Animal Behavior exam Flashcards

Genetically programmed behavior that occurs automatically.

It examines the mechanisms behind behaviors, such as genetic and neurological factors.

Explores the evolutionary significance and function of behaviors.

A sequence of unlearned acts directly linked to a simple stimulus.

Food-seeking behaviors including searching, identifying, capturing, and eating food.

An evolutionary strategy that favors the reproductive success of an organism's relatives.

A mating system where one male mates with one female.

A mental representation of the spatial relationships between objects in an animal's surroundings.

A mating system where an individual of one sex mates with multiple individuals of the opposite sex.

A behavior that benefits another individual at a cost to the actor.

A type of natural selection where individuals select mates based on certain traits.

A form of learning where young animals recognize and follow the first moving object they see, usually their parent.

An external sensory cue that triggers a fixed action pattern.

A model that predicts how an animal behaves when searching for food, balancing energy gain and expenditure.

Chemical signals released into the environment to communicate with other members of the same species.

A phenomenon where individuals are more likely to mate with a partner that has been chosen by others.

The establishment of a memory that reflects the environment's spatial structure.

A behavior where an organism acts in a way that temporarily reduces its fitness while increasing another organism's fitness, with the expectation of a future return.

A sequence of behaviors that are unchangeable and usually carried to completion once initiated.

A series of behaviors where each behavior is triggered by the preceding stimulus.

The study of the ecological and evolutionary basis for animal behavior.

A measure of the proportion of genes shared between individuals.

The way in which mating and sexual behavior are structured in a population.

An organism's genetic success is believed to be derived from cooperation and altruistic behavior.

Long-distance movement of a population, often associated with seasonal changes.

A specific external trigger that elicits a fixed action pattern.

Behavior that is acquired or modified as a result of experience.

A principle stating that altruistic behavior is favored by natural selection if the benefit to the recipient, multiplied by the coefficient of relatedness, exceeds the cost to the actor.

The immediate, mechanistic cause of a behavior.