Back to choose another topic Territorial behaviours in the defence of feeding or nesting sites. Territorial behaviour involves an individual or individuals of a group defending an area , usually of fixed boundaries, from other members of , usually, the same species . The object of such behaviour is to retain a suitable habitat for survival of that individual or group of individuals. Such survival relies on the maintenance of feeding sites and nesting sites , without which individuals would not reach reproductive maturity and ensure that the species genes are passed on to the next generation. Back to choose another topic Aggressive and submissive behaviours.
Aggressive behaviour is most likely to be observed in groups where a dominance hierarchy exists.
Aggression, as the behaviours described for territoriality, may take many forms, with fighting usually the behaviour of last resort. The purpose of aggression is to maintain or challenge the dominance relationships within a group. Aggression rarely leads to the death of the 'loser', to remove genes by killing members of the species is counterproductive. Submissive behaviour is the behaviour exhibited in response to displays of aggression . Together, aggressive and submissive behaviours can lead to complex relationships within groups of animals , sometimes known as a pecking order or dominance heirarchy.