AP BIOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -territorial behaviour, in zoology, the methods by which an animal, or group of animals, protects its territory from incursions by others of its species. Territorial boundaries may be marked by sounds such as bird song, or scents such as pheromones secreted by the skin glands of many mammals.

Detailed explanation-2: -Many animals are territorial as adults. This strategy often makes evolutionary sense since animals can defend clumped resources more efficiently if they stake out a space of their own.

Detailed explanation-3: -Territoriality is the behavior by which an animal lays claim to and defends an area against others of its species, and occasionally members of other species as well. The territory defended could be hundreds of square miles in size, or only slightly larger than the animal itself.

Detailed explanation-4: -Porteus (1977), identified three interrelated levels of territoriality; personal space, home base (spaces that are actively maintained), and home range (behavior that is formed is part of people’s lives).

Detailed explanation-5: -Territorial defence has both costs and benefits, and animals defend territories only when it is economical to do so. For example, spotted hyenas (Crocuta crocuta) defend territories in the Ngorongoro crater, where their prey is predictable and abundant, but not in the Serengeti plains, where it is very seasonal.