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| Anything organisms do that involves action in response to internal or external stimuli; the response of an individual, group, or species to its environment. (Responses may or may not be deliberate, and they aren't necessarily the result of conscious decision making.) |
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| Pertaining to the relationships between organisms and all aspects of their environment (temperature, predators, nonpredators, vegetation, availability of food and water, types of food, disease organisms, parasites, etc.). |
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| Study of evolution of behavior, emphasizing role of ecological factors as agents of natural selection. Behaviors and behavioral patterns favored because increase the reproductive fitnessof individuals (i.e., they are adaptive) in specific environmental contexts. |
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| The capacity to change; in a behavioral context, the ability of animals to modify behaviors in response to differing circumstances. |
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| The composition, size, and sex ratio of a group of animals. The social structure of a species is, in part, the result of natural selection in a specific habitat, and it guides individual interactions and social relationships. |
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| The chemical processes within cells that break down nutrients and release energy for the body to use. (When nutrients are borken down into their component parts, such as amino acids, energy is released and made available for the cell to use.) |
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| Groups that consists of a female, her daughters, and their offspring. Matrilineal groups are common in macaques. |
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| Characteristics and developmental stages that influence reproductive rates. Example include longevotu. age at sexual maturity, and length of time between births. |
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| Systems of social organization wherein individuals within a group are ranked relative to one another. Higher ranking animals have greater access to preferred food items and mating partners than lower-ranking individuals. Dominance hierarchies are sometimes called "pecking orders". |
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| Any act that conveys information, in the form of a message, to another individual. (The result of communication is a change in behavior of recipient. Communication may not be deliberate but may instead be the result of involuntary processes or a secondary consequence of an intentional action. |
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| Pertaining to physiological responses not under voluntary control. Example chimp would be erection of body hair during excitement. Blushing human example both convey info regarding emotional states, but neither is deliberate, and communication isn't intended. |
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| Sequences of repetitious behaviors that serve to communicate emotional states. Nonhuman primate desplays are most frequently associated with reproductive or agonistic behavior, and examples: gorillas--chest slapping, male chimps--dragging and waving branches while charging and threatening other animals. |
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| Pertaining to amicable associations between individuals. Affiliative behaviors, such as grooming, reinforce social bonds and promote group cohesion. |
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| (intra, meaning "within") Within the group, as opposed to between groups (intergroup). |
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| Portions of an individual's or group's home range that are actively defended against intrusion, especialloy by embers of the same species. |
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| The portion of a home range containing the highest concentration and most reliable supplies of food and water. The core area is defended. |
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| Picking throught fur to remove dirt, parasites, and other materials that may be present. Social grooming is common among primates and reinfores social relationships. |
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| Behavior that benefits another individual but at some potential risk or cost to oneself. |
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| Members of the same species. |
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| The complex of behavioral patterns that contributes to individual reproductive success. The behaviors need not be deliberate, and they often vary considerably between males and females. |
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| Pertaining to an adaptive strategy whereby individuals produce relatively few offspring, in whom they invest increased parental care. Few infants are born, chances of survival are increased for each one because of parental investments in time and energy. Examples of K-selected nonprimatespecies are birds and canids (e.g., wolves, coyotes, and dogs). |
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| An adaptive strategy that emphasizes relatively large numbers of offspring and reduced parental care (compared to K-selection species). |
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| A type of natural selection that operates on only are sex within a species. It's the result of competition for mates, and it can lead to sexual dimorphism with regard to one or more traits. |
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| Viewing nonhuman animals in terms of human motives, and experience and capabilities; emphasizing the importance of humans over everything else. |
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| Refers to the fact that organisms are related through common ancestry and that behaviors and traits seen in one species are also seen in others to varying degrees. (When expressions of a phenomeon continuously grade into one another so that there are no discrete categories, they are said to exist on a continuum. Color is such a phenomenon. |
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