ETHOLOGY THE CAPTIVATING SCIENCE

ETHOLOGY -LITTLE KNOWN POWERFUL

BRANCH OF SCIENCE

From the middle of 1970s through the middle of 1980s, I was teaching in a university in the city of Hyderabad, India. In one of my evening walks through the city I saw a bill board announcing MAX MUELLER BHAVAN-GERMAN CULTURAL CENTRE. Excited I meandered through the crowded city road and located the cultural centre. To my surprise I found that the centre had a good library and art centre. The name MAX MUELLER BHAVAN chosen appropriately to honour the great Indologist a great friend of India. Max Mueller (full name Friedreich Max Mueller) is credited with the translation of several Hindu Scriptures from Sanskrit to German and English, out of which the translation of RIG VEDA stands out. My wife Anandi once told me that the very first recording carried out by Thomas Alva Edison after the invention of phonograph was the first line of Rig Veda at the insistence of Max Mueller. Though a German by birth he studied Sanskrit in German universities emigrated to England becoming Professor of Indology and Philology at Oxford University until his death in 1900 at Oxford.

While ploughing through the books in the library I found a book with a strange title ETHOLOGY with the photograph of man on the cover walking his hands locked behind and a group of geese lings following him in a disciplined way. I immediately got the book issued and poured over it for two days. The man in the photograph was Professor Konrad Lorenz of Austria the founder of the discipline called Ethology. Though Professor Lorenz established this discipline in 1930s he was ably assisted by Dutch zoologist Professor Nikolaas Tinbergen and German entomologist Karl Von Frisch to establish Ethology as a powerful scientific discipline. For this great achievement the three were honoured with the Nobel Prize in 1973 under the category of Physiology and Medicine for animal behavioural patterns.

The term ethology is derived from the Greek language Ethos meaning “CHARACTER” logia meaning the study of. So, ethology is a branch of knowledge dealing with human character with its formation and evolution. It also involves the scientific and objective study of animal behaviour especially under natural conditions. One major facet of ethology is the study of instinct (behaviour that animals inherit and exhibit without reason) versus learning (behaviours animals develop during their lifetime).

Fields related to ethology are neuro ethology, behavioural ecology sociobiology wildlife biology evolutionary psychology comparative psychology neuro anatomy neurobiology. The first ethologist was Charles Darwin whose contributions to the understanding of evolution natural selection and reproductive success set the stage for a discussion of the evolution of animal behavior. Darwin published a book in 1872 entitled “The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals” which has a major influence on modern ethology. The field grew in popularity during the early twentieth century under the leadership of Professor Konrad Lorenz of Austria. Today the field of ethology is an established scientific discipline with independent societies and journals dedicated to ethological research. Ethologist may specialize in university research, agricultural animal husbandry animal training and zookeeping. Ethology is useful in:

PET TRAINING -by understanding the natural behavior of animals in certain species and breeds one can encourage desirable behaviors and discourage undesirable ones.

ANIMAL WELFARE AND CONSERVATION- Ethology is a vital field for people working on the protection of endangered species. Preserving and encouraging endangered species will tell on climate changes.

HUMAN SAFTEY- Having a basic understanding of ethology can help a person stay safe when encountering an aggressive animal under any situation.

INPRINTING IN ETHOLOGY- Imprinting is word used in ethology and psychology. It describes a special type of automatic learning. Imprinting keeps the family together like the ducklings in line. (See the photograph with Konrad Lorenz).

Imprinting is a type of innate learning in animals and birds after birth or hatching to recognize their caregiver for food and protection. This enables them to develop behavior patterns related to mating, socializing and survival tactics specific to their species.

KONRAD LORENZ’S EXPERIMENTATION AND CONCLUSIONS ON IMPRINTING

Lorenz demonstrated the phenomenon of imprinting by appearing before newly hatched mallard ducklings and imitating a mother ducks quaking sound. Lorenz concluded that the process of imprinting was a natural instinct and would cause the goslings to imprint on the first large moving object that they saw. Lorenz found that geese follow the first moving object they see. This process is known as imprinting and suggest that the attachment is innate and programmed genetically. Lorenz believed that once imprinting has occurred, it cannot be reversed, nor can a gosling imprint on anything else.

Ethology has already made inroads into areas of genetic engineering and DNA technology. This will help us to alleviate the dreadful old age maladies like dementia and parkinsonism.

The influence of Ethology on modern day ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IS NOT FAR AWAY.

Lorenz’s Nobel Prize winning Imprinting Experiment photos

NOBEL PRIZE WINNING EXPERIMENT ON IMPRINTING SEE THE GOOSELINGS FOLLOW

PROFESSOR LORENZ AFTER IMPRINTING

NOBEL PRIZE WINNING IMPRINTING EXPERIMENTAL WORK OF PROFESSOR KONRAD LORENZ

Professor K.A.Balasubramanian

Ph.D. (IARI-NEW DELHI), Ph.D. (LONDON), D.I.C.(LONDON)