INTRODUCTION

ARJUN KHANAL
M.Sc. Zoology (Wildlife and Ecology)
ARJUN KHANAL
Full Bright Scholarship
M.SC. ZOOLOGY (WILDLIFE AND ECOLOGY) T.U. Kathmandu Nepal
Email: [email protected]
FULL BRIGHT SCHOLARSHIP
T.U. KATHMANDU NEPAL
 Group A2: Ethology
 Introduction to Ethology.
 Development of Behavior.
 Social Behavior.
 Courtship and Mating.
 Learning Behavior.
 Communication of animals.
 Mammals
 Characteristics and classification. Origin and evolution. Adaptive radiation.
Stomach. Dentition. Endemic species, diversity and distribution of mammals in
Nepal.
-Arjun Khanal (MSc. Wildlife and Ecology)
 Aves
 Characteristics and Classification. Origin and evolution. Adaptive radiation. Feathers.
Flight and perching mechanism. Migration. Palate. Endemic species, diversity and
distribution of birds in Nepal. Pheasants of Nepal. Important bird areas of Nepal.
Ethology is the scientific and objective study of animal behavior, usually with a
Focus on behavior under natural conditions, and viewing behavior as an
evolutionarily adaptive trait.

George John Romanes (1848-1894) formalizes the comparative method in studying

animal behavior. He was comparing different behavior of animals with humans.

Sequence scale:
 Worms exhibit only response (lowest level of stimuli) of – surprise and fear.
 Insects shows high degree of – social feeling and curiosity.
 Fish shows high degree of – play jealousy, anger.
 Reptiles shows less response externally but high level of – affection.
 Birds shows even higher degree of response – pride and terror.
 Mammals have higher cranial capacity and developed– hate, cruelty, brutality and
shame.
 Animal Behavior
Did you ever see a dog sit on a command? Have you ever watched a cat trying to catch a mouse?
These are the just two examples of the many behaviors of animals. Animal behavior includes all the
ways that animals interact with each other and the environment. Examples of common animal
behaviors are pictured in figures below:
Most animal behaviors are controlled by both genes and experiences in a
given environment.
To the extent that behaviors are controlled by genes, they may evolve.
Behaviors that improve fitness increase through natural selection.

Wolves hunt together in packs. This is adaptive because it increases their chances of
killing prey and obtaining food.
 Concept of behavioral development

Behavioral development is an essential survival tool, whereby experience modifies the way we
interact with our environment. Over a lifetime, brain biology, behavior and environment interact
and influence each other to determine an individual's overall development.
Two Basic Kinds of Behavior
 One kind of behavior is called Operant Behavior because it “operates”, or acts, upon the
environment. ...
 Consequences influence our operant behavior probabilistically, but not absolutely.
 Development of Behavior
How these behavior develop or evolve?
 To the extent that behaviors are controlled by genes, they may evolve
through natural selection. If behaviors increase fitness, they are likely to
become more common over time. If they decrease fitness, they are likely to
become less common.
 It’s easy to see how many common types of behavior evolve. That’s because
they obviously increase the fitness of the animal performing them.
 For example, when wolves hunt together in a pack, they are more likely to catch
prey (see Figure below). Therefore, hunting with others increases a wolf’s
fitness. The wolf is more likely to survive and pass its genes to the next
generation by behaving this way.
 Development of Animal Behavior

