Abstract
Behavior can be simply defined as a reaction that occurs in response to an action. This can be summed up by the term stimulus. Like human beings, animals also exhibit various reactions that collectively form their behavior. Encroachment on land due to the rapid increase of human population has contributed greatly in the forced co-existence of animals and human beings. As a result, animal behavior has earned great interest and popularity even as a professional course. It entails an in-depth look into their locomotion, social lives, snoozing patterns, appetite, communication and even courtship; just to mention but a few.
Animal Behavior
In this context, animal behavior is taken in a scientific context whereby it is defined as a quantified expression of an effort to adapt or adjust to different internal or external conditions. To ensure that it is comprehensive, it is fragmented into smaller and more specific units which have been discussed below.
Ethology
This refers to the behavior of animals in their natural environment. It dates back to the times of the pre-historic humans who studied animal behavior for practical purposes. For instance, they would study the behavior of prey so as to ease hunting. It has now evolved into a formal discipline that comprises observations that are made under controlled conditions.
An example is drawn from Bio 36 Animal Behavior Spring (2007), Animal behavior observation, where the subject is a domestic cat. The following observations are made.
Sleeping ; lying down with its eyes closed. Grooming ; licking its body, paws and wiping its head.
Resting ; lying down with its eyes open.
Begging ; circling or contacting human legs while moving.
Vocal threat ; hiss or growl.
Territorial Behavior
A territory is defined as the area held or defended by a single organism or a group of organisms of the same or different species. The cause and function of the defense varies from species to species but it mainly revolves around ensuring adequate space for each mating pair of organisms and their offspring to enable them to receive a share of the available resources such as food and breeding space.
Kineses and Taxes
It is the orientation of motion either towards or away from an object, substance, or other stimulus.
Drawing an illustration from the third edition, Animal Behavior, with an additional chapter by Judith K. Blackshaw and David J. Allan, June (1986), it is seen that the motion towards a light source by fly maggots is a form of kineses and taxes. They achieve this by comparing light intensity on each side of their bodies and thus estimate the light gradient.
Altruistic Behavior
This is situation where an organism puts itself at risk or personal disadvantage for the good of other members.
As Mattias Wade explains in the book Animal Behavior, (2007), bees have this type of behavior where the sterile female workers are prevented from producing offspring and instead spend their lives looking after their brothers and sisters.
References
MattiasWahde (2007), Animal Behavior, Chapter Two.
Judith K. Blackshaw, June (1986), Applied Animal Behavior, Third edition, with an additional chapter by David J. Allan, QDAH (Hons), BSc (Vet.), BVSc (Hons), MBBS, page 4-9
Bio 36 Animal Behavior Spring (2007), Animal behavior observation., page 1-3
