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Details Title: animal behavior Description: shs Total Flash Cards: 11 Created: 01/04/2005 18:15:12	To study from this set of flash cards, or to create your own your own study flash cards, register HERE. If you are already a registered user, CLICK HERE.
Cards Term behavior Definition What an animal does and how it does it. Term Occam's razor Definition states that explanations should be no more complicated then necessary Term morgan's canon Definition states that we should interpret animal behavios in terms of the simplest neural mechanism that can explain the observed behavior. should not be applied too rigidly to complex behavior patterns in higher animals Term optimal behaviod Definition The basis for analyzing behavior as a compromise of feeding costs versus feeding benefits. Term behavioral ecology Definition A heuristic approach based on the expectation that Darwinian fitness (reproductive success) is improved by optimal behavior. Term ultimate causation Definition The evolutionary explanation for a behavioral, physiological, or morphological response, in contrast to proximate causation; the immediate mechanisms that underlie a response. Term proximate causation Definition The immediate mechanisms underlying an organism's behavioral, physiological, or morphological response, in contrast to ultimate, or evolutionary causation. Term ethology Definition The study of animal behavior in natural conditions. Term fixed-action pattern Definition A sequence of behavioral acts that is essentially unchangeable and usually carried to completion once initiated. Term sign stimulus Definition An external sensory stimulus that triggers a fixed action pattern. Term releaser Definition A signal stimulus that functions as a communication signal between individuals of the same species.