Editing Ethology

{{Distinguish|ethnology|ecology}}
{{redirect|Animal behaviour}}
{{for|the journal|Ethology (journal){{!}}''Ethology'' (journal)}}
{{short description|Scientific objective study of non-human animal behaviour}}
{{EngvarB|date=September 2016}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2020}}
[[File:Waggle dance photo.png|thumb|[[Honey bee|Honeybee]] workers perform the [[waggle dance]] to indicate the range and direction of food.]]
[[File:Grebe Courtship (detail).jpg|thumb|[[Great crested grebe]]s perform a complex synchronised [[courtship display]].]]
[[File:Fighting impalas edit2.jpg|thumb|Male [[impala]]s fighting during the [[Rut (mammalian reproduction)|rut]] ]]

'''Ethology''' is a branch of [[zoology]] that studies the [[behavior|behaviour]] of non-human [[animal]]s. It has its scientific roots in the work of [[Charles Darwin]] and of American and German [[ornithology|ornithologists]] of the late 19th and early 20th century, including [[Charles Otis Whitman|Charles O. Whitman]], [[Oskar Heinroth]], and [[Wallace Craig]]. The modern discipline of ethology is generally considered to have begun during the 1930s with the work of the Dutch biologist [[Nikolaas Tinbergen]] and the Austrian biologists [[Konrad Lorenz]] and [[Karl von Frisch]], the three winners of the 1973 [[Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine]]. Ethology combines laboratory and field science, with a strong relation to [[neuroanatomy]], [[ecology]], and [[evolutionary biology]].<!--lead summarizes cited content in article body-->

== Etymology ==

The modern term ''ethology'' derives from the [[Greek language]]: [[wikt:ἦθος|ἦθος]], ''[[ethos]]'' meaning "character" and {{lang |grc |[[wikt:-λογία|-λογία]]}}, ''[[wikt:-logia|-logia]]'' meaning "the study of". The term was first popularized by the American [[entomologist]] [[William Morton Wheeler]] in 1902.<ref name=insectbehavior>{{cite book |last1=Matthews |first1=Janice R. |author2=Matthews, Robert W. |title=Insect Behaviour |page=13 |year=2009 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-90-481-2388-9}}</ref>

== History ==

=== The beginnings of ethology ===

[[File:Charles Darwin 1880.jpg|upright |thumb |[[Charles Darwin]] (1809–1882) explored the expression of emotions in animals.]]

Ethologists have been concerned particularly with the [[evolution]] of behaviour and its understanding in terms of [[natural selection]]. In one sense, the first modern ethologist was [[Charles Darwin]], whose 1872 book ''[[The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals]]'' influenced many ethologists. He pursued his interest in behaviour by encouraging his protégé [[George Romanes]], who investigated animal learning and intelligence using an [[anthropomorphism|anthropomorphic]] method, [[anecdotal cognitivism]], that did not gain scientific support.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.yorku.ca/andrewsk/documents/Keeley_Anthropomorphism.pdf |title=Anthropomorphism, primatomorphism, mammalomorphism: understanding cross-species comparisons |last=Keeley |first=Brian L. |date=2004 |publisher=York University |page=527 |access-date=19 December 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081217060503/http://www.yorku.ca/andrewsk/documents/Keeley_Anthropomorphism.pdf |archive-date=17 December 2008 |url-status=live}}</ref>

Other early ethologists, such as [[Eugène Marais]], [[Charles Otis Whitman|Charles O. Whitman]], [[Oskar Heinroth]], [[Wallace Craig]] and [[Julian Huxley]], instead concentrated on behaviours that can be called [[instinct]]ive in that they occur in all members of a species under specified circumstances.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Guide to the Charles Otis Whitman Collection ca. 1911 |url=https://www.lib.uchicago.edu/e/scrc/findingaids/view.php?eadid=ICU.SPCL.WHITMANCO#idp149584456 |access-date=2022-09-21 |website=lib.uchicago.edu}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Schulze-Hagen |first1=Karl |last2=Birkhead |first2=Timothy R. |date=2015-01-01 |title=The ethology and life history of birds: the forgotten contributions of Oskar, Magdalena and Katharina Heinroth |url=https://doi.org/10.1007/s10336-014-1091-3 |journal=Journal of Ornithology |volume=156 |issue=1 |pages=9–18 |doi=10.1007/s10336-014-1091-3 |bibcode=2015JOrni.156....9S |s2cid=14170933 |issn=2193-7206}}</ref><ref name=insectbehavior/> Their starting point for studying the behaviour of a new species was to construct an [[ethogram]], a description of the main types of behaviour with their frequencies of occurrence. This provided an objective, cumulative database of behaviour.<ref name=insectbehavior/>

