Fundamentals of Animal Behavior
Fall 2013
Instructor: Jeff Schank (original instructor: Don Owings)
Email: jcschank@ucdavis.edu
Office: 268D Young Hall
Phone: 752-6332
Office Hours: Tuesday and Thursday 10:30-11:50 and by appointment
Course description: This is the first of a two-quarter sequence. PSC/ANB 218B will be offered Winter 2014, and led by Andy Sih, Environmental Science and Policy. The goal of this course is to sample current and traditional topics in the field of animal behavior. You will learn about the basic phenomena, concepts, and theoretical approaches of animal behavior, but no two-quarter sequence can provide the entire breadth and depth of animal behavior.
When:
Speakers: TTR: 2:10 PM to 4:00 PM
Discussion: TTR: 4:10 PM to 5:00 PM
Adjustments: Due to the nature of this course adjustments may be required for some speakers and discussion.
Where:
Lectures: 145 Young Hall (with possible exceptions)
Discussion: 145 Young Hall
Grading:
40% from position papers and leading discussion (you will write 3 papers and lead or co-lead 2 discussions), 15% from review papers on 3 of the position papers (you will write 3 review papers on 3 of the discussion papers), 20% participation in discussions, 25% final exam
Course Website:
http://www.agent-based-models.com/
Look under the “Courses” menu.
Course details:
(1) As noted below, different topics will be the responsibility of different speakers. Each speaker has been asked to lecture on the assigned topic, and then moderate a 1-hour (when possible) with a student-led discussion on the topic.
(2) This means that you, the students, will be leading the discussions (this task will rotate among you). Because of the number of people registered, there will often be co-discussants. Please be thinking about what topic you would prefer.
(3) Each speaker will provide readings prior to the beginning of his/her lectures. Please prepare for lectures by reading that material.
(4) Each speaker will assign the associated discussion topic at the beginning of his/her lectures.
(5) Preparation for each discussion will involve
(a) reviewing the lecture and reading material so that you can lead the discussion, but everyone else is expected to join in (this is the main part of the 20% participant discussion); (b) for a subset of you each time, you will write a short position paper on the topic (no longer than 2 single-spaced pages)that you will circulate to all parties to read exactly one week after the topic is discussed. You should look into additional reading and include references for these papers. You will send it using the class email list: anb218a-f13@ucdavis.edu; and (c) A subset of you, will write a short review of the position paper (between 1/2 and 1 page spaced pages). The review will briefly discuss the the strong points of the position paper and the weak points (e.g., "I think the author should have included more about X", or "I do not think that topic X is fundamental to the topic." or "I think that that X is better, explained or articulated as this..."). The short review will be due 3 days after you receive the discussion paper. You will send out your review using the class email list: anb218a-f13@ucdavis.edu.
CLASS SCHEDULE – FALL, 2013
Fundamentals of Animal Behavior (ANB/PSC218A – Schank Instructor)
Lecture times – TTR, 2:10-4:00 PM; Discussion times – TTR, 4:10-5:00 PM
1. Thursday – Sept 26. 1 – Organize Jeff Schank
2. Tuesday – Oct. 1 – Communication, Gail Patricelli (4:10 – 6:00 PM)
Readings (1) Signaling (2) Avian psychology and communication Slides/Lecture Notes/Audio/assignments: (26.9 MB)
3. Thursday – Oct. 3 – Communication, Gail Patricelli (4:10 – 6:00 PM)
Readings (1) Complex signal function: developing a framework of testable hypotheses. (2) What do animal signals mean? (3) The central importance of information in studies of animal communication. (4) Information and Communication Slides/Lecture Notes/Audio: (26.8 MB)
4. Tuesday – Oct. 8 – No Lecture
5. Thursday – Oct. 10 – Double Lecture
Quantitative genetics, Andy Sih (2:10 – 4:00 PM)
Readings (1) Multivariate inheritance and evolution: a review of concepts (2) The genetics of fish behavior (3) The genetics of politics: discovery, challenges, and progress Slides/Lecture Notes/Audio:
Communication, Gail Patricelli (4:10 – 6:00 PM)
Readings (1) Animal Signals: Models and Terminology. (2) The cost of honesty and the fallacy of the handicap principle Slides/Lecture Notes/Audio: assignment
6. Tuesday – Oct 15 – Quantitative genetics, Andy Sih
Slides/Lecture Notes/Audio: (30.3)
Discussion – Andy Sih – Quantitative genetics – Dicussion Leader(s): Alex – Audio: Discussion – Gail Patricelli – Communication – Dicussion Leader(s): Brandi, Alli – Audio: (22.1 MB)
7. Thursday Oct. 17 – Genomics, Brian Trainor
