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BIOLOGY TOPICS:
rDNA TECHNOLOGY:
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EUGLENA:
https://www.sciencearena.in/2025/05/euglena.html
MONOCYSTIS:
https://www.sciencearena.in/2025/05/monocystis.html
PARAMECIUM:
https://www.sciencearena.in/2025/05/paramecium.html
Animal Behaviour
Behaviour is the sum total of the ways in which an organism
reacts to its environment. It can be defined as response of an organism or a
group of organisms to a stimulus or stimuli. The stimulus may be originating
outside the body of an organism or arising within the organism.
Types of Behavioural
Patterns
The principal behavioural patterns observed in animals are:
1. Ingestive Behaviour: The activities of animals
associated with eating or drinking represent ingestive behaviour. This includes
taking solid food or drinking liquid food. Different animals approach their
food in different patterns. Herbivorous animals feed on different types of
plant food. They bite and chew food. Carnivorous animals exhibit different
methods of attacking and capturing the prey. Filter feeders produce water
currents which can drive food towards mouth. Those feeding on liquid food
either lick or suck it or absorb it through body surface. Therefore, animals
exhibit different strategies for obtaining food. The primary strategies include
searching, hoarding, manipulation and predation.
2. Agonistic Behaviour: This behaviour pattern includes
aggression, threat, appeasement and avoidance behaviour that takes place during
encounters between individuals of the same species:
(a) Aggression
…… When an animal attacks
another animal.
(b) Threat
…… A form of communication, intentional movement of attack.
(c) Appeasement …….
Act of reducing aggression in situations where escape is impossible or
disadvantageous.
(d) Avoidance
……. The reaction which allows animals to escape from actual or potential
danger in the
environment.
It is generally seen that the male birds on their return
from the migration start fighting off intruders. The eventual result of the
fight is that one of the birds escapes from the other. The behaviour of both
the birds may be included under the general term agonistic behaviour In case of
mice, one of them may simply hold up its paws in a defensive way or become
completely passive.
3. Shelter Seeking Behaviour: This behaviour pattern is a tendency to seek out optimum environmental
conditions and to avoid dangerous and injurious conditions. For example,
Paramecium Just moves around until it finds the spot which has most favourable
conditions. As the water dries, the paramecia come close to each other
resulting in aggregation. This is in fact a primitive type of social behaviour
which may be called as contractual behaviour.
4. Sexual Behaviour: This type of behaviour
pattern includes courtship, mating and any other related behaviour.
5. Epimeletic Behaviour: This pattern applies to rearing the
young. As a consequence of sexual behaviour, youngs are born. Since the young
ones are not able to take care of themselves, the care taking tendency is seen
in the parents long before the youngs are born. For example, after mating, a
nest is built by the birds, the eggs are laid and the female sits upon them
until they hatch. Then the young ones are fed by the parents. This care-giving
has been variously called as attentive behaviour, maternal behaviour or
parental behaviour.
6. Et-epimeletic
Behaviour: This behaviour pattern involves calling or signalling for care
and attention. For example, young birds make chirping noise and hold head up in
the air with gaping beak.
7. Eliminating Behaviour: The general effect of this
behaviour is to clean the living place. For example, the young birds release
the faeces and urine in pellets surrounded by a membrane and the parent birds
throw them out of the nest. Certain young hawks have the habit of flipping the
tail at the time the faeces are released so that the material is thrown out of
the nest. In case of cats, holes are dug and the excreta is buried therein.
8. Investigative Behaviour: This behaviour pattern
involves the sensory investigation of the environment. The birds or those
animals which have better developed sense of vision can observe the
surroundings at a glance. But a rat, dog or cat will use its nose and whiskers
to know about strange objects, food, etc. These animals that manipulate things
with hands (like raccoons, monkeys and man) may pick up a strange object, turn
it over and over as they look at it and feel and may also smell or taste it.
9. Dominance: It
is a feature of social organisation where certain animals acquire a higher
status as a result of aggression and the others retain a low status. Dominance
relationships were first seen in flocks of domestic fowl. Here the dominant
individuals tend to peck subordinate individuals when they come in close
vicinity. Dominant individuals use their status to gain priority in getting
food, resting site, etc.