 Animals exhibit different behavior at their different ages more or less on

orderly sequence.
 When and how the animals start exhibiting different kinds of behavior in
their life time?
 Therefore study of onset (development) of behavior is of utmost concern.
 Firstly we consider ontogency i.e. study of development of learning and
memory in embryonic condition.
 Nature vs. Nurture
 Some behaviors seem to be controlled solely by genes. Others appear to
be due to experiences in a given environment. Whether behaviors are
controlled mainly by genes or by the environment is often a matter of debate. This
is called the nature-nurture debate.
 Nature refers to the genes an animal inherits. Nurture refers to the environment
that the animal experiences.
 In reality, most animal behaviors are not controlled by nature or nurture alone.
Instead, they are influenced by both nature and nurture. In dogs, for example, the
tendency to behave toward other dogs in a certain way is probably controlled by
genes.
 However, the normal behaviors can’t develop in an environment that lacks other
dogs. A puppy raised in isolation from other dogs may never develop the normal
behaviors. It may always fear other dogs or act aggressively toward them.
 Social Behavior
Social behavior is behavior among two or more organisms, and encompasses any behavior in which
one member effects another within the same species. This is due to an interaction among those members.
"Social behavior consists of a set of interactions among individuals of the same species." ... And of
course social behavior can include one-sided displays of aggression, or assertions of
dominance. Examples of human social behavior include: shaking hands.
Understanding social behavior is becoming increasingly important in farm animal husbandry as more
animals are housed in groups rather than in individual stables or pens. Social behavior is an important
indicator of welfare, and it is highly influenced by housing conditions.
There are four different types of communication behavior: aggressive, assertive, passive, and
passive-aggressive.
 Aggressive. Aggression is defined as an unplanned act of anger in which the aggress or
intends to hurt someone or something. ...
 Assertive. ...
 Passive. ...
 Passive-Aggressive.
 Social behavior depends on active individuals that come together in a group from
smallest group of male and female to larger group.
• It depends on “length of time or part of life cycle that the group remain together.”
• A group of animals may be in grazing group in together or moving together or remain
together but they function at individual level.
• Reciprocal communication is considered as a mechanism for attracting and keeping
members of group together.
Much social behavior is marked by a division of labour and social structure.
• Social behavior is also marked by overlap of generations.
• Altruism is a formal feature of social behavior.
• Cohesion: the individuals constituting a society tend to remain in close proximity to one
another like in bee hive, herd of deer, pride of lions, peck of wolves etc.
• Permanence and impermeability: In most mammals, the core of the group is formed by
females who are related to each other, the males come and go, otherwise, the membership
among females is permanent.
 Advantages of social behavior
Antipredation: Improved detection of predators – with more eyes, ears, there is an
increased chance that one or more individuals will detect a predator before the others and
be able to warn rest of group e.g. deer, monkeys as one or two individuals can give an
alarm call. Animals also show guard behavior. Mutual vigilance has also been observed
among the members of different species. Mobbing running away or fleeing is being most
commonly used anti predatory strategy among animals.
Feeding efficiency and information sharing: Cooperative foraging is practiced by
different group of mammals like group of monkeys is useful to locate a bonanza of fruits.
By cooperative hunting, even small carnivores like wild dogs, wolves can hunt big animals
like mountain sheep, zebras etc. Lions, hyenas, killer whales and some dolphins also get
benefit of cooperative hunting.
 Facilitation of reproduction: Group living improves reproductive success. Animals like rhino should
cover large areas in forest, spend time and energy to find a suitable mate but it may be easier to find
each other in a large social group. In a group, watching others courting and mating initiates sexual
behavior in others members also.
 Society of Lion
 No other big cat (tiger, leopard, cheetah) is as social as the lion. Lions live and hunt in families known
as “Pride” which comprise of about 20 or more individuals, large and small, of different age sex
classes, consisting of upto 3 adult males and 15 to 17 females and their young.
 The lion follow matriarchal system which is a form of society where the core of the group is formed
by the related females, the males are accorded with temporary membership, they come and go. These
related females stay together with their recent offspring's.
 The growing males leave the natal group and may either join to form an all-male group or would
wander alone without pride.
 As the breeding time approaches, the dominant adult males start associating themselves with
the group of females (harem).
 The lion males extend their association with females over a long time whereas, male tigers
generally leave soon after mating.
 Lions prey on animals like antelope and zebra, but may also cooperate to kill larger
mammals such as buffalo and giraffe.
 A litter of 1 to 6 young, usually 2 or 3, is born after a gestation of 102 to 113 days.
 The cubs are left behind with one or two adults while the rest of pride goes off to hunt, if a kill is made, a
lioness returns to take the pups to the hunting site. The cubs get sexually mature by 18-20 months, young
males are driven away from the pride at about this age, but the growing females are retained back by other
female family members.
 Courtship and Mating
Courtship in animals is the behavior by which different species select their partners for
reproduction. Usually, the male starts the courtship, and the female chooses to either mate
or reject the male based on his "performance". Many animals have mate
selection courtship rituals.
A courtship display is a set of display behaviors in which an animal attempts to attract a
mate and exhibit their desire to copulate. These behaviors often include ritualized
movement, vocalizations, mechanical sound production, or displays of beauty, strength, or
agonistic ability.
Courtship is a collection of instinctive behaviors that result in mating and eventual
reproduction. Courtship is important because it helps to ensure that breeding will occur.
Organisms within a species must reproduce successfully in order for the species to
survive.
Mammals use various strategies in courtship. Pheromones act as sexual lures that
bring members of the opposite sex together. These attractants are so powerful that a
male dog can smell a female in estrus more than half a mile (1 km) away. The fact that
at puberty humans begin to produce odorous sweat suggests the role of pheromones in
primate courtship. Sex selection also exists in primates.
Females usually choose their male partners, but sometimes the reverse occurs. Recent
research reveals that male lion-tailed macaques remain aloof during the day. At night,
however, they seek out sleeping estrous females for mating. Until this study, biologists
thought that it was the females who initiated mating. In humans, various cultures
determine the customs of courtship.
For example, in some societies, marriages are arranged by relatives. In these cases, a
woman is matched to a man with the appropriate resources. Just as other female
animals select mates with resources, humans tend to select mates with wealth and
status. Further, even if a woman has no say in the selection of her husband, she will
help arrange the marriage of her offspring. This merely delays female mate choice by a
generation.
 Birds and Courtship displays
At the end of the winter and through the breeding season, almost all the birds’ species
perform displays, either to strengthen the pair-bonds or to create a new one.
These displays are more developed in new pairs because the male needs to attract a female,
using for that several types of postures, movements and actions.
In terrestrial displays, different postures are used by males to expose the plumage colours.
These displays are performed mainly by birds of the order Galliformes such as pheasants,
grouses, partridges and others similar species.

