Is there a name for behaviors that are passed down for thousands or millions of years in insects or other animals that are no longer used or needed in todays environment?  Can anyone give and example?

Thank You!

 

Edited July 16, 20196 yr by beesnweeds
rong spelin

27 minutes ago, beesnweeds said:

Is there a name for behaviors that are passed down for thousands or millions of years in insects or other animals that are no longer used or needed in todays environment? 

Vestigial is a term that comes to mind. Also instincts. Maybe vestigial instincts?

An example for humans might be our desire for salty, fatty, and sweet things. They were great for survival when food was scarce, but lead to massive health issues and death today with our access to supermarkets and abundance. 

I’m sure others have ideas, too. 

22 minutes ago, iNow said:

Vestigial is a term that comes to mind. Also instincts. Maybe vestigial instincts?

An example for humans might be our desire for salty, fatty, and sweet things. They were great for survival when food was scarce, but lead to massive health issues and death today with our access to supermarkets and abundance. 

I’m sure others have ideas, too. 

I looked deep into the recesses of my memory and couldn't find that word that I knew I knew.  Dogs circling before lying down might be one such instance as they flatten down imaginary long grass. Your examples are actually called 'primordial emotions', I think.

Quote

Primordial emotions are the subjective element of the instincts which are the genetically programmed behaviour patterns which contrive homeostasis. They include thirst, hunger for air, hunger for food, pain and hunger for specific minerals etc.12 Aug 2008 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18701321

 

Yeah. I realized after that my example didn’t pair well with my word choices. I did, indeed, treat them as distinct answers to the OP in my mind. 

2 hours ago, StringJunky said:

I looked deep into the recesses of my memory and couldn't find that word that I knew I knew. 

I similarly struggled, but found it upon considering the signpost of tails on humans.

Thank you very much for your replies.  I'm often asked this time of year about a behavior in honey bees called washboarding from beginner beekeepers.  Nobody can explain as to why they do it but one of the theories is "primordial emotion".  I just couldn't come up with an example or name.

11 minutes ago, beesnweeds said:

Thank you very much for your replies.  I'm often asked this time of year about a behavior in honey bees called washboarding from beginner beekeepers.  Nobody can explain as to why they do it but one of the theories is "primordial emotion".  I just couldn't come up with an example or name.

Another way of calling it could be 'functional urge'.

I always thought they were call "instinct". Or instinctual behaviors.

On 7/19/2019 at 2:39 AM, StringJunky said:

Another way of calling it could be 'functional urge'.

We call that wanking round these parts.😉