Module 01 SLIDES - Student - Introduction to Animal Behavior.pptx

Comparative Psychology - an Introduction to Animal Behavior

1. My lecture PowerPoints include a lot of links. Most of them are optional enrichment opportunities; as are nearly all readings in the Canvas module “Enrichment.” Required links are marked clearly as Required. In Class Lecture: Use the Link in Canvas to Login to pollev.com/ professorfulton With your UNCC email Feel free to take pics of slides with Red Banners!

2. Introduction to Animal Behavior 2110 Introduction to Comparative Psychology Professor Marviene Fulton

3. Comparative psychology is the scientific study of the behavior and mental processes of humans and non-human animals. It focuses on the similarities and differences in behavioral organization among living beings. It also emphasizes how behavior relates to phylogeny, ontogeny, and adaptation. This class is a BIOLOGICAL Basis of Behavior Class. We talk about genes and sex as they pertain to bees, birds, and monkeys A LOT. Comparative Psychology

4. Natural Selection Gene Centered View of Evolution Review of Scientific Method Cost-Benefit Approach Darwinian Puzzles Case Study: Infanticide in Langurs Integrative Study of Animal Behavior Levels of Analysis: Proximate & Ultimate Case Study: Digger Bees Study Design Approaches Case Study: Mobbing in Gulls Module 01 Image: https://dobes.mpi.nl/projects/morehead/geography/

5. Historical Context of Darwin’s Natural Selection Theory proposed in 1859: Written 20 years a fter the 1 st Industrial Revolution (1760 to 1840) Public Ready to Consider Non-Religious Explanations Written during the earlier part of the Victorian Era (1837 – 1901): Artificial Selection commonly known about - Dogs & Pigeons Natural Selection

6. Historical Context Aristocrat pastime: Breeding Dogs Little dogs were especially popular in Victorian Era Status Symbol Victorian Color Lithograph “Leading Breeds of Dogs” by F. E. Wright in 1899 Natural Selection

7. Charles Darwin (1802 – 1882) HMS Beagle 1831 to 1836: Darwin 22; 2/3 of time on land for 5 yrs 10,000 specimens: 1400 plant, 500 bird & 13 insect species brought back 5 weeks was in Galapagos Islands Researched 2+ decades, then published On the Origin of Species in 1859. Natural Selection was supported by previous research. Many scientists had been describing evolution (change over time) generally – for a while. Hutton, a geologist, described it in a book in 17 94 . Natural Selection

8. Historical Context: Artificial Selection Aristocrat pastime: Breeding Pigeons Darwin bred pigeons for research purposes when he got back from his 3-year voyage aboard the HMS Beagle. Domestic Fancy Pigeon Breeds oleograph by Paul Stewart, 1870 Natural Selection

9. Darwin’s Impact HIS BOOK: ON THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES Darwin’s book was written for the public – that was radical. It was easy to understand. & It was interesting to the public - it used dog breeding & farming to explain concepts. His book was packed with decades of careful observational, experimental, and comparative research that clearly supported his ideas. Illustrations of beetles from The Descent of Man (Darwin, 1871).

10. Definition – part 1 Natural selection is the idea that living species are the product of an unguided, unconscious process of reproductive competition that had taken place over many generations. Natural Selection Illustration of Adaptive Radiation from Darwin’s Finches

11. Definition – part 2 Natural selection is about which offspring happened to have some trait that helped it LIVE to pass on its genes and which of its offspring happened to have the same trait that helped it live to pass on its genes for generation after generation until today. Natural Selection

12. Definition – part 3 Ultimately one type of creature could be transformed into something utterly different. It's a process Darwin called Descent with Modification . Natural selection can be used to explain Descent with Modification. Natural Selection

13. Requirements For Natural Selection to Happen: Starts with Variation in the population Population Cannot Be Clones Population must have different levels of reproductive success No Genes will be favored otherwise Population must have Heritable traits Must have traits tied to genes that can be passed from one generation to the next Natural Selection

14. 2017 Image: https://www.anu.edu.au/giving/impact-stories/protecting-linguistics Natural selection acts on adaptations. Adaptations: The traits associated with successful survival and reproduction are called Adaptations. Adaptations increase fitness. Fitness: How successful an individual is at passing on its heritable traits to the next generation.