=== Growth of the field ===

Due to the work of [[Konrad Lorenz]] and [[Niko Tinbergen]], ethology developed strongly in continental Europe during the years prior to [[World War II]].<ref name=insectbehavior/> After the war, Tinbergen moved to the [[University of Oxford]], and ethology became stronger in the [[United Kingdom|UK]], with the additional influence of [[William Homan Thorpe|William Thorpe]], [[Robert Hinde]], and [[Patrick Bateson]] at the [[University of Cambridge]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Bateson |first=Patrick |author-link=Patrick Bateson |title=The Development and Integration of Behaviour: Essays in Honour of Robert Hinde |page=479 |isbn=978-0-521-40709-0 |year=1991 |publisher=Cambridge University Press}}</ref>

Lorenz, Tinbergen, and von Frisch were jointly awarded the [[Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine]] in 1973 for their work of developing ethology.<ref name="Nobelprize ">{{cite web |url=https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/1973/index.html |title=The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1973 |work=Nobelprize.org. |access-date=9 September 2016 |quote=The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1973 was awarded jointly to Karl von Frisch, Konrad Lorenz and Nikolaas Tinbergen 'for their discoveries concerning organization and elicitation of individual and social behaviour patterns'.}}</ref>

Ethology is now a well-recognized scientific discipline, with its own journals such as ''[[Animal Behaviour (journal)|Animal Behaviour]]'', ''[[Applied Animal Behaviour Science]]'', ''[[Animal Cognition]]'', ''[[Behaviour (journal)|Behaviour]]'', ''[[Behavioral Ecology (journal)|Behavioral Ecology]]'' and ''[[Ethology (journal)|Ethology]]''. In 1972, the [[International Society for Human Ethology]] was founded along with its journal, ''Human Ethology''.<ref>{{cite web |title=Goals |url=http://ishe.org/goals/ |publisher=[[International Society for Human Ethology]] |access-date=24 March 2024}}</ref>

=== Social ethology ===

In 1972, the English ethologist John H. Crook distinguished comparative ethology from social ethology, and argued that much of the ethology that had existed so far was really comparative ethology—examining animals as individuals—whereas, in the future, ethologists would need to concentrate on the behaviour of social groups of animals and the social structure within them.<ref name="Crook Goss-Custard 1972 pp. 277–312">{{cite journal |last1=Crook |first1=John H. |last2=Goss-Custard |first2=J. D. |title=Social Ethology |journal=Annual Review of Psychology |volume=23 |issue=1 |year=1972 |doi=10.1146/annurev.ps.23.020172.001425 |pages=277–312}}</ref>

[[E. O. Wilson]]'s book ''[[Sociobiology: The New Synthesis]]'' appeared in 1975,<ref name=WilsonSociobiology/> and since that time, the study of behaviour has been much more concerned with social aspects. It has been driven by the Darwinism associated with Wilson, [[Robert Trivers]], and [[W. D. Hamilton]]. The related development of [[behavioural ecology]] has  helped transform ethology.<ref name="Davies2012" /> Furthermore, a substantial rapprochement with [[comparative psychology]] has occurred, so the modern scientific study of behaviour offers a spectrum of approaches. In 2020, Tobias Starzak and Albert Newen from the Institute of Philosophy II at the [[Ruhr University Bochum]] postulated that animals may have beliefs.<ref>{{cite news |title=What it means when animals have beliefs |url=https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/06/200617145957.htm |newspaper=ScienceDaily |date=17 June 2020 |access-date=18 June 2020}}</ref>

== Determinants of behaviour ==

Behaviour is determined by three major factors, namely inborn '''instincts''', '''learning''', and '''environmental factors'''. The latter include abiotic and biotic factors. Abiotic factors such as [[temperature]] or [[light]] conditions have dramatic effects on animals, especially if they are [[Ectotherm|ectothermic]] or [[Nocturnality|nocturnal]]. Biotic factors include members of the same species (e.g. sexual behavior), [[Predation|predators]] (fight or flight), or [[Parasitism|parasites]] and [[Disease|diseases]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Biotic Factor |publisher=Encyclopedia.com |url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/earth-and-environment/ecology-and-environmentalism/environmental-studies/biotic-factor |website=www.encyclopedia.com |access-date=23 June 2024}}</ref>

