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The ultimate function of animals inhabiting and defending a territory is to increase the individual fitness or inclusive fitness of the animals expressing the behaviour. Fitness in this biological sense relates to the ability of an animal to survive and raise young. The proximate functions of territory defense vary.
Therefore, correct learning of the birdsong early in life is necessary for territory defense in birds. European beavers (Castor fiber) are another species that use territory defense. They are very protective of their territory because they spend a great deal of time and energy familiarizing themselves with the location and building a habitat.
The ultimate function of the dear enemy effect is to increase the individual fitness of the animal expressing the behaviour. This increase in fitness is achieved by reducing the time, energy or risk of injury unnecessarily incurred by defending a territory or its resources (e.g. mate, food, space) against a familiar animal with its own territory; the territory-holder already knows about the ...
Visual communication is a common dominance signal among animals. They are an effective modality as they come at a low cost to the animal and minimize risk. The Gila Monster (Heloderma suspectum) for example, express bright orange splotches during territorial conflict to warn competitors that they are poisonous, and thus assert their dominance over a territory.
In animal behavior, resource defense polygyny is a mating strategy where a male is able to support multiple female mates by competing with other males for access to a resource. [1] [2] In such a system, males are territorial. Because male movement is restricted, female-female competition for a male also results.
A dilution effect is seen when animals living in a group "dilute" their risk of attack, each individual being just one of many in the group. George C. Williams and W.D. Hamilton proposed that group living evolved because it provides benefits to the individual rather than to the group as a whole, which becomes more conspicuous as it becomes larger.
Behavioral ecology, also spelled behavioural ecology, is the study of the evolutionary basis for animal behavior due to ecological pressures. Behavioral ecology emerged from ethology after Niko Tinbergen outlined four questions to address when studying animal behaviors: What are the proximate causes, ontogeny, survival value, and phylogeny of a behavior?
A home range is the area in which an animal lives and moves on a periodic basis. It is related to the concept of an animal's territory which is the area that is actively defended. The concept of a home range was introduced by George H. W. Burt in 1993. He drew maps showing where the animal had been observed at different times.