ANIMAL BEHAVIORANIMAL BEHAVIOR

Proximate and ultimate questions

• Two basic types of questions asked in Animal Behavior

• Proximate (focus on mechanics of behavior).

• Ultimate (focus on advantages of the behavior)

Proximate questions

• Questions about physical mechanisms. Focus on the genetic-developmental aspects and the sensory-motor aspects of the behavior.

• Focus on things that cause or enable the animal to perform the behavior.

Proximate questions

• Examples of proximate questions:• How mechanically does the behavior take

place?

• What factors in the environment stimulate the behavior?

• How do the nerves and muscles generate the behavior?

• How do the animal’s genes affect the behavior?

Ultimate questions

• Ultimate questions are questions about the evolutionary reasons for a behavior. They are questions about the selective processes that shape the behavior.

Ultimate questions

• Examples of ultimate questions:• What is the purpose of the behavior?

• In what way does the behavior increase an individual’s reproductive success?

• Does the behavior increase an individual’s prospects of survival?

How do we answer behavioral questions?

• Examples from Niko Tinbergen’s work.

A proximate question.

• How do beewolves find their way home?

Beewolves (type of wasp) nest in sandy areas.

Beewolf homing

• When leaving nest to hunt bees, female beewolf covers nest entrance with sand.

• How does she relocate it?

Beewolf homing

• Beewolves circle next before leaving.

• Do they remember landmarks? How would we test this?

Beewolf homing

• Tinbergen cleared objects from around nest after beewolf left and found she struggled to relocate it.

Tinbergen also set up landmarks around nest for wasp to use.

Then moved landmarks. Result: wasp searched where landmarks suggested nest should be..

Beewolf homing

• Tinbergen’s second experiment is more powerful than his first because it makes a more specific prediction.

An ultimate question: Why do Black-headedgulls remove eggshells from their nests?

Gull egg removal

• Tinbergen hypothesized that broken eggshells draw attention to the nest and attract predators.

• Removing the eggshells should reduce predation risk.

Experiment

• Place broken eggshells at different distances from intact gull eggs.

• Does presence of egg shells affect chance of intact eggs being found?

Yes!

Distance from Pct eggs eateneggshell to egg

15 cm 42%

100 cm 32%

200 cm 21%

Gull egg removal

• Conclude that Black-headed gulls remove egg shells because this behavior reduces egg losses to predators (and ultimately increase the bird’s reproductive success).

TERMS TO KNOWTERMS TO KNOW• Instinct – (reflexes and responses) what the

animal has at birth. Ex. Nursing, searching for food.

• Habituation – learning to respond without thinking, response to certain stimulus is established as a result of habituation.

• Conditioning – learning to respond in a particular way to a stimulus as a result of reinforcement when the proper response is made.

TERMS TO KNOWTERMS TO KNOW• Reinforcement – a reward for making the

proper response.• Reasoning – the ability to respond correctly

to a stimulus the first time that a new situation is presented.

• Intelligence – the ability to learn to adjust successfully to certain situations. Both short-term and long-term memory are part of intelligence.

MAJOR TYPES OF ANIMAL MAJOR TYPES OF ANIMAL BEHAVIORBEHAVIOR

• Sexual

• Maternal

• Communicative

• Social

• Feeding

• Eliminative

• Shelter-Seeking

• Investigative

• Allelomimetic

• Maladaptive

SEXUAL BEHAVIORSEXUAL BEHAVIORUseful in implementing breeding programs

Examples of Sexual Behavior o Cows that are in heat, allow themselves to be mounted

by others

o Bulls, rams and stallions smell the vagina and urine to detect pheromones

o Flehmen – Male animal lifts head and curls its upper lip

o Rams chase ewes that are coming into heat

o Sows seek out boars for mating

o Mares in heat squat and urinate when stallion approaches and vulva winks

MATERNAL BEHAVIORMATERNAL BEHAVIOR

Females taking care of newborn and young animals

Examples of Maternal Behavior o  Mothers clean young by licking them

o  Mothers fight off intruders

o  Become aggressive in protecting they young after birth

COMMUNICATIVE BEHAVIORCOMMUNICATIVE BEHAVIORWhen some type of information is exchanged

between individual animalsExamples of Communicative Behavior

o  Distress Calls – Lambs bleat, calves bawl, pigs squeal and chicks chirp

o  Dams recognize offspring by smello  Farm animals respond to calls or whistles of the

producero Bulls bellow deeply to communicate aggressive

behavior

SOCIAL BEHAVIORSOCIAL BEHAVIORIncludes “fight or flight” and aggressive and passive

behaviors between animalsIncludes interactions with other animals, humans and

behavior during handling and restraintExamples of Social Behavior

o  Males of all farm animals fight when they meet other unfamiliar males of the same species

o  Cows, sows and mares develop a pecking order, but fight less intensely than males

o  Cows withdraw from the herd to a secluded spot just before calving

o  Almost all animals withdraw from the herd if they are sick

FEEDING BEHAVIORFEEDING BEHAVIORExhibited by animals when eating and drinking

(Ingestive Behavior)Examples of Feeding Behavior

o  Cattle graze 4-9hrs/day, ruminate 4-9hrs/day, regurgitate 300-400 boluses of feed per day

o  Sheep and goats graze 9-11hrs/day, ruminate 7-10hrs/day, regurgitate 400-600 boluses of feed per day

o  Cattle usually don’t go more than 3 miles away from water

o  Sheep may travel as much as 8 miles a day

ELIMINATIVE BEHAVIORELIMINATIVE BEHAVIORElimination of feces and urine

Examples of Eliminative Behavioro  Cattle, sheep, horses, goats and chickens eliminate feces

& urine indiscriminatelyo  Hogs eliminate feces in definite areas of a pasture or peno  Cattle, sheep, goats and swine defecate while standing or

walking, urinate while standing, but not walkingo  Cattle defecate 12-18 times/day, urinate 7-11 times/dayo  Horses defecate 5-12 times/day, urinate 7-11 times/dayo Animals defecate & urinate more when stressed or

excited o Animals loose 3% of their live weight when transported

to & from market points (Shrink)

SHELTER-SEEKING SHELTER-SEEKING BEHAVIORBEHAVIOR

Examples of Shelter-Seeking Behavioro  Animals crowd together in snow and cold winds

o  Animals seek shelter of trees when it rains

o  Cattle and sheep seek shady area for rest and rumination if weather is hot

o  Hogs find a wet area if weather is hot

o In extreme situations, animals pile up to the extent that some get smothered

INVESTIGATIVE BEHAVIORINVESTIGATIVE BEHAVIOR

Examples of Investigative Behavioro  Pigs, horses and dairy goats are highly curious,

investigate any strange object, approach carefully, slowly, sniffing and looking as they approach

o  Sheep are less curious and more timid

ALLELOMIMETICALLELOMIMETICAnimals of a species tend to do the same thing at

the same timeImportant in that a producer may observe the herd with little difficulty, also useful in driving

groups of animals from one place to anotherExamples of Allelomimetic Behavior

o  Cattle and sheep tend to graze at the same time and rest and ruminate at the same time

o  Range cattle gather at the watering place about the same time each day because one follows the other

MALADAPTIVE BEHAVIORMALADAPTIVE BEHAVIOR

Animals that cannot adapt to their environment, exhibit inappropriate or unusual behavior

Examples of Maladaptive Behavioro  Chickens and swine in extensive management

(confinement) systems resort to cannibalism, removal of tails is a prevention method

o  Buller-steer syndrome – steers that have been castrated before puberty demonstrate masculine behavior