The present paper constructs a general ethogram for the actions of the flexible body as well as the skin displays of octopuses in the family Octopodidae. The actions of 6 sets of structures (mantle-funnel, arms, sucker-stalk, skin-web, head, and mouth) combine to produce behavioral units that involve positioning of parts leading to postures such as the flamboyant, movements of parts of the animal with relation to itself including head bob and grooming, and movements of the whole animal by both jetting in the water and crawling along the substrate. Muscular actions result in 4 key changes in skin display: (a) chromatophore expansion, (b) chromatophore contraction resulting in appearance of reflective colors such as iridophores and leucophores, (c) erection of papillae on the skin, and (d) overall postures of arms and mantle controlled by actions of the octopus muscular hydrostat. They produce appearances, including excellent camouflage, moving passing cloud and iridescent blue rings, with only a few known species-specific male visual sexual displays. Commonalities across the family suggest that, despite having flexible muscular hydrostat movement systems producing several behavioral units, simplicity of production may underlie the complexity of movement and appearance. This systematic framework allows researchers to take the next step in modeling how such diversity can be a combination of just a few variables. (PsycINFO Database Record
Subject Overview and Background Information Animals play important roles in the lives of humans. Animals have been used for centuries for work, such as in helping to plow fields, providing a means of transportation and aiding in search and rescue, and as a source of food and other products for humans. Many people have companion animals-dogs and cats are among the most popular-in their homes. Because we depend upon animals in so many ways, it is important that we, as their caretakers, understand their biology and their behavior in order to assess their health and well-being. While a normal part of responsible animal care involves preventative veterinary care, including annual exams with vaccinations and blood tests, many common injuries and illnesses can be detected just by noticing a change in the behavior of an animal. Because behavior is a primary means of communication, a change in an animal's activity level, eating habits, posture, or gait can often "tell" us something important and be a clue to detect or prevent an illness or injury. By making careful observations and developing an ethogram (a description of an animal's behavior), we can learn to recognize the range of behaviors performed by different kinds of animals as well as by different individuals of the same animal type. Through this process, we will come to understand how animals react or respond to different conditions (e.g., changes in weather) or stimuli (e.g., loud noises), and what types of behaviors might indicate that something is wrong with our animals. Sometimes symptoms of diseases or injuries are not always obvious, and detection depends on how closely we observe our animals and how well we understand their behaviors. Activity Concepts and Vocabulary Animal behavior • : A branch of biology that studies the behavior of animals. Ethogram (ee-thuh-gram) • : A description of the types of behaviors performed by the species you are studying.
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