Behavioral Adaptations and Communication 2142022 1 Behavioral Patterns

Behavioral Adaptations and Communication 2/14/2022 1

Behavioral Patterns • Behavior- the way an animal reacts to changes in its environment • Response – a specific reaction • Stimulus – something in the environment to which an organism responds. 2/14/2022 2

Innate Behavior (Instincts) • Inborn pattern of behavior that is genetically coded • Maternal instincts, “primal fear”, competition • Babies - suckling 2/14/2022 3

Suckling • Innate behavior of infants and young mammals • Provides food to the baby, allows survival 2/14/2022 4

More Instincts • • • How to make a nest How to find food, what to eat How to mate Where to migrate How to avoid predators 2/14/2022 5

Reflexes • Automatic reaction to a stimulus without conscious control • Can be innate or learned • i. e. Knee jerk, blinking, pulling hand from hot stove 2/14/2022 6

Infant Reflexes Grasping 2/14/2022 7

• Taxis – movement of an organism due to an external stimulus (animals – not plants!) • Can be (+) toward stimulus or (-) away from stimulus • Phototaxis – response to light • Chemotaxis – response to chemical 2/14/2022 Taxis 8

Migration Seasonal movement of species members due to environmental condition changes i. e. Geese and Whales 2/14/2022 9

Why Migrate? • Weather gets colder • Food supplies get scarce 2/14/2022 10

Estivation • State of dormancy, usually during the summer, occurring in many amphibians, such as frogs. • Lower metabolic rate, and will sometimes begin to respire anaerobically • Response to environment being hot and dry and unfavorable 2/14/2022 11

Hibernation • Act of passing the winter in a deep sleep, with lower metabolic functions and heart rate. • Strategy for dealing with decreased food supplies in winter • ie. bears 2/14/2022 12

Advantages of migration and hibernation • Allows animal to survive periods when food and other resources are not available • Allows animal to take advantage of favorable conditions in another location 2/14/2022 13

Learned Behavior • Behavior determined by prior experiences • Humans: learning to drive, read, sew • Dog: sit, fetch, stay 2/14/2022 14

Learned Behavior Imprinting • Learning based on early experience • Once occurred, cannot be changed • Keeps young animals close to mother who protects and feeds them 2/14/2022 15

Konrad Lorenz Imprinting with Geese 2/14/2022 16

Learned Behavior Habituation – learning process by which an animal decreases or stops its response to a repetitive stimulus Example: You live near a train track and after a while you no longer “hear” the train whistle 2/14/2022 17

Habituation • An animal learns not to respond to a repeated stimulus – Example: Dog stops barking at familiar people 2/14/2022 18

Learned Behavior Classical Conditioning – teaching a response to a new stimulus Ex: Pavlov’s Dogs 2/14/2022 19

Learned Behavior Trial and Error – learning through positive (food, praise) and negative (punishment) reinforcement 2/14/2022 20

Communication • Passing of information from one organism to another. • Visual signals • Chemical signals • Sound signals • Language 2/14/2022 21

Social Behavior Communication in social insects using pheromones (chemical signals). 2/14/2022 ants and termites Bees, 22

Courtship Rituals • Behaviors which precede mating. • Can consist of dancing, posing, fighting, “jousting” 2/14/2022 23

Purpose of Mating Rituals? • Enables animals to identify healthy, reproductively fit mates of the same species • Courtship rituals are species specific 2/14/2022 24

Blue footed booby Peacock 2/14/2022 25

Courtship in animals is the behaviour by which different species select their partners for reproduction. Usually, the male starts thecourtship, and the female chooses to either mate or reject the male based on his "performance". Many animals have mateselection courtship rituals 2/14/2022 26

Courtship Dance with cranes Red Crowned Cranes 2/14/2022 27

Social Behavior Territorial Defense – Conserves resources Protects organisms from getting hurt by fighting Fish 2/14/2022 28

Bighorn Sheep Mocking bird “mobbing” an American Kestrel 2/14/2022 29

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Plant Responses & Adaptations Edwin P. Davis, M. Ed.

Auxins • Auxins are produced in the apical meristem and are transported downward into the rest of the plant. • Auxins stimulate cell elongation. The Auxin collects on the dark side of the shoot, this causes greater growth here and as a result, the shoot bends towards the light source.