Readings (1) Natural variations in maternal care are associated with estrogen receptor expression and estrogen sensitivity in the medial preoptic area. (2) Serotonin transporter genotype x construction stress interaction in rats. (3) Gene expression profiles in the brain predict behavior in individual honey bees. Slides/Lecture Notes/Audio: (1 slide) (3 slides) (24 MB)
8. Tuesday Oct. 22 – Concepts and Methods, Jeff Schank
Readings (1) On the aims and methods of ethology (2) Pseudoreplication and the Design of Ecological Experiments (3) Pseudoreplication is a Pseudoproblem Slides/Lecture Notes/Audio: (26.7 MB)
Discussion – Brian Trainor – Genomics – Discussion Leader(s): Mitch – Audio: (10.3 MB)
9. Thursday Oct. 24 – Behavioral endocrinology, Tom Hahn
Readings (1) Hormonal control and evolution of alternative male phenotypes: generalizations of models of sexual differentiation (2) The role of sex steroids in the acquisition and production of birdsong (3) The organizational-activational hypothesis as the foundation for a unified theory of sexual differentiation of all mammalian tissues Slides/Lecture Notes/Audio: (30 MB)
Discussion – Jeff Schank
– Concepts and Methods
– Discussion Leader(s): Alli
10. Tuesday Oct. 29 – Behavioral endocrinology, Tom Hahn
Slides/Lecture Notes/Audio:
11. Thursday Oct. 31 – Behavioral Schedules, Tom Hahn
Slides/Lecture Notes/Audio: part 1, part 2
Discussion – Tom Hahn – Behavioral endocrinology – Discussion Leader(s): Shannon – Audio: (18.1 MB)
12. Tuesday Nov. 5 – Behavioral Schedules, Tom Hahn
Readings (1) Experimental ‘Jet Lag’ Inhibits Adult Neurogenesis and Produces Long-Term Cognitive Deficits in Female Hamsters (2) Circadian clocks and the measurement of daylength in seasonal reproduction (3) Organization of vertebrate annual cycles: implications for control mechanisms
Slides/Lecture Notes/Audio: (29 MB)
13. Thursday Nov. 7 – Agent-Based Models of Behavior, Jeff Schank
Readings (1) Agent-based modeling as a bridge between disciplines (2) Avoiding synchrony as a strategy of female mate choice (3) SWAMP: an agent-based model for wetland and waterfowl conservation management Slides/Lecture Notes/Audio: (26.9 MB)
Discussion – Tom Hahn
– Behavioral Schedules
– Discussion Leader(s): Ryane
14. Tuesday Nov. 12 – Conservation and Animal Behavior, John Eadie
Readings (1) Animal behavior and conservation biology (2) Behavioural biology: an effective and relevant conservation tool (3) Endangered species and a threatened discipline: behavioural ecology (4) Behavior and conservation: a bridge too far? (5) The behaviour–conservation interface
Slides/Lecture Notes/Audio: (28.6 MB)
Discussion – Jeff Schank – Agent-based models of behavior – Discussion Leader(s): Alex – Audio: (10.7 MB)
15. Thursday Nov. 14 – Animal Welfare – YeunShin Lee
Readings
(1) Evolution and animal welfare (2) Using behavior to assess animal welfare (3) A user's guide to animal welfare science (4) Conflicting and complementary ethics of animal welfare considerations in reintroductions
Slides/Lecture Notes/Audio: Bibliography – Audio: (25.1 MB)
Discussion – John Eadie – Conservation and Animal Behavior – Discussion Leader(s): Brandi – Audio: (12.9 MB)
16. Tuesday Nov. 19 – Animal Welfare — YeunShin Lee
Readings Slides/Lecture Notes/Audio: (27.5 MB)
17. Thursday Nov. 21 – Social bonding: evolution, physiology, neurobiology, and development – Karen Bales
Readings (1) Developmental experiences and the oxytocin receptor system (2) Chronic Intranasal Oxytocin Causes Long-Term Impairments in Partner Preference Formation in Male Prairie Voles (3) Intranasal vasopressin affects pair bonding and peripheral gene expression in male Callicebus cupreus (4) Natural variation in early parental care correlates with social behaviors in adolescent prairievoles (Microtus ochrogaster) (5) Neural correlates of pair-bonding in a monogamous primate Slides/Lecture Notes/Audio:
Discussion – YeunShin Lee – Animal Welfare – Discussion Leader(s): Mitch, Shannon – Audio (16.1 MB)
18. Tuesday Nov. 26 – Play – Jeff Schank
Readings
(1) Current perspectives on the biological study of play: signs of progress (2) Animal play and animal welfare
Slides/Lecture Notes/Audio: (29.9 MB)
Discussion – Karen Bales
– Social bonding: evolution, physiology, neurobiology, and development
– Discussion Leader(s): TBA
19. Thursday Nov. 28 – Thanksgiving Break
20. Tuesday Dec. 3 – Movement and Migration – Marilyn Ramenofsky
Readings
(1) Behavioral and physiological conflicts in migrants: the transition between migration and breeding (2) Contributions of endocrinology to the migration life history of birds (3) Regulation of migration
Slides/Lecture Notes/Audio: (26.2 MB) References Discussion – Jeff Schank – Play – Discussion Leader(s): Ryane – Audio: (17 MB)
21. Thursday Dec. 5 – Movement and Migration – Marilyn Ramenofsky
Slides/Lecture Notes/Audio: (43.2 MB) References
Discussion – Marilyn Ramenofsky – Movement and Migration
– Discussion Leader(s): Brandi
FINAL EXAM – Dec. TBA take home (Tentative)