Which option is NOT one of Tinbergen's four questions?

Which option is NOT one of Tinbergen's four questions?

• A. Causation
• B. Ontogeny
• C. Phylogeny
• D. Ecology

Answer: (D)

Tinbergen's framework explains behavior using four ways to ask questions: how the behavior occurs in the moment (mechanisms and triggers), how it develops as the individual grows (ontogeny), how it evolved across species over time (phylogeny), and what advantage the behavior provides for the animal (function or adaptive value). Ecology, while it studies interactions between organisms and their environment, is not one of these question types. So the option described as ecology doesn’t fit Tinbergen’s four-question structure; it’s not a category he proposed for analyzing behavior.

Tinbergen's framework explains behavior using four ways to ask questions: how the behavior occurs in the moment (mechanisms and triggers), how it develops as the individual grows (ontogeny), how it evolved across species over time (phylogeny), and what advantage the behavior provides for the animal (function or adaptive value). Ecology, while it studies interactions between organisms and their environment, is not one of these question types. So the option described as ecology doesn’t fit Tinbergen’s four-question structure; it’s not a category he proposed for analyzing behavior.