=== Instinct ===

{{main|Instinct}}

[[File:Larus Dominicanus with young.jpg|right |thumb |[[Kelp gull]] chicks peck at red spot on mother's beak to stimulate regurgitating reflex]]

''[[Webster's Dictionary]]'' defines [[instinct]] as "A largely inheritable and unalterable tendency of an organism to make a complex and specific response to environmental stimuli without involving reason".<ref name="Merriam">{{cite web |publisher=Merriam-Webster Dictionary |title=Instinct |date=16 August 2023 |url=http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/instinct}}</ref> This covers fixed action patterns like beak movements of bird chicks,<ref name="Campbell 1996"/> and the waggle dance of honeybees.<ref name="Buchmann 2006"/>

==== Fixed action patterns ====

{{main|Fixed action pattern}}

An important development, associated with the name of Konrad Lorenz though probably due more to his teacher, [[Oskar Heinroth]], was the identification of [[fixed action pattern]]s. Lorenz popularized these as instinctive responses that would occur reliably in the presence of identifiable stimuli called sign stimuli or "releasing stimuli". Fixed action patterns are now considered to be instinctive behavioural sequences that are relatively invariant within the species and that almost inevitably run to completion.<ref name="Campbell 1996">{{cite book |last=Campbell |first=N. A. |year=1996 |title=Biology |edition=4 |chapter=Chapter 50 |publisher=Benjamin Cummings, New York |isbn=978-0-8053-1957-6}}</ref>

One example of a releaser is the [[beak]] movements of many bird species performed by newly hatched chicks, which stimulates the mother to regurgitate food for her offspring.<ref>{{cite book |last=Bernstein |first=W. M. |title=A Basic Theory of Neuropsychoanalysis |year=2011 |publisher=Karnac Books |isbn=978-1-85575-809-4 |page=81}}</ref> Other examples are the classic studies by Tinbergen on the [[Fixed action pattern#Greylag goose egg-retrieval behavior|egg-retrieval behaviour]] and the effects of a "[[supernormal stimulus]]" on the behaviour of [[Graylag goose|graylag geese]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Tinbergen |first=Niko |author-link=Niko Tinbergen |year=1951 |title=The Study of Instinct |publisher=Oxford University Press, New York.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=Tinbergen, Niko |author-link=Niko Tinbergen |year=1953 |title=The Herring Gull's World |publisher=Collins, London}}</ref>

One investigation of this kind was the study of the [[waggle dance]] ("dance language") in [[bee learning and communication|bee communication]] by [[Karl von Frisch]].<ref name="Buchmann 2006">{{cite book |last=Buchmann |first=Stephen |title=Letters from the Hive: An Intimate History of Bees, Honey, and Humankind |year=2006 |publisher=Random House of Canada |isbn=978-0-553-38266-2 |page=105}}</ref>

=== Learning ===

==== Habituation ====

{{Main |Habituation}}

Habituation is a simple form of learning and occurs in many animal taxa. It is the process whereby an animal ceases responding to a stimulus. Often, the response is an innate behavior. Essentially, the animal learns not to respond to irrelevant stimuli. For example, [[prairie dog]]s (''Cynomys ludovicianus'') give alarm calls when predators approach, causing all individuals in the group to quickly scramble down burrows. When prairie dog towns are located near trails used by humans, giving alarm calls every time a person walks by is expensive in terms of time and energy. Habituation to humans is therefore an important behavior in this context.<ref name="Breed">{{cite web |title= Habituation |last= Breed |first= Michael D.|year=2001 |website = www.animalbehavioronline.com|url= http://www.animalbehavioronline.com/habituation.html}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title= The MIT encyclopedia of the cognitive sciences |url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopediacogn00wils |url-access=limited |year=2001 |publisher=MIT Press |isbn= 978-0-262-73144-7 |author=Keil, Frank C. |author2=Wilson, Robert Andrew |page=[https://archive.org/details/encyclopediacogn00wils/page/n316 184]}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last= Bouton |first=M. E. |title=Learning and behavior: A contemporary synthesis |year=2007 |publisher=Sunderland |url=http://sites.sinauer.com/bouton/glossary.html#Habituation |access-date= 9 September 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160831133911/http://sites.sinauer.com/bouton/glossary.html#Habituation |archive-date=31 August 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==== Associative learning ====

