Flashcards: Ethology

According to the competitive exclusion principle, species less suited to compete for resources should either adapt or die out, although competitive exclusion is rarely found in natural ecosystems.

Autotomy (from the Greek auto- "self-" and tome "severing") or self amputation is the behaviour whereby an animal sheds or discards one or more of its own appendages, usually as a self-defense mechanism to elude a predator's grasp or to distract the predator and thereby allow escape.

Homosexual behavior in animals is sexual behavior among non-human species that is interpreted as homosexual or bisexual.

Instinct or innate behavior is the inherent inclination of a living organism towards a particular complex behavior.

Coprophagia /kɒp.

Animal sexual behaviour takes many different forms, including within the same species.

In ethology, territory is the sociographical area that an animal of a particular species consistently defends against conspecifics (or, occasionally, animals of other species).

In biology, mating (or mateing in British English) is the pairing of opposite-sex or hermaphroditic organisms, usually for the purposes of sexual reproduction.

Natural selection is the differential survival and reproduction of individuals due to differences in phenotype.

Sociobiology is a field of scientific study that is based on the hypothesis that social behavior has resulted from evolution and attempts to examine and explain social behavior within that context.

Eusociality (Greek eu: "good/real" + "social"), the highest level of organization of animal sociality, is defined by the following characteristics: cooperative brood care (including brood care of offspring from other individuals), overlapping generations within a colony of adults, and a division of labor into reproductive and non-reproductive groups.

Cooperation (sometimes written as coöperation or co-operation) is the process of groups of organisms working or acting together for common or mutual benefit, as opposed to working in competition for selfish benefit.

Attachment theory is a psychological model that attempts to describe the dynamics of long-term and short-term interpersonal relationships between humans.

The pupil is a hole located in the centre of the iris of the eye that allows light to strike the retina.

A talking animal or speaking animal is any non-human animal that can produce sounds or gestures resembling those of a human language.

Animal languages are forms of non-human animal communication that show similarities to human language.

The rut is the mating season of ruminant animals such as deer, sheep, camel, goats, pronghorn and Asian and African antelope.

Hamster wheels or running wheel are exercise devices used primarily by hamsters and other rodents, but also by other cursorial animals when given the opportunity.

In biology, moulting (British English), or molting (American English), also known as sloughing, shedding, or in many invertebrates, ecdysis, is the manner in which an animal routinely casts off a part of its body (often, but not always, an outer layer or covering), either at specific times of the year, or at specific points in its life cycle.

A purr is a tonal fluttering sound made by some species of felids, and two species of genets.

A stereotypy (/ˈstɛriəˌtaɪpi, ˈstɪər-, -ioʊ-/, STAIR-ee-oh-TEYE-pee or STEER-ee-oh-TEYE-pee) is a repetitive or ritualistic movement, posture, or utterance.

Electroreception is the biological ability to perceive natural electrical stimuli.

Pagophily or pagophilia is preference for water ice.

Grazing is a method of feeding in which a herbivore feeds on plants such as grasses, or other multicellular organisms such as algae.

Dust bathing (also called sand bathing) is an animal behavior characterized by the act of grooming while rolling or moving around in dust or sand, with the purpose of cleaning fur, feathers or skin, and removing parasites.

Helpers at the nest is a term used in behavioural ecology and evolutionary biology to describe a social structure in which juveniles and sexually mature adolescents of either one or both sexes, remain in association with their parents and help them raise subsequent broods or litters, instead of dispersing and beginning to reproduce themselves.

Hoarding or caching in animal behavior is the storage of food in locations hidden from the sight of both conspecifics (animals of the same or closely related species) and members of other species.

Polygyny (/pəˈlɪdʒɪniː/; from Neo-Greek πολυγυνία from πολύ- poly- "many", and γυνή gyne "woman" or "wife") is a mating system in which one male lives and mates with multiple females, but each female only mates with a single male.

Attachment theory, originating in the work of John Bowlby, is a psychological, evolutionary and ethological theory that provides a descriptive and explanatory framework for understanding interpersonal relationships between human beings.

The dear enemy effect or dear enemy recognition is an ethological phenomenon in which two neighbouring territorial animals become less aggressive toward one another once territorial borders are well-established.

A mating system is a way in which a group is structured in relation to sexual behaviour.

An ethogram is a catalogue or inventory of behaviours or actions exhibited by an animal used in ethology.

In animals, infanticide involves the killing of young offspring by a mature animal of its own species, and is studied in zoology, specifically in the field of ethology.

Breeding in the wild is the natural process of animal reproduction occurring in the natural habitat of a given species.

Monogamous pairing in animals refers to the natural history of mating systems in which species pair bond to raise offspring.

Sexual jealousy is a special form of jealousy in sexual relationships, present in animals that reproduce through internal fertilization, and is based on suspected or imminent sexual infidelity.

Self-anointing in animals, sometimes called anointing or anting, is a behaviour whereby a non-human animal smears odoriferous substances over themselves.

Laughter in animals other than humans describes animal behavior which resembles human laughter.

Ethology has its roots in the study of evolution, especially after evolution's increasing popularity after Darwin's detailed observations.

The dawn chorus occurs when birds sing at the start of a new day.

Torpor is a state of decreased physiological activity in an animal, usually by a reduced body temperature and metabolic rate.

Animal suicide refers to any kind of self-destructive behavior displayed by various species of non-human animals that has been likened to suicide.

In social animals, including humans, social grooming is an activity in which individuals in a group clean or maintain one another's body or appearance.

Deimatic behaviour in animals means any pattern of threatening or startling behaviour, such as suddenly displaying conspicuous eyespots, so as to scare off or momentarily distract a predator, thus giving the prey animal an opportunity to escape.

Sociality is the degree to which individuals in an animal population tend to associate in social groups and form cooperative societies.

Surface wave detection by animals is the process by which animals, such as surface-feeding fish are able to sense and localize prey and other objects on the surface of a body of water by analyzing features of the ripples generated by objects' movement at the surface.

Although projectiles are commonly used in human conflict, projectile use by animals other than humans is relatively rare.

Drooling (also known as salivation, driveling, dribbling, slobbering, or, in a medical context, sialorrhea) is the flow of saliva outside the mouth.