Animal Behavior

Asian Elephant (Elephas maximus) • Largest living animals in Asia

• Live in social groups

• Communicate through low amplitude sounds (infrasound)

• Gestation (pregnancy) lasts 18-22 months!

• One way to physically distinguish from African elephants: their ears are much smaller

• Conservation status: Endangered. Threatened by habitat loss

Example of Primary literature: English, M. et al. 2014. Plant selection and avoidance by the Bornean elephant (Elephas maximus borneensis) in tropical forest: does plant recovery rate after herbivory influence food choices? Journal of Tropical Ecology. 30:371-379.

Example of Secondary literature: Fay, M.J. 2007. Last stand in Zakouma. National Geographic. http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2007/03/ivory-wars/fay-text/1

• Being away from home • Commuting • Leaving loved ones • Caring for/about loved ones • Summer ending • Transitioning between environments • Communication barriers • Picking classes/things to learn • Choosing a major/career • Grades, thesis, MCAT (learning) • Future success • Balancing responsibilities • Organizing priorities • Time management • Procrastination

• Balancing social life • Defining relationships • Social disagreements/disputes • Money/Resources • Weight gain • Exercise more • Stress, stress, stress! • Self-esteem • Self-discovery • Inadequate living conditions • Mental health problems • Sleep! • Jet lag

Problems the class has been experiencing:

• Being away from home • Commuting • Leaving loved ones • Caring for/about loved ones • Summer ending • Transitioning between environments • Communication barriers • Picking classes/things to learn • Choosing a major/career • Grades, thesis, MCAT (learning) • Future success • Balancing responsibilities • Organizing priorities • Time management • Procrastination



The Science of Animal Behavior!

What will we learn today: 1. Why we should all care about animal behavior 2. How to define “Animal” and “Behavior” 3. Measuring behavior via ethograms 4. How and why to use the scientific method to study

behavior 5. The importance of distinguishing between

correlations and causality 6. Hypotheses versus theories 7. What knowledge we gain from primary versus

secondary literature

Why did people paint animals on caves?

Why do we care about animals now? Agriculture

• USDA estimates 1/3 of all food and beverages consumed in US are dependent on pollination

• The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization estimates 71% of world’s most widely-consumed crops are pollinated by bees — and these crops are worth at least $207 billion.

Colony Collapse Disorder: substantial amount of worker bees disappearing/dying off • In US, estimates 21-50%

die off last year

Neonicotinoids: widely used pesticides linked to bee death (30+ studies show this) • Pesticides are multi-

billion dollar industry and fighting back

We must understand how chemicals we produce/changes to the environment

affect animal health and behavior

Why do we care about animals now? Service animals

What is an animal? --- Is this an animal?

oyster

tadpole centipede

earthworm Sea sponge

people

What is an animal? --- Is this an animal?

bacteria

fungi protist

archaea virus

plants

Hierarchy of biological classification’s 8 major taxonomic ranks

1. Archaea 2. Bacteria 3. Eukarya

(Prokaryotic) (Eukaryotic)

1. Animalia 2. Plantae 3. Fungi 4. Protista 5. Archaea 6. Bacteria

~ 35 different phyla (Chordata – vertebrates- is one)

Aves

Columbiformes

Columbidae

Columba

livia

Common Pigeon (Columba livia)

How do we define “Behavior”?

Behavior: any internally coordinated, externally visible pattern of activity that responds to changing external or internal conditions

• Internally coordinated: internal processing (endocrine/ neurotransmitter signaling, sensory information processing)

• Externally visible: patterns we can observe and measure

How do we define “Behavior”?

Behavior: any internally coordinated, externally visible pattern of activity that responds to changing external or internal conditions

• Internally coordinated: internal processing (endocrine/ neurotransmitter signaling, sensory information processing)

• Externally visible: patterns we can observe and measure

Kingfisher catching a fish

Is the kingfisher behaving? Is the fish behaving?

How do we measure behavior?

Ethogram: formal description or inventory of an animal’s behaviors

Researchers use to measure frequency, duration, rate, intensity, etc. of behaviors

Why?

Can determine both the total and relative time an animal is engaged in the behavior. Example: How much does it sleep and when? How much does it eat and when? How much does it engage in A, B, and/or C social behaviors, and when? Etc.

An example of how this knowledge can be of use:

• Research question: What behaviors do captive Asian elephants exhibit? (Rees 2009)

• Made an Ethogram of behaviors witnessed every 5 minutes for entire day once a week for 11 months at Chester Zoo (UK)

• Calculated a Time budget

– A summary of the total time and relative frequency of different behaviors of an individual

What did they find?