{{main|Association (psychology)}}
{{further|Classical conditioning|Operant conditioning}}

Associative learning in animal behaviour is any learning process in which a new response becomes associated with a particular stimulus.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/associative-learning |title=Associative learning |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |access-date=9 September 2014}}</ref> The first studies of associative learning were made by the Russian [[physiologist]] [[Ivan Pavlov]], who observed that dogs trained to associate food with the ringing of a bell would salivate on hearing the bell.<ref>{{cite book |last=Hudmon |first=Andrew |title=Learning and memory |page=[https://archive.org/details/learningmemory0000hudm/page/35 35] |isbn=978-0-7910-8638-4 |year=2005 |publisher=Infobase Publishing |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/learningmemory0000hudm/page/35 }}</ref>

==== Imprinting ====

{{main|Imprinting (psychology)}}
[[File:Moose-Imprinting-sr81-15.jpg|right|thumb|[[Imprinting (psychology)|Imprinting]] in a [[moose]].]]

[[imprinting (psychology)|Imprinting]] enables the young to discriminate the members of their own species, vital for reproductive success. This important type of learning only takes place in a very limited period of time. [[Konrad Lorenz]] observed that the young of birds such as [[goose|geese]] and [[chicken]]s followed their mothers spontaneously from almost the first day after they were hatched, and he discovered that this response could be imitated by an arbitrary stimulus if the eggs were incubated artificially and the stimulus were presented during a critical period that continued for a few days after hatching.<ref>{{cite book |last=Mercer |first=Jean |title=Understanding attachment: parenting, child care, and emotional development |year=2006 |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |isbn=978-0-275-98217-1 |page=19}}</ref>

==== Cultural learning ====

{{main|Cultural transmission in animals}}

===== Observational learning =====

{{main|Observational learning}}

===== Imitation =====

{{main|Imitation}}

[[Imitation]] is an advanced behavior whereby an animal observes and exactly replicates the behavior of another.
The National Institutes of Health reported that capuchin monkeys preferred the company of researchers who imitated them to that of researchers who did not. The monkeys not only spent more time with their imitators but also preferred to engage in a simple task with them even when provided with the option of performing the same task with a non-imitator.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nih.gov/news/health/aug2009/nichd-13.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090822171642/http://www.nih.gov/news/health/aug2009/nichd-13.htm |archive-date=2009-08-22 |title=Imitation Promotes Social Bonding in Primates, August 13, 2009 News Release |publisher=National Institutes of Health |date=2009-08-13 |access-date=2011-11-08}}</ref> Imitation has been observed in recent research on chimpanzees; not only did these chimps copy the actions of another individual, when given a choice, the chimps preferred to imitate the actions of the higher-ranking elder chimpanzee as opposed to the lower-ranking young chimpanzee.<ref name="FerrariHorner2010">{{cite journal |last1=Horner |first1=Victoria  |display-authors=etal |title=Prestige Affects Cultural Learning in Chimpanzees |journal=PLOS ONE |volume=5 |issue=5 |date=19 May 2010 |pages=e10625 |issn=1932-6203 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0010625 |pmid=20502702 |pmc=2873264 |bibcode=2010PLoSO...510625H|doi-access=free }}</ref>

