Animal Behaviour

Goals: 1. Recognise the importance of survival and

reproduction success when explaining behaviour.

2. Understand how hierarchies are established.

3. Consider how communication can be used in competitions

Survival and reproduction

• All behaviours can be explained in terms of – Survival of the individual/ group– Reproductive success of the individual/group

• ALWAYS refer back to these 2 things when explaining a behaviour

Rhythmic behaviour

• Migration- – Allows animals to maximise their survival by

increasing their food/breeding resources

Feeding

Feeding only at night increases chances of survival by• reducing risk of predation• Reducing water loss during the day

Alarm calls• Alarm calls warn others of predationBUT• Responding to an alarm can be cost energy, so

animals may respond to some threats more than others (habituation)

Courtship V Predation

• Courtship behaviours can be costly in energy and predation risk– So why do it????

• Organisms need to reproduce and the importance of this can outweigh the need to survive

• Also!! Those colourful male birds that are at most risk are precisely the ones females will choose to mate with

Cranes have an elaborate dance to attract females

Birds of paradise have elaborate plumage which would greatly increase predation risk

Social behaviour

• Acting as a group can increase your survival– Groups can spend less time checking for predators if

they are in a group and share the job.

• If it doesn’t benefit you, it benefits the species– Ant, termites, bees all work selflessly for the good of

the colony• The theory suggests that this is because of a genetic quirk

that an individual will be more closely related to their brothers and sisters than they would their own offspring

As flock size increases- time spent checking

for predators decreases

Intra-specific Competition: competition within a species

• WAR! What is it good for– Why would you fight one of you own?

– For resources– For breeding

• Again it comes back to survival and reproduction!!!!

Today’s activity• A game• Aim: – Understand how hierarchies are established– How past experience affects competitions– How size/ communication/ visual displays affect

competition• See worksheet for rules

• 10 mins at each station• Take your record sheet with you and record your

result carefully• Keep in mind– Who you choose to challenge– Who you accept– What for the outcomes on disputes tell you about

your number value

Exam question example

Can you…..

• Identify innate and learned behaviour?• Understand behaviour in relation to

reproduction and survival?– Why do male orb weaver spiders risk copulating

with females when they know they will be eaten?– Female stick insects signal males with a pheremone,

but after 3 weeks will stop signalling and start laying eggs (parthenogenetic eggs that will hatch without being fertilised). Explain why they stop signalling.

What next?

• Based on what we discussed today and what you learned in your summaries what would you like to do next?– More on courtship behaviour (leads nicely onto

next chapter)– Focus on learned behaviour– Other?