Habit (biology)

Habit, equivalent to habitus in some applications in biology, refers variously to aspects of behaviour or structure, as follows:

• In zoology (particularly in ethology), habit usually refers to aspects of more or less predictable behaviour, instinctive or otherwise, though it also has broader application. Habitus refers to the characteristic form or morphology of a species.
• In botany, the plant habit is the characteristic form in which a given species of plant grows.^[1]

Behavior

In zoology, habit (not to be confused with habitus as described below) usually refers to a specific behavior pattern, either adopted, learned, pathological, innate, or directly related to physiology. For example:

• ...the [cat] was in the habit of springing upon the [door knocker] in order to gain admission...^[2]
• If these sensitive parrots are kept in cages, they quickly take up the habit of feather plucking.^[3]
• The
  arboreal habit and rarely ventures onto the forest
  floor.
• The
  defense
  .

• Many species of
  hedges rather than trees
  .
• Certain
  cultivation because of their dwarf
  habit.

There is some overlap between the classifications of plants according to their habit and their life-form.

Other terms in biology refer similarly to various taxa; for example:

• dimorphic fungi
  .
• Lichens structure is described their growth form: foliose, crustose, fruticose or gelatinous.
• thallose
  .
• The structure of a given species of
  level of organization [de
  ].
• Bacteria are described by their morphology or shape.
• body symmetry, the type of germ layers and of body cavities
  .

Since the distinction between the concepts – mode of behavior and morphological form – are significant in zoology, the term habitus (from which the word habit derives) is used to describe form as distinct from behaviour (habit). The term habitus also occurs in botanical texts, but there it is used almost interchangeably with habit, because plant behaviour generally does not correspond closely to the concept of habits in the zoological sense.^[6]

See also

• Habitat
• Animal migration
• Habit (psychology)

References