Date post: | 14-Apr-2018 |
Category: |
Documents |
Upload: | sureshthevan |
View: | 214 times |
Download: | 0 times |
7/27/2019 29 Animal and Plant Behaviour _ Revision, Print
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/29-animal-and-plant-behaviour-revision-print 1/7
- GCSE Bitesize Science - Animal and plant behaviour : Revision, Print
www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/science/triple_edexcel/behaviour/animal_plant_behaviour/revision/print/[10/21/2013 8:24:37 PM]
BBC Radio 1 BBC 1Xtra
Animals exhibit a wide range of instinctive and learned
behaviours, such as courtship displays and parental care. These
types of behaviours help them to survive. Animals communicate
with each other in a variety of ways, using sounds, chemicals,
body language and spoken language. Plants communicate too -
they might produce chemicals to warn of attack.
Sexual reproduction
Animals and birds use different ways to attract a mate. Many male animals and
birds use courtship behaviour to attract a female. This is seen in the
spectacular way male frigate birds [inflate: To add air into something.]
their large red throat sacks, in the colourful display of feathers in male peacocks,
and in way that male squirrels prove their fitness to potential mates.
Many animals and birds don’t mate for life. They have several different sexual
partners in their lifetime or during one breeding season. Often there is one
dominant ‘alpha male’ that mates with all of the sexually-mature females in his
group. The alpha male is usually the largest or strongest male. This behaviour
is seen in lions and also sea-lions.
Some animals are [monogamous: Mating with only one
individual.] - they mate with one partner for life. This behaviour is seen in
puffins and albatrosses. It is very unusual in mammals.
In order to see this content you need to have both Javascript enabled and
Flash installed.
Parental care
Many animals and birds look after their young in a variety of ways. These
behaviours are called parental care. This gives their young the best possible
chance of survival to ensure that the [gene: The basic unit of genetic
material inherited from our parents. A gene is a section of DNA which controls
part of a cell's chemistry, particularly protein production.] of the parents are
passed on.
Female mammals carry their young in their [uterus: Also known as a
womb. This is where the fertilised egg (ovum) develops.] before they are born.
An animal that does this – gives birth to living young rather than laying eggs - is
said to be a viviparous animal. Once born, mammals care for their young by
Great frigate bird
Science
Animal and plant behaviour
inflate
monogamous
genes
uterus
Sign in News Sport Weather iPlayer TV Radio More…
7/27/2019 29 Animal and Plant Behaviour _ Revision, Print
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/29-animal-and-plant-behaviour-revision-print 2/7
- GCSE Bitesize Science - Animal and plant behaviour : Revision, Print
www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/science/triple_edexcel/behaviour/animal_plant_behaviour/revision/print/[10/21/2013 8:24:37 PM]
producing milk. The mother’s milk provides the baby with all the
[nutrient: A substance that provides sustenance to living organisms.]
it needs. Suckling from their mother is also a relatively safe place to feed.
Birds also look after their young. Parents [incubate: To keep a sample
of microbes warm so that the cells reproduce quickly.] eggs until the chick is
ready to be born.
An extreme example of this can be seen in the behaviour of the male Emperor
penguins in Antarctica. The male bird stands and incubates the egg for
approximately two months in freezing cold winds – without eating any food -
until his partner returns. The males can lose up to half their body weight in the
process.
In order to see this content you need to have both Javascript enabled and
Flash installed.
All newborn chicks are fed by one or both of their parents until they are old
enough to leave their parents and live on their own.
The killdeer bird displays an unusual type of parental care behaviour. It nests on
the ground and when predators try to take its eggs or chicks, it lures them away
by pretending it has a broken wing. It’s a risky strategy for the parent bird but
helps to give their young a good chance of survival.
Types of behaviour
Behaviour is defined as the response of an animal to a [stimuli:
Things that set off a reaction in the nervous system, for example, light, heat,
sound, gravity, smell, taste, or temperature. The singular is stimulus.] . Some
responses are [innate: When something (usually a behaviour) is present
from birth and does not need to be learned.] . They are not learned – they are
instinctive and happen automatically. A newborn pup sucking milk from its
mother is an example of an innate behaviour.
