BIOL 4010 Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Fixed Action Pattern, Spruce Grouse, High-Speed Camera
2 May 2018
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Sending and Receiving Signals
The "Smart" Brain:
• Historical foundations of the link between brain and behaviour
• Fixed action patterns as a economical neurophysiology strategy
• The physics and physiology of echolocation behaviour (senders & receivers)
• Neural plasticity in honey bee brains
Development of Ethology:
• Santiago Ramon y Cajal comprehensively described neuronal structure in the late 1800s
• Niko Tinbergen and Konrad Lorenz studied the proximate causes of behaviour
• They identified instinctual behaviours that cannot be modified by experience, the "Fixed Action
Pattern"
Fixed Action Patterns:
• Unalterable behaviours that occur in response to a simple cue from the environment
• Neuronal circuitry of "if…then…" is innate
• Ex. Mud Wasp
o Creates nests underground with a "funnel" entrance to prevent competitor from entering nest
and laying it's eggs
o *watch video
• Ex. Great Lake Geese
o If an egg rolls out of the nest, it will bring it back
o If it's smooth and is near the nest, it must be an egg (vague ability to differentiate between
what is and is not an egg)
• Does not need to be white or even egg shaped
• Ensures that a real egg is never ignored
o *watch video
• Allows naïve individuals to engage in adaptive behaviour (highly conserved)
• Classic Example: Three-spine Sticklebacks
o Paternal parental care
o Were very good at preventing other males from invading nests
• Male will attack any model with a red belly (females don't)
o Did not attack any model that looked similar to a female
• Ex. Gull Species
o Regurgitation reflex of parents occurs when young peck at red stop
o Young gulls will peck at a stick with a red dot on end
• Ex. Cuckoo Bird
o When young chicks expose red colour to parents, they will regurgitate food to feed them
o Birds (like a warbler) will feed Cuckoo bird parasite when they open their mouth (exposing
the red colour)
• Ex. Spruce Grouse
o Unless one is wearing flashy clothing, the spruce grouse will try to court you
Acoustic startle in Noctuid Moths & Echolocation in Bats
• High speed camera with infrared captures flight paths
o Moths would fly with "loop" patterns when being chased by bats
• Evolution of Echolocation in bats:
o Bats produce high frequency sounds using their larynx
o Listen for the echo of sound waves in the environment
o The characteristics of the echo provide information on the size and location of the source
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