Tinbergen’s Four Questions

Tinbergen’s four questions are categories that when taken together are used as a scheme for thinking about animal behavior.  They were developed by Nikolaas Tinbergen in the early 1960s, who adapted them from the work of Konrad Lorenz.  They represented areas of research that should be conducted on any aspect of behavior, and have become a fundamental part of the science of animal behavior.  The four questions are function, mechanism, ontogeny, and phylogeny.  These can be divided into two broad categories.  Ultimate Questions (function and phylogeny) are the larger picture, evolutionary time scale, ‘why’ questions.  Proximate Questions (ontogeny and mechanism) are the more immediate, individual, ‘how’ questions.

Function, or Adaptation, Questions are those that ask why a species has particular structures.  These questions set out to explain a current form (like why does a bird have a particular song)

Phylogeny Questions are those that ask why a structure evolved.  These questions set out to explain why a form has occurred as set in its historical context (a particular bird songs is especially efficient at being heard in a particular habitat).

Ontogeny Questions are those that ask how a structure develops.  These questions set out to explain how a structure forms as an individual grows (how does a birds’ song change throughout its life).

Mechanism, or Causation, Questions are those that ask how a structure is actually made and used.  These questions set out to explain the fundamental processes that create a structure (what neurons and hormones are used in a birds’ brain to actually trigger a song to be produced).

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