Other behaviours are learned. These are called conditioned behaviours, and
Samoyed with puppies
Killdeer
nutrients
incubate
stimulus
innate
7/27/2019 29 Animal and Plant Behaviour _ Revision, Print
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/29-animal-and-plant-behaviour-revision-print 3/7
- GCSE Bitesize Science - Animal and plant behaviour : Revision, Print
www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/science/triple_edexcel/behaviour/animal_plant_behaviour/revision/print/[10/21/2013 8:24:37 PM]
there are four types: operant, habituation, imprinting and classical.
Operant conditioning
This type of learned behaviour occurs by rewarding or punishing an animal.
Teaching a dog to jump through a hoop by giving it treats is operant
conditioning. This type of conditioning can be used to train:
sniffer dogs to find illegal drugs or bombs
police horses to remain calm in crowds or riots
dolphins (at sea life centres) to jump through hoops
Habituation
Habituation is where an animal becomes steadily used to a [stimuli:
Things that set off a reaction in the nervous system, for example, light, heat,
sound, gravity, smell, taste, or temperature. The singular is stimulus.] or
situation. It is sometimes known as a simple learning or desensitisation
process.
An example of habituation would be the action of prairie dogs which have lived
alongside humans for some time. They have become familiar with the scents of
humans in their territory and no longer make alarm calls when a scent is found.
Imprinting
Imprinting is the tendency of young animals to follow the first moving object
they see. This is usually the mother. Imprinting usually occurs during a short,
but critical, period of a young animal’s life.
Classical conditioning
This type of learned behaviour occurs without rewarding or punishing. Many dogs
will run towards the door to begin their walk when their owner shakes their lead.
This is classical conditioning.
A Russian scientist called Ivan Pavlov completed a famous experiment into
classic conditioning. He observed that his dog produced lots of [Saliva:
Fluid secreted by glands in the mouth which moistens and softens food. It
contains the enzyme amylase which digests starch, and a lubricant which makesfood slippery and easy to swallow.] when he showed it food. Every time he fed
his dog, he rang a bell for a short while afterwards. Eventually, just ringing the
bell alone was enough to make his dog salivate. It had been conditioned into
salivating when it heard the bell - and not just when it saw food.
Communication in animals and plants
Animals are able to communicate with each other in many different ways. Some
of the most important ones are given below.
Making sounds
There are many examples of this behaviour. Snakes hiss to warn off an
approaching threat. Rabbits and hares thump their feet on the ground to alert
each other when [predator: An animal that hunts, kills and eats other
Bottlenose dolphin jumping through hoop
stimulus
saliva
predators
7/27/2019 29 Animal and Plant Behaviour _ Revision, Print
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/29-animal-and-plant-behaviour-revision-print 4/7
- GCSE Bitesize Science - Animal and plant behaviour : Revision, Print
www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/science/triple_edexcel/behaviour/animal_plant_behaviour/revision/print/[10/21/2013 8:24:37 PM]
animals for food.] are nearby. And one or more meerkats will act as lookout
and make loud noises to warn the rest of their group of danger.
Whales and dolphins are capable of making sounds under water to communicate
with each other. Whale song can be heard over hundreds of kilometres.
Visual displays
A common example of a visual display that mammals exhibit is baring their
teeth. In dogs and cats this is clearly a warning display.
Another interesting example is seen in honey bees returning to their hive after
finding a nectar source. They complete a dance to show the other bees the
location of the nectar. It is known as the waggle dance.
Some animals are even capable of making facial expressions like humans.
Gorillas bare their teeth in a ‘grin-like’ gesture to reassure one another during
play. This is a type of [body language: The non-verbal way in
which a person communicates their physical and mental state through using
facial expressions, gesture and posture] .
Chemical communication
Many animals use chemicals to communicate. Dogs and cats mark out their
territories by urinating on the boundaries. Skunks produce an unpleasant
chemical smell to ward off predators.
[pheromone: A chemical that is released by an animal to
communicate with other members of the same species.] are scent chemicals
produced by some insects and some [vertebrate: Vertebrates are
animals that have a backbone. They include fish, mammals, reptiles, birds and
amphibians.] . Female dogs produce pheromones from scent glands and in urine
to provide their newborn pups with a feeling of comfort. Some species -
including ants and bees - produce chemicals when attacked to warn others away
from their colony or hive. Ants also mark their paths with chemicals.
