Lecture Exam #4 Ch. 51 Flashcards
what do fiddler crabs feed and wave with?
feed with their small claw and wave their large claw
why do male fiddler crabs engage in claw waving?
it’s used to repel other males and to attract females
an action carried out by the muscles under control of the nervous system
behavior
what is behavior subject to?
natural selection
what does discrete sensory inputs stimulate?
both simple and complex behaviors
what did Niko Tinbergen identify the four questions that should be asked about animal behavior were?
1) what stimulus elicits the behavior, and what physiological mechanisms mediate the response?
2) how does the animal’s experience during growth and development influence the response?
3) how does the behavior ay?nd survival and reproduction?
4) what is the behavior’s evolutionary histor
the study of the ecological and evolutionary basis for the animal behavior
behavioral ecology
what does behavioral ecology integrate?
proximate and ultimate explanations for animal behavior
what does proximate causation address?
“how” a behavior occurs or is modified, including Tinbergen’s questions 1 and 2
what does ultimate causation address?
“why” a behavior occurs in the context of natural selection, including Tinbergen’s questions 3 and 4
a sequence of unlearned acts directly linked to a simple stimulus
fixed action patterns
what are fixed actions patterns and what happens once initiated?
unchageable and once initiated usually carried to completion
an external cue that was triggered by a fixed action pattern
sign stimulus
in male stickleback fish, what is the stimulus for attack behavior?
the red underside of an intruder
when presented with unrealistic models what happens to the attack behavior?
it occurs as long as some red is present
what can environmental cue trigger?
a movement in a particular direction
a regular, long-distance change in location
migration
how do animals orient themselves? (3) (PPE)
1) the position of the sun and their circadian clock, an internal 24-hour clock that is an integral part of their nervous system
2) the position of the north star
3) earth’s magnetic field
what is some animal’s behavior affected by?
the animal’s circadian rhythm, a daily cycle of rest and activity
what are behaviors such as migration and reproduction linked to?
changing seasons, or a circannual (yearly) rhythm
what are common seasonal cues in behavioral rhythms?
daylight and darkness
what are some behaviors linked to and what does it affect?
lunar cycles, which affects tidal movements
in behavioral ecology, a behavior that causes a change in another animal’s behavior
signal
the transmission and reception of s ignals
communication
what signals do animals communicate with? (4) (VCTA)
1) visual
2) chemical
3) tactile
4) auditory
what does fruit fly courtship follow?
a three step stimulus-response chain
what is the first step of the three-step stimulus-response chain?
a male identifies a female of the same species and orients towards her
how does the male use chemical communication in the first step of stimulus-response chain?
he smells a female’s chemicals in the air to confirm her identity
how does the male use visual communication in the first step of the stimulus-response chain?
he sees the female and orients his body towards her
what is the second step of the three-step stimulus-response chain?
the male alerts the female to his presence
how does the male use tactile communication in the 2nd step of the stimulus-response chain?
he touches the female with a foreleg
what is the third step of the three-step stimulus-response chain?
the male produces a courtship song to inform the female of his species
how does the male use auditory communication in the 3rd step of the stimulus-response chain?
he extends and vibrates his wing
if all three steps of the stimulus-response chain are successful what happens?
the female will allow the male to copulate
what do honeybees show complex communication with?
symbolic language
what does a bee returning from the field do to communicate information about the distance and direction of food source?
performs a dance
what do many animals that communicate through odors emit?
chemical substances called pheromones
what is some examples of bees emitting pheromones? (3) (FHW)
1) a female moth can attract a male moth several kms away
2) a honeybee queen produces a pheromone that affects the development and behavior of female worker and male drones
3) when a minnow or catfish is injured, an alarm substance in the fish’s skin disperses in water inducing a fright response among fish in the area
what can pheromones be very effective at?
a very low concentration
what do nocturnal animals, such as terrestrial mammals depend on?
olfactory and auditory communication
what do diurnal animals, such as humans and most birds use?
visual and auditory communication
what does learning establish?
specific links between experience and behavior
a behavior that is developmentally fixed and does not vary among individuals. They are born with it. (knows how to eat)
innate behavior
what does cross-fostering studies help behavioral ecologists to identify?
the contribution of environment to an animal’s behavior
a study that places the young from one species in the care of adults from another species
cross-fostering study
what did studies of California mice and white-footed mice uncover?
an influence on social environment on aggressive and parental behaviors
what type of behaviors did cross-fostered mice develop?
ones that were consistent with their foster parents
in humans, what did twin studies allow researchers to compare?
the relative influences of genetics and environment on behavior
when white-footed mice fostered california mice what was the aggression toward the intruder?
reduced
when california mice fostered the white-footed mice what was the aggression toward the intruder?
no difference
when white-footed mice fostered the california mice what was the aggression in a neutral situation?
no difference
when california mice fostered the white-footed mice what was the aggression in a netural situation?
increased
when white-footed mice fostered the california mice what was the parental behavior?
reduced
when california mice fostered the white-footed mice what was the parental behavior?
no difference
the modification of behavior based on specific experiences
learning
what does research into learning seek to understand the contributions of?
BOTH nature and nurture in shaping learning
the establishment of a long-lasting behavioral response to a particular individual or object
imprinting
what does imprinting include?
learning and innate components and is generally ireversable
what is imprinting distinguished by other learning by?
a sensitive period
a limited developmental phase that is the only time when certain behaviors can be learned
sensitive period
what is an example of imprinting?
young geese following their mother
what did Konrad Lorenz show when baby geese spent the first few hours of their life with him?
they imprinted him as their parent
what is the imprint stimulus in greylag geese?
a nearby object that is moving away from the young geese
why have conservation biologists taken advantage of imprinting in programs?
to save the whooping crane from extinction
what can young cranes imprint on humans and what can that lead to?
“crane suits” and can lead to crane migrations using ultralight aircraft
a more complex modificiation of behavior based on experience with the spatial structure of the environment
spatial learning
what did Niko Tinbergen show?
how differ wasps use landmarks to find nest entrances (spatial learning)
an internal representation of spatial relationships between objects in an animal’s surrounding
cognitive maps
what is an example of a cognitive map?
Clark’s nutcrackers can find food hidden in caches located halfway between particular landmarks (difference from learning)
when animals associate one feature of their environment with another
asscoiative learning
what is an example of associative learning?
a blue-jay will avoid eating monarchs and similar-looking butterflies after an experience with a distasteful monarch butterfly
a type of asscoiative learning in which an arbitrary stimulus is associated with a reward or punishment
classical conditioning
what is an example of classical conditioning?
a dog that repeadately hears a bell before being fed will salivate in anticipation at the bell’s sound
type of associative learning in which an animal learns to associate one of its behaviors with a reward or punishment
operant conditioning