Arizona State University
Sinauer Associates, Inc. Publishers
Sunderland, Massachusetts U.S.A.
© Sinauer Associates, Inc. This material cannot be copied, reproduced, manufactured
or disseminated in any form without express written permission from the publisher.
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Contents in Brief
CHAPTER 1
An Introduction to Animal Behavior 3
CHAPTER 2
Behavioral Ecology and the Evolution of Altruism 15
CHAPTER 3
The Evolution of Social Behavior 43
CHAPTER 4
The Evolution of Communication 67
CHAPTER 5
Avoiding Predators and Finding Food 101
CHAPTER 6
The Evolution of Habitat Selection, Territoriality,
and Migration 139
CHAPTER 7
The Evolution of Reproductive Behavior 171
CHAPTER 8
The Evolution of Mating Systems 217
CHAPTER 9
The Evolution of Parental Care 257
CHAPTER 10
Proximate and Ultimate Causes of Behavior 293
CHAPTER 11
The Development of Behavior 323
CHAPTER 12
Evolution, Nervous Systems, and Behavior 359
CHAPTER 13
How Neurons and Hormones Organize Behavior 391
CHAPTER 14
The Evolution of Human Behavior 423
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Contents
CHAPTER 1
An Introduction to Animal Behavior 3
The Behavioral Ecology of a Digger Bee 4
Natural Selection and Infanticide 9
The Science of Behavioral Biology 11
The Power of Scientific Logic 11
Summary 13
Suggested Reading 13
CHAPTER 2
Behavioral Ecology and the Evolution of Altruism 15
Explaining Altruism: Intelligent Design? 17
Altruism and For-the-Benefit-of-the-Group
Selection 18
Altruism and Indirect Selection 21
Kin Selection and Inclusive Fitness Theory 23
Social Insects and Inclusive Fitness 25
Testing the Haplodiploidy Hypothesis 28
The History of Behavioral Traits 29
The Origin of the Dances of Honey Bees 32
An Initial Hypothesis and Its Test 34
Kin Selection and Social Conflict 37
Summary 41
Suggested Reading 41
CHAPTER 3
The Evolution of Social Behavior 43
The Evolution of Helpful Behavior 45
The Reciprocity Hypothesis 50
Kin Selection and Helpful Behavior 53
Helpers at the Nest: A Darwinian Puzzle 54
Helpers at the Nest: Alternative Hypotheses 56
Helpers at the Burrow: The Case of the Naked
Mole Rat 61
Altruism in Vertebrates and Insects: A Comparison 62
Summary 65
Suggested Reading 65
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VIII
CONTENTS
CHAPTER 4
The Evolution of Communication 67
The History of a Strange Display 68
Evolutionary History Occurs via Changes in
Preexisting Traits 69
Sensory Exploitation and the Origin
of Communication Signals 70
Sensory Exploitation—or the Retention of
Ancestral Traits? 74
The Panda Principle 76
The Behavioral Ecology of Communication 77
Adaptationist Hypotheses for the Hyena’s
Pseudopenis 79
Another Darwinian Puzzle: The Adaptive Value of
Threat Displays 81
The Honest Signal Hypothesis 82
Self-Sacrificing Communication? 86
The Darwinian Puzzle of Deception 88
The Manipulation of Communication Systems 90
One More Darwinian Puzzle: Eavesdropping 93
Summary 97
Suggested Reading 98
CHAPTER 5
Avoiding Predators and Finding Food 101
The Definition of Adaptation 103
Testing Adaptationist Hypotheses 104
The Comparative Method 106
A Cost–Benefit Approach to Social Defenses 110
Game Theory and Social Defenses 113
A Cost–Benefit Approach to Cryptic Behavior 115
The Darwinian Puzzle of Conspicuous Behavior 118
Optimality Theory and Antipredator Behavior 122
Optimality Theory and Foraging Decisions 124
How to Choose an Optimal Mussel 128
Criticisms of Optimal Foraging Theory 129
Game Theory, Feeding Behavior, and Another
Darwinian Puzzle 132
Behavioral Variation and Conditional Strategies 134
Summary 136
Suggested Reading 137
CHAPTER 6
The Evolution of Habitat Selection, Territoriality,
and Migration 139
Habitat Selection and Ideal Free Distribution
Theory 140
When to Invest in Territorial Defense 142
Territoriality and Resource-Holding Power 145
Why Give Up Quickly When Fighting for a
Territory? 146
Contest Resolution via Nonarbitrary Means 148
Resource Value and Payoff Asymmetries 150
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CONTENTS
The Dear Enemy Effect 151
Dispersal and Migration 153
The History of Migration 156
The Costs of Migration 159
IX
The Benefits of Migration 163
Conditional Strategies and Migration 166
Summary 169
Suggested Reading 169
CHAPTER 7
The Evolution of Reproductive Behavior 171
Sexual Selection and Bowerbird Behavior 172
Sexual Differences Theory 175
Sexual Selection and Parental Investment 177