The birds showing very coloured feathers perform elaborated displays to enhance
iridescences and glossy areas, bright wing-bars or peculiar head and body patterns. The long
tails of several pheasants and peacocks are completely fanned and shaken while the male
turns around the female.
Feathers are ruffled. The bird adopts appropriated postures and performs several movements
such as lateral steps, bowing, raising and/or dropping wings and tail, holding the neck and
displaying a crest or some bright bare head areas. The head often shows bright coloured
wattles playing an important role while the male is strutting.
Displays are often accompanied by sounds. Calls and songs are usually uttered by males, from perch above the
territory, but also from bushes or low branches at the boundaries of the area or very close.
Songs are used to attract females, but also as advertising sounds towards rivals. Then, the vocal sounds become
softer and are used as communication between both mates.
The small passerines use several calls and songs to attract females, competing with rivals in order to utter the
most melodious song or the loudest call to impress a potential mate.
However, some of the heaviest vultures perform more simple flights, both mates circling, soaring and gliding
together. They can fly one above the other for long time, and this flight is named “Fly in tandem”. This is the
case of the large Old World vultures of the genus “gyps”.
But courtship displays also involve some “gifts” from male to female. In several species, the male offers
something to the female. Food is the most usual gift. The male gives her some prey such as insect, caterpillar,
small mammal, fish, snake or other piece of food according to the species and its feeding behavior.
 Mating
The term “mating behavior” refers to the behavioral events surrounding insemination,
which ensure successful sperm transfer by the male and uptake by the female as well as, in
many species, post-copulatory male behaviors that have evolved in response to sperm
competition (Parker, 1970a).
Animals have lots of different types of mating behavior. These include: monogamy, when
two animals mate exclusively with each other (1 partner) polygamy, when animals have
multiple different mating partners. polygamy, when one male mates with multiple females.
The following are some of the mating systems generally recognized in animals:
 Monogamy: One male and one female have an exclusive mating relationship.
 Polygamy: Three types are recognized.
 Promiscuity: A member of one sex within the social group mates with any member of
the opposite sex.
Why Birds Use Courtship Rituals? The intricate moves of a mating dance and the charming songs used to
woo partners can help distinguish species so birds are sure to choose genetically compatible mates.
Different courtship behaviors also reduce territorial aggression, letting two birds relax together to form a
pair bond.
Learning Behavior
Operant conditioning learning behavior
Insight learning behavior
Difference between Classical and Operant Conditioning
 Communication in Animals
•The production of signal by one animal changes behavior of other which is
beneficial to one or both.
•Communication often resolves conflicts for food, space and mates with
minimal damage.
•Mostly animals use body language, sound and smell to communicate with each
other.
•Animals like insects, wolves, deer's and human communicate by smell as they
released an airborne chemical called pheromone useful in reproduction and
social behavior.
•The best known example is probably the honey bee’s waggle dance, first
observed by Karl Von Frisch in 1940.
•Dogs, parrots, elephants and even pigeons have been documented in
communicating what, where, who and how .
 Bees cannot talk to each other so they communicate through dances, vibrations and body
chemical signals. The scout bees have the task of finding new pollen, nectar and water
sources. Once they have sourced these they return to the hive and perform either a round
or waggle dance across the honeycomb.
 Components of communication
•Sender : Signal release by individual.
•Receiver : Signal received by individual changing behavior.
•Signal : Conspicuous behavior patterns like odors, postures, colors, sounds, shapes and
motion released by sender.
•Channel : Pathway of signal like vocal-auditory channel
•Noise : Background activity in channel that is unrelated to signal.
•Context : Setting, in which a signal is released and received
•Code : Complete set of possible signal and contexts
 A . Visual Communication