• Results: – Elephants spent about one-quarter of their time

feeding

– Stereotypic behavior (captivity-induced behavioral anomalies, like repetitive behaviors that lack purpose) decreased the more time elephants spent eating

• Conclusion: – Using widely spaced feeders to supply food slowly and

at random times could reduce the frequency of stereotypic behavior!

**Great example of how using classic ethograms to study behavior can improve the lives of captive animals**

Using the scientific method to study animal behavior

• Scientific Method: A general framework that allows us to formulate and test hypotheses, thus learning about the natural world.

What is a hypothesis? It is not just an educated guess.

Hypotheses are explanations that make predictions that can be

tested!


tamarin monkey (Saguinus geoffroyi) Tamarin monkeys live in

troops in Panamanian rainforest. When females have babies, all of the males in the group help care for them.


tamarin monkey (Saguinus geoffroyi)

Why do all the males care for the females babies instead of just the dad?



All of the males are in some way related to the babies (dad, brother, uncle, etc.). Thus, by taking care of them, they are helping to pass on their genes to the next generation. (This is called Fitness: the survivorship and reproductive success (ability to produce viable offspring) of an individual)

Alternate hypothesis (Ha): male care depends on relatedness to offspring

Null hypothesis (H0): male care does NOT depend on relatedness to offspring



Males in the troop are related to the babies they help care for

Alternate hypothesis prediction: males caring for offspring will be related to them in some way (father, brother, uncle, etc.)

Null hypothesis prediction: males caring for offspring will NOT be related to them



Paternity analysis a.k.a. DNA fingerprinting or DNA profiling. Basically, hair is sampled from mom, babies, and males in the group to gauge the % relatedness between individuals



All males that care for the babies are in some way related to them (father, brother, uncle, etc.)



All males that care for the babies are in some way related to them (father, brother, uncle, etc.)



HYPOTHETICALLY: Test shows that not all males are related to the babies they are caring for



New hypothesis: Unrelated males caring for babies are practicing to be efficient fathers when they do have babies. This experience will benefit their own offspring in the future.



TRUE RESULT: All males that care for the babies are in some way related to them (father, brother, uncle, etc.)

Hypothesis: All of the males are in some way related to the babies (dad, brother, uncle, etc.). Thus, by taking care of them, they are helping to pass on their genes to the next generation.



TRUE RESULT: All males that care for the babies are in some way related to them (father, brother, uncle, etc.)

Did we PROVE our hypothesis?

Scientist behind the study: Samuel Díaz-Muñoz, Ph.D. (NYU) tamarin monkey

(Saguinus geoffroyi)

Switch to video of interview with Dr. Diaz-Munoz


Using the scientific method: correlation vs. causation

There is support for the hypothesis (males that care for babies are related to them), and male care even may be correlated with relatedness to babies. Does this mean that being related to a baby in the troop will cause the male to care for it? We cannot be sure. Data are only correlative: variables vary together in a predictable fashion.

Male care

Male care

Relatedness to babies Relatedness to babies

Positive correlation Negative correlation

0 0 100 100

100 100

Correlation versus Causation

Arrrrg! We have global warming because there are no more pirates, matey! Bring back ye pirates and

save the planet!

CORRELATION DOES NOT EQUAL

CAUSATION CORRELATION

DOES NOT EQUAL CAUSATION


CAUSATION


CAUSATION


CAUSATION


CAUSATION


CAUSATION


CAUSATION


CAUSATION


CAUSATION


CAUSATION


CAUSATION

Now, some other basic things to know before we learn about and evaluate research in animal behavior…

Hypothesis versus Theories

I have a theory* that Cersei is going to murder Tyrion on this week’s Game Of Thrones episode…

Saying colloquially/in every day conversation that you have a “theory” generally means something very different from what an actual theory is.

Research Hypothesis: explanation based on assumptions. Can test. When

a hypothesis has been tested MANY times (hundreds/thousands!) without being rejected, it becomes a theory:

Scientific Theory: well-substantiated explanation that forms the basis of

our understanding of the natural world.






Example: Darwin’s Theory of Evolution by Natural Selection: More individuals are produced each generation that can survive. Phenotypic variation exists among individuals and the variation is heritable. Those individuals with heritable traits better suited to the

environment will survive.






Example: Darwin’s Theory of Evolution by Natural Selection: More individuals are produced each generation that can survive. Phenotypic variation exists among individuals and the variation is heritable. Those individuals with heritable traits better suited to the

environment will survive.

