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Notes to Instructors
Chapter 51 Animal Behavior
What is the focus of this activity?
The morphology, physiology, and behavior of organisms are all tightly integrated or
What is this particular activity designed to do?
Activity 51.1 What determines behavior?
In this activity, students are given specific examples of types of behavior. Then they are
asked to propose:
• what questions they would need to ask to determine proximate causation for each
behavior,
Answers
Activity 51.1 What determines behavior?
Note: A wide range of questions can be asked to determine proximate versus ultimate
1. Some plant species (for example, many orchids) rely on a single species of insect for
pollination. If the insect species dies out, so will the plant species. In a through c,
refer only to the behavior of the insect species.
a. What questions would you need to ask to determine proximate causation for this
species-specific insect behavior?
What are the specific characteristics of the orchid and the insect?
Notes to Instructors 337
b. What questions would you need to ask to determine ultimate causation for this
insect behavior?
Why would this type of tight symbiotic relationship between orchid and
pollinator evolve?
c. What kinds of experiment(s) or investigation(s) you would propose to answer at
least one of the questions in parts a and b?
What factor(s) draw the insect species to the flower?
You would need to test for each factor separately. You could place individual
2. Many bird species that are common in the northern United States during spring and
summer fly south in the fall to overwinter and feed in Central or South America. In
the spring, they return to states in the northern United States to breed.
a. What questions would you need to ask to determine proximate causation for this
behavior?
How do birds “know” when to fly south versus north? For example:
338 Activity 51.1
b. What questions would you need to ask to determine ultimate causation for this
behavior?
c. What kinds of experiment(s) or investigation(s) you would propose to answer at
least one of the questions in parts a and b?
What environmental factors stimulate flocking behavior for the flight south?
You could test the effects of changes in day length on bird behavior. For example,
3. Many species of animals engage in complex courtship rituals. Among these species
is the bower bird of Australia. Male bower birds construct elaborate structures or
bowers from twigs, leaves and moss and decorate them with colorful objects, such as
berries and shells. The bowers and the dances the males perform are designed to
attract female bower birds for mating. After mating, the females fly away to build a
nest and raise the offspring. The males remain at their bowers and try to attract
additional mates. These birds can live for up to 17 years. Males are territorial and
build their bowers in the same location each year. In studying their behavior,
researchers have noted that about 25% of the females “shop around” going from one
bower to another before deciding on a mate. The other 75% appear to go directly to
a single bower to mate. These behaviors cannot be observed in captivity.
a. What questions would you need to ask to determine proximate causation for the
bower building behavior?
b. What questions would you need to ask to determine the proximate causation for
the female choice?
c. What questions would you need to ask to determine ultimate causation for these
behaviors?
Activity 51.1 339
d. What kinds of experiment(s) or investigation(s) would you propose to answer at
least one of the questions in either parts a or b?
What characteristics of the environment trigger the male bower building
behavior? Because these birds cannot be studied in captivity, you would need to
