Chapter 43: pp. 798 - 818 Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

Transcript Chapter 43: pp. 798 - 818 Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

Chapter 43: pp. 798 - 818

Behavioral Ecology

a. Fischer lovebird with nesting material in its beak.

b. Peach-faced lovebird with nesting material in its rump feathers.

a: © Joe McDonald; b: Courtesy Refuge for Saving the Wildlife, Inc.

Outline

  Nature versus Nurture: Genetic Influences Nature versus Nurture: Environmental Influences  Learning   Animal Communication Behaviors That Increase Fitness  Territoriality   Reproductive Strategies Sexual Selection  Sociobiology and Animal Behavior  Dominance Hierarchies  Altruism versus Self-Interest

Genetic Basis

 Behavior - any action that can be observed and described  Nature (inherited) versus nurture (environmental) questions are still debated  Genes influence development of neural and hormonal mechanisms controlling behavior  Studies on identical twins separated at birth  Can be used to determine extent to which genes influence behavior  Sometimes identical twins are remarkably similar in preferences, taste, personality tests, etc.

Nest Building Behavior in Lovebirds

a. Fischer lovebird with nesting material in its beak.

b. Peach-faced lovebird with nesting material in its rump feathers.

a: © Joe McDonald; b: Courtesy Refuge for Saving the Wildlife, Inc.

Feeding Behavior in Garter Snakes

25 20 Inland garter snake does not eat slugs.

15 10 5 inland coastal 0 Coastal garter snake eats slugs.

0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 4.0 4.5 5.0 5.5 6.0

Tongue Flicks per Minute

(Coastal): © John Sullivan/Monica Rua/Ribbitt Photography; (Inland): © R. Andrew Odum/Peter Arnold, Inc.

Maternal Care in Mice

0.8

0.6

0.4

0 0.2

fosB alleles present fosB alleles not present b. fosB alleles present.

c. fosB alleles not present.

b,c: From J.R. Brown et al, "A defect in nurturing mice lacking . . . Gene for fosB" Cell v. 86, 1996 pp. 297 308, © Cell Press

The Environment Influences Behavior

 Some behaviors seem to be stereotyped  Fixed Action Patterns (FAP’s)  Originally assumed to be elicited by a sign stimulus  Increasingly thought to develop after practice

Pecking Behavior in Laughing Gulls

Pecking accuracy of newborn Pecking accuracy of two-day old Mean accuracy of pecking model for all chicks tested 100 75 50 25 0 0 1 2 3 4 Days in Nest 8

The Phenomenon of Learning

 Imprinting  Imitatation of behavior observed during sensitive period  Goslings follow any moving object after birth

The Phenomenon of Learning

 Song Learning in Birds  Avian brain is especially sensitive to acoustical stimuli during a sensitive period  Social experience appears to have an even stronger influence over development of singing

The Phenomenon of Learning

 Associative Learning  Any change in behavior that involves an association between two events  Examples of Associative Learning  Classical conditioning  Operant conditioning

The Phenomenon of Learning

 Classical Conditioning  The paired presentation of two different stimuli causes an animal to form an association between them

Classical Conditioning

saliva at sight of food (unconditioned response) saliva at sound of bell only (conditioned response) food (unconditioned stimulus) sound of bell (conditioned Stimulus) apparatus to measure saliva 13

The Phenomenon of Learning

 Operant Conditioning  Gradual strengthening of stimulus-response connections  Trick-training in animals

Orientation and Migratory Behavior

 Orientation  The ability to travel in a particular direction  Migration  Long-distance travel from one location to another  Navigation  The ability to change direction in response to environmental cues

Starling Migratory Experiment

Wintering range Spain typical migratory route of starlings experimental relocation of all starlings flight path of experienced starlings flight path of inexperienced starlings Holland Switzerland Breeding range 16

Cognitive Learning

 Observation and imitation  Insight learning  Solving a problem without prior experience

Animal Community

 Some animals are largely solitary and join with a member of the opposite sex only to reproduce.

 Others pair, bond, and cooperate in raising offspring.



Society

members are organized in a cooperative manner extending beyond sexual or parental behavior

Communicative Behavior



Communication

is an action by a sender that influences the behavior of a receiver.

 When the sender and receiver are members of the same species, signals will benefit both the sender and the receiver.

Communicative Behavior

 Chemical Communication  Pheromones are chemical signals that are passed between members of the same species

Use of a Pheromone

Communicative Behavior

 Auditory communication  Faster than chemical communication  Can be modified by loudness, pattern, repetition, and duration

Auditory Communication

3 2 1 0 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 8 7 6 5 4 0.5 Seconds Eagle 0.5 Seconds Leopard b.

