Chapter 51.
Animal Behavior
Modified from slideshow by Kim Foglia
AP Biology
2005-2006
What is behavior?
 Behavior

everything an animal does & how it does it
 link between animal & its environment

innate = inherited or developmentally fixed

learned = develop during animal’s lifetime
http://i.ytimg.com/vi/oYmzdvMoUUA/0.jpg
http://users.rcn.com/jkimball.ma.ultranet/BiologyPages/L/LearnedBehavior.html
Types of behaviors
 Innate behaviors

automatic, fixed, “built-in”
 despite different environments, all individuals
exhibit the behavior
 triggered by a stimulus
 Learned behaviors

modified by experience
 variable
 triggered by a stimulus
Proximate and Ultimate Questions
 Proximate questions: focus on
environmental stimuli that trigger a
behavior, as well as the genetic,
physiological, and anatomical
mechanisms underlying a behavioral
act

Often are “how” questions
 Example: How does day length influence
breeding?
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 Ultimate questions: address the
evolutionary significance of a behavior

Often “why” questions
 Ex: Why did natural selection favor this
behavior and not a different one?
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Ethology
 The scientific study of how animals
behave
 Four questions to be answered to fully
understand any behavior:
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 What is the evolutionary history of the
behavior?
 How does this behavior contribute to
the fitness of the organism?
 What is the mechanistic basis of
behavior, including chemical,
anatomical, and physiological
mechanisms?
 How does the development of the
animal influence behavior?
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Innate behavior
 Fixed action patterns (FAP)


sequence of behaviors
essentially unchangeable
& usually conducted to
completion once started
sign stimulus
 releaser that triggers FAP
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male sticklebacks exhibit
aggressive territoriality
attack on red belly stimulus
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court on swollen belly
stimulus
Fixed Action Pattern
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courtship display in
sticklebacks
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Example: FAP
EGG ROLLING IN GEESE
If egg rolls away from the nest, the goose automatically rolls
the egg back to the nest with a repeated, specific action.
When the female notices an egg outside the nest (sign
stimulus), she begins the repeated movement to drag the egg
with her beak and neck.
If, while the goose is rolling the egg back to the nest, the
egg slides off to the side or is removed by an observer, the
goose continues to repeat the stereotypic movements, until
she reaches the nest. She’ll then relocate the missing egg
and begin the process all over again.
FAP in humans?
See video
YAWNING- lasts around 6 seconds
Just try stopping in mid-yawn. You can’t.
Once you begin to yawn, this instinctive,
hard-wired response must run its course,
from beginning to end.
We are triggered to yawn when we see
another
person (or animal) yawning.
Even seeing the word ‘yawn’ can trigger
yawning
OTHER EXAMPLES OF FAP
 Mating dances
 Gulls pecking red spot on mom’s beak
http://i.ytimg.com/vi/oYmzdvMoUUA/0.jpg
stimulates regurgitation
 Human baby grasping
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fixed_action_pattern
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_bUTjf-hNPDk/R6tc9enBOzI/AAAAAAAAAbA/Fz2Rc68SM8Q/j0408981.jpg
Directed movements
 Taxis


change in direction
automatic movement toward (positive taxis) or
away from
(negative taxis) a
stimulus
 phototaxis
 chemotaxis
 Kinesis

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change in rate of
movement in
response to a stimulus
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Migration
 Complex behavior, but still under
genetic control

“migratory restlessness” seen in birds bred &
raised in captivity
Monarch
migration
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migrating western sandpipers
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Migration
 Following ancient fly-ways

navigate by sun, stars, magnetic fields
Bobolink
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Summer
nesting
range
Summer
nesting
range
Winter
range
Winter
range
Golden plover
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Imprinting
 Learning at a specific critical time
forming social attachments

both learning & innate components
Konrad Lorenz was “mother” to
these imprinted graylag goslings
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Imprinting
Wattled crane conservation
Imprinting for conservation
Conservation biologists have
taken advantage of imprinting by
young whooping cranes as a
means to teach the birds a
migration route. A pilot wearing a
crane suit in an ultralight plane
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acts
as a surrogate parent.
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teaching cranes to migrate
Learned behavior
 Associative learning

learning to associate
1 feature of the
environment (stimulus)
with another
 operant conditioning
 trial & error learning
 classical conditioning
 stimulus &
reward/punishment
QuickTime™ and a
TIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
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Operant conditioning
 Skinner box
QuickTime™ and a
TIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
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Classical conditioning
 Ivan Pavlov’s dogs

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connect reflex behavior to associated
stimulus
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Habituation
 Loss of response to
stimulus
“cry-wolf” effect
 learn not to
respond to
repeated
occurrences of
stimulus

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Thinking & problem-solving
 Do other animals think?
problem-solving
tool use
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crow
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Do other animals think & plan?
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Social behaviors
 Contests for resources
develop as evolutionary adaptations
 agonistic behaviors

 threatening & submissive rituals
 symbolic, usually no harm done
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Social behaviors
 Dominance hierarchy

social ranking within
a group
 pecking order
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Social behaviors
 Altruistic behavior


reduces individual fitness but
increases fitness of recipient
kin selection
Belding ground squirrel
How
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can this be of adaptive value?
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Social behaviors
 Territoriality
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nesting in birds
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Territoriality
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Mating & parental behavior
 Genetic influences

changes in behavior in different stages
of mating
 pair bonding
 competitor aggression
 Environmental influences

modifies behavior
 quality of diet
 social interactions
 learning opportunities
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Social interaction requires communication
 Pheromones

chemical signal that stimulates a
response from other individuals
 alarm pheromones
 sex pheromones
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Pheromones
Female mosquito use CO2
concentrations to locate victims
marking territory
Spider using moth sex
pheromones, as allomones,
to lure its prey
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The female lion lures male by spreading sex
pheromones, but also by posture & movements
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Pheromones
Human pheromones?
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Honeybee
communication
 Honey bee dance
to communicate
location of food
source

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Bee waggle dance
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Auditory communication
 Bird song
species identification & mating ritual
 mixed learned & innate
 critical learning period

 Insect song
Red-winged blackbird
mating ritual & song
 innate, genetically
controlled

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Social behaviors
 Cooperation
Pack of African
dogs hunting
wildebeest
cooperatively
White pelicans
“herding” school
of fish
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2005-2006
Any Questions??
AP Biology
2005-2006