•Finding way and detecting prey.

•Blue light is reflected by sea water making reef fishes blue when visible in sea
water.
•White tail of rabbits.
Advantage : rapid and faster way of conveying of messages.
Disadvantage : ineffective during darkness except bioluminescent one.
 B. Communication by Sound
•Animals signal over long distances by elevating themselves above ground.
•Crickets, snakes, leopards, monkeys,
•Bird’s song.
•Echolocation (auditory imaging system) in Bats.
•Echolocation in Dolphins and Whales.
Advantage : potential way of communication to provide state of sex, social status, stress,
welfare of animals etc.
Disadvantage : poaching.
 C. Communication by chemical signaling
 Pheromones based on activity :
 1.Releaser pheromones: (immediate observable behavior change) foraging ants
when find food, lay a trial of pheromones secreted by their abdominal glands from
the food back to the nest
 2.Primer pheromones: (physiological change generally detected during
reproductive state) queen substance produced by queen honeybee which is eaten
by her hive mates and prevents other females from becoming sexually mature.
 D. Communication by touch
• Kissing, nuzzling and grooming.
• When limbs of premature human infants are stroked and moved for 45 minutes daily,
the infants are more active, responsive, emotionally stable and gain weight more rapidly.
• Antennae touch in some insects.
 E. Vibration
• Modern-day golden moles detect even very small vibration of their prey.
• Somato-sensory mechanisms like mechano-receptors in sensible hairs of insects, spiders and
scorpions process vibrational signals.
• Snakes receive vibration perception like quakes.
• Quake detectors.
THANK YOU