AP Biology Reading Guide

Fred and Theresa Holtzclaw

Chapter 51: Animal Behavior

Name___________________________ Period___________

Chapter 51: Animal Behavior

Overview
1.

How is behavior defined?

Behavioral ecologists define behavior as everything an animal does and how it does it.

Concept 51.1 Discrete sensory inputs can stimulate both simple and complex behaviors
2.

What is ethology?
the study of animal behavior in natural conditions

3.

What is the difference between proximate and ultimate causation?

focuses on the environmental stimuli, if any, that trigger a particular behavioral act, as well as the genetic, physiological, and
anatomical mechanisms underlying it.

focuses on the evolutionary significance of a behavioral act.

4.

Using red-crowned cranes, what is an example of a proximate causation question and an

example of an ultimate causation question?
This bear can smell pharomones and finds the female producing them to mate, which is a reaction to a stimulus.

The act of the female praying mantis to eat its mate has proven evolutionary advantageous because it allows for strong, healthy
offspring.

5.

Who are the three ethologists who shared in a Nobel Prize for their work in 1973? We will
look at work by each of them.

6.

What is a fixed action pattern (FAP)? Give an example.

(FAP) a sequence of unlearned behavioral acts that is essentially unchangeable and usually carried to completion and initiated example: goose will continue to roll an egg back to it's nest even after the egg is take from it.

7.

What is a sign stimulus? Give at least examples of sign stimuli.

an external sensory stimulus that triggers a FAP
For example, if a golf ball were placed infront of the goose, it would still roll it under because have a
round object infront of it acts as a stimulus

8.

Nicholas Tinbergens work with the stickleback fish is a

classic study. Explain what he found. Use the terms fixed
action pattern and sign stimulus in your response.
Nicholas Tinbergen found that the color red is a sign stimulus triggering a fixed action
pattern of aggressive behavior in male stickleback fish.

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AP Biology Reading Guide

Fred and Theresa Holtzclaw
9.

Chapter 51: Animal Behavior

Define these behavior terms:

Definition
kinesis a simple change in activity or turning rate in response to a stimulus.

Example
For example, sow bugs survive best in moist environments because
they exhibit a kinesis in response to variation in humidity.

taxis

a more or less automatic, oriented movement toward or

away from some stimulus.

10.

An example of a taxis would be that many stream fish exhibit positive rheotaxis;
they automatically swim or orient themselves in an upstream direction.

Explain what is meant by a circadian clock and circadian rhythms. Identify two behaviors,
either plant or animal, that demonstrate a circadian rhythm. (You may need to refer to Chapter
49 or Chapter 36 for examples.)
A circadian clock is an internal mechanism that maintains a 24-hour activity rhythm or cycle. A circadian rhythm is the output of a
circadian clock, a daily cycle of rest and activity with far-reaching effects on behavioral physiology.
The sleep/wake cycle of humans is one example of a circadian rhythm. A plant example is the opening of the morning glory
flowersthey open in the morning, and then close in the late afternoon

11.

Discuss two navigational strategies used by birds to migrate.

Migration & Genetic Control
They are related because the migration of a species causes them to spread their gene, which then caused genetic drift. Species may move due to
their surroundings. If the environment isnt able to support the species, they will often find one that can. In their search for this new environment,
the species will also spread their genes with others.

12.

Animals communicate in various ways. Discuss at least three specific examples using
different organisms.
1. Most terrestrial mammals are nocturnal, so they use olfactory and auditory signals (smell and sound) to signal each other,
because these work best in the dark. Olfactory signals rely greatly on pheromones, which are odors that emit chemical
substances from an animal.
2. Birds, however, are diurnal, and communicate by visual and auditory signals. Birds use songs as their main type of
communication.
3. Humans are also diurnal and find it easiest to communicate via auditory and visual signals.

13.

Notice the pictures that show fruit fly

courtship behavior (see AP Biology Lab
11B, Reproductive Behavior in Fruit
Flies). What different modes of
communication are used by the fruit fly?

The modes of communication used by the fruit fly are visual, chemical, tactile, and auditory.

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AP Biology Reading Guide

Fred and Theresa Holtzclaw
14.

Chapter 51: Animal Behavior

Karl von Frisch studied European honeybees. What are the two types of dances that a
returning worker bee does, and what information does each dance convey? Use a labeled
sketch to describe each dance.
If the food source is close to the hive (less than 50 m away), the returning bee moves in tight
circles while waggling its abdomen from side to side. This behavior, called the round dance, motivates the follower bees to leave the
hive and search for nearby food.
When the food source is farther from the nest, the returning bee instead performs a waggle dance. This dance, consisting of a half-circle
swing in one direction, a straight run during which the bee waggles its abdomen, and a half-circle swing in the other direction,
communicates to the follower bees both the direction and distance of the food source in relation to the hive. The angle of the straight run
relative to the hives vertical surface is the same as the horizontal angle of the food in relation to the sun.