Language
Humans have evolved extremely complex ways in which we communicate
through language. There are over 5,000 different languages spoken around the
A Gray Wolf protecting a deer kill
body language
Pheromones
vertebrates
7/27/2019 29 Animal and Plant Behaviour _ Revision, Print
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/29-animal-and-plant-behaviour-revision-print 5/7
- GCSE Bitesize Science - Animal and plant behaviour : Revision, Print
www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/science/triple_edexcel/behaviour/animal_plant_behaviour/revision/print/[10/21/2013 8:24:37 PM]
world - including sign language, which uses hand patterns and facial gestures in
place of words. The most widely-spoken language is Mandarin Chinese.
Communication in plants
Plants also communicate with each other - and with other animals (particularly
insects).
some plants release chemicals to warn nearby plants of attack
others have brightly-coloured flowers or flowers with bold patterns to attract
insects for [pollination: The process by which plants reproduce,
as male gametes (pollen) are transferred (typically by insects or the wind) to
female gametes (ova) in the flowers of another plant of the same species. ]
other plants attract pollinating insects with enticing scents
Famous ethologists
An ethologist is a scientist who studies animal behaviour. There are four
famous ethologists you need to know about.
Jane Goodall (1934- ) is a British ethologist who has spent her life studying
chimpanzees in Africa. She famously observed that they have distinct
personalities and are capable of behaviour like hugging and tickling each other.
Perhaps her most famous observation was that they are capable of using tools.
Dian Fossey (1932-1985) was an American ethologist who studied mountain
gorillas in Africa. She lived very closely with them and they became
[habitat: The physical space in which a given species lives. ] to her.
Fossey famously became the first person to be recorded making peaceful contact
with a wild gorilla. A photograph (taken in 1969) shows a young male named
Peanuts touching her hand. She spent her later years working to prevent
[poaching: Illegal hunting or fishing.] .
Konrad Lorenz (1903-1989) was a German ethologist who won the Nobel
Jane Goodall, British primatologist
Rwanda, Dian Fossey's tombstone
pollination
habituated
poaching
7/27/2019 29 Animal and Plant Behaviour _ Revision, Print
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/29-animal-and-plant-behaviour-revision-print 6/7
- GCSE Bitesize Science - Animal and plant behaviour : Revision, Print
www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/science/triple_edexcel/behaviour/animal_plant_behaviour/revision/print/[10/21/2013 8:24:37 PM]
Prize with Nickolaas Tinbergen (see below). He is most famously remembered for
his work on [imprinting: The process by which very young animals
come to recognise their parents.] . This is when young animals - often birds -
copy their parents. If newly-hatched chicks first see another animal they can
imprint on them instead of their own parents.
Nikolaas Tinbergen (1907-1988) was a Dutch ethologist who also won the
Nobel Prize. He studied gulls and showed that their chicks instinctively knew to
peck at red spots on their parents’ beaks to encourage them to[regurgitate: To bring up food that has previously been swallowed.
This is used by some animals to feed their young.] food.
Choice chambers
Choice chambers are small boxes that have areas with different conditions.
Animals, often woodlice, are put inside and their ‘choice’ for the different
conditions is recorded by counting the numbers in each area after a short period
of time.
Typical experiments involving woodlice have combinations of light, dark, dry and
damp areas. We would expect to see more woodlice in the dark and damp
sections of the choice chamber. This is most like the conditions they like in real
life - we tend to find woodlice under rocks and rotting wood.
Konrad Lorenz
Nikolaas Tinbergen, Dutch zoologist and ethologist
imprinting
regurgitate
7/27/2019 29 Animal and Plant Behaviour _ Revision, Print
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/29-animal-and-plant-behaviour-revision-print 7/7
- GCSE Bitesize Science - Animal and plant behaviour : Revision, Print
CBBC
CBeebies
Comedy
Food
History
Learning
Music
Science
Nature
Local
Northern Ireland
Scotland
Wales
Full A-Z
More from Animal and plant behaviour
Choice chamber
Mobile site Terms of Use About the BBC
Privacy Accessibility Help
Cookies Contact the BBC
Parental GuidanceBC © 2013 The BBC is not responsible for the
ontent of external sites. Read more.