10. Territoriality:
This behaviour pattern is seen at the time of defence of home range from
intruders. For example, pairs of tawny owls inhabit a fixed, exclusive area in
a jungle for the whole of their life and defend it against all other tawny owls
by loud calling and chases.
Following benefits are derived from territoriality:
(a) Feeding Territory: Food requirements influence
the territory size, as in many groups of animals. Territory size increases with
increase in body weight.
(b) Mating Territory: In some animals, defence of
territory is seen only during breeding season. It is usually the male who
defends areas. Such territory has plenty of food, nests and good egg laying
sites.
(c) Predator Avoidance: Territorial behaviour also
helps in decreasing the predation by having the knowledge of the location of
shelter.
11. Social Relations: In social relations there is
always involvement of two or more members of the same species.
Various Types of
Animal Behaviour Instinct Behaviour
Instinct behaviour
behaviour patterns which are inborn and inflexible. These
are of great importance in adapting the animal to its environment. These differ
from simple reflexes in their degree of complexity. The entire body
participates in instinctive behaviour and an elaborate series of actions may be
involved.
Instinctive behaviour is probably the most important type of
behaviour in insects. Fishes, Reptiles and Birds also depend to a large degree
on inborn, instinctive patterns of behaviour especially during migration.
1. It evolves gradually as do structural features.
2. Natural selection modifies it to fit in the environment.
3. It consists of stereotyped patterns of movement, which
are similar in all individuals of a species.
4. Instinctive patterns can often be evoked readily by
simple stimuli.
5. An animal may have few inborn inherited responses but as
it grows up moulds its behaviour in the light of its experience.
6. Behaviour patterns that develop in isolation are under
some genetic control and result from an inherited potentiality of the nervous
system.
7. Genes may control behaviour, but for this they must
interact with developing animal's environment.
8. Innate behaviour is not a limited response but may
involve a sequence of patterns that run a predictable course involving complex
set of activities.
9. Some innate behaviours may be complete in seconds, some
may show extraordinary elaboration and may take hours.
Taxes
These are simple locomotory movements in motile organisms, influenced
by the direction of stimulus that is called taxes. Movement wards the source is
positive taxes and away from it is negative taxes
Types of Taxes
Movements
Based on this, following types of taxes are found in
animals.
1. Chemo-taxis
2. Thermotaxis
3. Phototaxis
4. Thigmotaxis
5. Galvanotaxis
6 Rheotaxis
7. Geotaxis.
1. Chemotaxis: It
is movement of animal in response to the chemical substances. For most of the
chemicals, they show negative chemotaxis. They move away from strong solutions
of acids or alkalies and towards sugar solutions. Amoeba and Paramecium show
avoiding reaction to salt solution but a positive response is seen with weak
acid solution. Fresh water fishes move away from saline water of estuaries or
sea, where they cannot survive.
2. Thermotaxes:
Response to temperature is known as thermotaxes. They avoid temperatures higher
and lower than the tolerance limit. Animals thrive best at the optimum
temperature. For example, optimum temperature for Amoeba lies between 20-25°C,
and or Paramecium 24-28°C.
3. Phototaxes:
Animal movements in response to light are called phototactic movements. The
animals that move away from the source of stimulation show negative phototaxes,
while those that move towards source of illumination exhibit positive
phototaxes.
For example, Euglena and Ranatra move towards the source of
light. This is positive phototaxes. Paramecium, Amoeba, Earthworms, Slugs, c.
move away from the bright light, showing negative phototaxes.
4. Thigmotaxis:
Response to contact with some solid object or some other organism is called
thigmotaxis. Amoeba or Paramecium on coming in contact with some solid object,
tend to move away showing negative thigmotactic response.
5. Galvanotaxis:
The response to electric current in called galvanotaxis. These may be negative
or positive response. When a weak electric current is passed through the
medium, the positive galvanotaxis animal moves towards negative pole or
cathode.