Testing Sexual Differences Theory 178
Sexual Selection and the Competition for Mates 181
Alternative Mating Tactics 183
Why Settle for Less? 184
The Coexistence of Alternative Mating Strategies 188
Sexual Selection and Sperm Competition 190
Why Stay with a Female after Mating with Her? 193
Sexual Selection and Mate Choice 196
Female Mate Choice for Paternal Males 199
Female Mate Choice without Material Benefits 200
Runaway Sexual Selection 205
Testing Competing Ideas about Mate Choice 207
Sexual Conflict 209
Summary 214
Suggested Reading 215
CHAPTER 8
The Evolution of Mating Systems 217
Is Male Monogamy Adaptive? 218
Male Monogamy in Mammals 222
Male Monogamy in Birds 224
Monogamous Males, Polyandrous Females 227
What Do Females Gain from Polyandry? 230
Polyandry and Good Genes 232
Polyandry and Genetic Compatibility 234
Polyandry and Social Insects 237
Polyandry and Material Benefits 238
Why Are There So Many Kinds of Polygynous
Mating Systems? 241
Female Defense Polygyny 241
Resource Defense Polygyny 243
Scramble Competition Polygyny 246
Lek Polygyny 247
Summary 254
Suggested Reading 255
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X
CONTENTS
CHAPTER 9
The Evolution of Parental Care 257
The Cost–Benefit Analysis of Parental Care 258
Why More Care by Mothers than by Fathers? 259
Why Are Any Males Paternal? 263
Why Do Male Water Bugs Do All the Work? 264
Discriminating Parental Care 267
Why Adopt Genetic Strangers? 270
The History of Interspecific Brood Parasitism 274
Why Accept a Parasite’s Egg? 278
The Puzzle of Parental Favoritism 281
Killer Siblings 284
Parental Behavior in Relation to Offspring Value 287
Summary 290
Suggested Reading 291
CHAPTER 10
Proximate and Ultimate Causes of Behavior 293
Connecting the Four Levels of Analysis 294
The Proximate and Ultimate Causes of Monogamy
in Prairie Voles 296
The Proximate Causes of Bird Song 299
Social Experience and Song Development 302
Bird Brains and Bird Songs 304
How the Avian Song Control System Works 305
The Ultimate Causes of Bird Songs 308
The Adaptive Value of Song Learning 311
Adaptive Repertoire Matching 315
Female Preferences and Song Learning 316
Proximate and Ultimate Causes Are
Complementary 319
Summary 321
Suggested Reading 321
CHAPTER 11
The Development of Behavior 323
The Nature or Nurture Misconception 324
The Interactive Theory of Development 324
Learning Requires Both Genes and Environment 329
Environmental Differences Can Cause Behavioral
Differences 332
Genetic Differences Can Also Cause Behavioral
Differences 334
Single Gene Effects on Development 338
Evolution and Behavioral Development 341
Adaptive Developmental Homeostasis 342
Adaptive Developmental Switch Mechanisms 345
The Adaptive Value of Learning 349
Summary 356
Suggested Reading 357
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CONTENTS
XI
CHAPTER 12
Evolution, Nervous Systems, and Behavior 359
Complex Responses to Simple Stimuli 360
How Moths Avoid Bats 363
Detecting, Processing, and Responding to
Ecologically Significant Stimuli 370
Selective Relaying of Sensory Inputs 374
Responding to Relayed Messages 376
The Proximate Basis of Stimulus Filtering 379
Stimulus Filtering via Cortical Magnification 381
The Evolution of Cognitive Skills 384
Summary 389
Suggested Reading 389
CHAPTER 13
How Neurons and Hormones Organize Behavior 391
Neural Command and Control 392
Daily Changes in Behavioral Priorities 395
How Do Circadian Mechanisms Work? 397
Seasonal and Annual Cycles of Behavior 401
Social Conditions and Changing Priorities 409
Hormonal Modulation of Behavior 411
Hormones and Reproductive Behavior 413
The Costs of Hormonal Regulation 416
Summary 420
Suggested Reading 420
CHAPTER 14
The Evolution of Human Behavior 423
Language and the Four Levels of Analysis 424
The History of Human Speech 425
The Neurophysiology of Speech 426
The Adaptive Value of Speech 429
The Evolutionary Analysis of Mate Choice 432
Mate Choice by Women 432
Mate Choice by Men 438
The Evolutionary Analysis of Sexual Conflict 441
Coercive Sex 446
Practical Applications of Evolutionary Theory 449
The Triumph of an Evolutionary Analysis
of Human Behavior 452
Summary 454
Suggested Reading 455
Glossary 457
Illustration Credits 503
Bibliography 463
Index 505
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or disseminated in any form without express written permission from the publisher.
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