Introduction to Animal Behavior Shearwater migrations Shaffer S

Introduction to Animal Behavior

Shearwater migrations Shaffer S A et al. PNAS 2006; 103: 12799 -12802 2

Behavior is driven by two causes

Proximate Causation 4

Ultimate Causation 5

Another example Proximate mechanisms • One male produces stronger signal – vocal, visual, etc. • Elevation in sex hormones – progesterone, estrogen • Increase in epinephrine and serotonin • Leads to copulatory behavior Male – What do you look for in a mate? Ultimate mechanisms Female – What do you look for in a mate? • Females that display a preference for particular males – Produce more offspring – Have healthier offspring – Have larger offspring – maybe feed more as babies – Their offspring are simply more attractive

Why do birds migrate? Shearwater migrations Shaffer S A et al. PNAS 2006; 103: 12799 -12802 7

What are the mechanisms that cause behavior? How does the behavior develop? How did the behavior evolve? What is the survival value of the behavior?

History of Animal Behavior Contempt

Schools of Behavior Nikolas Tinbergen Gerard Baerends Miles Keenleyside Jan Smith Alicia Mathis Brian Gall YOU!

Classical Ethology • • Observation Generate hypotheses Limited manipulation Comparative approach 12

Example of the comparative approach in early animal behavior… http: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=Ov. A 2 WO 9 w. Mg. U

Enter the Kittiwake…

Let’s do what early ethologists wouldn’t…. • Design an experiment to ask: • Do gulls remove egg shells to protect chicks from predation? – Break into 4 groups – Start with 40 (independent) gull nests – No adults – May use unlimited number of eggs – May be more than one way to test question – Team with the best design gets? 15

Stereotypic Behavior • Whitman and Heinroth • Motor response (i. e. behavior) initiated by environmental stimulus and continues to completion without the influence of external stimulus What triggers the behavior?

Begging in Herring Gulls http: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=qk. KSV 15 d dg. E Tinbergen, 171950

FAP’s in Stickleback What is the fixed action pattern? What is the sign-stimulus? http: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=Zfc. GZCGd GVE&NR=1&feature=endscreen Tinbergen 1951

Goose Egg Retrieval • Lorenz and Tinbergen, 1938 http: //www. youtub e. com/watch? v=v UNZv-By. Pk. U

What do you think will happen if you provide a greater intensity sign-stimuli? • Why? • In all of these cases, NS strongly favors individuals that exhibit the correct behavior 21

Supernormal Stimuli in hatching gulls

Criticisms of FAPs