CHAPTER 51

Abstract

Behavior Behavior the nervous system’s response to a stimulus and is carried out by the muscular system or the hormonal system Behavior is subject to natural selection Four questions that must be answered: What stimulus elicits the behavior, and what physiological mechanisms mediate the response? How does the animal’s experience during growth and development influence the response? What is the evolutionary history of the behavior? How does the behavior contribute to survival and reproduction (fitness)? Behavioral ecology study of the ecological and evolutionary basis for animal behavior