Cause, Function, Evolution and Development of Normal Behaviour

Question 1

Describe domesticated animal behaviour

Answer 1

highly variable amongst orders within classes which reflects differences in ecological niche & domestic selection
all have same functional attributes
mix of single and multifunction

Question 2

What are the functional attributes of domesticated animal behaviour?

Answer 2

• nutrient capture
• body maintenance
• reproduction
• survival and perpetuation of genes

Question 3

What are Tinbergen’s 4 Questions?

Answer 3

• Function - why is the animal performing the behaviour / how does it improve fitness
• Evolution - how did it evolve through natural selection?
• Causation - what causes it to be performed / what stimuli/psychological mechanisms cause it?
• Development - how has it developed through the lifetime of the individual, how has it been influenced by learning?

Question 4

Describe causation of behaviour

Answer 4

• eliciting stimuli
• neural mechanism to produce
  e.g., animal aggression

Question 5

What 3 underlying premises is evolution of behaviour based on?

Answer 5

• Behaviour affects the survival and/or reproduction of the individual
• Behaviour is variable and affected/determined by genes
• Behaviour genes are heritable

Question 6

What is behaviour subject to and what is it determined by?

Answer 6

subject to natural selection and thus evolution

determined by physical body of the animal

Question 7

Define embodiment of behaviour

Answer 7

morphological limitations of behaviour

embodiment as anatomy evolves so does behaviour - inextricably linked

Question 8

What is evolution of behaviour inferred from?

Answer 8

palaeontology (morphological possibilities/limitations) and ecological niche

Question 9

Define domestication

Answer 9

process by which a population of animals becomes adapted to man and to the captive environment by a combination of genetic changes occurring over generations and environmentally induced developmental events recurring during each generation

Question 10

What does domestication assume/not assume?

Answer 10

• Does not assume that the genes and the environment operate independently
• Assumes captive environment is different from wild ancestral environment - these differences are consistent over generations - allows evolutionary forces to change gene pool

Question 11

How can humans accelerate domestication changes in phenotype?

Answer 11

by artificial or gene transfer

Question 12

Describe the process of loss and/or exaggeration of wild to domesticated traits

Answer 12

• select behaviour traits/lack of traits
• physical traits - embodiment, linked genes/pleiotropy
• changed environment = changed external stimulation of behaviour
• changed environment = changed development of behaviour

Question 13

What are the pre-adaptations for domestication?

Answer 13

• large gregarious social groups
• non-aggressive
• promiscuous matings
• precocial
• tameable, short flight distance from humans, readily controlled, limited sensitivity to changes in environment
• limited agility and non-shelter seeking

Question 14

Describe large gregarious social groups in pre-adaptations for domestication

Answer 14

• dominance hierarchy
• males affiliated with group
• these are unfavourable - territorial family groups with separate males

Question 15

Describe promiscuous matings in pre-adaptations for domestication

Answer 15

sexual signals by movement or posture rather than colour or morphology

Question 16

Describe precocial in pre-adaptations for domestication

Answer 16

• precocious development, ready to leave the nest at once
• easily separated from parents of altricial young
• prolonged period of parental care

Question 17

Define altricial

Answer 17

need to be fed in nest, immature etc

Question 18

What are the reasons for domestication?

Answer 18

recognised human need for
- control of food production
- clothing, labour transport
- religious
- protection against pests

Question 19

What are the exceptions for the reasons for domestication?

Answer 19

dog
cat - without many important pre-adaptations

Question 20

How is the dog an exception for reasons of domestication?

Answer 20

may have scavenged around human habitations and ‘evolved’
i.e. selection pressure for the lifestyle leading to taming etc.

Question 21

How is the cat an exception for reasons of domestication?

Answer 21

• Territorial, not living in large social groups, aloof towards humans
• Breeding not so well controlled as in other species and freedom of movement is less restricted – unique commensal relationship with humans?

Question 22

What are the approaches to the study of effects of domestication on behaviour?

Answer 22

• comparison of wild and domestic stock
• hybridisation
• domestication genes

Question 23

Describe comparison of wild and domestic stock in study of effects of domestication on behaviour

Answer 23

can wild stock represent wild ancestors of domestic stock?

uncertain origins
extinction of wild stocks
selection acting in wild population since domestication
geographical variation in wild

Question 24

Describe hybridisation in study of effects of domestication on behaviour

Answer 24

• Verifies existence of differences
• All problems of comparative approach with choice of stock & possibility of heterosis in crossbred giving behaviours that are not the average of the 2 parent breeds

Question 25

Give 2 examples of domestication genes in study of effects of domestication on behaviour

Answer 25

- Avoidance of humans by captive red foxes inversely related to number of mutant coat alleles in the genotype - Non-agouti allele associated with ease of handling in Norway rats ->Homozygous black easier than brown hetero or homozygous agouti

Question 26

Describe the experimental design of comparison of Leghorn and jungle fowl in foraging-social maze test

Answer 26

test arena in cross form - 2 arms contained sunflower seeds mixed with wood shavings - so needed to work to obtain food - Other 2 arms commercial layer food (normal diet) - 1 arm of each food type had an angled mirror to provide simulated companion bird

Question 27

Describe the results of the Leghorn and junglefowl in foraging-social maze test

Answer 27

- Initial tests with single birds failed due to isolation so pairs tested

Question 28

describe the experimental design of leghorn & jungle fowl comparison in a hawk model test

Answer 28

- Tested singly in a 1 x 2 m pen with a bowl of wheat seeds in the centre. - 5 mins adaptation, 5 mins observation - plastic hawk on string passed over pen at 2.8m height – observed by fowl for 2 seconds – behaviour recorded for a further 5 minutes.

