MGMT10002 Lecture Notes - Iridomyrmex, Motor System, Sensory System
5 May 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
Lecture 22
Animal Behaviour
Process of evolution: why animals behave in such a way
Questions to ask
1. What is the animal doing?
2. Why is it doing that?
3. How is it doing that?
4. How does it know to do that?
5. Is it really behaving randomly
6. HOW does this non-random behaviour come about
Crows stun the toad by dropping them from a height that may allow crows to kill and eat
the toad without getting a beak full of toxin. confirmed by experimentation
Black-headed gulls
- Gulls nest on the ground, so eggs and chicks are vulnerable to ground predators ( eg fox )
- Solution: eggs and chicks are cryptic (difficult to see)
- Shortly after the eggs are hatched they remove them from the nest, why?
• Chiks ijure theseles o the sharp edges of the shells?
• Perhaps the deaig eraes ad fluid that reaied i the egg shell are reedig
grounds for disease-causing bacteria
• researh shos that the egg shells are ospiuous
How does an animal behave
1. Sensory system: enables the animal to detect signals in its environment
i.e. spider sense what it has already done so far
2. Motor system: enables the animal to perform appropriate movements or other
behaviours
i.e. build the web
3. Integrating system: links the sensory and motor system, allowing the animal to behave
appropriately in response to specific stimuli.
Meat Ants (Iridomyrmex purpureus)
- Ants widespread across Australia with characteristic nest
- Colonies are huge (>100,000 individuals) and polydomous, comprising many nests
- Colonies are territorial and workers defend trees and nest against ants from other colonies
- How do workers distinguish between their nest mates and other ants?
maintaining the border is very important
- ants identify themselves with chemical odours
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Process of evolution: why animals behave in such a way. Questions to ask: what is the animal doing, why is it doing that, how is it doing that, how does it know to do that, is it really behaving randomly, how does this non-random behaviour come about. Crows stun the toad by dropping them from a height that may allow crows to kill and eat the toad without getting a beak full of toxin. Gulls nest on the ground, so eggs and chicks are vulnerable to ground predators ( eg fox ) Solution: eggs and chicks are cryptic (difficult to see) Ants widespread across australia with characteristic nest. Colonies are huge (>100,000 individuals) and polydomous, comprising many nests. Colonies are territorial and workers defend trees and nest against ants from other colonies. Objects in space are located by directing sounds at them and detecting the echoes.
