Mechanism
What immediate neural, hormonal, sensory, or muscular processes produce it?
Observation · signal · decision · feedback
Ethology
Behavior is evidence unfolding through time. Observe a sequence, code what the animal actually does, and then ask why that behavior exists at several different explanatory levels.
How can one individual change the risk experienced by the whole group?
Setting: Open Kalahari foraging group. Scrub the observation, select events, and code them below before comparing your categories with the expected ethogram.
live species context
Meerkat sentinelSuricata suricattaobservations
loading
class
Animalia
behavior field
Sentinel scans
sentinel · action
26% observed
current transition
action
Sentinel scans
Actor: sentinel
12.0s
Code only what you can observe
observation ethogram
0/5 coded · 0 matched
| time | actor | observation | your code | check |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0–9s | foragers | Several individuals dig and search while one animal occupies a raised perch. | — | |
| 9–17s | sentinel | The perched individual repeatedly turns its head and pauses feeding. | — | |
| 17–22s | sentinel | The sentinel produces a short alarm call immediately after orienting upward. | — | |
| 22–34s | foragers | Foragers stop digging and run into burrows or beneath cover. | — | |
| 34–46s | group | Individuals re-emerge gradually and begin digging again after the alarm ends. | — |
selected evidence
Sentinel scans
The perched individual repeatedly turns its head and pauses feeding.
signal
No explicit communicative signal is required to code this observation.
Four different questions can all be correct
Why does the animal do that?
Development
How does the behavior change with age, experience, and learning?
Function
How can the behavior change survival or reproductive success?
Phylogeny
How does the behavior compare with related lineages and ancestral patterns?
Evidence first
An ethogram separates observation from interpretation.
Describe
Record what changed in posture, movement, orientation, vocalization, contact, or location.
Code
Use categories that are mutually understandable and repeatable enough for another observer to score.
Explain
Only after the behavioral pattern is established do mechanism, learning, function, and ancestry enter the explanation.