CHAPTER 3 –DEVELOPMENT OF ANIMAL BEHAVIOR.

EVOLUTIONARY HOMEOSTASIS.
It is the tendency of organisms to avoid adapting to extreme conditions that may occur.
Evolutionary homeostasis protects animals from developing extreme behaviors that would likely
not be adaptive.

The flexibility resulting from epigenic development allows animals to adapt to changes that take
place in the environment. If development were rigidly programmed in genes, evolutionary changes
such as; Modifying predator strategies would leave prey in an extremely vulnerable situation,
unable to readjust their behavior to these changes.

On the other hand, evolutionary homeostasis guarantees relatively consistent development under
normal conditions.

The resulting homogeneity is beneficial not only because it prevents animals from making extreme
adaptations, but also because it allows animals of the same species to tend to react consistently to
their coefficient.

BEHAVIORAL DEVELOPMENT IN AMPHIBIANS.

Swimming is an extremely important behavior for the survival of amphibians during the larval
phase. (For example, a tadpole). Swimming development is quite independent of experience.
Tadpoles present an adaptation that reduces the probability of cannibalizing related subjects.

BEHAVIORAL DEVELOPMENT OF BIRDS.

The behavioral development of birds is more open to the influence of experience than that of
amphibians.
Some forms of bird behavior develop as a result of imprinting, which is the rapid acquisition of a
clear and stable preference for a particular type of stimulus to which the animal is exposed during
a very brief period of its development called the period. sensitive.
Imprinting differs from many types of development influenced by experience in that it can only
occur during a specific and relatively short period of the life cycle. Furthermore, once the
imprinted response is established, it is extremely resistant to change.

MONITORING RESPONSES IN PRECOCIAL BIRDS.

Konrad Lorenz 1935, graphically illustrated what is called filial imprinting, the development of the
tendency for the chicks of some birds such as ducks and geese to follow their mother. And it is
generally the only relevant stimulus present during the sensitive period.

When he was raising duck and geese chicks, Lorenz noticed that they quickly acquired the
tendency to follow him, instead of following their conspecifics.He also found that the birds'
preference was consistent and very resistant to change . Lorenz concluded that the chicks had
imprinted on him because he was the first moving object they saw as soon as they were born.
This type of imprinting only occurs in proccial birds, species whose offspring are born highly
developed, and are capable of moving alone practically from the moment of hatching.
The tendencies of the young to follow in the footsteps of their mothers also allows them to guide
them towards water or food, or away from areas where the risk of predation is high.

Controlled studies have shown that the sensitive period for the development of filial imprinting is
very short and occurs very early in the bird's life.
Why does it happen so soon and last so little?
There is an explanation in philosophical terms consistent with this model that appeals to neural
growth. The sensitive period is characterized by considerable neural plasticity. This plasticity
favors the type of changes that are involved in imprinting. The end of this period of plasticity
marks the end of the sensitive period.
Filial imprinting occurs at the most favorable moment, the mother (the appropriate stimulus) is
always present and it is unlikely that there will be any inappropriate object, such as an animal
other than the mother, next to the chicks, at least consistently. In other words, the mother's
natural stimulus is more likely to become objects of imprinting than other types of stimuli. (Hess,
1973.).

THE ROLE OF AUDITORY TRACKS.

How is it possible that mallard chicks develop this sensitivity to the calls of their species if they
have not been able to hear them previously?
Mallard chicks have to go through the experience of hearing their own voice before they develop
the tendency to establish proper imprinting.
The ability to identify the call of its own mother is very important for the survival of wild duck
chicks, since the mother begins to vocalize from the moment the chicks have matured enough to
leave the nest.

THE SEXUAL IMPRINT.

Lorenz observed something that when birds reached sexual maturity, they began to direct
courtship behaviors and sexual approaches to the type of animal or object that was present during
the sensitive period. This phenomenon is called sexual imprinting. This sexual imprinting has
been described in birds other than ducks and geese.
In a study it was found that, if male zebra finches are raised together with female Bengals, two
closely related species, upon reaching sexual maturity, male zebra finches show a clear preference
for female Bengals. In the absence of Bengali females, males mate with their conspecifics.

A study carried out with zebra finches helped us understand why sexual imprinting in females is
not reversible:

1 – It takes place after hatching, it determines that finches develop a general social preference for
certain types of birds.
2-It begins when the finches approach sexual maturity, allowing this preference to be
consolidated.

Under specific laboratory conditions, male zebra finches can imprint sexually on two different
species, this phenomenon is known as double imprinting.

The effect of sexual imprinting is more intense in males than in females.

THE DEVELOPMENT OF SINGING.

Artricial bird species , such as songbirds, are species whose young are born relatively
undeveloped, cannot move on their own, and have their eyes closed for some time after hatching.
(They do not develop a filial imprint).
Songbirds develop elaborate songs that allow them to communicate in complex ways.
Birds use song to attract a sexual partner, defend territory, synchronize reproductive behavior
between members of the pair, and serve as a model for their offspring.

The classic experiments that WHThorpe carried out with chaffinches demonstrated the
importance of early auditory experiences in the development of song.

Thorpe concluded that the birds that listened to the recordings developed a complete cato, that
is, the complex normal song typical of the species. And that birds raised in conditions of acoustic
isolation developed subsong, a simple catho that is a precursor to the normal complex song in
birds raised under normal conditions.

Songbirds are born with a biased tendency to learn the songs of their own species as opposed to
those of other species. This bias reduces the chances of them learning inappropriate songs.

Birds typically learn the nature of the song in one moment and practice producing it several
months later. At this point, they appear to adjust their own vocalizations to the memory of the
tutor's song pattern.
Some birds develop dialects, songs that vary from one geographic region to another. These
dialectal variations are perpetuated because the young learn their songs from the model of the
adults in the area in which they are born and remain in the same area to produce them.
Some birds use dialect as a sexual partner selection criterion.
Another factor that influences the learning of song is whether or not the bird in question is a
nesting bird, which are birds that are born from the egg that their mothers have deposited in the
nest of other birds.

THE PICKING.