Tag: animal behaviour

Both habituation and imprinting are simple learned behaviours. Both are non associative learning process which means not associated with any reward or punishment. In habituation, the animal becomes habituated to the specific type of stimulus after repeated exposure. In imprinting, the learned behaviour occurs at a particular stage of maturation process in life. It mostly occurs in early stage of life of animals. Like the animal first recognizes the mother. This behaviour helps the animal in their survival in young age. 

Behaviour of organisms which belong to the same species can be seen in periodical cicadas that emerge the same year. The nymphs of periodical cicadas develop underground for 13 to 17years and live on juices from plant roots. After this period, they emerge from the soil and molt into winged adults. There are seven species of periodical cicadas four with 13-year life cycles and three with 17-year cycles. Each species of the periodical cicada has a distinctive song.

A form of learning that occurs during a brief genetically determined critical period shortly after birth is called as imprinting. Because the chicks learnt to follow mother goose and mother hen just after birth; it is imprinting. If they were exposed to mother pig shortly after hatching, they would exhibit pig like behavoiur.

Batesian mimicry refers to the resemblance of a harmless or palatable species with that of a dangerous or unpalatable one to make predators avoid them. It is opposite to Mullerian mimicry wherein dangerous, unpalatable, or poisonous species resemble one another to make predator recognize them easily. Viceroy butterflies mimic distasteful monarch butterflies to avoid predation, exhibiting Batesian mimicry. Predators or parasites exhibiting resemblance to harmless model so that their respective prey/host can not identify them exhibit aggressive mimicry. Crypsis (being not obvious to predator) and deflection (mimicry, camouflage etc) are antipredator behaviours. Thus, the correct answer is option D.

Batesian mimicry refers to the resemblance of a harmless or palatable species with that of a dangerous or unpalatable one to make predators avoid them. A more common and distinct poisonous species present in the same area as mimic become familiar to predators of mimic and thereby increase the effectiveness of mimicry. Competition between mimic and poisonous species would harm either of them while mimicry is an adaptation for the protection of mimic. Thus, the correct answer is option C.

Bats are nocturnal flying mammals which do not employ eyesight for location of their path. food place of rest etc. They produce high frequency sound which produces echoes after striking various objects on the principle of sonar. Echoes are then analysed by bats to know their path.  

• Instinct is the natural force that causes a person or animal to behave in a particular way without thinking or learning about it.
  
• In almost every species of animals, caring for offsprings until they are mature enough is seen. 
  

Instinct is an innate, typically fixed pattern of behaviour in animals in response to certain stimuli. An instinct is something that doesn't need to learn and it happens naturally, without even thinking about it and so is the simplest form of learned behaviour.