6. Rheotaxis:
Rheotaxes is response to water current of currents. Most of the aquatic animals
prefer to be drifted along t flowing water current. Amoeba shows negative
response. Paramecia show positive rheotaxis response by orienting themselves
with the anterior end upstream.
7. Geotaxis: It
is the movement of animal in response to gravitation Mostly animals are
positive geotaxic. Amoeba and Paramecium and other bottom dwelling forms show
positive response. They tend to moves to the bottom.
Movements based on
Reaction to a Stimulus
Based on reaction to the stimulus, following types of taxes
are there:
1. Trophotaxis
2. Telotaxis
3. Menotaxis
4. Klinotaxis.
1. Trophotaxis: It is the direct orienting locomotory
movement of the entire body. In this case, intensities of stimuli on two sides
of the body are compared simultaneously and turning movement towards less
stimulated or more stimulated side is made without while mosquitoes are
negative any trial movement. Planarian reacts with positive tropotaxes response
to the water current carrying scent of food. It orients its head so that both
sides of its triangular head are equally stimulated and then moves up stream.
Such behaviour is shown by animals with paired receptors Stimulation from two
sources simultaneously results in orientation to some intermediate point and is
determined by the relative intensity of the two sources. If one receptor is
blocked, animal moves in a spiral. Tropotaxes is shown by many insects.
2. Telotaxis: It
is the direct orientation to light stimulus without trial movements in response
to light from two sources. When there are two sources of light, the animal
orients to one of the two sources of light rather than an intermediate object.
Orientation from one source to a ta a other source changes at unpredictable
intervals and it follows a zigzag path. Honeybees and hermit crabs show
telotaxes. Bees if blinded on one side, first show circular movement but later
orient towards light source due to adaptation. Hermit crabs have two
well-developed eyes and when exposed to two light sources, one dim and other
bright, they move towards bright light.
3. Menotaxis or Light
Compass Response: This is orientation behaviour in which an animal orients
itself at a constant angle or at constant level or dorsally or ventrally in
response to stimulus particularly light. It may or may not be accompanied by
locomotion. Bees and ants exhibit light compass reaction. Homing ants maintain
orientation towards their nest by progressing at right angles to the sun. When
sun moves at 37 degrees, their path also changes to maintain at right angles to
the sun. As a result, they deviate from their path to the nest by 37 degrees.
4. Klinotaxis: In
klinotaxis, animal compares the intensity of stimulus on two sides of the body.
The comparison is successive Because organism turns the body once in one way
and then in the other. Klinotaxis is found in a number of animals and even in
the larvae of many animals.
Motivated Behaviour
The term motivation is used to describe the experience of
desiring act in a particular way in order to achieve certain goal. The goal may
be an object that is acted upon or ingested, or it may be the execution of a
pattern of behaviour.
Motivated behaviour, thus, is a drive that leads to
goal-directed behaviour and satiation i.e. satisfaction.
Once the animal has begun to learn, the amount of motivation
is directly affected by the amount of successful adaptation. Motivation always
comes from primary stimulus such as food in the external environment and hunger
inside the body.
Characteristics of
Goal-oriented Behaviour
Characteristics of goal-oriented behaviour has three phases
which are as follows:
1. A Phase of
Searching for the Goal: Field observations on various animals reveal behavioural
activities like running, nosing around, sniffing, scratching the ground,
courting, hunting, etc. In all these cases, one can say that the animal is in
search of something to make it satisfied. Animals may also be seen engaged in
searching activity terminated by eating. In relation to feeding. searching
behaviour is often called appetitive behaviour. Appetitive behaviour term is
also applied to the active goal-seeking and explanatory phase of behaviour. On
reaching a goal, appetitive behaviour ceases.
Example: A hungry rat shows an increased level of activity,
searches about possible sources of food restlessly and when it finds food, it
eats and if there is sufficient food for the rat to achieve satiation, there
will be no further appetitive behaviour until the rat is hungry again.
