Behavioral Biology

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Behavioral Ecology

• Behavioral ecology emphasizes evolutionary
  hypotheses
• Behavioral ecology is the research field that
  views behavior as an evolutionary adaptation to
  the natural ecological conditions of animals.
• We expect animals to behave in ways that maximize
  their fitness (this idea is valid only if genes
  influence behavior).
• http//biosci.usc.edu/courses/2002-fall/documents/
  bisc121-fuhrman_ch51.ppt

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For Example Bird Songs
Why has naturalselection favoreda
multi-songbehavior? http//biosci.usc.edu/courses
/2002-fall/documents/bisc121-fuhrman_ch51.ppt
It may be advantageous for males attracting
females - earlier mating
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Proximate vs. Ultimate

• Behavior has both proximate and ultimate causes
• Proximate questions are mechanistic, concerned
  with the environmental stimuli that trigger a
  behavior, as well as the genetic and
  physiological mechanisms underlying a behavioral
  act.
• Ultimate questions address the evolutionary
  significance for a behavior and why natural
  selection favors this behavior.
• http//biosci.usc.edu/courses/2002-fall/documents/
  bisc121-fuhrman_ch51.ppt

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Ethology
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Innate Behaviors
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Innate Behaviors
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Fixed Action Patterns (FAPs)
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Sign Stimulus (Releaser)
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Supra-Normal Sign Stimulus
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Love a FAP? (Harlow)
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Imprinting

• Imprinting is the recognition, response, and
  attachment of young to a particular adult or
  object.
• Konrad Lorenz experimented with geese that spent
  the first hours of their life with him and after
  time responded to him as their parent.
• Lorenz isolated geese after hatching and found
  that they could no longer imprint on anything.
• http//biosci.usc.edu/courses/2002-fall/documents/
  bisc121-fuhrman_ch51.ppt

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Imprinting Stimulus
What is innatein these birds is the ability to
respond to a parent figure while the
outsideworld providesthe imprintingstimulus.htt
p//biosci.usc.edu/courses/2002-fall/documents/bis
c121-fuhrman_ch51.ppt
The Sensitive Period is a limited phase in an
individual animals development when learning
particular behaviors can take place.http//biosci.
usc.edu/courses/2002-fall/documents/bisc121-fuhrma
n_ch51.ppt
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Learning
Learning is the modificationof behavior
resulting fromspecific experiences
http//biosci.usc.edu/courses/2002-fall/documents/
bisc121-fuhrman_ch51.ppt
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Maturation
Maturation is the situation in which a behavior
may improve because of ongoing developmental
changes in neuromuscular systems, for example,
flight in birds http//biosci.usc.edu/courses/2002
-fall/documents/bisc121-fuhrman_ch51.ppt
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Habituation

• Habituation is a kind of learning
• Habituation involves a loss of responsiveness to
  unimportant stimuli or stimuli that do not
  provide appropriate feedback.
• For example, some animals stop responding to
  warning signals if signals are not followed by a
  predator attack (the cry-wolf effect).
• http//biosci.usc.edu/courses/2002-fall/documents/
  bisc121-fuhrman_ch51.ppt

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Habituation
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Classical Conditioning
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Operant Conditioning
This is called trial-and-error learning - an
animal learns to associate one of its own
behaviors with a reward or a punishment
http//biosci.usc.edu/courses/2002-fall/documents/
bisc121-fuhrman_ch51.ppt
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Observational Learning
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Cognition (Special/Insight Learning)
Cognition is the ability of ananimals nervous
system toperceive, store, process, anduse
information gathered by sensory receptors
http//biosci.usc.edu/courses/2002-fall/documents/
bisc121-fuhrman_ch51.pp
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Play

• Practice?
• Exercise?
• Socialization? (building/testing of bonds)
• The Excessive Energy of Youth?

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Learning across Phyla
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Moving Behaviors!
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Moving Behaviors

• Kinesis Activity only when stimulus is present,
  but activity is random (a.k.a., not moving only
  when happy)
• Taxis Movement up or down a gradient, i.e.,
  towards something good or a way from something
  bad
• Migration Regular (e.g., annual) movement back
  and forth from place to place
• Piloting Directed movement from landmark to
  landmark requires some form of map
• Orientation Directed movement consistently in a
  particular direction (e.g., employing compass)
• Navigation Directed movement employing some
  combination of piloting and orientation

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Kinesis
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Kinesis
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Taxis
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Migration
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Piloting
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Orientation
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Navigation
plus
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Foraging
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Foraging
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Cost-Benefit Analysis
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Optimal Foraging Behavior
The optimal foraging theory states that natural
selection will benefit animals that maximize
their energy intake-to-expenditure ratio (most
bang for the buck).http//biosci.usc.edu/courses
/2002-fall/documents/bisc121-fuhrman_ch51.ppt
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Search Image
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Optimal Diet Model