===== Stimulus and local enhancement =====

Animals can learn using observational learning but without the process of imitation. One way is ''stimulus enhancement'' in which individuals become interested in an object as the result of observing others interacting with the object.<ref>{{cite journal | last1=Spence | first1=K. W. | year=1937 | title=Experimental studies of learning and higher mental processes in infra-human primates | journal=Psychological Bulletin | volume=34 | issue=10 | pages=806–850 | doi=10.1037/h0061498}}</ref> Increased interest in an object can result in object manipulation which allows for new object-related behaviours by trial-and-error learning. Haggerty (1909) devised an experiment in which a monkey climbed up the side of a cage, placed its arm into a wooden chute, and pulled a rope in the chute to release food. Another monkey was provided an opportunity to obtain the food after watching a monkey go through this process on four occasions. The monkey performed a different method and finally succeeded after trial-and-error.<ref>{{cite journal | last1=Haggerty | first1=M. E. | year=1909 | title=Imitation in monkeys | url=https://zenodo.org/record/1426775| journal=Journal of Comparative Neurology and Psychology | volume=19 | issue=4 | pages=337–455 | doi=10.1002/cne.920190402}}</ref> In local enhancement, a demonstrator attracts an observer's attention to a particular location.<ref name="mechanisms">{{cite book |author1=Hoppitt, W. |author2=Laland, K. N. |year=2013 |title=Social Learning: An Introduction to Mechanisms, Methods, and Models. Princeton University Press |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-1-4008-4650-4}}</ref> Local enhancement has been observed to transmit foraging information among birds, rats and pigs.<ref name="foraging">{{cite journal |last1=Galef |first1=B. G. |last2=Giraldeau |first2=L.-A. |year=2001 |title=Social influences on foraging in vertebrates: Causal mechanisms and adaptive functions |journal=Animal Behaviour |volume=61 |issue=1 |pages=3–15 |doi=10.1006/anbe.2000.1557 |pmid=11170692|s2cid=38321280 }}</ref> The stingless bee (''[[Trigona corvina]]'') uses local enhancement to locate other members of their colony and food resources.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Social information in the Stingless Bee, Trigona corvina Cockerell (Hymenoptera: Apidae): The use of visual and olfactory cues at the food site |journal=Sociobiology |year=2014 |issn=0361-6525 |pages=401–406 |volume=61 |issue=4 |doi= 10.13102/sociobiology.v61i4.401-406 |author1= F.M.J. Sommerlandt |author2=W. Huber |author3=J. Spaethe|doi-broken-date=1 November 2024 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

===== Social transmission =====

{{see also|Cultural transmission in animals}}

A well-documented example of social transmission of a behaviour occurred in a group of [[macaque]]s on [[Hachijojima]] Island, Japan. The macaques lived in the inland forest until the 1960s, when a group of researchers started giving them potatoes on the beach: soon, they started venturing onto the beach, picking the potatoes from the sand, and cleaning and eating them.<ref name=WilsonSociobiology>{{cite book |last=Wilson |first=Edward O. |author-link=Edward O. Wilson |title=Sociobiology: the new synthesis |page=170 |year=2000 |publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn=978-0-674-00089-6}}</ref> About one year later, an individual was observed bringing a potato to the sea, putting it into the water with one hand, and cleaning it with the other. This behaviour was soon expressed by the individuals living in contact with her; when they gave birth, this behaviour was also expressed by their young—a form of social transmission.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.blueplanetbiomes.org/japanese_macaque.htm |title=Japanese Macaque – Macaca fuscata |publisher=Blueplanetbiomes.org |access-date=2011-11-08}}</ref>

==== Teaching ====

{{see also|Animal culture#Teaching}}

Teaching is a highly specialized aspect of learning in which the "teacher" (demonstrator) adjusts their behaviour to increase the probability of the "pupil" (observer) achieving the desired end-result of the behaviour. For example, [[orca]]s are known to intentionally beach themselves to catch [[pinniped]] prey.<ref name=rendell>{{cite journal |last1=Rendell |first1=Luke |last2=Whitehead |first2=Hal |title=Culture in whales and dolphins |journal=Behavioral and Brain Sciences |volume=24 |issue=2 |year=2001 |pages=309–324 |url=http://www.zoology.ubc.ca/~barrett/documents/Asoundapproachtothestudyofculture.pdf |doi=10.1017/s0140525x0100396x |pmid=11530544|s2cid=24052064 }}</ref> Mother orcas teach their young to catch pinnipeds by pushing them onto the shore and encouraging them to attack the prey. Because the mother orca is altering her behaviour to help her offspring learn to catch prey, this is evidence of teaching.<ref name=rendell/> Teaching is not limited to mammals. Many insects, for example, have been observed demonstrating various forms of teaching to obtain food. [[Ant]]s, for example, will guide each other to food sources through a process called "[[tandem running]]," in which an ant will guide a companion ant to a source of food.<ref name=hoppit>{{cite journal | last1=Hoppitt | first1=W. J. | last2=Brown | first2=G. R. | last3=Kendal | first3=R. | last4=Rendell | first4=L. | last5=Thornton | first5=A. | last6=Webster | first6=M. M. | last7=Laland | first7=K. N. | year=2008 | title=Lessons from animal teaching | journal=Trends in Ecology & Evolution | volume=23 | issue=9 | pages=486–493 | doi=10.1016/j.tree.2008.05.008 | pmid=18657877| bibcode=2008TEcoE..23..486H }}</ref> It has been suggested that the pupil ant is able to learn this route to obtain food in the future or teach the route to other ants. This behaviour of teaching is also exemplified by crows, specifically [[New Caledonian crow]]s. The adults (whether individual or in families) teach their young adolescent offspring how to construct and utilize tools. For example, ''[[Pandanus]]'' branches are used to extract insects and other larvae from holes within trees.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Rutz|first1=Christian|last2=Bluff|first2=Lucas A. |last3=Reed |first3=Nicola |last4=Troscianko |first4=Jolyon|last5=Newton|first5=Jason|last6=Inger|first6=Richard |last7=Kacelnik|first7=Alex|last8=Bearhop|first8=Stuart|date=September 2010 |title=The Ecological Significance of Tool Use in New Caledonian Crows|journal=Science |volume=329|issue=5998|pages=1523–1526|doi=10.1126/science.1192053|pmid=20847272|bibcode=2010Sci...329.1523R|s2cid=8888382}}</ref>

