Animal Behavior Simple definition: • any organized, goal-oriented movement on the part of an organism Goal = survive & reproduce Adaptive value Anything that helps an organism to survive and reproduce is adaptiveAnimal Behavior More specific definition: • any internally coordinated, externally visible pattern of activity that responds to changing external or internal conditions Components of behavior: 2. External components = Externally visible  structures that are involved with action, interaction, movement 1. Internal components = Internally coordinated  systems that organize and initiate behavior • utilizes neurobiological, hormonal and/or genetic elements • deals with information processing • deals with motor patterns that we can observe and measure • utilizes effector structures (e.g. legs, wings, feathers, vocal cords)Animal Behavior How do we study animal behavior?  ScientificallyWhat is Science? Characteristics of Science: 2. Explanations based on natural laws, empirical evidence • MUST be made without moral judgments, aesthetic judgments or reference to supernatural forces or beings 3. Works only with testable ideas 4. Is ongoing 5. Scientific ideas cannot be absolutely proven • body of knowledge • process of inquiry 1. Focuses on phenomena & processes observed in nature. Is NOT a belief system!  Conclusions drawn are tentative  goal is to find the best explanationDigger Wasps Scientific MethodScientific Method 1. Observations 2. Questions How do females find their burrows?Scientific Method 1. Observations 2. Questions How do females find their burrows? 3. Hypothesis - Must be a testable explanation Hypothesis: females use visual cues to identify location of burrows. Answer the question 4. Prediction - statement of what you expect to see if your hypothesis is correct Prediction: if females use visual cues to identify the location of burrows, then changing or removing the cues will cause females to be unable to find their burrows. Prediction 2: if females use visual cues to identify the location of burrows, then moving the cues will cause females to look in the wrong location to find their burrows.Scientific Method 5. Tests & conclusions Test 2 Test 1 Tinbergen, 1951Results: Test 1 = prediction 1 correct (changing or removing the cues will cause females to be unable to find their burrows)Results: Test 2 = prediction 2 correct (moving the cues will cause females to look in the wrong location)Conclusion: Predictions = correct Hypothesis = supported Data suggest that female digger wasps use visual cues to remember and relocate their burrows. PROVEE.g. Bird song  What’s making them sing? Air moving across the syrinx creates a sound. He’s hot Why don’t they like me? He’s hot He’s hot Birds that sing attract more mates.Animal Behavior How do we study animal behavior? Proximate • mechanisms and structures within an animal that give rise to the behavior → how questions a. anatomy and physiology b. genetics and development Ultimate • Evolutionary events that shape behavior → why questions → adaptive value  Scientifically  Perspective a. cost/benefit approach b. identifying the function of the