15. Gene’s Eye View: 3 Important Points Genes replicate themselves ; organisms do not. Organisms are the vehicles within which genes travel Natural selection theory provides one means for explaining why some changes spread through a species while others do not. Mutation, migration, and genetic drift can explain some evolution, too. Natural selection is not guided by anything or anyone. It is not “trying” to do anything. Instead, it is the individuals that reproduce more that cause a population or species to evolve over time, which is descent with modification . Gene Centered View of Evolution

16. The process of generating, testing, and refining hypotheses and predictions is foundational to the scientific method and to how animal behavior is studied. The ability to build upon past research and continually challenge a previous finding is an important part of the process. Nothing is Proven beyond doubt. Review of Scientific Method

17. A Theory is a basic principle that can be applied widely. Hypotheses , are explanations based on limited evidence, used to support theories . To test hypotheses, animal behavior researchers generate predictions , which are expected outcomes if a hypothesis holds true . Review of Scientific Method

18. In examining potentially adaptive behaviors, behavioral biologists consider the costs and benefits associated with them. This is the cost-benefit approach. An adaptation is a heritable trait that has spread or is spreading through natural selection, with a better fitness benefit-to-cost ratio than alternative traits in the population or species. Cost-Benefit Approach

19. Fitness COSTS refer to the negative effects a trait may have on the number of surviving offspring or the reduction in its genetic contribution to the next generation. Conversely, fitness BENEFITS relate to the positive effects of a trait on reproductive and genetic success. Cost-Benefit Approach

20. Darwinian Puzzles appear to be challenges to evolutionary theory . These traits are maintained in a population even though they appear to reduce the fitness of individuals that possess it. Biologists deal with these puzzles by developing possible hypotheses based on natural selection theory for how the trait might help individuals reproduce and pass on their genes. Darwinian Puzzles

21. Darwinian Puzzles- Case Study: Infanticide in Langurs Costs Danger from females protecting young Benefits Females go into ovulation when not nursing young Have more offspring; better chance at passing on genes Infanticide Hypothesis: Infanticide is a reproduction enhancing tactic for individual males Predictions - Expectations if Hypothesis is true : Infanticide happens with arrival of new male Males will not kill own offspring

22. Cost Benefit Analysis for Murmuration WATCH IT: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uV54oa0SyMc All starlings can murmurate . No other bird does it. Murmuration is done by local starlings and the starlings that migrate there for the winter. Murmurations are around sunset from October to March, before the Starlings roost for the night. Murmurations deter some predators, but others still try.

23. Integrative Study of Behavior How do we approach Animal Behavior? Integrative Study: bring together many field’s findings and consider them at the same time – genetics, environment (social and ecological), neural mechanisms, etc. – in order to answer proximate and ultimate questions.

24. Tinbergen’s 4 Questions = 2 Levels of Analysis Every ADAPTIVE behavioral trait is the result of both proximate and ultimate factors. Development – INFLUENCES Mechanism – CONTROLS Evolutionary History – DECENT WITH MODIFICATION Adaptive Function – NATURAL SELECTION’S EFFECT ON BEHAVIORAL TRAIT VALUE

25. Case Study: Male Desert Digger Bees Digger bees mature in burrows. Male digger bees locate the females before they have emerged from their burrow. Females are unwilling to mate more than once. Watch the video, top right of this page: https://askabiologist.asu.edu/male-digger-bees Levels of Analysis

26. Case Study: Male Desert Digger Bees PROXIMATE LEVEL EFFECTS Genes and environment combine to have proximate effects on the development of the brain and body parts that make smelling the females and physically digging them up possible. Levels of Analysis

27. Case Study: Male Desert Digger Bees ULTIMATE LEVEL EFFECTS Sensitive smell and strong digging abilities lead to higher reproduction (adaptive function, an ultimate level explanation). Therefore, heightened smell sensitivity to the females might be linked to specific genes. Levels of Analysis

