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• Ethology


  The scientific study of how animals behave, particularly in their natural environment
• The tools of ethology were adapted, and applied ethology was born as a field of study
• Behaviour of livestock/animals, as a key to handling them, received added attention after the development of large intensive systems of concentrated livestock production
• The topic received even more attention after emphasis was given to animal welfare issues
• Behaviour


  Everything an animal does & how it does it
• A behaviour is the nervous system's response to a stimulus and is carried out by the muscular or the hormonal system
• Behaviour is subject to natural selection
• Ethology pioneers - 1973 Nobel Prize


  • Karl von Frisch
  • Nikolaas (Niko) Tinbergen
  • Konrad Lorenz
• Behaviour can occur in response to an internal or external stimulus
• Instinctive behaviours


  Happen naturally & don't have to be learned
• Learned behaviours


  Must be taught
• Components (types) of Behaviour


  • Inherited (innate/nature) behaviour
  • Learned (nurture) behaviour
• Types of behaviours


  • Innate behaviours
  • Learned behaviours
• Animal Learning


  • Innate (fixed action pattern, imprinting)
  • Learned (associative learning, habituation, insight learning, observational learning)
• Animal Behaviours


  • Basic behaviours (innate, fixed action patterns, classical conditioning, operant conditioning, imprinting, habituation, cognitive)
  • Ecological behaviours (competitive, agonistic, dominance hierarchies, territorial, foraging, migratory, biological rhythms, communication, courting, altruistic)
• Fixed Action Patterns


  A sequence of unlearned, innate behaviours that is unchangeable. Once initiated, it is usually carried to completion. Triggered by an external cue known as a sign stimulus.
• Areas of Study in Animal Behaviour


  • Communication (visual, auditory/vocal, olfactory/chemical, tactile/touch)
  • Aggression and Social Structure (dominance-related, territorial, pain-induced, fear-induced, maternal, predatory aggression)
  • Biological Rhythms and Sleep
  • Sexual Behaviour
  • Maternal Behaviour
• Visual Communication


  Leads to competition among males for the most impressive displays to attract females, wards off other male competitors, displayed through facial expressions and body language, alerts predators to the position of their prey
• Vocal Communication


  Made by the giving and receiving of audible noises from one animal to another, used to inform others of feeding, migration and location
• Tactile communication/ Mechanoreception


  Communication through the use of touch, including grooming in primates, and responding to physical stimuli like vibrations
• Chemical communication


  Using pheromones like alarm pheromones, sex pheromones, and trail pheromones
• Bees provide an example of communication that involves chemical, tactile, and auditory components, including the "waggle dance" to communicate location of food
• Competitive Behaviours


  Competition for food, space, mates, and other resources occurs between individuals within a population
• Agonistic Behaviour


  A threatening or combative interaction between two individuals of the same species, usually involving intimidation and submission rather than injury
• Dominance Hierarchies


  A ranking system that helps reduce hostile behaviours among animals in a group, with a top-ranked "alpha" animal
• Territorial Behaviours


  Includes verbal signals, chemical signals, and physical defense of a geographic area, usually by males to increase their chance of obtaining adequate resources
• Biological Rhythms


  Cycles like the daily sleep/wake cycle, influenced by factors like light, barometric pressure, the endocrine system, and feeding
• Courting Behaviours


  Behaviours engaged in by animals to attract a mate, often involving displays, decorations, or fighting with rivals
• Nurturing Behaviours


  When parents provide care to their offspring in the early stages of development, including providing food, protection, and skills needed for survival
• r mating


  • Includes jumping, dancing, singing or displaying decorations
  • Causes males to become more territorial and aggressive, often leading to a fight with rival suitors
• Male grasshoppers can produce over 400 mating songs, each with different meaning
• Maternal Behaviour


  The ability of a female to care for her young, an important part of successful production of most livestock and companion species
• Maternal Behaviour includes


  • Bonding behaviour between the female and her offspring
  • Mutual recognition
  • Negligence or neglect by the female
  • Nest-building
  • Nursing
  • Weaning
  • Learned behaviour
• Nurturing Behaviours


  When parents provide care to their offspring in the early stages of development
• Animal species that spend time nurturing young often produce fewer offspring than animals that do not nurture
• Sensitive periods and critical periods


  Developmental stages when experience, or lack of it, has an influence on later behavior
• Cognitive Behaviours


  Thinking, reasoning, and processing information to understand complex concepts and solve problems
• Insight Learning


  The ability to do something right the first time with no prior experience, requiring reasoning ability
• Observational Learning


  The ability of an organism to learn how to do something by watching another individual do it first, even if they have never attempted it themselves
• Young chimpanzees who watch their mothers crack nuts with rock tools before learning the technique themselves