Animal Behavior
Animal Behavior Vocabulary
„
Ethology = study of animal behavior
„
Behavior = action performed in response
to stimulus
Whale tail
The things animals do….
Vocabulary
Vocabulary- other stimuli
Examples of stimuli?
Sight
Touch
Smell
Taste
Sound
Heat
Light
Chemicals
Humidity
Vibration
Color
Gravity
Pressure
★Presence of another animal
Others?
Stimuli
Stimuli
„
„
Stimulus = something that elicits a
response
External Stimulus =
something
outside the animal
e.g. sound, sight, smell, etc,
presence of another animal
„
Internal Stimulus =
something inside the animal
e.g. hunger, fatigue, feeling cold,
hormones
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Types of Behavior
Vocabulary
„
Anthropomorphism =
attributing human emotions to animals
★We need to be careful about ascribing human
emotions to animals
1.
Foraging = feeding
e.g. locate, obtain
& consume food
E.g. the animal is happy
Types of Behavior
Types of Behavior
2. Parental Care =
ensuring survival of young
e.g. carrying, nursing,
cuddling, holding young
3. Courtship = attracting a mate
Courtship
e.g. courtship displays, bright feathers, songs, other
vocalizations, head butting, fighting
Types of Behavior
4. Reproductive =
e.g. mating, giving birth
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Types of Behavior
Types of Behavior
5. Offensive/Defensive =
aggression, submissive behavior,
defense from aggressors
e.g. hiding, fighting, escape, threatening
6. Territorial = protect a resource for
exclusive use
e.g. scenting / marking, birdsong,
protection of mate / offspring,
space, food or water source
Types of Behavior
Types of Behavior
7. Social = work to create
alliances, help the group
e.g. grooming, babysitting,
defense of musk ox young,
play, play fight
Types of Behavior
8. Migratory = movement to a more
suitable environment as seasons
change
e.g. dry vs. rainy seasons,
winter vs. summer range
for browsers & birds
e.g. salmon upriver to spawn,
artic tern –
1800 m from
Arctic
to Antarctic,
2x/year
Types of Behavior- Communication
‰
9. Communication =
signaling between one animal & another
‰
‰
‰
Greeting e.g. sniff, hug, kiss “bite”
Aggression e. g. charge, bite, hit, fight, etc.
Non-aggression e.g. patting, head butting,
stroking
‰
Grooming (bonding,
alliances,
keeping clean)
Group hunt
( e.g. hyenas, lions)
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Types of Behavior- Communication
Types of Behavior- Communication
‰
‰
Vocalizations
e.g. bark, growl, snort, howl, hoot,
chirp, whinny, alarm sound,
other language
Why Communicate?
„
Defense (warn away)
Alliance (get helper or mate)
„
Elicit play
„
Non-verbal signaling
e.g. body, head, ear, & / or tail position
showing teeth, smiling, looking away,
looking directly at, gesturing, thumping,
beating chest, raising hackles or hood,
drumming, tail slap, snort, scenting,
pheromones, sign language
Types of Behavior
10. Curiosity = investigating
new stimulus in environment
e.g. approach, sniff, chew, bite, mount
Types of Behavior
Types of Behavior
11. Elimination = defecation, urination
12. Resting = apparent inaction
e.g. lying down, sitting, basking,
sleeping, loafing
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Types of Behavior
Types of Behavior Development
13. Play
Purpose = training for life
(defense, hunting,
etc)
1. Natural Selection
An animal that successfully completes a
helpful behavior survives to pass on the
behavior to offspring.
Those whose genes fit the
conditions survive.
Types of Behavior Development
Types of Behavior Development
2. Innate Behavior
Appear in fully functional form when first
performed
E.g. Startle behavior – purpose =
self-preservation
E.g. web building, suckling, bird begging,
nest building, some bird song
Types of Learning
3. Learning
U
development of behaviors through
experience
U
determines final shape of innate
behaviors
U
5 types of learning
Imprinting
1. Imprinting (both innate & learned)
” occurs only during a critical time frame
” once learned, can’t be changed
(see Conrad Lorenz with ducklings)
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Types of Learning
Types of Learning
2. Habituation
3 Classical Conditioning
Animal learns to associate unrelated
response with a stimulus
„
E.g. Pavlov’s experiments
Animal learns to ignore frequent,
harmless stimulus
‰ E.g. scarecrow, habituation to observer
„
„
bell ringing, food, Î salivation
bell ringing, salivation (even if no food is
given)
+
+
Î
Classical Conditioning
E.g. 1. leash = going for a walk,
excitement
2. sight of leash = excitement
Types of Learning
4. Operant Conditioning
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Animal learns to behave in a certain way
through repeated practice
„
Trial & error learning – animal tests
conditions for desired response
e.g. Skinner box
‰
„
Animal learns that a behavior gets a certain
response
e.g. rat presses lever, gets food
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Types of Learning
5. Reasoning
‰
Analyze problem & devise solution using
past experiences
‰
Most Dogs?
E.g. No, can’t unwind leash from tree
‰
Most Horses?
No
Can primates reason?
‰
„
Can primates reason?
Primates? yes
e.g. chimp, bananas, boxes
Can primates reason?
Can primates reason?
„
e.g. Japanese macaques float grain in water
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★See Alex the Parrot
Jack Hana Video
African Gray Parrot
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