28. Experimental involves manipulating features of the animal or its environment to more directly establish a causal relationship among traits. Requires careful control of conditions. Comparative Involves making comparisons among species that have evolved independently to study relationships among traits or historical and physical constraints on trait evolution. Requires knowing the evolutionary genealogy of both species. Observational involves watching animals behaving in nature or in the lab. Is Correlational. Study Design Approaches – THREE to KNOW

29. Case Study: Gull Mobbing Kruuk (1964) was interested in studying the adaptive basis of mobbing in Black-headed Gulls so he used the Cost Benefit approach . Study Design - Observational

30. Case Study: Gull Mobbing Kruul Hypothesis: the costs to the mobbers (such as the time and energy expended by attacking potential predators, and the risk of getting injured or even killed) were outweighed by the fitness benefits to the gulls, specifically an increase in offspring survival Study Design - Observational

31. Case Study: Gull Mobbing Central Prediction: mobbing gulls should force distracted predators to expend more searching effort than they would otherwise Outcome: prediction supported Study Design - Observational

32. Case Study: Gull Mobbing Because adaptations are better than the traits they replace, we can predict that the benefit experienced by mobbing gulls in protecting their eggs should be directly proportional to the extent that predators are actually mobbed. Study Design - Experimental

33. Case Study: Gull Mobbing To test this prediction, Kruuk designed an experiment that involved placing 10 chicken eggs as stand-ins for gull eggs, one every 10 meters, along a line running from outside a black-headed gull nesting colony to inside it. Outcome: prediction supported Study Design - Experimental

34. Case Study: Gull Mobbing Most of the 50 living gull species nest on the ground and mob enemies. Therefore, it is likely that all gulls descend from a common ancestor – and that there is genetic material that predisposes gulls to mob when they nest in colonies on the ground and have high predation pressure. Study Design - Comparative

35. Case Study: Gull Mobbing 2 ways to test if Mobbing is an Adaptation: Convergent – Do other Species (not gull) that live similarly (in nesting colonies on the ground) behave the same way (mob enemies)? Divergent – Do other GULL species that do not live similarly (not in colonies on the ground & not with high predator pressure) behave different? Study Design - Comparative

36. Comparative: Convergent and Divergent

37. Case Study: Gull Mobbing There are other bird and non-bird species that live in ground colonies and mob predators. The California ground squirrel is one example – they have infrared-emitting tails. Watch it here , Video 2, Under Supporting Information. This supports Kruuk’s prediction. Comparative: Convergent

38. Case Study: Gull Mobbing Related Gulls: The Kittiwakes live on cliff faces. Different Selection Pressures: They do not have the same level of predation pressure as Black Faced Gulls. Observed Behavior: They do not mob. This supports Kruuk’s prediction. Comparative: Divergent

39. Herbert Spencer wrote the phrase “Survival of the Fittest” in 1864, five years after Darwin’s On the Origin of Species Spencer used the phrase in his argument that society was the result of a type of evolutionary mechanism. This argument was intended to justify racism, sexism, classism, and other injustices. Where did the Phrase Survival of the Fittest come From?

40. Herbert Spencer believed that helping people experiencing poverty was wrong. He said it interfered in generations experiencing the “natural” consequences of their choices. He believed in superior races and superior classes within races. His ideas founded Social Darwinism – which promoted “scientific” racism. Survival of the Fittest?

41. Society is not the result of any evolutionary mechanism. Biological theories are not applicable. Human institutions can affect infant survival more than genetic legacy For Natural Selection - The “Fittest” changes with environment. Therefore, it is Survival of the Fitter, not the fittest & does not indicate superiority. It is “Survival of the FittER ”

42. Quality can trump quantity; But still not be enough Being the Fittest does not indicate “net reproductive gain” – only that at THIS time that particular trait HAPPENS to be better than alternative traits at passing on the genes that have that trait. The population may be on the decline. More Adaptations vs One Amazing Adaptation

43. Knowing these ideas is critical to your success in this course: Natural Selection Fitness & Adaptations Gene Centered View of Evolution Theory, Hypothesis, and Prediction Cost-Benefit Approach Darwinian Puzzles Infanticide in Langurs Proximate & Ultimate Analysis Digger Bees 3 Study Design Approaches Mobbing in Gulls Divergent & Convergent Evolution Module 01 – Bedrock Foundation