Animal Behavior
Chp 33 Pp. 858-879
Table of Contents
 33.1 Innate Behavior
 33.2 Learned Behavior
33.1 Innate Behavior
 Behavior is anything
an animal does in
response to a
stimulus.
 A stimulus is an
environmental
change that directly
influences the activity
of an organism
33.1 Innate Behavior
 Animals carry on
behaviors with
adaptive value:





Getting food
Avoiding predators
Caring for young
Finding shelter
Attracting mates
 Enable reproduction
& survival of species
33.1 Innate Behavior
 Inherited Behavior
Natural selection
favors certain
behaviors.
 To capture prey,
toads detect & follow
movement. The
tongue flipping out is
a fixed action
pattern.
33.1 Innate Behavior
 Genes form the basis
for innate behavior.
 Hormonal balance
 Nervous system

Sense organs for
sight, touch, sound
odor ID
 Affect how sensitive
organisms are to
stimuli
33.1 Innate Behavior
 Automatic responses
 Reflexes
 Involves no
conscious control
 Fight or flight
response controlled
by hormones &
nervous system
 Fixed Action Patterns
 Instincts
33.1 Innate Behavior
 Fixed Action Patterns

Quick automatic
response
 Instincts


Complex pattern of
innate behavior
Animal recognizes
stimulus & continues
until all parts of
behavior are
accomplished
33.1 Innate Behavior
 Instincts
 Courtship Behavior


Bowerbirds create
displays to attract
mates
Bowerbird Display
video
33.1 Innate Behavior
 Fireflies flash
distinctive light
patterns that are
species specific.
33.1 Innate Behavior
 Territoriality reduces
competition.
 A territory is a
physical space an
animal defends
against others of its
species.



Breeding area
Feeding area
Potential mates
Male Siberian Tigers
33.1 Innate Behavior
 Mark territories with
pheromones
 Attack & drive
intruders away
 Improves survival of
young and of the
species
Lion performing scuffing ceremony.
33.1 Innate Behavior
 Aggressive behavior
threatens other
animals
 Used to intimidate
others of same
species
 To defend young,
territory or resource
33.1 Innate Behavior
 Submission leads to
Wolves with female dominance hierarchy
dominance
hierarchies
 Form of social
ranking within a
group in which some
are subordinate or
dominant to others
 Hierarchy innate but
position may be
learned
33.1 Innate Behavior
 Behavior resulting
from internal &
external cues
 Biological or
circadian rhythms,
day/night sleep cycle
 Seasonal cycle



Migration- instinctive
seasonal movement
Hibernation
Estivation
Migrating caribou
33.1 Innate Behavior
 Hibernation


State in which body
temp drops, oxygen
consumption &
breathing rate drops
Conserves energy
 Estivation

Reduced metabolism
for living in extreme
heat or to drought or
lack of food
33.2 Learned Behavior
 When behavior
changes due to
practice or
experience
 Allows animals to
adapt to change
 Especially important
to those with longer
life spans
Black bears have learned to
choose minivans as targets for
raiding food! (Nat. Geo)
33.2 Learned Behavior
 Habituation
 An animal becomes
habituated when it no
longer responds to a
stimulus.
 The gorillas shown
here are habituated
to the presence of
humans.
33.2 Learned Behavior
 Imprinting
 Form of learning
that occurs at a
specific critical
time forming a
social attachment
to an object or
individual
 Birds imprint within
a day or two of
hatching
 Usually irreversible
CA condor w/ puppet
33.2 Learned Behavior
 By trial & error
 Animal receives a
reward for making a
particular response
 Motivation is
internal need that
causes an animal to
act; necessary for
learning to take place
 Usually involves
satisfying a need
33.2 Learned Behavior
 Classical conditioning



learning by association
Pavlov noted that dogs
salivate at smell of food
By ringing a bell when
presenting food he
established association
Eventually sound of bell
resulted in dog salivating
Conditioned response
Ivan Pavlov
33.2 Learned Behavior
 Insight- most
complex kind of
learning
 Animal uses previous
experience to
respond to new
situation
 Ex. Solving math
problems
Sea Otter
33.2 Learned Behavior
 Communication-
exchange of info
resulting in a change
of behavior
33.2 Learned Behavior
 Communicate by
sound
 Vibrate in all
directions
 Warnings, invitations,
location, species
even gender
Wolf Howling
33.2 Learned Behavior
 Signal by odors Ant odor trails
 Moth pheromones
 Scent-marked
territory
33.2 Learned Behavior
 Some communication
is both innate &
learned.
 Songbirds have the
innate ability to sing;
however, they learn
their regional dialect.
Goldfinch Song
33.2 Learned Behavior
 Language uses
symbols to represent
ideas.
 Requires complex
nervous system,
memory and insight.
 Humans can benefit
from using
knowledge gained by
others.