Animal Behavior
AP Biology
meerkats
2006-2007
What is behavior?
Behavior
everything an animal does & how it does it
response to stimuli in its environment
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ability to learn is inherited, but
the behavior develops during animals lifetime _______________________________ change with experience & environment
AP Biology
Why study behavior?
Evolutionary perspective
part of phenotype _____________________________
lead to greater fitness? lead to greater survival?
lead to greater reproductive success?
AP Biology
What questions do we ask?
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immediate stimulus & mechanism how & what questions _______________________ how does behavior contribute to survival & reproduction
adaptive value
male songbird what triggers singing? how does he sing? why does he sing?
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why questions
Courtship behavior in cranes how does daylength influence breeding? whathow & why questions AP Biology why do cranes breed in spring?
Evolutionary perspective Adaptive advantage?
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despite different environments,
all individuals exhibit the behavior ex. early survival, reproduction, taxis, kinesis
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AP Biology
Ethology
Karl von Frisch Niko Tinbergen
1941 | 1973
pioneers in the study of animal behavior
Konrad Lorenz
AP Biology
Innate behaviors
male sticklebacks exhibit aggressive territoriality
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sequence of behaviors essentially unchangeable & usually conducted to completion once started ________________________
the releaser that triggers a FAP
AP Biology
attack on red belly stimulus court on swollen belly stimulus
Fixed Action Patterns (FAP)
Digger wasp
egg rolling in geese
Do humans exhibit Fixed Action Patterns?
The eyebrow-flash
AP Biology
Supernormal Stimulus Responding more to a larger sign stimulus
adaptation or experimental artifact?
does lipstick create a supernormal stimulus in humans
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Innate: Directed movements
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change in direction automatic movement toward (positive taxis) or away from (negative taxis) a stimulus
phototaxis chemotaxis
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change in rate of movement in response to a stimulus
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Complex Innate behaviors Migration
migratory restlessness seen in birds bred & raised in captivity navigate by sun, stars, Earth magnetic fields
Sandpiper
Monarch AP Biology migration
Bobolink
ancient flyways Golden plover
Innate & Learning: Imprinting Learning to form social attachments at a
specific ___________________
both learning & innate components
AP Biology
Konrad Lorenz
Conservation
Conservation biologists have taken advantage of imprinting by young whooping cranes as a means to teach the Wattled crane conservation birds a migration teaching cranes to migrate route. A pilot wearing a crane suit in an Ultralight plane acts as a surrogate parent.
AP Biology
Critical period
Sensitive phase for
optimal imprinting
some behavior must be learned during a receptive time period
As a brood parasite, the Cuckoo never learn the song of their species as a nestling. Song development is totally innate.
AP Biology
imprinting/critical period in humans?
Learned behavior ___________________
learning to associate a stimulus with a consequence
___________________ trial & error learning associate behavior with
reward or punishment ex: learning what to eat
___________________ Pavlovian conditioning associate a neutral
stimulus with a significant stimulus
AP Biology
Operant conditioning Skinner box
B. F. Skinner
mouse learns to associate behavior (pressing lever) with reward (food pellet) AP Biology
Classical conditioning
Ivan Pavlovs dogs
connect reflex behavior (salivating at sight of food) to associated stimulus (ringing bell)
AP Biology
Learning: Habituation
Loss of response to
stimulus
cry-wolf effect decrease in response to repeated occurrences of stimulus enables animals to disregard unimportant stimuli
ex: falling leaves not
triggering fear response in baby birds
AP Biology
Learning: Problem-solving Do other animals reason?
chimpanzee
problem-solving
tool use
crow
sea AP Biology
otter
Social behaviors
Interactions between individuals
develop as evolutionary adaptations communication / language agonistic behaviors dominance hierarchy cooperation altruistic behavior
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Language Honey bee
communication
dance to communicate location of food source waggle dance
Lets go to the videotape!
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Communication by song Bird song
species identification & mating ritual mixed learned & innate critical learning period
Insect song
mating ritual & song innate, genetically controlled
Red-winged blackbird
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Social behaviors Agonistic behaviors
threatening & submissive rituals
symbolic, usually no harm done
ex: territoriality, competitor aggression
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Social behaviors Dominance hierarchy
social ranking within a group
pecking order
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Social behaviors Cooperation
working together in coordination
Pack of African dogs hunting wildebeest cooperatively
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White pelicans herding school of fish
Social behaviors Altruistic behavior
reduces individual fitness but increases fitness of recipient ____________________
increasing survival of close relatives passes
these genes on to the next generation
I would lay down my life for 2 brothers or 8 cousins!
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How can this be of adaptive value?
Belding ground squirrel
Social interaction requires communication
Pheromones
chemical signal that stimulates a response from other individuals
alarm pheromones sex pheromones
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human sex pheromone?
Pheromones
Female mosquito use CO2 concentrations to locate victims marking territory
Spider using moth sex pheromones, as allomones, to lure its prey
The female lion lures male by spreading sex pheromones, but also by posture & movements
AP Biology
Colonial mammals
Naked mole rats
convergent evolution: bees, ants, termites mole rats
Picture a hot dog that's been left in a microwave a little too longadd some buck teeth at one end, and you've got a fairly good idea of what a Naked Mole Rat looks like.
underground colony, tunnels queen, breeding males, non-breeding workers hairless, blind
AP Biology
