Seminar in Animal Behavior (ZOOL 691D)

Fall 2011

Animal Behaviour: Evolution and Mechanisms

Dr. Timothy C. Tricas

Wednesday 5.30 - 7pm, Edm 153

In this seminar we will discuss current concepts on the evolutionary biology of animal behavior. We will read chapters from the recent book “Animal Behavior: Evolution and Mechanisms” (P. Kappeler (ed.) 2010, Springer), and supplementary papers from the primary literature of interest to class participants. This course is well-suited for any graduate student interested in the study of animal behavior. The seminar will convene on Wednesdays from 5.00 – 6.30 pm in Edmonson 153.

Schedule
Week	Date	Discussion Leader	Chapter/Papers
1	8/24	Organizational meeting	-
2	8/31	Christine Ambrosino	1. Visual communication
3	9/7	Leigh Ann Boswell	2. Vocal communication in social groups Koda et al. 2008
4	9/15	Kasie Groom	3. Kin recognition: concepts, mechanisms and evolutionary theory DeBruine 2002, DeBruine 2009
5	9/21	Garrett Lynch	5. Individual performance in complex social systems Emery and Clayton 2004, Wascher et al. 2009
6	9/28	Kelly Williams	6. Conflict and conflict resolution in social insects Cremer and Heinze 2002 de Menten et al. 2005
7	10/5	James Anderson	7. Social insects, major evolutionary transitions and multilevel selection Wenseleers et al. 2004, Eldakar et al. 2010
8	10/12	Christine Ambrosino	9. Group decision-making in animal societies Michelena et al. 2007, Bourjade et al. 2009
9	10/19	Leigh Ann Boswell	10. Parental care: adjustments to conflict and cooperation Becker et al. 2008, Fey and Trillmich 2008
10	10/26	Kasie Groom	11. The quantitative study of sexual and natural selection Fedorka and Mousseau 2002 Cox and Calsbeek 2010
11	11/2	Garrett Lynch	8. Cooperation between unrelated individuals 13. Extra-pair behaviour Bergmuller and Taborsky 2005
12	11/9	Kelly Williams	16. Mating systems, social behaviour and hormones Dey et al. 2010, Kime et al. 2010
13	11/16	James Anderson	18. Alternative reproductive tactics and life history phenotypes Sato et al. 2004, Dennenmoser and Thiel 2008
14	11/23	Boswell/Anderson	19. Animal personality and behavioural syndromes Dingenmase et al. 2004, Korsten et al. 2010
15	11/30	Ambrosino/Williams	20. Social learning and culture in animals
16	12/7		Final Exam