BIOLOGY 1M03 Chapter Notes - Chapter 51: Waggle Dance, Corn Oil, Sensory Cue
8 Sep 2014
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Proximate causation explains how actions occur in terms of neurological, hormonal and skeletal-muscular mechanisms involved. Ultimate causation explains why actions occur, based on their evolutionary consequences and history. Learning is defined as a change in behaviour that results from a specific experience in the life on an individual. Situations that have a high impact on fitness and demand a reflex- like, unlearned response. Given a choice, what should an animal eat. This claim, that animals should maximize their feeding efficiency, is called optimal foraging. Researchers began studying feeding behaviours in a bird called the white-fronted bee-eater. Mated pairs of this species dig tunnels in riverbanks and raise their young inside. Appropriate riverbanks are rare, so many pairs build tunnels in the same location, forming a colony. To feed their young, pairs have to fly away from the colony, capture insects and bring the prey back to the nest. Each pair defend a specific area where only they find food.
