Ethology Flashcards
A line of Canis lupus may have evolved into
Canis Familiarus with a loose timeline of 12,000 yrs ago
A dispersed wolf is
an animal that matures and is “dispersed” from the pack. Dispersed animals would leave a solitary life if they did not find acceptance from another pack.
Humans could have tolerated dispersed wolves as the wolves were:
Good for garbage clean-up and a warning system
Lorna and Ray Coppinger in their Book “Dogs” speculated that:
There was no solid evidence for artificial selection or domestication
What “niche” were the coppingers referring to regarding early proto dogs?
Humans provided the “niche” in the form of the village where proto dogs gained access to food, safety and possible reproductive opportunities
The intent to breed tame foxes in the Belayev 1959 study had what side effects?
New foxes displayed reduced flight responses and changed physical characteristics: spotted coat, drooping ears and some had curly tails. Vocalizations also changed where barking increased. Play behavior increased as well
Raymond Coppinger and other maintain that all canine behavior can be categorized into 1 of 3 motivations:
- Food Aquisition
- Hazard avoidance, safety/seeking comfort
- reproductive behaviors
Food acquisition sequence
hear-see-smell prey-orient, stare-freeze-creep-stalk run-grab-hold-shake-bring down-kill-dismember-eat-guard
Lorenz and Tinbergen defined Fixed Action Patterns as:
Specifi cexamples of innate or phylogenetic behavior, initiated by a particular trigger
ontogenetic or learned behaviors
develop over time as a response to the environment
Instictive Drift can be described as:
where ever an animal has a strong insticntive behavior, the animal will drift towards the instinctive behavior to the detriment of the learned behavior. Instinctive blocks learned
Breland
Neural Pathway
Engrams
Reticular Activating System
Part of the brain where activities in the outside world are perceived, processed and ultimately acted upon.
Limbic System
network of cells in the brain that integrates instinct and learning
fear and other emotions, cerebral cortex involved with cognitive functions
Limbic System, when activated suppresses the
cerebral cortex and vise versa
