BIO152H5 Lecture Notes - Lecture 16: Animal Communication
Document Summary
Signal: stimulus transmitted from one animal to another. The transmission and reception of signals constitute animal communication. Four common modes of animal communicaton: visual, chemical, tactile and auditory. One pheromone has a particular wide range of effect. Attracts workers to the queen inhibits development of ovaries in workers and attracts male workers to the queen. Another form: alarm substance only released when skin is damaged. When a fish gets injured, it releases chemical contents into water. When other fish detect this content, they exhibit a fright response -> become more vigilant or form tightly formed aggregations. Fap sequence of unlearned acts directly linked to a simple stimulus. Faps are essentially unchangeable and usually get carried to completion. Sign stimulus trigger for a behavior from an external cue. Learning: modification of behavior based on specific experiences. Imprinting: formation at a specific stage in life of a long-lasting behavioral response to a particular individual or object.
