Animal Behavior

Topic-01 Animal Behavior: Basics

Animal Behavior

The sum of responses made by an animal to the external and internal stimuli is called behavior.

Behavior is based on physiological systems and processes of the animal.

Ethology

The scientific study of animal behavior in their natural environment is called as ethology.

Examples of Behavior

The behaviors may be as simple as moving towards or away from light to the complex behaviors
e.g.

 Territory defense
 Courtship and mating
 Liking, disliking and fighting or caring
 Migration and navigation
 Building hives, nests or dens
 Producing voices or songs
 Recognition and communication
 Procuring food
 Learning and memorizing

Behavior is Subject to Natural Selection

Most of the animal behaviors are essential for survival and reproduction.

So the development of behavior has remained subject to substantial natural selection.

Natural selection contributed to the anatomical development of nervous system as well as

enhancing the physiological features that contributed to the evolution of complex behavioral
patterns.

Objectives of Ethology

1. Understanding the stimuli that elicit behavior.

2. Understanding the physiological mechanisms that mediate the response.
3. Understanding how an animal's experience during growth and development influence
the response.
4. Understanding how the behavior aids in survival and reproduction.
5. Understanding the behavior's evolutionary history.
Topic-02 Scientific Approaches to Study Animal Behavior

Behavioral scientists have taken two complementary approaches to understand animal behavior.

1. Neuroethological approach
2. Ethological approach

Neuroethological Approach

The neuroethological approach involves bringing the animal into the laboratory and observing its
behavior in a very simplified set of well-defined circumstances.

Simplified Set of Circumstances

In the laboratory:

 there are no predators

 the number and sex of conspecifics (members of the same species) are controlled by the
experimenter
 there are unusual lights, smells and sounds
 the animal is often limited to a relatively small and confined space

Study of Behavior with Neuroethological Approach

 The neuroethological approach focuses on the study of neuronal responses generated

during the manifestation of an animal’s behavior.
 In some cases, the nervous system of animal is exposed surgically to allow the
experimenter to record from neurons while behavior is going on.
 Studies under these reduced conditions are useful for obtaining answers to many
questions about behavior.
 However, the results from such experiments can be difficult to translate into an
understanding of how animals deal with challenges in their everyday lives in natural
environment.

Ethological Approach

 The ethological approach is to go into the field and observe the animal’s behavior in its
natural environment.
 Observing animals in their normal state is an ancient practice.
 However, for a physiologist, these natural conditions raise severe problems that differ
from those created by laboratory conditions.

While observing an animal in its natural setting, it is impossible to record activity from the
animal's nervous system that is involved in producing behavior.