2. Behaviour Oriented
around the Goal Once it is Found: It is more clearly identified since once
the appropriate goal stim are located, the animal’s behaviour changes. The
variable searching patterns now give way to a series of responses directed at
the which are often stereotyped fixed action patterns. These are call
consummatory acts. Thus, eating is the consummatory act of feeding behaviour,
drinking of thirst and copulation of sexual behaviour.
3. Quiescent Phase
Following the Achievement of Goal: Once the consummatory act is achieved,
there is a period of quiescent when the animal is no longer responsive to
stimuli from the goal ang shows no further appetitive behaviour. This
quiescence is related on to one type of behaviour and the animal may be
actively pursuing some other goal.
Theories of
Motivation
There are two different theories regarding motivation-
1. Lorenz theory
2. Tinbergen's theory.
1. Lorenz's Theory:
This is commonly called Lorenz's water closet model. According to this theory:
(a) An 'action specific' energy is needed for the
behavioural pattern
(b) This energy accumulates in between two similar acts and
potent to bring a response.
(c) The vacuum activities occur when energy is in excess.
(d) Frequent arousals due to repeated stimulations cause
exhaustion in animal.
(e) There is some relationship between endogenous factors,
action specific energy and a particular behaviour.
2. Tinbergen's Theory:
It is based on instinct rather than drives. The theory assumes:
(a) The various centres in the brain are devoted to
different instincts
(b) In presence of specific releaser, energy flows down to
the lower centres which reaches as low as muscles.
(c) In the absence of a releaser at a particular centre, the
energy sparks over to the next centre.
(d) Displacement activities in animals occur due to this
displacement of energy.
Biological Clock
These can be described as external manifestation of animal
behaviour in response to environmental changes, regulate by the internally set
biological clock.
Various
Manifestations of Biological Clock
1. Circadian Rhythms
The term circadian is used to describe endogenous rhythms
that usually fall short of 24 hours periodically.
Many organisms exhibit biological rhythms governed by self-sustaining
internal pace-makers, of about 24 hours duration. These are called circadian rhythms. Within the daily cycle, some animals exhibit peak activity
during the daylight hours (diurnal), some are active primarily at night (nocturnal) and
still others exhibit peak activity around dusk.
Examples: Circadian rhythm is seen in nocturnal organisms
and flying squirrel, Gloucomys or white-footed mice, Peromyscus, remains in the
nest during the daylight hours and are active at night. The rhythmic activity
is exactly 24 hours in length and is locked into the daily light-dark cycle
generated by the rotation of earth on its axis. If the animal is kept under
constant darkness the daily rhythm continues. It has been seen when the period
of artificial complete darkness is about 20 minutes longer 24 hours.
2. Lunar Rhythms or
Periodicities
The occurrence of lunar periodicities is well illustrated by
the fluctuation in the abundance of conjugants produced by a ciliate living as
an ectoparasite on the gills of a freshwater mussel. The distinct peaks
occurred regularly on the days following the new moon. These peaks were not
correlated with temperature or other environmental changes. Peaks in the
population were seen to occur very regularly on the days following the new
moon.
Most of the organisms exhibiting lunar periodicities are
marine. Hence, they are affected by the amplitude of the tide which is greater
at the time of new moon and full moon (spring tides) and smallest at the time
of the quarter moon (neap-tides).
Learning Behaviour
According to ethnologist, Thorpe, learning represents an adaptive
change in behaviour by which we acquire new responses and new capacities. It is
of the following types:
1. Habitutation: Animals are able to learn not to respond to
stimuli which have proven to be harmless. This phenomenon is known as
habitutation and is an example of true learning.
(a) Snail immediately withdraws its tentacles for a short
time whenever the surface on which it is crawling, is subjected to mechanical
shocks. If such shocks of the same intensity are repeated at regular intervals,
the snail learns the new behaviour of not withdrawing its tentacles on shock on
the surface.
(b) All animals are naturally frightened by sudden strong
stimuli e.g. loud sounds, flashes of light, etc. All the animals gradually
learn the behaviour of disregarding and not being frightened by sudden rustling
of leaves, thunders, snapping of twigs sudden appearance of harmless animals.
