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54 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
Behavior |
What an animal does, how it does it, and how it responds to stimuli in its environment. |
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Behavioral Ecology |
The study of behavior in natural environments from an evolutionary perspective. Used to be considered Ethology. |
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Proximate cause |
Immediate causes such as the genetic, developmental, and physiological process that permit an animal to carry out a particular behavior. |
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Ultimate Causes |
Causes that address the "why" of a behavior. For example: the goose will roll its eggs back towards the nest with its beak, because it's the safest and most efficient way to return the eggs. |
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Cost-Benefit analysis |
An analysis of how a behavior may help an animal obtain food, water, protect itself or reproduce in comparison to the cost of energy it takes to perform said behavior |
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Direct fitness |
An individual's reproductive success, measured by the number of viable offspring the individual produces. |
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Innate behavior |
*Instinct. |
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Learned behavior |
Behavior that has been modified in response to environmental experience. |
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Motor Programs |
Programs that we think of as automatic, depending on a coordinated sequence of muscle actions. |
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Behavioral Pattern |
An action that is activated by a simple sensory stimulus, regardless of sensory feedback. In other words, an action that an animal does without much thought. |
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Sign Stimulus |
A simple signal that triggers a behavioral response. |
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Learning |
A persistent change in behavior that result from experiences. |
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Warning coloration/aposematic coloration |
Coloration that warns predators of the dangers of choosing the colored individual as quary. |
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Habituation |
Learning where the animal learns to ignore a repeated, irrelevant stimulus. |
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Imprinting |
A type of social learning based on earlier experiences. |
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Classical conditioning |
An association between some normal body function and a new stimulus. |
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Extinction(in terms of behavioral patterns) |
When a learned response is completely forgotten or habitualized. |
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Operant conditioning |
An animal must fo something to gain a reward or avoid punishment. |
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Biological Rythems |
A biochemical, physiological or behavioral response that animals make to the periodic changes in an environment. |
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Circadian Rhythms |
24 hour cycles of activity. |
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Diurnal Animals |
Active during the day |
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Nocturnal animals |
Active during the night |
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Crepuscular animals |
Active during dawn, dusk or both times |
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Biological clocks |
Internal timers that organize biological rhythms. |
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Suprachiasmatic nucleus(SCN) |
Where the master clock is located in mammals. |
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Pineal gland |
An endocrine gland located in the brain that secretes melatonin, which promotes sleep in humans. |
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Compass sense |
An internal sense of direction |
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Navagation |
Requires both compass sense and map sense to provide cues to change direction to reach a specific destination. |
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Map sense |
An awareness of location |
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Foraging |
Feeding behavior that involves locating and selecting food as well as gathering and capturing it. |
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Social behavior |
The interaction of two or more animals, usually of the same species. |
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Calls |
Short, simple auditory stimuli that most animals use to communicate. |
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Pheromones |
Chemical signals secreted to communicate with animals other than oneself. |
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Vomeronasal organ |
Signals the amygdala and hypothalamus and regulate emotional responses and certain endocrine processes |
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Signal transduction |
Neural pathways that involve G proteins. |
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Dominance hierarchy |
Ranking of social statuses in which higher ranked individuals have more social standing that lower ranked. |
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Sexual selection |
A type of natural selection for successful mating, with those more fit outclassing those that are less fit. |
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Intrasexual selection |
Where individuals of the same sex actively compete for mates. |
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Intersexual selection |
Females select mates based on some physical trait or resource. |
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Lek |
Where insects, birds and bats display themselves and compete for females. |
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Courtship rituals |
Ensure that a males are indeed male and a member of the same species as a female. |
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Polygyny |
A mating system in which males fertilize the eggs of many females during the season. |
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Polyandry |
One female mates with several males. |
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Mate guarding |
When a male guards a female so that she does not copulate with another male |
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Monogamy |
Males mate with only one female during the mating season. Uncommon. |
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Pair bond |
When parents cooperate for mating and rearing the young. |
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Parental investment |
The contribution each parent makes in production and rearing of offspring. |
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Altruistic behavior |
When one individual seems to behave in a way that benefits others rather than itself, with no potential payoff. |
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Inclusive fitness |
The sum of direct fitness and indirect fitness. |
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Kin selection |
A form of natural selection that increases inclusive fitness through the breeding success of close relatives. Like bees supporting their queen. |
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Reciprocal Altruism |
You scratch my back, I'll scratch yours. |
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Culture |
A behavior common to a population. |
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Social learning |
Observing others and imitating them, or teaching. |
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Sociobiology |
The evolution of social behavior through natural selection. |