(Main): © Arco Images/GmbH/Alamy; (Inset): © Fritz Polking/Visuals Unlimited

Communicative Behavior

 Visual communication  Allows animals to signal others without chemical or auditory messages  Visual signals are most often used  By species that are active during the day  In contests between males who make use of threat postures  To establish dominance

Fireflies Use Visual Communication

(Firefly): © Phil Degginger/Alamy; (Trees): © PhotoLink

Male Baboon Displaying Full Threat

Communicative Behavior

 Tactile Communication  Occurs when one animal touches another  Gull chicks peck at the parent’s beak in order to induce the parent to feed them  Foraging honeybees use tactile communication to impart information about the environment  Honeybees return to the hive and perform a waggle dance  The dance indicates the distance and direction of a food source

Communication Among Bees

40 o 40 o a.

Behavioral Ecology

 Behavior is subject to natural selection  Behavior has a genetic basis  Some behaviors lead to increased survival and number of offspring  Behaviors of animals we observe today has adaptive value

Territoriality

 Territoriality is protecting an area against other individuals  Male gibbons maintain their territory by singing and fight to defend their territory  Defending a territory costs energy  Benefits of territoriality include a source of food, the right to one or more females, a place to rear young, and a place providing protection from predators  Territoriality is more likely to occur during times of reproduction

Male and Female Gibbons

Foraging for Food

 Animals must acquire a food source that will provide more energy than the effort of acquiring the food  The optimal foraging model states that it is adaptive for foraging behavior to be as energetically efficient as possible

Foraging for Food

6.0

4.0

2.0

0 0 10 20 30 Length of Mussel (mm) 40 50 6 5 4 3 2 1 33

Reproductive Strategies

 Polygamy  Males mate with multiple females  Females invest more in the offspring  Polyandry  One female mates with more than one male  The environment cannot support several young  Monogamy  One male mates with one female  Occurs when males have limited mating opportunities, territoriality exists, and the male is certain the offspring are his

Polygamy in Hamadryas Baboons

Sexual Selection

 Adaptive changes in females and males that lead to differential reproductive success  Sexual selection often results in  Female choice  Male competition

Competition

Animal Societies

 Society - a cooperative organization that extends beyond sexual and parental interests

Societies and Fitness

 Living in a society has a greater reproductive benefit than reproductive cost  Benefits of group living include avoiding predators, rearing offspring, and finding food more easily  Group living can result in disputes over feeding places and sleeping sites  Dominance hierarchies are a way to apportion resources   Higher-ranking individuals have greater access to essential resources Males and females may form separate dominance hierarchies

Altruism versus Self-Interest

 Altruism  Behavior that involves a reduction in individual fitness  Loss may be compensated by an increase in the fitness of another member of the society  Inclusive fitness includes  Reproductive fitness of self, and  Reproductive fitness of relatives  Genetic relatedness may underlie many/most acts of apparent altruism  Reciprocal altruism occurs in groups of animals that are mutually dependent

The Queen Ant

Inclusive Fitness

Review

Chapter 43: pp. 798 - 818

Behavioral Ecology

a. Fischer lovebird with nesting material in its beak.

b. Peach-faced lovebird with nesting material in its rump feathers.

Chapter 43: pp. 798 - 818 Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

Transcript Chapter 43: pp. 798 - 818 Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

Behavioral Ecology

Outline

Genetic Basis

Nest Building Behavior in Lovebirds

Feeding Behavior in Garter Snakes

Maternal Care in Mice

The Environment Influences Behavior

Pecking Behavior in Laughing Gulls

The Phenomenon of Learning

The Phenomenon of Learning

The Phenomenon of Learning

The Phenomenon of Learning

Classical Conditioning

The Phenomenon of Learning

Orientation and Migratory Behavior

Starling Migratory Experiment

Cognitive Learning

Animal Community

Communicative Behavior

Communicative Behavior

Use of a Pheromone

Communicative Behavior

Auditory Communication

Communicative Behavior

Fireflies Use Visual Communication

Male Baboon Displaying Full Threat

Communicative Behavior

Communication Among Bees

Behavioral Ecology

Territoriality

Male and Female Gibbons

Foraging for Food

Foraging for Food

Reproductive Strategies

Polygamy in Hamadryas Baboons

Sexual Selection

Competition

Animal Societies

Societies and Fitness

Altruism versus Self-Interest

The Queen Ant

Inclusive Fitness

Review

Behavioral Ecology

Directory