Animal Behavior

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Animal Behavior

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1) Instinctive Behaviors

• Instinct = innate or inherited behavior;

animals are born with this behavior and all animals of that species show the same

behaviors despite environmental differences

-Ex: in mammals, care for offspring by female

parents is innate

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• Imprinting = innate program for acquiring a behavior only if the right stimulus is experienced during critical period; once acquired, the behavior is irreversible

and the animal will display that behavior for life

-Critical period = limited time interval when learning particular behaviors can take place

-Ex: salmon imprint on the river in which they hatch

and will return there every year to breed, baby animals imprint on their mothers

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGBqQyZid04

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• Fixed action patterns (FAP) = innate behaviors that are triggered by a specific stimulus and that follow a regular, unchanging pattern; the behavior is completed even if there is no

“point” in finishing it -Ex: frogs’ tongues

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Hm3KtBmlp

Y&safe=active

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Biological Rhythms (Instinctive)

• Circadian rhythm: 24-hour, light-regulated sleep/wake cycle; responsible for

nocturnal/diurnal (nighttime/daytime) activities

• Migration: instinctive seasonal movement of animals; usually changes in day length

stimulate migrations

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• Hibernation: period of inactivity in cold winter month; body temperature drops and oxygen consumption decreases to conserve energy when food is scarce

• Estivation: state of reduced metabolism in

periods of intense heat or drought

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2) Learning and Learned Behaviors

• Associative learning (association) = animal recognizes (learns) that two or more events are connected

• Classical conditioning = animal performs

behavior in response to substitute stimulus rather than normal stimulus

-Ex: Pavlov’s dogs, the “Little Albert” trials

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• Trial and error learning (operant conditioning) = animal connects a behavior with an environmental response;

this is the basis for most animal training by humans -Positive reinforcement = if the animal gets a desirable result from a behavior, it will do the same behavior to get the same desirable response

-Negative reinforcement = if the animal gets an

undesirable result from a behavior, it will not do the same behavior to avoid that undesirable result

-Ex: Skinner rat boxes

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXr8TGYwQ1U&featur

e=related

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-Habituation = animal starts ignoring meaningless stimuli

-Ex: sea anemones that stop responding to touch when they are not fed, “startle boxes”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kfu0FAAu-1

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• Observational learning = animals copy

another animal without receiving positive reinforcement before

-Ex: monkeys that washed their potatoes in the

ocean

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• Insight = animal exposed to new situation performs a new behavior

-Ex. chimpanzees who stacked up boxes to reach bananas hung from the ceiling, chip-stealing seagull http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kqy9hxhUxK0 http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/lessons/bird-bra ined/video-segments/1719

/

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Animal Movements

• Kinesis = random movements in response to a stimulus

-Animal slows down in a favorable environment and speeds up in an unfavorable environment, so it stays longer in a favorable environment

-Ex: when a rock is lifted, bugs scurry about in response

to light, touch, air temperature, or other unfavorable

stimuli

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• Taxis = directed/purposeful movements in

response to a stimulus, either toward or away from the stimulus

-Ex: moths move towards lights at night

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aep4tHvfRUA -Sharks move towards food when they smell it

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXGdaFrhXmA

-Mosquitos find mammals (on which they feed) by

moving towards heat or CO

₂

that the mammals emit

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Animal Communication

• Chemical = uses pheromones = chemicals that are released by one organism that cause immediate and specific behavioral changes in another animal

-Ex. reproductively active females emit pheromones into the air to attract male mates

-Ants release pheromones to mark trails that guide other ants to food

-Male mammals spray urine to mark their territories to warn other animals of the same species to keep out

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FStzMBnWofE&feature=

• Visual = uses cues other animals can see

-Ex: special “dances” and other courtship behaviors

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XgnOQqLhrlw&safe=active

-Scratching marks on trees to mark territories

-Making threatening and/or submissive gestures and other body language (bearing teeth, raising hackles, facial expressions, lowering tails, showing bellies, etc)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUIRG6aWtXs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_ro8diVOWA

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• Auditory = uses sounds to communicate over long distances, through water, and at night

-Ex: whale songs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WabT1L-nN-E -Elephants that use infrasound

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWfjcdOcwRs -Calls of male frogs and crickets to attract females and ward off other males

-Birdsong

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• Tactile = touching -Ex: social bonding -Grooming

-Mating

-Infant care

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Social Behaviors

• Courtship behaviors = behaviors that males and females carry out before mating

-Help members of the same species identify each other

-Also allow females to choose which male she will mate with

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XgnOQqLhrlw&safe=active

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• Territorial defenses = animal defends its physical space from other members of its species

-Territories may contain the animal’s breeding area, feeding area, and/or potential mates

-This actually reduce competition because

animals space themselves out, so environmental

resources are used efficiently and the species is

more likely to survive

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• Dominance hierarchy (“pecking orders”): social ranking within a group

-Some individuals are more dominant than

others and usually one animal is the top-ranking individual that leads the rest of the group

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&v=

SvE6Apx0rfI&NR=1&safe=active

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IBUaAx0Duqg

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• Aggressive behavior: used to intimidate another animal of the same species

-Ex: teeth baring, growling, raising “hackles,” etc.

-Animals of the same species usually do NOT fight to the death because continued fighting may result in serious injury for the winner

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TNW1JA04fdI&safe=

active

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• When we’re observing animals, be sure not to anthropomorphize = giving human

characteristics/qualities to animals

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePgC91kcm

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