15.

What are pheromones? Give three specific types of information that can be transmitted
through pheromones.
Pheromones are chemical substances emitted by animals that are used to communicate through odors or taste with members of their own
species. They can transmit information about sex, social order, and alarm signals.

Concept 51.2 Learning establishes specific links between experience and behavior
16.

What is the difference between innate and learned behavior? Give an example of each.
Innate behavior is behavior that is developmentally fixed and under strong genetic control
Ex. Crying vs. Tying Shoes Strings

17.

What is meant by fitness? How can habituation increase fitness?

The loss of responsiveness to stimuli that convey little or no information

18.

Describe the process of imprinting, and explain what is meant by

sensitive or critical period.
a type of learned behavior with a significant innate component, acquired during a limitted
critical period; generally irreversable
For example, when ducklings follow a human because the human image as their mother was
imprinted in them at an early age.
Sensitive period-a limitted phase in an animal's development that is the only time when certain
behviors can be learned

19.

Describe the classic study of parental imprinting done by Konrad

Lorenz.
Lorenz found that when incubator-hatched goslings spent their first few hours with him rather
than with a goose, they imprinted on him and showed no recognition of their biological mother
or of adults of their own species.

20.

What special challenges did researchers face in order to return whooping cranes to the wild?
What would you have to wear if you worked with hatchlings? Why?
Scientists tried raising whooping cranes in captivity by using sand hill cranes as foster parents. However, because the whooping cranes
imprinted on their foster parents, none formed a pair-bond (strong attachment) with a whooping crane mate. To avoid such problems,
captive breeding programs now isolate young cranes, exposing them to the sights and sounds of members of their own species.

People who work with whooping cranes in captivity wear crane suits so they look like big whooping cranes to prevent imprinting of the
cranes on humans.
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AP Biology Reading Guide

Fred and Theresa Holtzclaw
21.

Chapter 51: Animal Behavior

There are several types of learning. What occurs in spatial learning?

the modification of behavior based on experience with the spatial structure of the environment, including the
locations of nest sites, hazards, food, and prospective mates

22.

What are two types of associative learning? Which type did Ivan Pavlov use to get a dog to
salivate at the sound of a bell?
Operant Conditioning
Classical Conditioning - Ivan Pavlov's Dog

23.

What occurs in operant conditioning?

trial-error learning, an animals learns to associate one of its own behaviors with a reward, or a punishment and then tends to
repeat or avoid that behavior

24.

What is cognition? Give three examples of cognition in animal species; include at least one
bird behavior.
Cognitive ethology studies the connection between nervous systems and a creature's behavior. Cognitive ethology studies the
potential for animals to solve problems

25.

Many bird songs are learned during a critical period. What will happen if a white-crowned
sparrow does not hear the song of its species during this time?
If a fledgling is prevented from hearing real sparrows or recordings of sparrow songs during the
first 50 days of its life, it fails to develop the adult song of its species.

Concept 51.3 Both genetic makeup and environment contribute to the development of behaviors
26.

Based on cross-fostering and human twin studies, what are the two factors that contribute
significantly to behavior?
See Below

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AP Biology Reading Guide

Fred and Theresa Holtzclaw
27.

Chapter 51: Animal Behavior

This concept looks at some very interesting ways that genetic changes affect behavior. Several
important case studies that show a genetic component to behavior are presented. Take time to
read and enjoy them. The study of voles and their mating behaviors is often discussed in other
science articles. To return to fruit fly mating, a single gene called fru controls male mating
behavior. If males lack a functional fru gene (short for fruitless), what happens?
During courtship, the male fruit fly carries out a complex series of actions in response to multiple sensory stimuli. Genetic studies have
revealed that a single gene called fru controls this entire courtship ritual.

And what occurs if females are genetically manipulated to express this gene?
If the fru gene is mutated to an inactive form, males do not court or mate with females. (The name fru is short for fruitless, reflecting the
absence of offspring from the mutant males.)

Concept 51.4 Selection for individual survival and reproductive success can explain most behaviors
28.

What is foraging behavior?

There is a compromise between the benefits of nutrition and the cost of obtaining food.

29.

What is proposed by the optimal foraging theory? Explain it in terms of cost and benefit, and
cite two examples from your text.
The theory states that natural selection will favor animals that have developed foraging methods that use less energy and are at less of a
risk of being killed while obtaining the food. This theory wants the risk of being killed to be small as possible and the benefits to be as
large as possible.