== Mating and the fight for supremacy ==

[[File:Courtship of sarus cranes.jpg|thumb|[[Courtship display]] of a [[sarus crane]] ]]

Individual [[reproduction]] is the most important phase in the proliferation of individuals or genes within a species: for this reason, there exist complex [[mating]] [[ritual]]s, which can be very complex even if they are often regarded as fixed action patterns. The [[stickleback]]'s complex mating ritual, studied by Tinbergen, is regarded as a notable example.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Tinbergen |first1=Niko |author1-link=Niko Tinbergen |last2=Van Iersel |first2=J. J. A. |title='Displacement Reactions' in the Three-Spined Stickleback |journal=Behaviour |date=1947 |volume=1 |issue=1 |pages=56–63 |jstor=4532675|doi=10.1163/156853948X00038 }}</ref>

Often in [[social relation|social life]], animals fight for the right to reproduce, as well as social supremacy. A common example of fighting for social and sexual supremacy is the so-called [[pecking order]] among [[poultry]]. Every time a group of poultry cohabitate for a certain time length, they establish a pecking order. In these groups, one chicken dominates the others and can peck without being pecked. A second chicken can peck all the others except the first, and so on. Chickens higher in the pecking order may at times be distinguished by their healthier appearance when compared to lower level chickens.{{Citation needed|date=June 2020}} While the pecking order is establishing, frequent and violent fights can happen, but once established, it is broken only when other individuals enter the group, in which case the pecking order re-establishes from scratch.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Rajecki |first=D. W. |date=1988 |title=Formation of leap orders in pairs of male domestic chickens |journal=Aggressive Behavior |volume=14 |issue=6 |pages=425–436|doi=10.1002/1098-2337(1988)14:6<425::AID-AB2480140604>3.0.CO;2-# |s2cid=141664966 }}</ref>

== Social behaviour ==

Several animal species, including humans, tend to live in groups. [[Group size measures|Group size]] is a major aspect of their social environment. [[Social relation|Social life]] is probably a complex and effective survival strategy. It may be regarded as a sort of [[symbiosis]] among individuals of the same species: a [[society]] is composed of a group of individuals belonging to the same species living within well-defined rules on [[food]] management, role assignments and reciprocal dependence.<ref name="Mandal 2015">{{cite book |last=Mandal |first=F. B.|year=2015 |title=Textbook of Animal Behaviour |location=India |publisher=PHI Learning |isbn=978-812035148-6 |pages=191–193}}</ref>

