Social Behavior Competitive Behaviors Animals that live in social groups must sometimes compete for resources such as food, space, or mates

Courtship Rituals – elaborate behaviors before mating -a way to confirm that the other individual is of the same species and opposite sex -a way for the animal to announce it is ready to mate -a way to impress and show off qualities to a potential mate *potential mate can use the ritual to judge the health of the other

Aggressive Behaviors – physical struggles or threatening behaviors Ex: tests of strength *Involves spending a lot of energy “fighting” *Fights are almost never fights to the death

This often leads to the formation of a Dominance Hierarchy – ranking of individuals within a group * no need to spend energy fighting each other * spend energy on more important things

Territorial Behaviors Territory – an area that an individual defends and from which other members of the same species are excluded To defend their territory, animals – make noise – mark their territory (scent markers) ‏ *takes energy! *have exclusive access to resources

Group Communication – passing information to other individuals Ex: Honeybee “Waggle Dance” Cooperation – individuals work together in a way that is beneficial to the group Mutualism – two different species interact and both species benefit from the interaction