Graduate Studies


BIOL 59200 Evolution of Behavior

Offering:
Spring, Credit 3.0

Prerequisites:

 BIOL 12100 or 58000

Description:

BIOL 59200 treats animal behaviors as adaptations, driven by natural selection.  Most of the course therefore deals with the behavior, and especially the social behavior, of animals in natural settings, a field generally termed "behavioral ecology".  We spend the first few weeks reviewing mechanisms of evolution, discussing the assumption that differences in behavior can reflect differences in genes.  We then move on to discuss some examples of specialized behavioral machinery:  "escape" circuitry in invertebrates, directional hearing mechanisms in owls, echolocation by bats, electric communication by fish, specialized learning capabilities required for animal communication and orientation.  Animal communication provides the bridge to social behavior.  Topics covered in the second half of the course include territorial defense, group living, animal conflict, mating systems, social cooperation and altruism, and the processes that might lead to those behaviors.  Examples emphasize birds and mammals but are  broadly chosen to represent unfamiliar, as well as familiar, taxonomic groups.  In the final lecture, we discuss the implications of these ideas for our own behavior.

Two field exercises in observing animal behavior are required.  We attempt to familiarize students with current field research projects by Purdue faculty and graduate students; some students use this course as a springboard to participate in such projects.

Instructor(s):
Peter Waser 

E-mail:
pwaser@bilbo.bio.purdue.edu

Textbook(s):

Text:  Animal Behaviour, an Evolutionary Approach
Year/Edition:  8th  (do not use 9th edition)
Author(s):  Alcock, John
ISBN Number:
Publisher:  Sinauer

Course Format:

BIOL59200:

CRN

Instructional Type

Day

Time

Room(s)

12318

50-min Lecture

MWF

2:30-3:20

 LILY 2102



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