When [[biologist]]s interested in [[evolution theory]] first started examining social behaviour, some apparently unanswerable questions arose, such as how the birth of [[Reproduce|sterile]] [[caste]]s, like in [[bee]]s, could be explained through an evolving mechanism that emphasizes the reproductive success of as many individuals as possible, or why, amongst animals living in small groups like [[squirrel]]s, an individual would risk its own life to save the rest of the group. These behaviours may be examples of [[Altruism (biology)|altruism]].<ref>{{cite book |author=Cummings, Mark |author2=Zahn-Waxler, Carolyn  |author3=Iannotti, Ronald |title=Altruism and aggression: biological and social origins |url=https://archive.org/details/altruismaggressi00zahn |url-access=limited |year=1991 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-42367-0 |page=[https://archive.org/details/altruismaggressi00zahn/page/n21 7]}}</ref> Not all behaviours are altruistic, as indicated by the table below. For example, revengeful behaviour was at one point claimed to have been observed exclusively in ''[[Homo sapiens]]''. However, other species have been reported to be vengeful including chimpanzees,<ref name="McCullough2008">{{cite book |last=McCullough |first=Michael E. |author-link=Michael McCullough (psychologist) |title=Beyond Revenge: The Evolution of the Forgiveness Instinct |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=daomTGYZuW4C&pg=PA79 |year=2008 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=978-0-470-26215-3 |pages=79–80}}</ref> as well as anecdotal reports of vengeful camels.<ref name="Waal2001">{{cite book |last=De Waal |first=Frans |author-link=Frans de Waal |title=The Ape and the Sushi Master: Cultural Reflections by a Primatologist |url=https://archive.org/details/apesushimastercu0000waal |url-access=registration |access-date=27 December 2016 |year=2001 |publisher=Basic Books |isbn=978-0-465-04176-3 |page=[https://archive.org/details/apesushimastercu0000waal/page/338 338]}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable" style="margin: 1em auto;" text-align:center;"
|+ Classification of social behaviours<ref name="Mandal 2015"/>
|-
! Type of behaviour
! Effect on the donor
! Effect on the receiver
|-
| [[Egotism|Egoistic]]
| Neutral to Increases fitness
| Decreases fitness
|-
| [[cooperation|Cooperative]]
| Neutral to Increases fitness
| Neutral to Increases fitness
|-
| [[Altruism (biology)|Altruistic]]
| Decreases fitness
| Neutral to Increases fitness
|-
| [[Revenge]]ful
| Decreases fitness
| Decreases fitness
|}

[[Altruism (biology)|Altruistic]] behaviour has been explained by the [[gene-centered view of evolution|gene-centred view of evolution]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Dawkins |first=Richard |author-link=Richard Dawkins| date=January 1979 |title=Twelve Misunderstandings of Kin Selection |url=http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1439-0310.1979.tb00682.x/full |journal=Zeitschrift für Tierpsychologie |volume=51 |issue=2 |pages=184–200 |doi=10.1111/j.1439-0310.1979.tb00682.x|bibcode=1979Ethol..51..184D }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Ågren |first=J. Arvid |date=2016 |title=Selfish genetic elements and the gene's-eye view of evolution |journal=Current Zoology |volume=62 |issue=6 |pages=659–665 |doi=10.1093/cz/zow102 |pmid=29491953 |pmc=5804262 |issn=1674-5507}}</ref>

=== Benefits and costs of group living ===

One advantage of group living is decreased predation. If the number of predator attacks stays the same despite increasing prey group size, each prey has a reduced risk of predator attacks through the dilution effect.<ref name=Davies2012>{{cite book |last1=Davies |first1=Nicholas B. |author-link1=Nicholas Barry Davies |author2=Krebs, John R. |author-link2=John Krebs, Baron Krebs |author3=West, Stuart A. |author-link3=Stuart West |title=An Introduction to Behavioural Ecology |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=G9mXO5asWi8C |edition=4th |year=2012 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=978-1-4443-3949-9}}</ref>{{Page needed|date=December 2016}} Further, according to the [[selfish herd theory]], the fitness benefits associated with group living vary depending on the location of an individual within the group. The theory suggests that conspecifics positioned at the centre of a group will reduce the likelihood predations while those at the periphery will become more vulnerable to attack.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Hamilton |first=W. D. |author-link=W. D. Hamilton |title=Geometry for the Selfish Herd |journal=Journal of Theoretical Biology |volume=31 |issue=2 |pages=295–311 |doi=10.1016/0022-5193(71)90189-5|pmid=5104951 |year=1971 |bibcode=1971JThBi..31..295H }}</ref> In groups, prey can also actively reduce their predation risk through more effective defence tactics, or through earlier detection of predators through increased vigilance.<ref name=Davies2012/>

Another advantage of group living is an increased ability to forage for food. Group members may exchange information about food sources, facilitating the process of [[Foraging#Group foraging|resource location]].<ref name=Davies2012/>{{Page needed |date=December 2016}} Honeybees are a notable example of this, using the [[waggle dance]] to communicate the location of flowers to the rest of their hive.<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Riley, J. |author2=Greggers, U. |author3=Smith, A. |author4=Reynolds, D. R. |author5=Menzel, R.  |year=2005 |title=The flight paths of honeybees recruited by the waggle dance |bibcode=2005Natur.435..205R |journal=Nature |volume=435 |issue=7039 |pages=205–207 |doi=10.1038/nature03526 |pmid=15889092|s2cid=4413962 }}</ref> Predators also receive benefits from [[Cooperative hunting|hunting in groups]], through using better strategies and being able to take down larger prey.<ref name=Davies2012/>{{Page needed |date=December 2016}}

