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28 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
Ethology
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Science of animal behavior in its natural habitat
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Behavioral ecology
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Focuses on individual behavior that maximizes reproductive and evolutionary success
studies mate choice, foraging, parental investment |
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sign stimulus
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If the animal responded to just one specific aspect of the stimulus that triggered a certain innate behavior
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Innate behaviors
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are inherited (innate),invariable, predictable, i.e. stereotyped behaviors
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Instinctive behaviors
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are dependent on interactions between an organism and its environment
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Programmed behavior
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Is important for survival, especially when animals receive little or no parental care
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Learning
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Modification of behavior through experience
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habituation
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- It soon ignores the stimulus
- Repeated stimulations diminished release of neurotransmittersfrom sensory neurons |
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Imprinting
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Imposes a stable behavior in a young animal by exposure to particular stimuli during a critical period in development
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social behavior
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Any response of one animal to another animalof the same species
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Social organization-
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- benefits in cooperation in hunting for food
huddling for mutual protection from severe weather, opportunities for division of labor Creates the potential for learning and transmitting useful information through the society |
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Disadvantages of social living
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Camouflaged individuals survive predators by being dispersed
Large predators need large amounts of food The ecological situation determines if a solitary or social strategy is better |
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In socially coordinated behavior
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Individual adjusts its actions to presence of others to increase its own reproductive success directly
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In cooperative behavior
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Individual performs activities that benefit others because such behavior ultimately benefits the individual’s genetic contribution to future generations
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Aggression
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an offensive physical action, or threat, to force others to abandon something
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Agonistic behaviors
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a broader category including any activity related to fighting
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Ritualized display
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is a behavior that has been modified through evolution to make it effective in serving a communicative function
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Territory
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Fixed area whose occupant exclude intruders of the same species and sometimes other species
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Monogamy
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association between one male and one female at a time
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Polygamy
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that incorporates all male and female systems with more than one mate
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Polygyny
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indicates that one male mates with more than one female
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Polyandry
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indicates that one female mates with more than one male
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Altruism
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The act sacrificing ones needs or life for the benefit of another
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Group-selection theory
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Suggests that animals that helped others “for the good of the species” helped the group survive, and selection was therefore at the group level
Group selection does not explain altruism |
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kin selection
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Fitness is not just measured by an animal’s own offspring, but the increase or decrease in genes shared in the gene pool
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Signals
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Through communication, one animal can influence the behavior of another
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display
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behavior that serves a communicative purpose
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Animal Cognition
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General term for mental function, including perception, reasoning, and memory
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