Question 29

What are the results of the leghorn & jungle fowl hawk model test

Answer 29

- Before the hawk model test Leghorns pecked the ground more than Jungle Fowl. - After the test, Jungle Fowl walked and vocalised more than Leghorns who stood alert for a greater length of time.

Question 30

Give a summary of the leghorn & junglefowl experiments

Answer 30

- Junglefowl more active in maze and hawk tests - Easier to induce tonic immobility in Leghorn - Leghorn less active in restraint test - Reduced activity in Leghorn interpreted as a correlated response to selection for productivity - Resource Allocation Theory

Question 31

Describe resource allocation theory

Answer 31

○ Animals often prefer to work for food, even when it is freely available - contrafreeloading ○ Adaptive since wild animals need to invest resources in investigating possible future food sites - For highly selected, productive domestic animals - unnecessary foraging results in wasted energy, theory suggests selection will divert energy from foraging to production in environments where food supplies freely available

Question 32

Give 2 examples of behaviours lost during domestications (turkey, hen)

Answer 32

- copulatory behaviour in male turkeys - non-broody behaviour in hens

Question 33

describe maternal reactivity in domestic and wild x domestic sows (hybridisation) study

Answer 33

- 14 sows sired either a Yorkshire or wild boar - Observed nursing behaviour - Playback of calls by trapped piglets, isolated piglets or teat fighting calls Human in nest test

Question 34

give an example of enhancement of behaviour

Answer 34

- dogs bark 2.3% more than wolves - dogs bark in many contexts, perhaps trying to solicit attention from humans - barking can be learned

Question 35

Describe the reasons why dogs may bark more than wolves

Answer 35

- human selection for guarding ability - linked genes - domestic environment elicits more barking/ontogeny of barking

Question 36

Describe how genes can be linked to barking

Answer 36

- neotony/paedomorphosis - young wolves bark and vocalise more - dogs stuck in adolescence - belyaev foxes

Question 37

describe behavioural neoteny in barking in wolves/dogs

Answer 37

- selection for tameability related to neoteny - behavioural neoteny prerequisite for retention of a placid temperament into adulthood - adolescent wolves bark much more than adults

Question 38

describe how selection for tameability is related to neoteny

Answer 38

- Suggests neoteny is a prerequisite retention of a placid temperament into adulthood - Management systems provide many of animals needs without need for aggressive behaviours or attainment of social dominance

Question 39

Describe how behavioural neoteny is a prerequisite for retention of a placid temperament into adulthood

Answer 39

- Young animals may be conditioned to retain juvenile behaviours - Raise threshold of adult behaviours by reducing threshold for JB - Rearing of juveniles away from adults - delay / impair development

Question 40

What are the primary effects of domestication on behaviour in: dogs pigs/sheep/cows horses

Answer 40

- Dogs - docility, fetching herding, aggression - Pigs, sheep, cows - reduced reactivity docility & production traits Horses - speed and reactivity, performance

Question 41

Describe how domestication accelerates developmental rates

Answer 41

- accelerated sexual maturation - accelerated growth and maturation rates - accelerated behavioural development

Question 42

Describe how domestication causes accelerated sexual maturation

Answer 42

- Selection under domestic environment - Absence of social competition from older, dominant animals - Related to better nutrition - captive wolves will breed as early as 9 months, 2 years in wild

Question 43

Describe how domestication can lead to accelerated growth and maturation rates

Answer 43

- more energy directed towards growth - higher ADG often associated with abnormalities such as leg weaknesses

Question 44

describe how domestication can lead to accelerated behavioural development

Answer 44

- Mongolian gerbils reared in cages were more active than those reared in dark burrows - Earlier visual stimulation than in wild

Question 45

Describe how domestication can lead to retarded behavioural development

Answer 45

Some processes have become more prolonged longer periods of social bonding in domesticated foxes

Question 46

describe developmental domestication (post-natal)

Answer 46

- domestication supposedly seeks precocial vs altricial species - many domestic species altricial

Question 47

describe how the horse is developmentally precocious

Answer 47

- can be standing and moving in relatively short period of time - suckling and predator avoidance - internal mapping systems

Question 48

Describe early human mappings

Answer 48

- Accurately look at an object (saccade) - Accurately reach for an object - Much of early development centred around mapping systems and in particular fine tuning mapping transforms that facilitate accurate saccades and reaching - Reasonably complex process

Question 49

Describe saccade

Answer 49

- basic level requiring accurate motor transforms based on current eye and hand position - if an object in peripheral vision appears and we saccade to that, this requires the point of the object in peripheral view is transformed accurately in motor commands

Question 50

describe reach

Answer 50

- hand position and object position must be estimated accurately within a common reference frame (retinotopic) and the 2 position vectors subtracted in order to generate the correct motor vector to get the hand to the object

Question 51

how do humans become accurate?

Answer 51

high repetition and correction of error

Question 52

describe mappings in the horse

Answer 52

can move head and body towards objects located within its retinotopic map same for all precocial species

Question 53

Describe the linear and serial buildup of competences

Answer 53

- certain abilities must be established before others can develop e.g., walk before run - trend of innate to learned

Question 54

Describe play behaviour

Answer 54

- Musculoskeletal development and general condition - Social interaction-dominance hierarchy - One of the most important activities that facilitates development of a range of physical & cognitive competences

Question 55

what is critical to behavioural development and behavioural trajectory

Answer 55

effect of early handling, weaning, diet and husbandry environment