LIFESCI 2D03 Chapter 1: 2D03_Chapter1.docx
17 Sep 2013
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1. 1animals and their behaviour are an integral part of human society. Beginning in prehistoric times and continuing for tens of thousands of years, humans painted images of animals on cave walls all over the world. Because humans in prehistoric times relied on animals for food, knowledge about animal behavior was important for survival (shipman 2010). Animal behaviour: any internally coordinated, externally visible pattern of activity that responds to changing external or internal conditions: internally coordinated refers to internal information processing such as endocrine signaling, sensory information processing, or the action of neurotransmitters. When two male giraffes meet during the breeding season, such processes coordinate their aggressive behavior: externally visible activity refers to patterns that we can observe and measure. For example, we can observe a squirrel eating an acorn and can quantify this behavior. We cannot externally observe the variation in a lizard"s heart rate. We can, however, observe an animal"s behavioral response to changing conditions.
