Ethology

Ethology is the study of animal behaviour

a) Innate Behaviour:  genetically program, no learning is involved, it is inherited.  There are 3 types of innate behaviour
1. Unconditioned reflex:  this is the simplest eg. snail withdraws into shell when touched
2. Taxis: this is a locomotion repsonse to a stimulus eg. amoeba moves towards food (positive taxis), maggots move away from light (negative taxis)
3.  Fixed action pattern (öröklött mozgáskombináció): depends on key stimuli and motivation (sexual drive, curiosity, fright, hunger, thirst, etc) eg. cuckoo hatchling shoves host eggs out of nest, squirrels store nuts

b) Learned/Acquired Behaviour:  it is individual, it is not inherited and it can often be forgotten
1. Habituation: it is a non-response to "indifferent" stimulus eg. crows and scarecrows, city birds and people
2.  Imprinting:  it occurs within a specific, critical time frame and results in social attachments eg. baby birds imprint on mother at hatching (usually irreversible)
3.  Conditioned reflex (feltételes reflex):  learning by association eg. Pavlov's dogs
4.  Operant conditioning (operáns tanulás):  learning by trial and error eg. used when teaching animals tricks
5.  Insight:  Solves a problem with no trial and error.  This is the most complex form of learning  eg. chimps use a bamboo pole to reach food placed outside cage.  Chimps and humans are capable of insight.

c) Instinct (ösztön):  This is a pattern of innate behaviour that often requires learning
eg. courtship behaviours, nest building, migration, song learning

d) Cyclical Behaviour:  circadian and circannual rhythms.  These are under control of a "biological clock", so they exist even in constant environments, but they will drift if the key stimulus are not present.  The key stimulus (eg. light) helps to reset the clock.  eg.  sleeping/waking cycles, migration


Ecological function of behaviour
1.  Orientation and Navigation
- taxis is the simplest eg. aerotaxis in Paramecium, phototaxis in moths, chemotaxis in salmon
- more complex is orientation by memory eg. bats and echolocation
- migration uses multiple very complex systems, eg. using the postion of the sun and stars in the sky to determine direction, using landmarks to determine location, using the Earth's magnetic fields to determine position

2.  Feeding
- generalists vs. specialists
- many heterotrophs have search images to help them locate their food source
- hunting and collecting strategies can be innate (squirrels and nuts) or learned (foxes hunting strategies)
- prey also defend themselves in different ways: physical (eg. shells), chemical (poisons, smells), speed, camoflage, warning colouration, mimicry

3.  Reproduction
-mate selection:  many different stimuli can play a role, eg. colouration, smell, sound (songs), movement (eg. dances), male-male competition (common in higher animals)
- courtship: species-specific, often includes things like dances, nest construction, gifts
- mating: depending on species, there may be no bond formed, or there many be short or long-term bonds that form, monogamy or polygamy
- parental care:  varies from none to very extensive, offspring may be altricial or precocial

4.  Social
-social groups may be open (temporary) or closed (family, colony, herd)
- social insects are the best organized (cast system)
- types of social behaviour can be positive or negative
positive interactions include reproduction, familial, group protection, group hunting, learning (skill learning and socialization)
negative interactions include aggression (often to determine dominance or hierarchy) and territoriality
altruism is a behaviour of a animal that may be to its disadvantage, but that benefits others of its kind (kin selection, reciprocal altruism)

5.  Communication
- chemical: pheremones eg. termites, mammals
- visual: colouration, facial expressions etc
- auditory:  calls, songs, ultrasound, language
- tactile:  grooming, bee's dance