BSC 116 Lecture Notes - Lecture 35: Greylag Goose, Banana Slug, Garter Snake

• School: University of Alabama
• Department: Biological Sciences
• Course: BSC 116
• Professor: Harris

Document Summary

All behavior is based upon both environment and genotype. Learning is the influence of environment on behavior. Innate behaviors are those with a strong genetic component. Variation is genes means natural selection can act on behavior. Behavior: sum of all of an organism"s responses to stimuli: nervous system determines how: Behavior is a trait: phenotype: has genetic component (genotype, has an environmental component, can be acted on by natural selection, if there is genetic variation. Ethology: study of animal behavior in natural environments. Sometimes proximate causes of behavior are easy to determine. For many behaviors, a particular stimulus leads to a particular response. Taxis: moving toward or away from a stimulus: e. g. , fish generally orient upstream, e. g. , moths fly toward a flame. Fixed action patterns: some trigger leads to a behavior; must be carried to completion: e. g. , male sticklebacks attack other males in their nests (actually, simple presence of red leads to attack, e. g. , graylag goose & egg rolling behavior.