30.

To demonstrate that you understand the principle of optimal foraging, describe a food source
that you would not be likely to exploit.
Tiger Meaat

31.

Explain each of these mating systems:

promiscuity
No strong pair bonds

monogamy
One male mates with one female

polygamy
An individual of one sex mates with several of the other

polygyny
A single male mates with many females

polyandry
A single female mates with several males

32.

Explain two factors that may be important in determining the evolution of these systems, and
apply each factor to a particular species.
The needs of the young are an important factor constraining the evolution of mating systems. Most newly hatched birds, for instance, cannot care for themselves.
Rather, they require a large, continuous food supply, a need that is difficult for a single parent to meet.
Another factor influencing mating behavior and parental care is certainty of paternity. Young born to or eggs laid by a female definitely contain that females
genes. However, even within a normally monogamous relationship, a male other than the females usual mate may have fathered that females offspring.

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The certainty of paternity is relatively low in most species with internal fertilization because the acts of mating and birth (or mating and egg laying) are separated
over time.

AP Biology Reading Guide

Fred and Theresa Holtzclaw

33.

Chapter 51: Animal Behavior

Lets return to an earlier idea. What is sexual selection? (Chapter 23)

Sexual selection is a form of natural selection in which differences in reproductive success among individuals are a consequence
of differences in mating success.

34.

There are two types of sexual selection. Explain each of them.

intersexual selection
Members of one sex choose mates on the basis of characteristics of the other sex, such as courtship songs

intrasexual selection
Competition between members of one sex for

35.

What is agonistic behavior? Give one example of this behavior that is not in your book.
Agonistic behavior is an often-ritualized contest that determines which competitor gains access to a resource, such as food or mates. One example might be
the combative behavior between male deer seen during mating season.

Concept 51.5 Inclusive fitness can account for the evolution of altruistic social behavior
36.

What is altruism?
The term altruism describes a behavior that reduces an animals individual fitness but increases
the fitness of other individuals in the population.

37.

Explain the evolutionary advantage to a population of having members who exhibit altruistic
behavior.
When individuals exhibit altruistic behavior, they enhance the survival of other members of the group. When these individuals are closely related, genetic
fitness is enhanced.

38.

Altruism may reduce the fitness of an individualfor example, by making that individual
more obvious to a predator. Explain this behavior using the concept of inclusive fitness.
The selection for altruistic behavior is most readily apparent in the case of parents sacrificing for their offspring. When parents sacrifice their own
well-being to produce and aid offspring, this actually increases the fitness of the parents because it maximizes their genetic representation in the population.
However, individuals sometimes help others who are not their offspring

39.

Explain the logic behind geneticist J.B.S. Haldanes comment that he would lay down his
life for two brothers or eight cousins.
Siblings have an r of 0.5, and between first cousins, r = 0.125 (18).
So, rescuing 2 brothers would be 2(0.5) =1 and rescuing 8 cousins would be 8(0.125) = 1.
In both cases, this would save the genetic equivalent of the rescuer.

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AP Biology Reading Guide

Fred and Theresa Holtzclaw

40.

Chapter 51: Animal Behavior

Contrast kin selection and reciprocal altruism.

Kin selection favors altruistic behavior by enhancing reproductive success of relatives. With reciprocal altruism the behavior is adaptive if the aided
individual returns the favor in the future.

Testing Your Knowledge: Self-Quiz Answers

Now you should be ready to test your knowledge. Place your answers here:

1._______ 2._______ 3.________ 4._______ 5.________ 6.________ 7.________

The needs of the young are an important factor constraining the evolution of mating systems. Most newly hatched birds, for instance, cannot care for
themselves. Rather, they require a large, continuous food supply, a need that is difficult for a single parent to meet. In such cases, a male that stays
with and helps a single mate may ultimately have more viable offspring than it would by going off to seek additional mates. This may explain why
most birds are monogamous. Another factor influencing mating behavior and parental care is certainty of paternity. Young born to or eggs laid by a
female definitely contain that females genes. However, even within a normally monogamous relationship, a male other than the females usual mate
may have fathered that females offspring. The certainty of paternity is relatively low in most species with internal fertilization because the acts of
mating and birth (or mating and egg laying) are separated over time. This could explain why exclusively male parental care is rare in bird and
mammal species. However, the males of many species with internal fertilization engage in behaviors that appear to incr
ease their certainty of paternity. These behaviors include guarding females, removing any sperm from the female reproductive tract
before copulation, and introducing large quantities of sperm that displace the sperm of other males.

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