In this latest anthology of articles from American Scientist, nine of the 38 new to this edition, Sherman (Cornell U.) and Alcock (Arizona State U.) introduce key behavioral concepts and set the stage for classroom discussion--particularly in courses that use Alcock's textbook, Animal Behavior. E.O. Wilson and other leading scientists share modern research approaches to the study of animal behavior, and insights on the mechanisms and evolution of such behaviors as aggression, mating, and cooperation in species from honeybees to humans. Annotation ©2010 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
PART I: DOING SCIENCE Scientists, Scholars, Knaves, and Fools;
E.O.Wilson Conduct, Misconduct, and the Structure of Science; J.Woodward &
D.Goodstein The Science of Scientific Writing; G.D.Gopen & J.A.Swan
Infanticide as a Primate Reproductive Strategy; S.Blaffer Hrdy PART II: THE
MECHANISMS OF BEHAVIOR Why Male Ground Squirrels Disperse; K.E.Holekamp &
P.W.Sherman Bird Song and the Problem of Honest Communication; W.A.Searcy &
S.Nowicki Mozart's Starling; M.J.West & A.P.King UV Lights up Marine Fish;
J.P.Zamzow, P.A.Nelson & G.S.Losey Animal Thinking; D.R.Griffin What Do
Animals Think about Numbers?; M.D.Hauser Testosterone and Aggression in
Birds; J.C.Wingfield, G.F.Ball, A.M.Dufty, Jr., R.E.Hegner & M.Ramenofsky
Physiology of Helping in Florida Scrub-Jays; S.J.Schoech Shaping Brain
Sexuality; A.H.Bass Aerial Defense Tactics of Flying Insects; M.May PART
III: THE EVOLUTIONARY HISTORY OF BEHAVIOR The Evolution of Communal
Nest-Weaving in Ants; B.Holldobler & E.O.Wilson Untangling the Evolution of
the Web; W.A.Shear Why Do Bowerbirds Build Bowers?; G.Borgia Early Canid
Domestication: The Farm-Fox Experiment; L.N.Trut Protecting Ourselves from
Food; P.W.Sherman & S.M.Flaxman PART IV: THE ADAPTIVE VALUE OF REPRODUCTIVE
BEHAVIOR The Evolution of Sexual Differences in Insects; R.Thornhill &
D.T.Gwynne Mating Behavior and Hermaphroditism in Coral Reef Fishes;
R.R.Warner Animal Genitalia and Female Choice; W.G.Eberhard The Lion's
Mane; P.M.West Prairie-Vole Partnerships; L.L.Getz & C.S.Carter Avian
Siblicide; D.W.Mock, H.Drummond & C.H.Stinson The Strategies of Human
Mating; D.M.Buss PART V: THE ADAPTIVE VALUE OF SOCIAL BEHAVIOR Why Ravens
Share; B.Heinrich & J.Marzluff Making Decisions in the Family: An
Evolutionary Perspective; S.T.Emlen, P.H.Wrege & N.J.Demong Naked Mole-Rats;
R.L.Honeycutt Kin Recognition in Animals; W.G.Holmes & P.W.Sherman Yawning;
R.R.Provine The Adaptive Value of Religious Ritual; R.Sosis The Cognitive
Psychology of Belief in the Supernatural; J.M.Bering PART VI: HONEY BEE
BEHAVIOR AT MULTIPLE LEVELS OF ANALYSIS From Society to Genes with the Honey
Bee; G.E.Robinson Group Decision Making in Honey Bee Swarms; T.D.Seeley,
P.Kirk Visscher & K.M.Passino Evolution for the Good of the Group; D.Sloan
Wilson & E.O.Wilson The Essence of Royalty: Honey Bee Queen Pheromone;
M.L.Winston & K.N.Slessor The Honey Bee Colony as a Superorganism; T.D.Seeley
PAUL W. SHERMAN, Professor, Cornell University USA. He studies the behavioural ecology of various mammals and birds, and teaches animal social behaviour and Darwinian medicine. JOHN ALCOCK, Regents' Professor of Biology, Arizona State University, USA. His research deals with the behavioural ecology of insect mating systems. He received the Burroughs' Award for natural history writing in 1998. Dr. Alcock also received the Dean's Quality Teaching Award the first year it was given at Arizona State University.
