Crows break the shells of certain molluscs before eating them by dropping them onto

Behavioral ecologists ask both proximate and ultimate questions. Behavioral ecology is the study of behavior in an evolutionary context, considering both proximate (immediate) and ultimate (evolutionary) causes of an animals actions. Natural selection preserves behaviors that enhance fitness.

Fixed action patterns are innate behaviors. Innate behavior is performed the same way by all members of a species. A fixed action pattern (FAP) is an unchangeable series of actions triggered by a specific stimulus. FAPs ensure that activities essential to survival are performed correctly without practice.

Behavior is the result of both genetic and environmental factors. Genetic engineering has been used to investigate genes that influence behavior. Cross-fostering experiments are useful for studying environmental factors that affect behavior.

Habituation is a simple type of learning. Learning is a change in behavior resulting from experience. Habituation is learning to ignore a repeated, unimportant stimulus.

Imprinting requires both innate behavior and experience. Imprinting is irreversible learning limited to a sensitive period in the animals life.

Imprinting poses problems and opportunities for conservation programs.

Animal movement may be a simple response to stimuli or require spatial learning. Kineses and taxes are simple movements in response to a stimulus. Spatial learning involves using landmarks to move through the environment.

Movements of animals may depend on cognitive maps. Cognitive maps are internal representations of spatial relationships of objects in the surroundings. Migratory animals may move between areas using the sun, stars, landmarks, or other cues.

Animals may learn to associate a stimulus or behavior with a response. In associative learning, animals learn by associating external stimuli or their own behavior with positive or negative effects.

Social learning employs observation and imitation of others.

Problem-solving behavior relies on cognition. Cognition is the process of perceiving, storing, integrating, and using information. Problem-solving behavior involves complex cognitive processes.

Behavioral ecologists use cost-benefit analysis to study foraging. Foraging includes identifying, obtaining, and eating food. Optimal foraging theory predicts that feeding behavior will maximize energy gain and minimize energy expenditure and risk.

Communication is an essential element of interactions between animals. Signaling in the form of sounds, scents, displays, or touches provides means of communication.

Mating behavior often includes elaborate courtship rituals. Courtship rituals advertise the species, sex, and physical condition of potential mates.

Mating systems and parental care enhance reproductive success. Mating systems may be promiscuous, monogamous, or polygamous. The needs of offspring and certainty of paternity help explain differences in mating systems and parental care by males.

Chemical pollutants can cause abnormal behavior. Endocrine disruptors are chemicals in the environment that may cause abnormal behavior as well as reproductive abnormalities.

Sociobiology places social behavior in an evolutionary context. Social behavior is any kind of interaction between two or more animals.

Territorial behavior parcels out space and resources. Animals exhibiting this behavior defend their territories.

Agonistic behavior often resolves confrontations between competitors. Agonistic behavior includes threats, rituals, and sometimes combat.

Dominance hierarchies are maintained by agonistic behavior.

Altruistic acts can often be explained by the concept of inclusive fitness. Kin selection is a form of natural selection favoring altruistic behavior that benefits relatives. Thus, an animal can propagate its own genes by helping relatives reproduce.

Jane Goodall revolutionized our understanding of chimpanzee behavior. In decades of fieldwork, she described many aspects of chimpanzee social behavior. She also discovered that chimpanzees make and use tools.

Human behavior is the result of both genetic and environmental factors.

Complete this map, which reviews the genetic and environmental components of animal behavior and their relationship to learning. For Practice Quizzes, BioFlix, MP3 Tutors, and Activities, go to www.masteringbiology.com. is a product of both most important in both influence examples are example is includes innate behavior environment Animal behavior (a) learning (c) (d) (e) (b) (f ) uses may be sensitive period landmarks trial and error observation and imitation

Although many chimpanzee populations live in environments containing oil palm nuts, members of only a few populations use stones to crack open the nuts. The most likely explanation for this behavioral difference between populations is that a. members of different populations differ in manual dexterity. b. members of different populations have different nutritional requirements. c. members of different populations differ in learning ability. d. the use of stones to crack nuts has arisen and spread through social learning in only some populations. e. the behavioral difference is caused by genetic differences between populations.

Pheasants do not feed their chicks. Immediately after hatching, a pheasant chick starts pecking at seeds and insects on the ground. How might a behavioral ecologist explain the ultimate cause of this behavior? a. Pecking is a fixed action pattern. b. Pheasants learned to peck, and their offspring inherited this behavior. c. Pheasants that pecked survived and reproduced best. d. Pecking is a result of imprinting during a sensitive period. e. Pecking is an example of habituation.

A blue jay that aids its parents in raising its siblings is increasing its a. reproductive success. b. status in a dominance hierarchy. c. altruistic behavior. d. inclusive fitness. e. certainty of paternity

Ants carry dead ants out of the anthill and dump them on a trash pile. If a live ant is painted with a chemical from dead ants, other ants repeatedly carry it, kicking and struggling, to the trash pile, until the substance wears off. Which of the following best explains this behavior? a. The chemical triggers a fixed action pattern. b. The ants have become imprinted on the chemical. c. The ants continue the behavior until they become habituated. d. The ants can learn only by trial and error. e. The chemical triggers a negative taxis.

Almost all the behaviors of a housefly are innate. What are some advantages and disadvantages to the fly of innate behaviors compared with behaviors that are mainly learned?

In Module 35.3, you learned that Norway rat offspring whose mothers dont interact with them much grow up to be fearful and anxious in new situations. Suggest a possible ultimate cause for this link between maternal behavior and stress response of offspring. (Hint: Under what circumstances might high reactivity to stress be more adaptive than being relaxed?)

A chorus of frogs fills the air on a spring evening. The frog calls are courtship signals. What are the functions of courtship behaviors? How might a behavioral ecologist explain the proximate cause of this behavior? The ultimate cause?

Crows break the shells of certain molluscs before eating them by dropping them onto rocks. Hypothesizing that crows drop the molluscs from a height that gives the most food for the least effort (optimal foraging), a researcher dropped shells from different heights and counted the drops it took to break them. Chapter 35 Review 721 Average number Total flight height Height of of drops required (number of drops drop (m) to break shell height per drop) 2 55 110 3 13 39 5 6 30 7 5 35 15 4 60 a. The researcher measured the average drop height for crows and found that it was 5.23 m. Does this support the researchers hypothesis? Explain. b. Describe an experiment to determine whether this feeding behavior of crows is learned or innate.

Scientists studying scrub jays found that it is common for helpers to assist mated pairs of birds in raising their young. The helpers lack territories and mates of their own. Instead, they help the territory owners gather food for their offspring. Propose a hypothesis to explain what advantage there might be for the helpers to engage in this behavior instead of seeking their own territories and mates. How would you test your hypothesis? If your hypothesis is correct, what kind of results would you expect your tests to yield?

Researchers are very interested in studying identical twins who were raised apart. Among other things, they hope to answer questions about the roles of inheritance and upbringing in human behavior. Why do identical twins make such good subjects for this kind of research? What do the results suggest to you? What are the potential pitfalls of this research? What abuses might occur in the use of these data if the studies are not evaluated critically?

Do animals think and feel the same kinds of things we do? These questions bear on animal rights, a subject much in the news. Many important biological discoveries have come from experiments performed on animals, yet some animal rights activists believe that all animal experimentation is cruel and should be stopped. They have harassed researchers, vandalized laboratories, and set animals free. Why are animals used in experiments? Are there uses of animals that should be discontinued? What kinds of guidelines should researchers follow in using animals in experiments, and who should establish and enforce the guidelines?