OR

Einstein’s Theory of Relativity

OR

Newton’s Theory of Gravity

Hypothesis versus Theories: MISCONCEPTIONS

Misconception #1: Evolution is “just a theory”. • This implies that a theory should be interpreted as just a guess or a hunch, whereas in

science, the term theory is used very differently. Note: Evolution is a very well-substantiated theory, highly supported by the fossil record, studies of

DNA and phylogenetics (the study of evolutionary relationships among groups), proteomics, physiology, biochemistry, biogeography, animal behavior and much, much more

Misconception #2: Theories become facts when they are well supported and/or proven. • implies that theories become facts in some sort of linear progression. In science,

theories never become facts. Rather, theories explain facts. • implies research provides proof in the sense of attaining the absolute truth. Scientific

knowledge is always tentative and subject to revision should new evidence come to light.

Anthropomorphism can be problematic when studying Animal Behavior…

Anthropomorphism: attributing human motivations, characteristics, or emotions to animals.

This dog is “sad” This gorilla “thinks you’re crazy” This cat is “happy”

This panda baby is “waving hi”

Why is this problematic?

Anthropomorphism can be problematic when studying Animal Behavior…

Anthropomorphism: attributing human motivations, characteristics, or emotions to animals.

Why is this problematic?

Very difficult, if not impossible, to characterize the emotional state of a non-human animal

HOWEVER…. We cannot dismiss that animals DO have emotions! It’s just very hard to study them, though many try (like psychologists and cognitive ethologists)

Prof. Alexandra Horowitz – Barnard faculty!

Do dogs display a guilty look because they “know” they’ve been disobedient?

Dogs “look” guilty when they “know” they have been disobedient

Do dogs experience “guilt”, as evidenced by a “guilty look”, when they have been disobedient?

Dogs only give that “guilty look” when they have been disobedient

If dogs are told not to eat a treat and they they are disobedient and eat it, they will express a “guilty look” as measured by their owners

Not statistically significantly

different

Dog’s obedience had no effect on “guilty look”. But owner behavior (scolding) did!

The hypothesis was not supported! Oh no! Is that a bad thing?

Does that mean that dogs do not experience

guilt?

Let’s talk about primary versus secondary literature!

What are these examples of?

Primary literature:

• Primary or original source of scientific information

• Editors of scientific journals use experts to help decide whether to accept or reject a paper for publication

• This process is called “peer review”

• These experts evaluate the importance of the research question and validity of hypotheses, methodology, analyses, and conclusions.

One example of how peer review process can work: http://elifesciences.org/about#process

http://elifesciences.org/about#process

http://elifesciences.org/about#process

Secondary literature:

• Interpretations or evaluations of primary literature/research – commentary on evidence

• Examples: magazine and newspaper articles, textbooks, websites (usually)

• Why is secondary literature important?

When you see something like this, do you believe it?

magazine add = secondary literature To know if the components of “miracle pill” burn fat quickly, must research the primary literature

Had to testify before Senate subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety, and Insurance for false advertising.

How do you know what’s primary, peer reviewed literature?

• What is the name of the publication? • Is it endorsed by a scientific society?

• Who are the authors? • Scientists affiliated with a college/university, med/vet/research

center, zoo or conservation organization? • Do authors have scientific degrees? Ph.D., M.D., D.V.M.?

• Is article written in a scientific format? Intro, Methods, Results, Discussion/Conclusion and Literature Cited? • Does the literature cite other primary literature?

• Does the publication indicate that articles are peer reviewed? • Can go to website to check – usually under info for authors on the

submission/review process.

The Science of Animal Behavior!

What you learned today: 1. Why we should all care about animal behavior 2. How to define “Animal” and “Behavior” 3. Measuring behavior via ethograms 4. How and why to use the scientific method to study

behavior 5. The importance of distinguishing between

correlations and causality 6. Hypotheses versus theories 7. What knowledge we gain from primary versus

secondary literature

• Being away from home • Commuting • Leaving loved ones • Caring for/about loved ones (tamarin

parental care) • Summer ending • Transitioning between environments • Communication barriers (communicating

guilt/emotions) • Picking classes/things to learn • Choosing a major/career • Grades, thesis, MCAT (learning) • Future success (fitness and reproductive

success) • Balancing responsibilities (tamarin parental

care versus only taking care of yourself, foraging, mating with others outside of group, etc.)

• Organizing priorities • Time management • Procrastination



Asian Elephant (Elephas maximus) • Largest living animals in Asia

• Live in social groups

• Communicate through low amplitude sounds (infrasound)

• Gestation (pregnancy) lasts 18-22 months!

• One way to physically distinguish from African elephants: their ears are much smaller

• Conservation status: Endangered. Threatened by habitat loss

Example of Primary literature: English, M. et al. 2014. Plant selection and avoidance by the Bornean elephant (Elephas maximus borneensis) in tropical forest: does plant recovery rate after herbivory influence food choices? Journal of Tropical Ecology. 30:371-379.

Example of Secondary literature: Fay, M.J. 2007. Last stand in Zakouma. National Geographic. http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2007/03/ivory-wars/fay-text/1

Documents

Animal Behavior