• Predictions from http//www.bioscience.drexel.edu
  /Homepage/Winter2003/envr511/slides/ENVRFeb4.ppt
• Predators should specialize when more profitable
  prey is very abundant
• There should never be a partial preference
  (predicted for an exact balance which is rare)
• Predators should have broader diets in poor
  environments
• Predators should ignore poor quality items
  irrespective of abundance

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Specialist vs. Generalist

• To eat or not to eat! http//www.bioscience.drexel
  .edu/Homepage/Winter2003/envr511/slides/ENVRFeb4.p
  pt
• 2 Basic strategies
• Generalist
• Broad diet, consume most of the prey they
  encounter
• Spend little time searching
• Diet includes low quality food
• Specialist
• Narrow diet, consume specific prey
• Only high quality food
• Search time high

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Social Behavior
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Sociobiology

• Social Behaviors are interactions between
  conspecifics
• Sociobiology is the application of evolutionary
  theory to our understanding of social behaviors
• These behaviors include
• Fighting (and dominance hierarchies and
  maintaining territories)
• Courting and Mating
• Raising progeny
• Cooperating (and Defecting)

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Agonistic Behavior
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Hierarchies Territoriality

• Dominance Hierarchies are found among chickens,
  wolves, humans, etc.
• The idea is to avoid fighting by knowing your
  place
• to avoid picking on conspecifics that you know
  have already whooped ya
• Territories are maintained in part as a means of
  reducing aggressive interactions
• An animal can avoid fighting by avoiding a
  conspecifics territory
• Fighting tends to occur mostly between
  conspecifics since same species are both better
  matched and more likely competitors (e.g., for
  food or mates)

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Mating/Courtship Behavior
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Differential Parental Investment

• Females Cost of egg, Cost of pregnancy
  (mammals), Cost lactating (mammals), Cost of
  raising (mostly mammals birds)
• Males Sperm relatively cheap, Usually no
  pregnancy (sea horses exception), No lactation,
  Often no raising (some birds and humans
  exceptions), but
• Males Paternity not assured, particularly given
  internal fertilization

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Mating Systems
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Mating Systems

• Promiscuous low likelihood of subsequent mating
  with same individual
• Monogamous high likelihood of subsequent mating
  with one individual
• Polygamous high likelihood of subsequent mating
  with more than one individual
• Polygyny one male mates with several females
• Polyandry one female mates with several males

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Altruism/Cooperative Behavior
Altruism is Cooperative Behavior in which the
actor's Darwinian fitness is Reduced by the
behavior
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Defecting (not being altruistic)
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Prisoners Dilemma
Cooperation
Reward for Mutual Cooperation
Suckers Payoff
Defection
Temptation to Defect
Punishment for Mutual Defection
Darwinian Payoff Associated with Behavior T gt R
gt P gt S Always Preferable to Defect Why Cooperate?
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Prisoners Dilemma Examples

• Aggressive Behavior Cost e.g., Owning /
  Carrying / Using Weapons Payoff Dominance over
  unarmed individuals (but 2 meeting without
  aggression is better than 2 with)
• Driving SUV Costs Low fuel economy, Higher
  risk of fatal single-vehicle accidents Payoff
  Lower risk of fatality in two-vehicle accident
  (but 2 cars colliding preferable to 2 SUVs
  colliding)
• Not Paying Taxes Payoff Enjoying benefits of
  government programs without paying for them Cost
  If everybody didnt pay taxes there wouldnt be
  any government programs (note example n-player
  dilemma)

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How can Altruism Persist?

• Altruism is cooperative behavior in which the
  actor's Darwinian fitness is reduced by the
  behavior
• How, then, can cooperative behavior persist?
• Kin Selection (cooperating only with relatives)
• Reciprocal Altruism (prisoners dilemma, TFT)
• Group Selection (army of cooperators wins)
• Punishment Avoidance (why we have police)

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Coefficient of Relatedness
Hamiltons Rule
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Reciprocal Altruism
Cooperation
Reward for Mutual Cooperation
Suckers Payoff
Defection
Temptation to Defect
Punishment for Mutual Defection
Darwinian Payoff Associated with Behavior T gt R
gt P gt S Therefore, RRRRR gt PPPPP
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Tit for Tat
Cooperation
Reward for Mutual Cooperation
Suckers Payoff
Defection
Temptation to Defect
Punishment for Mutual Defection
Behavior Lead with Cooperation then do whatever
opponent does. Thus, SPPPP with All D
individuals but RRRRR with All C TFT
individuals
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Tit for Tat
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Tit for Tat
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Group Selection
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Group Selection
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Group Selection
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Group Selection
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Group Selection
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Link to Next Presentation
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Acknowledgements
http//biosci.usc.edu/courses/2002-fall/documents/
bisc121-fuhrman_ch51.ppt Pearson Education, Inc.
publishing as Benjamin Cummings
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Piloting