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Animal
Behavior
• Behavior – anything an
organism does in
response to a stimulus
in its environment.
Behaviors develop
through interactions
between genes and
environmental inputs.
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Behavior is
ADAPTIVE –
adapting allows
animals to survive!!!
Types of behaviors
1. Innate
Behavior
•
includes both
automatic
responses and
instinctive
behaviors
2. Learned
Behavior
–
a result of
previous
experiences
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Innate Behavior
• Reflexes
– automatic responses that require no
thinking at all.
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Innate Behavior
Instincts
1. Aggression
– To fend off predators and competitors
– To protect young and to protect food
sources
2. Submission
– Shown by the weaker animal
3. Courtship
– Finding a mate.
4. Territoriality
– Animals that have territories
will defend their space
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Innate Behavior
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• Instincts
5. behavioral cycles
a) circadian rhythm – occur in daily
patterns
• External cues.
• Important in determining the sleeping and feeding
patterns of all animals.
Innate Behavior
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Behavioral cycles
b) Migration – periodic movement from one place to another
- Geographical clues
- Earth’s magnetic field.
- Can be triggered by hormones
Monarch Migration
Salmon Migration
Innate Behavior
Behavioral cycles
c) Hibernation – dormancy
during winter
– Reduce their need for
energy
– Can be caused by
temperature change and
day length change
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Innate Behavior
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also known as "summer sleep"
Behavioral cycles
d) Estivation –dormancy during summer.
-takes place during times of heat and
dryness
Nile Crocodile
Snails in S.
Australia
Desert Tortoise
Learned Behavior
• These behaviors are acquired or
learned over time.
• Organisms can alter their
behaviors as a result of
experience.
• Allows animals to adapt.
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Learned Behavior
• Habituation –
organism decreases or
stops its response to
a repetitive stimulus
that neither rewards
nor harms the animal
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By ignoring the stimulus,
animals can spend their
time & energy more
efficiently.
Deer have learned to come into
yards to feed with no fear of
people or barking dogs.
When prairie dog towns are located near trails used by humans, giving alarm calls
every time a person walks by is a waste of time and energy for the group.
Behaviors that involve both
innate and learned behaviors - -
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• Imprinting
– animal returns to the place of its birth to lay
its eggs
– animal imprints on its mother
Imprinting
•An animal
imprints on
its mother
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Adaptations for Defense
• Mechanical defense is incorporated into
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the physical structure of the organism.
– claws, sharp tusks, stingers, shells, ink, size
Mechanical defense
camouflage.
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Chemical
defense occurs
when the animal
produces stinging
sensations,
paralysis,
neurotoxins,
poisoning, or just
a bad taste.
Blue Arrow frogs
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Monarch on Milkweed
Bombardier beetles
Lion Fish
Behavior
•An animal’s response to a stimulus.
•Innate behaviors are instinctive, like birds
defending their nesting place, and are
influenced by genes.
•territorial behaviors, organisms defend an area
and keep out other organisms.
•Learned behaviors are changed by various
experiences, such as training a family pet to
come when its name is called.
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