Transcript Slide 1

SOCIAL BEHAVIOR
HELPFUL BEHAVIOR
• Animals belonging to the same species exhibit
social behavior, which consists of both helpful
and hostile interactions
• Helpful social behavior includes mating
behavior, family interactions and activities by
larger groups.
• Mating behavior bring a female and a male
together, and results in the fertilization of eggs.
• Courtship is a form ofcommunication that
signals a readiness to mate and prevents
conflict.
Cooperative Hunting
The courtship ritual of
the
albatross
bird
involves an elaborate
dance between a male
and female before they
mate.
Puffin Courtship
HELPFUL BEHAVIOR
• Family
interactions
involve
helpful
relationship between parent and young.
• The interactions between members of a
family are the basis for the providing of
food, shelter and defense for the young.
• The interactions usually require certain
stimuli
A gull incibates the eggs only when they are visible and
when certain hormone are produced in the parent
Chicks begging, 8 wk.
Many birds will not feed
their young unless
the
chicks
“communicate” in a form
of
behavior
called
begging.
Begging
usually done by opening
the mouth widely. This
stimulates the parent to
place food in the chick’s
mouth.
Initially,
the
young are stimulated to
beg when the parent’s
head appears over the
edge of the nest or by the
jolt of the adult landing
on the nest.
Seagull chicks peck at a red spot on the
parent’s beak when begging. The parent then
regurgiates food, picks some up, and
presents it to the chick.
HELPFUL BEHAVIOR
• Helpful behavior also occurs within larger
groups such as herd of animals, school of
fish, and flocks of birds.
• Individuals can cooperate in groups as
long as they can comunicate with one
another.
• Information is passed between members
of a group
by sound signals, visual
signals, and chemical signals.
HELPFUL BEHAVIOR
Species that live in groups often depend
on the group for survival. A group of
animals is more alert than a single
individual.
When one member senses danger, it
comunicates it to the whole group. The
group then tries to escape the danger.
Groups also offer various forms of
protection against attack by predators.
DEFENSIVE BEHAVIOR
What is the specific purpose of this social behavior
(grouping
together)
in
musk
oxen?
mockingbird mobbing
A Mobbing: Patterns in the Sky
Starlings and a Cooper's Hawk
CONFLICT AND DOMINANCE
HIERARCHIES
• Close association among animals of the
same species can result in conflict instead
of cooperation.
• When resources are limited, individuals of
a species must compete for food, water,
space, and mates.
• Many animals resolve this competition by
aggressive behavior.
CONFLICT AND DOMINANCE
HIERARCHIES
• Aggression is threatening or fighting another animal to
force it away from something it possesses or is trying to
obtain.
• There are numerous forms of aggression.
• Animals may bite, butt, kick, or claw one another.
• However, aggressive behavior among members of a
species seldom causes serious injury or death.
• More often, “symbolic” threatening behavior results in a
“winner”
• Such displays are are instinctive and clearly understood
by other species members.
• In threat displays, animals assume aggressive postures
and show the contrasting or brightly colored parts
Robins display their red
breasts
Puffer fish have a
special ability to "puff"
themselves up with air
or water, making them
look like a bigger fish if
they get angry or feel
threatened.
Rival male bighorn sheep butt their heads together, resulting
in spectacular fights. The sounds of their butting heads can
be heard for a long distance.
wrestling
The animal that loses a fight may simply run away. In some
cases, it signals defeat by a subordination ritual. A wolf or
dog signals submissions by presenting its neck to the
winner. This display stops further agression by the victor. Its
position of superiority has been established. The animal wins
a fight achieves dominance, or better access to contested
resources, such as food, water,space and mates
Frilled lizard exhibiting defensive
behavior
Shingleback, Tiliqua rugosa,
from Fitzgerald N. P. displaying
defensive behavior designed to
startle and intimidate a predator.
African bullfrog is quite aggressive, and has been known to jump at
things that it views to be a threat. Because of its sharp teeth, its bite can
be quite serious. The male bullfrog will also aggressively defend his eggs
if an animal or a human should approach.
Establishing Dominance
Male Giraffe engage in a form
of combat known as necking.
The animals stand side by side
and swing their heads in order
to land hefty blows on each
other’s neck and upper chest.
