animal behavior

Question 1

What type of stress response involves the adrenal medulla? What class of hormones is involved in each type of response?

Answer 1

-fight or flight response or short term stress
-hormone: amine hormones: epinephrine and norepinephrine

Question 2

what type of stress response involves the adrenal cortex? what class of hormones is involved?

Answer 2

long term stress
-cortex: steroid hormones: glucocorticoids

Question 3

What pathway regulates the fight or flight response? What hormones are involved?
What do they do?

Answer 3

Pathway: stress–>nerve cell in hypothalamus–>nerve signals–>spinal cord–>nerve cell–>adrenal cortex secretes hormones
Amine hormones: epinephrine and noprepinephrine
Effects of Epinephrine and norepinephrine:
1. increase blood glucose
2. increase blood pressure
3. increase breathing rate
4. increase blood flow to brain, heart, muscles
5. decrease digestive processes

Question 4

What happens to “fight or flight” hormones in students before, during, and after an
exam?

Answer 4

Epinephrine and norepinephrine both peak on the day of the exam after showing a consistent elevation days before the exam and then returns to the baseline after successfully coping with the stressor (passing the exam)

Question 5

Know the releasing hormones and anterior pituitary hormones involved in steroid
hormone release from the adrenal cortex. What is released from the adrenal cortex?
What does this hormone do?

Answer 5

*Example of tropic effect because release of another hormone
Releasing hormones: CRH
Anterior pituitary secretes: ACTH

Question 6

What is the main glucocorticoid that is released in humans? What about birds and rats?

Answer 6

Adrenal cortex secretes: glucocorticoids
Effects of glucocorticoids:
1. Break down proteins and fats and convert to glucose (increase blood glucose)
2. Suppress immune system
3. Inhibit reproduction and growth

Question 7

Describe how glucocorticoid release is regulated by negative feedback

Answer 7

the usefulness of negative feedback inhibition is that it works to keep hormone levels within a particular appropriate range

Question 8

why is stress sometimes harmfull?

Question 9

How is stress response adaptive? why is stress sometimes harmful?

Answer 9

-decreases investment in long term expensive projects (sperm and egg production)
- braking immune system
-increase alertness

Question 10

how did the 3 main historical figures suggest birds should be studied?

Answer 10

interview an animal but in its own language

Question 11

what are four questions asked by behavioral ecologists?

Answer 11

-what triggers the behavior?
-what genetic/ physiological mechanisms are involved?
-what is the role of experience?
- what is the evolutionary significance?

Question 12

What is innate behavior? What is a fixed action pattern (FAP)? What is a sign stimulus?
What examples of each were discussed in class?

Answer 12

innate behavior: behavior that requires no learning
fixed action pattern: a sequence of unlearned, innate behaviors, once initiated usually carried to completion
example: chick pecking red dot on mothers beak

Question 13

What experiments described in class have been used to identify sign stimuli?

Answer 13

sign stimulus: stimulus that initiates a FAP
-chick peaking real bird, fake with dot, and fake without dot(peaking decreased)

Question 14

Sign stimuli can be sent through what sensory modalities (e.g., visual system, auditory
system…)?

Answer 14

sign stimuli can be visual, auditory, chemical, vibrations, tactile, electrical

Question 15

can FAPs be shaped by learning?

Answer 15

yes

Question 16

behavior results from a mix of what?

Answer 16

genes and environment

Question 17

what is involved in birdsong learning?

Answer 17

a mix of genetics and learning. they will sing correctly if the correct songs are heard

Question 18

Define the 3 mechanisms animals use to find locations in the environment. Which is the
simplest? Which is the most complex?

Answer 18

piloting: movement of animals from one familiar landmark to another
orientation: movement of animals along a compass line
navigation: ability of animals who can orient along compass lines to determine their location in relation to their destination

Question 19

What studies identified landmark use in animals (explain the wasp study from class)?

Answer 19

female wasp cant find her nest because the circle of leaves has been moved

Question 20

what are limitations associated with piloting?

Answer 20

requires familiarity
not useful at night or over the ocean
only works in landmarks are stationary

Question 21

What mechanism is used by monarch butterflies during migration?

Question 22

What does the internal clock have to do with one of these compasses?

Answer 22

has to know where the sun is based to know what direction to go to

Question 23

what does an animal need to navigate?

Question 24

what is a cognitive map? what are some cues on which the map can be based?

Answer 24

compass and starting point (map)

Question 25

Which mechanism of location finding allows an animal to correct its direction of travel if
it is displaced?

Answer 25

navigation

Question 26

what is communication?

Answer 26

the use of specifically designed signals to modify the behaviors of others

Question 27

How do bees symbolically communicate the location of food to other foragers?

Answer 27

they do the waggle dance which provided direction with respect to the sun and distance with the number and duration of waggles

Question 28

Explain the waggle dance. Be able to identify the location of food if you were presented
with a waggle dance and shown a figure (as in the waggle dance figure on your lecture
slide).

Answer 28

-if its body is facing up food is toward the sun
- if body is facing down food is away from the sun
if body is facing up but to an angle, food is facing the sun in that angle

Question 29

what are considered the primary functions of communication for most animals?

Answer 29

communication yo attract mates and to repel rivals

Question 30

what is the handicap principle?

Answer 30

if a male cannot produce a signal then they are not the highest quality male, these signals are expensive to produce

Question 31

what does testosterones have to do with the handicap principle?

Answer 31

testosterone mediates the handicap principle

Question 32

what is intersexual selection? what is Intrasexual selection?

Answer 32

intersexual: members of one sex (typically females) choose mates on the basis of particular characteristics
Intrasexual selection: involves competition among members of one sex (typically males) for mates

Question 33

how do intersexual and Intrasexual selection drive the evolution of elaborate male traits?

Answer 33

the best animals with the best traits to win get to mate causing their traits to carry on