ANIMAL BEHAVIOR
Chapter 34
Behavior


The way an organism reacts to changes in its
internal condition or external environment.
Ex.
 Turning
your head in the direction of a noise.
Innate Behavior



An instinct or inborn behavior.
It is usually inflexible, a given stimulus triggering a
given response.
Ex. Reflex, response
Learned (acquired) Behavior



Flexible behavior to deal with uncertainty and
change.
3 types we will discuss:
Habituation, classical condition, operant conditioning
CIRCADIAN RHYTHMS:


A pattern of activity that occurs over twenty-four
hours.
Circa- refers to the Latin word which means “Circle”
or “around”

Diem/Dias means “day”

Literally the word means “one day”
Your circadian rhythm

Breakfast, school, lunch, school, homework, sleep
A. Migration

The periodic passage of groups of animals
(especially birds or fish) from one region to another
for feeding or breeding.
B. Hibernation



A state of inactivity and lowering of metabolism,
characterized by lower body temperature and
slower breathing.
Hibernating animals conserve food, especially
during winter when food is short.
Lipids- long term energy storage.
C. Estivation




“Summer sleep", a state of animal dormancy similar
to hiberation.
It takes place during times of heat and dryness
(typically summer months).
Avoids damage from high temperatures and the risk
of dehydration.
Snails commonly estivate
D. Nocturnal


The behavior of
an animal that is
active at nighttime.
Ex. Owls, Raccoons
&
Diurnal
The behavior of an
animal that is active
in the daytime.
 Ex. Chipmunk,
Squirrels

E. Taxis


The movement of an organism in response to a
stimulus.
Ex. Phototaxis
A
plant
moves
towards
light
A. Habituation



When an animal decreases or stops its response to a
repetitive stimulus that neither rewards nor harms the
animals.
Example: snail moving across a wooden surface and
when the experimenter taps on the surface, the snail
withdraws into its shell but after a few taps it learns
that it isn't going to harm it and ignores the tapping.
Pg. 874
B. Classical Conditioning



Anytime an animal makes a mental connection between a
stimulus and some kind of reward or punishment (more of an
automatic response).
Ex. You have a meal at a fast food restaurant that causes
food poisoning. The next time you see a sign for that
restaurant, you feel nauseous.
Every time someone flushes a toilet in the apartment
building, the shower becomes very hot and causes the
person to jump back. Over time, the person begins to jump
back automatically after hearing the flush, before the water
temperature changes.
C. Operant Conditioning


When an animal learns to behave a certain way
through repeated practice, in order to receive an
award or avoid a punishment (voluntary behavior).
Ex. Teaching a dog a trick
Operant or classical?


A lion in a circus learns to stand up on a chair and
jump through a hoop to receive a food treat.
Operant
Operant or classical?


You check the coin return slot on a pay telephone
and find a quarter. You find yourself checking other
telephones over the next few days.
operant
Operant or Classical?


John Watson conducted an experiment with a boy
named Albert in which he paired a white rat with a
loud, startling noise. Albert now becomes startled at
the sight of the white rat.
Classical
1. Imprint


Learned very early in life; once it has occurred it
cannot be changed.
Examples?
 Ducks,
geese follow the first moving object they see.
Courtship



Enables an animal to find, identify, and attract a
mate using a “mate-selection ritual.”
May involve complicated dances or touching;
vocalizations; or displays of beauty or fighting
prowess.
Generally speaking, the male initiates the courtship
and the female chooses to either mate or reject the
male based on his "performance".

Bald Eagle courtship involves elaborate calls and
flight displays. The flight includes swoops, chases,
and cartwheels, in which they fly high, lock talons,
and free fall, separating just before hitting the
ground
3. Waggle Dance
A particular figure-eight dance of the honey bee

By performing this
dance, bees can share
with their hive mates
information about the
direction and distance
to patches of flowers
yielding nectar and
pollen, to water
sources, or to new
housing locations.
Territoriality

Behavior of an animal that defines and
defends its territory.
Spraying: Marking Territory
Communication using:

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Pheromones:
A secreted or excreted chemical that triggers a
social response in members of the same species.
There are alarm, food trail, sex, signal pheromones
and many others.

Fanning honeybee
exposes gland releasing
pheromone to entice
swarm into an empty hive
Aggregation of bug nymphs
Sex pheromones


Indicate the availability of the female for breeding.
Male animals may also emit pheromones that
convey information about their species and
genotype.
Social Insects: Division of Labor

Insects which live in a family society, with parents and
offspring sharing a common dwelling place and
exhibiting some degree of mutual cooperation.
Ex. Honeybees
And ants: workers,
soldiers

FYI: Different Orders of Mammals
D
K
P
C
O
F
G
S
Monotremes


Lay eggs, warm-blooded, have hair, produce milk
through mammary glands to feed young.
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Monotremata
Family: Tachyglossidae
Spiny Anteater (short beaked echidna)
Platypus-monotreme
Marsupial

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Have a distinctive pouch in which
females carry their young through
early infancy.
Marsupials give birth to a live but
relatively undeveloped fetus called
a joey. When born, the fetus
crawls from inside the mother to
the pouch.
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Subclass: Theria
Infraclass: Marsupialia
Placental


Mammals that have an
organ that connects the
developing fetus to the
uterine wall to allow
nutrient uptake, waste
elimination and gas
exchange via the mother's
blood supply.
Ex. Horses, humans