestors of walnut flies box?à Evolution
Mechanism
the physiological or neurological basis of a
behavior
(e.g., ‘how does it work?’)
Development
the role of age and experience in behavior
e.g., How does it develop? Instinctual or learned?
Function
the adaptive VALUE of a behavior
e.g., why has natural selection favored this behavior?
Evolution
the evolutionary history of a behavior
e.g., where did the behavior come from in the evolution of this group?
Magnetoreception
mechanism that Sea turtles use Earth’s magnetic field to navigate in ocean.
Analysis of mechanism might address:
Analysis of mechanism might address:
(the physiology of how something works)
- sensory organs and receptors
- brains, nerves, and neurons
- hormones
Development aka
Ontogeny
If we are interested in the development of a behavior, we ask …
-how do age and/or experience influence a behavior?
Explain the hypothesis and findings of Nest finding by beewolves
- When they leave the nest, they memorize local landmarks, so they learn to recognize the spot
- 1) Experimenter (Tinbergen) mixed up the local landmarks (stones, vegetation, etc.).
2) Tinbergen carefully created a set of landmarks and then carefully moved them to surround a spot a meter or so away.
3) When Tinbergen altered the area around the burrow, the returning females appeared confused.
4) When Tinbergen rearranged the landmarks around the burrow back to the original nest, the females returned.
Analysis of behavior development might address:
- Learning, habituation, imprinting
* Role of social environment (e.g., litter size)
If we are interested in the function of a behavior, we ask…
-why has natural selection favored this behavior?
Explain the 2 hypothesis of Infrared tail signaling in ground squirrels
- Squirrel with hot tail looks bigger. Adult squirrels(that bite rattlesnakes!) not the target of rattlesnakes (who favor tender and defenseless pups).
- Tail signal informs the rattlesnake it’s been detected by the squirrel.
If we are interested in the function of a behavior…
- how does the behavior influence FITNESS of the organism?
- how does the behavior influence the FITNESS of its genetic relatives?
- what are the costs and benefits (= tradeoffs) of behavior?
If we are interested in the evolution of a behavior, we ask …
-what is the evolutionary history of the behavior?
One way of analyzing the evolution of a behavior is..
An analysis of evolution might map the behavior onto an existing phylogeny or reconstruct the phylogeny of the behavior among relatives…
Examples of function…
- altruism,
- brood parasitism,
- reciprocity
Altruism
Any behavior that benefits a recipient while incurring a cost to its donor
Explanations for Altruism
Explanations for Altruism
- Manipulation: donor as “dupe”
• Donor is providing the beneficial behavior
• In other words, altruism through ignorance. - Reciprocity: altruism through cooperation (e.g., you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours!)
- Kin Selection: Propagating your genes by helping genetic relatives propagate their genes.
Example of Manipulation (altruism)
(Brood Parasitism)
- Cowbirds and cuckoos lay eggs in nests of host birds
- Host bird raises “parasite” young
Humans exercise a special kind of reciprocity, termed…
-indirect reciprocity
Reciprocity in which the return for a donor’s act comes from someone other than the recipient.
indirect reciprocity
Reciprocity in which the return for a donor’s act comes from someone other than the recipient.
Example of Reciprocity (altruism)
Example: Olive baboons
• Males form a paired alliance to pull females away from current mates.
• Yet only one male of the pair mates with the female.
• Presumably, the other member of the pair mates with
the female the next time.
Example: Cotton Top Tamarins
Preferentially give food to those who give to them.
Reciprocity
Reciprocity: altruism through COOPERATION (e.g., you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours!)