Some disadvantages accompany living in groups. Living in close proximity to other animals can facilitate the transmission of parasites and disease, and groups that are too large may also experience greater competition for resources and mates.<ref>{{cite web |last=Rathads |first=Triana |url=http://www.sciences360.com/index.php/a-look-at-animal-social-groups-6-23511/ |title=A Look at Animal Social Groups |website=Science 360 |date=29 August 2007 |access-date=22 April 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140508030759/http://www.sciences360.com/index.php/a-look-at-animal-social-groups-6-23511/ |archive-date=8 May 2014}}</ref>

=== Group size ===

Theoretically, social animals should have optimal group sizes that maximize the benefits and minimize the costs of group living. However, in nature, most groups are stable at slightly larger than optimal sizes.<ref name=Davies2012/>{{Page needed |date=December 2016}} Because it generally benefits an individual to join an optimally-sized group, despite slightly decreasing the advantage for all members, groups may continue to increase in size until it is more advantageous to remain alone than to join an overly full group.<ref>{{cite journal | last1=Sibley | first1=R. M. | year=1983 | title=Optimal group size is unstable | doi=10.1016/s0003-3472(83)80250-4 | journal=Animal Behaviour | volume=31 | issue=3 | pages=947–948 | s2cid=54387192 }}</ref>
{{Clear}}

==Tinbergen's four questions for ethologists==

{{main|Tinbergen's four questions}}

Tinbergen argued that ethology needed to include four kinds of explanation in any instance of behaviour:<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Tinbergen |first1=Niko |author-link1=Niko Tinbergen |title=On aims and methods in ethology |journal=Zeitschrift für Tierpsychologie |date=1963 |volume=20 |issue=4 |pages=410–433|doi=10.1111/j.1439-0310.1963.tb01161.x |bibcode=1963Ethol..20..410T }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=MacDougall-Shackleton |first=Scott A. |date=2011-07-27 |title=The levels of analysis revisited |journal=Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences |volume=366 |issue=1574 |pages=2076–2085 |doi=10.1098/rstb.2010.0363 |pmc=3130367 |pmid=21690126}}</ref>
* Function – How does the behaviour affect the animal's chances of survival and reproduction? Why does the animal respond that way instead of some other way?
* Causation – What are the stimuli that elicit the response, and how has it been modified by recent learning?
* Development – How does the behaviour change with age, and what early experiences are necessary for the animal to display the behaviour?
* Evolutionary history – How does the behaviour compare with similar behaviour in related species, and how might it have begun through the process of [[phylogeny]]?

These explanations are complementary rather than mutually exclusive—all instances of behaviour require an explanation at each of these four levels. For example, the function of eating is to acquire nutrients (which ultimately aids survival and reproduction), but the immediate cause of eating is hunger (causation). Hunger and eating are evolutionarily ancient and are found in many species (evolutionary history), and develop early within an organism's lifespan (development). It is easy to confuse such questions—for example, to argue that people eat because they are hungry and not to acquire nutrients—without realizing that the reason people experience hunger is because it causes them to acquire nutrients.<ref>Barrett et al. (2002) ''Human Evolutionary Psychology''. Princeton University Press. {{ISBN|9780691096223}}{{page?|date=June 2023}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Psychology|Zoology}}
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* [[Animal behavior consultant]]
* [[Anthrozoology]]
* [[Behavioral ecology]]
* [[Cognitive ethology]]
* [[Deception in animals]]
* [[Human ethology]]
* [[List of abnormal behaviours in animals]]
* [[Tool use by non-human animals]]
{{div col end}}
<!-- please keep entries in alphabetical order -->

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* [http://dmr.bsu.edu/utils/getfile/collection/ConspectusH/id/603/filename/604.pdf Burkhardt, Richard W. Jr. "On the Emergence of Ethology as a Scientific Discipline." Conspectus of History 1.7 (1981).]

==External links==
* {{Commonscatinline|Ethology}}

{{ethology}}
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{{Animal communication}}
{{Zoology}}
{{Evolutionary psychology}}
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[[Category:Ethology| ]]
[[Category:Subfields of zoology|Ethology]]
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