34-2 Patterns of Behavior Courtship

1. Courtship Purpose: To pass along its genes to the next generation, animals must mate at least once.

2. Courtship Behavior:• part of an overall reproductive strategy• helps animals identify healthy mates.• Individuals send out stimuli to attract members of the opposite sex. Stimuli may include:

• sounds• visual displays• chemicals

34-2 Patterns of Behavior Courtship

In some species, courtship involves a series of behaviors called rituals.

3. Ritual = series of behaviors that is performed the same way by all members of a population for the purpose of communicating.

4. Most courtship rituals consist of specific signals and individual responses that continue until mating occurs.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lMbDjNDD4cM

34-2 Patterns of Behavior Social Behavior

5. Social Behavior = interactions between members of the same species

6. Societies = groups of related animals that interact closely and cooperate.

• Related individuals share a large proportion of genes.

• Helping a relative survive increases the chance that the genes an individual shares with that relative will be passed along to offspring.

• Membership in a society offers great survival advantages.

34-2 Patterns of Behavior Social Behavior

6. Primates form some of the most complex societies.

7. Macaque, baboon, and other primate societies:

• hunt together

• travel in search of new territory

• interact with neighboring societies.

• Example: chimpanzee hunt

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7XuXi3mqYM

34-2 Patterns of Behavior Social Behavior

8. Animal societies use strength in numbers to:• improve their ability to hunt• protect their territory• fight with rivals• guard their young• provide protection from predators

Bison and other grazers band together in herds when grazing. As a group, they are safer from predators.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tCG1I-Ssgww

34-2 Patterns of Behavior Competition and Aggression

9. Competition and Aggression• Some animals have behaviors to prevent others

from using limited resources.

10. Territorialism = behaviors used to protect a specific area.• Keeps others at a distance. • Protects resources needed for survival or reproduction• Animals often mark territories to signal others to keep out.

• If a rival enters a territory, the “owner” may attack the rival and drive it away.

• Example: Marking Territory http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4j2MjMdAJE

34-2 Patterns of Behavior Competition and Aggression

11. When two or more animals try to claim limited resources, competition occurs.

• Many animals use rituals and displays when they compete. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQCYxYW1IBw

12. Animals may show aggression, a threatening behavior that one animal uses to gain control over another.

Example: Ibex Fight http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBdvW_xpGyA

34-2 Patterns of Behavior Communication

13. Communication = the passing of information from one organism to another.

• When animal behavior involves more than one individual, some form of communication is involved

34-2 Patterns of Behavior Communication

14. Communication signals may include:• Visual including movements• sound• touch• chemicals

15. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsMbn3b1Bis• Behavior that affects the behavior of another animal

or organism• Plants use pheromones to attract pollinators• Examples: bees and whales

34-2 Patterns of Behavior Communication

16. Examples:

Bees: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7ijI-g4jHg

•Sound, movement, pheromones

Whales:

• Animals with strong vocal abilities communicate with sound.

• Some animals that use sound have evolved elaborate communication systems.

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DsQnRnE-W8A

34-2 Patterns of Behavior Communication

17. Chemical Signals 

• Animals with well-developed senses of smell may communicate with chemicals.

• Some animals release pheromones to mark a territory or to signal their readiness to mate.

18. Pheromones = chemical signals that affect the behavior of other individuals of the same species.

• Examples:

Ants: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gcHt5n3NGK0

Funny stinky animals: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpCEtMHJ6mA

34-2 Patterns of Behavior

Copyright Pearson Prentice Hall

Communication

19. Language = a system of communication that combines:

• sounds, symbols, or gestures

• according to sets of rules about word order and meaning.

20. Only humans are known to use language.

http://www.ted.com/talks/steven_pinker_on_language_and_thought.html