Course overview
Students studying this on-line module examine the relationship between animals and the environment, both wild and captive, and develop an awareness of the scientific basis of animal behaviour study, and to relate this to the behavioural responses to their environment. Students will develop knowledge of the key concepts of the responses made by animals to their environment and be able to discuss the causes & development of the major patterns of behaviour and explain animal behaviour in relation to survival, fitness value, and to health and welfare.Programme Content
Reasons to study behaviour; history of the study of behaviour; ethics and the study of behaviour.Behaviour and natural selection; evolution and adaptation; genetics & heritability.Behaviour in social groups: costs; benefits; communal (altruistic) behaviours.Feeding & breeding behaviours; courtship, parental care and kin recognition.Territorial behaviours; conflict resolution communication; signals; sensory anatomy.Spatial aspects of behaviour: habitat selection; migration; dispersal; coordination; navigation.Physiology and behaviour: rhythms; hibernation; aestivation; diapause; torpor; biological clocks; hormonal influences; thermoregulation; stress.Behaviour in captive environments: abnormal behaviours; stereotypes; environmental enrichment; welfare implications.Ethogram design and practical application.Interpretation of primary behaviour observation data, production and comparison of time budget graphs.
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