Slide 1Slide 2Slide 3Slide 4Slide 5Slide 6Slide 7Slide 8Slide 9Slide 10Slide 11Slide 12Slide 13Slide 14Slide 15Slide 16Slide 17Slide 18Slide 19Slide 20Slide 21Slide 22Slide 23Slide 24Slide 25Slide 26Slide 27Slide 28Slide 29Slide 30Slide 31Slide 32Slide 33Slide 34Slide 35Slide 36Slide 37Slide 38Slide 39Slide 40Slide 41Slide 42Slide 43Slide 44Slide 45Slide 46Slide 47Slide 48Slide 49By viewing the old we learn the new.Chinese ProverbEmpiricalTheoreticalConceptualEthologyApproaches to the study of animal behaviorThese descriptions represent broad categories of contributing ideas in Animal Behavior.Conceptual: Import ideas generated from other subdisciplines and combine them in a new, cohesive way.Example: Hamilton’s inclusive fitness modelCost/Benefit Economic ModelTheoretical: Generation of a (usually) mathematical model.Example: Optimal foraging (Pianka)DefinitionsEmpirical: Experiments either manipulative or observational designed to test a concept.Example: Lots! Remember: Correlation is not equal to causation!Manipulation is usually necessary to establish causation.Niko Tinbergen1907-1988Karl von Frisch1886-1982Konrad Lorenz1903-1989Classical EthologyEthology pre-dates behavioral ecology. Relying on descriptive studies, ethologists discovered that many behaviors were innate.INNATE COMPONENTS OF BEHAVIOR Ethology = Descriptive science based on studies of animals in the natural environment. Innate: Behavior that has either a fixed genetic basis or a high degree of genetic preprogramming.Innate behaviors may seem purposeful, but animals with innate behaviors are unaware of the significance of their actions.There are 2 key categories of behavior patterns identified in Ethology (after Craig 1876-1954):1. Appetitive Behavior. The variable actions of an animal, such as its searching behavior to find food, a nest site or mate.2. Consummatory Behavior. Stereotypical actions that are repeated without variation, such as the act of mating or killing prey. (Consummatory in this sense does not just refer to eating).Fixed-Action Patterns The most fundamental concept in classical ethology is the fixed-action pattern (FAP). Fixed-action pattern = A highly stereotyped, innate behavior.Fixed Action Patterns can occur in response to: Intraspecific Social Stimuli from conspecifics.Example – Courtship behaviorsFeeding youngMale threat displaysInterspecific Stimuli from other species.Example – Startle response Predator avoidanceStimuli from the environment.Example – Migratory behaviorDiurnal/Nocturnal cyclesEthological studies usually begin with the creation of an ethogram of the Fixed Action Patterns.Ethograms can be modified as additional information becomes available and is incorporated in the whole picture.The courtship behavior of the 3-spined stickleback is an elaborate example of Fixed Action Patterns.This appears to be an innate behaviour: a sequence of fixed action patterns shown by all males in breeding condition, each behaviour triggered by a specific external stimulus. When a ripe female swollen with eggs enters his territory, the male darts towards - and away from - the female in a so-called zigzag dance (2). The female is led by the male to a nest he has constructed on the floor of the pond or stream (2-4). She may creep through the nest and spawn (5-7). The male then follows and fertilizes the eggs (8). He may chase the female away. The male stays by the nest periodically fanning the nest to drive water over it and oxygenate the eggs (9-10). 13579246810In ethogram form, this highly stereotyped social behavior looks like this: Ethogram = complete inventory or descriptive catalogueof the motor patterns of a given species.•The evolution question: How has courtship behaviour evolved in the species? Is it shown by other species of sticklebacks? •The development question: How does courtship behaviour develop during the individual's lifetime? Does the male learn the zigzag dance? Does he practice dancing? Is the male successful in directing the female to the nest the first time he dances? •The cause question: What causes the male to dance? Are there internal factors that increase the male's tendency to dance? Does increasing daylength in Spring increase the males tendency to dance? Does the swollen belly of a female elicit dancing in males? •The function question: Why does the male dance in a particular way? Why does the male prod the female once she has entered the nest? Why does the male fan the eggs? How do these behaviours contribute to the reproductive success of the individual, and ultimately the survival of the species?Ethologists asked four questions about this type of behaviour. How has it evolved and developed? What causes it, and what is its function?One way of thinking about these questions is to consider them as points on a species' journey through time, from the distant past into the future.Fruit fly fightingbehavior.*The researchers tallied the sequence of moves by both winners and losers into a fancy statistical chart called a "Markov chain analysis" (left). Bigger boxes show more popular tactics. Smaller boxes show less common maneuvers. Likewise, thicker arrows show the most likely next move, such as the distinct fighting loop that dominates the aggressive behavior: slow approach to a wing threat to a fast approach. There are no boxes or arrows for moves and sequences that occurred less often than chance. Fruit fly fighting behavior EthogramIn the past, Ethologists generally agreed that there are distinctive characteristics of FAPs:1. FAPs are stereotyped in that they comprise sequences of motor acts which occurred in rigid, predictable, and highly structured sequences.2. FAPs are complex patterns, a characteristic that distinguishes them from simple reflexes.3. FAPs are shown by all members of a species, or at least by all members of a given sex in the appropriate age range and physiological condition.4. FAPs are elicited by simple yet highly specific stimuli. (More about this in just a moment!)5. FAPs are regarded as self-exhausting. That is, the mere occurrence of the FAP reduces the ease with which it can be re-elicited. It is not the consequence of the behavior, but the mere occurrence of the behavior that makes it harder for the behavior to be eliciteda second time. (Similar to a neural orejaculatory refractoryperiod)6. FAPs are regarded as triggered, meaning that once elicited, FAPs continue independent of external stimulation. Once