Animal Behavior

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Animal Behavior

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A guide to the hows and whys of animals interacting with each other and with the world around them.

A Free Online Textbook

Contributors

Notes to Contributors

Textbook cover

This textbook explores the mechanisms and evolution of animal behavior, including neural, hormonal, and genetic substrates of behavior; foraging; anti-predator defenses; mating systems and sexual selection; social behavior; communication; parental care; kin selection and recognition; and territoriality. Associated laboratory exercises will provide hands-on experience for many of these concepts.

Contents 1 Chapter 1. History, Aims and Approaches 2 Chapter 2. Development, Learning and Genetics 3 Chapter 3. Proximate Mechanisms of Behavior 4 Chapter 4. Functional Significance of Behavior 5 Chapter 5. Phylogeny, and Behavior 6 Chapter 6. Behavior Case Studies 7 Chapter 7. Comparative Human Behavior 8 original modules that are now included in the text

Contents

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[edit] Chapter 1. History, Aims and Approaches

• Definition of Animal Behavior
• Aims of Animal Behavior
• History of Animal Behavior

[edit] Chapter 2. Development, Learning and Genetics

• Nature vs. Nurture
• Development/Maturation

• Human Cognitive Development

• Learning and Memory
• Behavioral Genetics

[edit] Chapter 3. Proximate Mechanisms of Behavior

• Neuroscience
• Sensory Biology
• Neural Orchestration of Motor Responses
• Behavioral Endocrinology
• Biological Rhythms

[edit] Chapter 4. Functional Significance of Behavior

• Evolution
• Sex and Mating Systems
• Population Genetics
• Altruism and Sociality
• Modeling Behavior

[edit] Chapter 5. Phylogeny, and Behavior

• Darwin's Finches

[edit] Chapter 6. Behavior Case Studies

• Communication Systems

• Bird Song
• Human Language
• The Parallels between Bird Song and Human Language Learning

• Spatial Distributions

• Habitat Use
• Orienting, Navigation, Migration
• Territoriality

• other

• Animal Behavior/Army Ants - Social Hierarchy, Life Cycles, and Migration
• Animal Behavior/Honeybee Foraging Behavioral Analysis
• Penguins
  • Animal Behavior/Penguin Loving
• Sea Turtles
  • Animal Behavior/Nesting Behavior

[edit] Chapter 7. Comparative Human Behavior

• Human Evolution

[edit] original modules that are now included in the text

these modules contain the original histories for the material that has been merged into different sections of the book

• Cuckoo Brood Parasitism
• Operant Conditioning
• Natural Selection
• Sexual Selection
• Speciation
• Mimicry and Camouflage
• The Peppered Moth Studies
• The Monarch Butterfly
• Reproductive Strategies
• Lek Polygyny
• Polyandry
• Altruism
• Eusociality
• Memory
• Bird Song
• Human Language
• The Parallels between Bird Song and Human Language Learning
• Language Learning
• Endocrinology
• Neurophysiology
• Neuroanatomy
• Pheromones