BIOL 1030 Chapter Notes - Chapter 51: Prairie Vole, Bird Vocalization, Behavioral Ecology

• School: University of Manitoba
• Department: Biological Sciences
• Course: BIOL 1030
• Professor: Scott Kevin

Document Summary

Classical ethology presaged an evolutionary approach to behavioral biology. In the mid-20th century, a number of pioneering behavioral biologists developed the discipline of ethology, the scientific study of animal behavior. Imprinting is a type of behavior that includes learning and innate components and is generally irreversible. Imprinting has a sensitive period, a limited phase in an animal"s behavior that is the only time that certain behaviors can be learned: an example of imprinting is young geese following their mother. Concept 51. 2 many behaviors have a strong genetic component. Behavior results from both genes and environmental factors: behavioral traits, like other aspects of a phenotype, are the result of complex interactions between genetic and environmental factors. In some cases, the behavior is variable, depending on environmental experience. Animal communication is an essential component of interactions between individuals: much of the social interaction between animals involves transmitting information through specialized behaviors called signals.