Animal Behavior
What’s going on?
Sensation
Perception
Stimulus
Proximal/Proximate cause
Ultimate cause?
eyeblink
rooting
Human reflexes
Innate/Instinctive behavior
(Lorenz) sign stimulus = releaser
Fixed Action Patterns
eg: greylag goose egg retrieval
releaser: egg or round object
Fixed action patterns
eg: 3-spined stickleback aggression
releaser: “fish body” with red streak
“cute”
parent gulls release food
Learning
habituation
Spatial learning
eg: digger wasps
Konrad Lorenz & 1 of his families
Imprinting
Associative learning
Classical conditioning: Pavlov’s dogs
Associative learning
Operant conditioning eg: Skinner’s rats
(Wikipedia)
Operant conditioning
Imitation
mockingbird (Wikipedia)
Cognition
innovation
Alex
Not good at innovation
Cognition: Self-aware
Play
Movement
kinesis = change in activity level or turning radius
taxis = oriented movement toward or away from a stimulus
Migration: piloting, orientation, navigation
Self care
Foraging behaviorGrooming
Self care
self protection
Social behavior Communication
smellvisual
bees
Social behavior Communication
complex
sound
Agonistic
dominance hierarchies
territoriality
Courtship & mating
individual display
mutual display
Mating systems
Promiscuous
Monogamous
Polygamous
“cheating”
eg: sneaker males
males
female
Parental care
Altruism
Kin selection
inclusive fitness
Reciprocal
Animal societies
Insects: solitary, somewhat social, eusocial
eg: termite castes
Animal societies
Vertebrates: solitary, somewhat social, eusocial (very rare)
eg: mole rats
Culture