2. Conditioned
Reflex, Type I: This response is caused by stimulus different from that
which originally triggered it. Credit for understanding the mechanism of
conditioned reflex goes to Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov. He placed food in the mouth of a dog, where upon the
dog salivated (unconditioned response). This was due to simple reflex, made up
of the taste buds, sensory neurons, association neurons and motor neurons. This
caused the glands to salivate Thereafter, each time before the dog was fed, a
bell was sounded Eventually the dog salivated upon the sounding of the bell
without being given the food. The dog learned to respond to a substituted
stimulus. This behaviour is known as conditioned response.
3. Trial and Error,
Type II: Trial error behaviour occurs when there is an unsatisfactory
response to a stimulus. After responding in different ways, a satisfactory
response may be attained. For example, a young toad may strike at all flying
insects, some of which may have a disagreeable taste. By trial and error the
toad will learn to distinguish between the edible and inedible insects.
4. Latent Learning:
It develops by latent learning which involves the association of indifferent
stimuli or situations without patent reward. The motivation in latent learning
seems simply to be a desire to get to know the surroundings (exploring).
5. Insight Learning:
It is the complex and highest type of learning. The organism will perceive the
immediate situation, call upon past experience, deduce a logical solution and
makes response. It is essentially a problem solving situation.
So, insight is the ability to respond correctly without
trial and error by applying previous learning to the new situation through a
mental process.
6. Imprinting:
Imprinting is a rapid type of learning and can occur only at early stages of
behavioural development, at a time when the animal is experiencing its first
encounters with the complex world outside the egg or the womb. It is a modified
behaviour developed due to identification by one animal with another animal.
Normally such identification occurs between individuals of the same species
particularly between parents and children.
Migration
It is a regular movement, either annual or seasonal, of at
least a part of the population from its breeding place to non-breeding place either
for obtaining food and shelter or to pass the unfavourable climate and again
return to the same breeding ground for breeding and nestling.
Type of Migratory
Fishes
Migration in fishes is of the following types:
1. Alimentary migration
2. Gametic migration
3. Climatic migration
4. Osmoregulatory migration.
1. Diadromous Fishes
This is the true migration in which fishes migrate between
sea and fresh water. It can be of the following three types:
(a) Anadromous
Migration: It is shown by those diadromous fishes which spend a major part
of their life in sea and migrate to fresh water rivers and ponds for spawning.
Fishes like Salmon, Shad, Sea lamprey and Hilsa, Sturgeon and some Trouts.
(b) Catadromous
Migration: It is shown by those diadromous fishes which feed and become
reproductively mature in freshwater but migrate to the sea for laying eggs or
spawning. The well-known example of catadromous migration is freshwater eel.
(c) Amphidromous
Migration: These diadromous fishes migrate from sea to freshwaters or from
waters to sea. The purpose of migration is not breeding. This occurs regularly
at some definite stage of life cycle other than reproductive season. Gobies are
said to exhibit amphidromous migration.
2. Potamodromous
Migration
It includes migration of fishes from fresh water to
freshwater, e.g. carps and trouts travel long distances in large rivers in
search of spawning grounds. After laying eggs, these return to the feeding
ground.
3. Oceanodromous
Migration
It is migration of marine fishes from one place to other in
the ocean. Many marine fishes like Sardines, Scomber (mackerel), Thunnus (Tuna)
travel long distances in the sea for laying eggs.
Types of Migratory
Movements
1. Dentant: Dentant means swimming or migrating with the
current.
2. Contranatant: It means swimming or migrating against the
water current as in adult fishes towards the spawning grounds
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BIOLOGY TOPICS:
EUGLENA:
https://www.sciencearena.in/2025/05/euglena.html
MONOCYSTIS:
https://www.sciencearena.in/2025/05/monocystis.html
PARAMECIUM:
https://www.sciencearena.in/2025/05/paramecium.html
rDNA TECHNOLOGY:
https://www.sciencearena.in/2025/06/recombinant-dna-technology.html