Ethology is the study of animal behavior. Behavior is the coordinated responses of whole living organisms to internal and/or external stimuli. Ethologists pose questions that center on mechanism, development, survival value, and evolutionary history. Proximate analysis focuses on immediate causes. Ultimate analysis is defined in terms of the evolutionary forces that have shaped a trait over time.
Three foundational concepts are important for developing an integrated view of animal behavior:
- Natural selection is the process whereby traits that confer the highest relative reproductive success on their bearers and that are heritable increase in frequency over generations.
- Individual learning can alter the frequency of behaviors displayed within the lifetime of an organism.
- Cultural transmission refers to situations in which animals learn something by copying the behavior of others.
—September 2020
—February 2022
Lance Jones 