This behaviour will eventually
determine the hierarchy of
dominance
amongst
the
adults.
CONFLICT AND DOMINANCE
HIERARCHIES
• In some animals that live in organized
groups of societies, fighting establishes a
dominance hierarcies, or ranking, within
the group.
• Individuals with a high rank have first
choice of necessities.
• In duck and chicken societes, a pecking
order is established by pecking action.
PECKING
ORDER
PECKING ORDER
• Those birds with the highest standing have
uncontested access to food, water, and the
roost.
• Pecking order reduces tension in the group
because there is less fighting over who gets
what first.
• Due to their lower position in the group,
subordinates must wait their turn to drink or
eat.
• If no food is left, the subordinates go without
nourishment.
• For members of the lowest rank, survival is
most difficult.
TROOP
TROOP
• In baboons, dominance hierarchy is more
complicated than a sequence of individuals
with decreasing dominance
• A group of baboons, called a troop, is
governed by a clique of dominant males.
• Any member of the ruling clique that is
challenged by an outsider is supported by the
other membersof the governing group.
• This helps keep the troop stable by
preventing frequent changes in the hierarchy.
• The clique of dominant males protects the
troop against attack by predators.
COMMUNICATION
• Communication plays an important role in both
helpful and hostile social behavior.
• The male and female of many animal species
are brought together by signals
• The signals sent out by both sexes include
visual signals, sound signals, and chemical
secretions.
• Visual signals are common among fish and
birds. These signals include movement and
posture as well as displays of certain body parts
The zigzag dance of
the male stickle back
causes the female to
approach him and led
to the nest
Male Mallard duck
The male Aedes
mosquito is
attracted to the
sounds produced
by the wing of the
while in flight
Male crickets attracts female with sound
signals made by rubbing their wings
together
Male toads have a large
vocal
pouch
and
its
breeding call is a long
uninterrupted 15-20 second
trill that can be heard over
some distance.
Robin
Meadowlark
They
produce
distinctive
highpitched
songs as
a signal to
the female
Wood Thrush
White-Eyed Vireo
Humpback whales
can communicate
across distances
greater than 10
kilometers by
using underwater
songs.
http://www.whalec
enter.org/av.htm
The female silkworm moth releases a pheromone so strong
that it attracts a male from distance as great a 3 kilometers.
gypsy moths
silkworm moth
cockroaches
TERRITORIALITY
• A territory is an area defended by an individual
against intrusion by other members of the same
species.
• Claiming or defending a territory is another
aspect of social behavior.
• Territorial behavior usually takes place during
the breeding season and is often limited to
males
• Maintaining a territory gives an animal the space
needed to acquire food, court a mate, and raise
a family
In some birds, such as
thrushes, a male will
choose an occupied area
and then sing loudly and
vigorously to stake his
claim. The loud singing
warn away other males
but attracts female. A
singing duel between
competing males often
can resolve a boundary
dispute. Usually, the
loudest-singing male
gains the largest territory.
Some
mammals
use
pheromones to mark territory.
Deer
have
pheromone
secreting
glands
in their
hooves. Male antelopes have
similar glands close to their
eyes
The civet, a cat, has pheromone-secreting glands around
its anus
Dogs and wolves mark their
“turf” with urine
The tree-living howler monkey of
Central America displays strong group
territoriality. A troop consists of several
dozen of monkeys. They defend the
boundaries of their territory by sessions
of howling, which discourages
intrusions by other troops
The rhesus, a monkey found in southern Asia, is also
territorial and will drive off intruders with active threat
displays and, if necessary, ferocious attacks
HONEYBEE SOCIETIES
• Insect societies are found among termites, ants,
and bees in addition to other insects
• In an insect society, every effort is directed
toward the survival of the entire group.
• The activities of most insect societies are
centered around one female, the queen.
• The queen may live for five years or more.
• During that time, her only responsibility is to
reproduce.
• All members of the group are offspring of the
queen
Relationship between the angle of the dance on the vertical comb and the
bearing of the sun with respect to the location of food.
When the food and sun are in the same direction, the straight portion of the
waggle dance is directed upward.
When the food is at some angle to the right (blue) or left (red) of the sun, the
bee orients the straight portion of her dance at the same angle to the right or
left of the vertical
WAGGLE DANCE
ROUND DANCE