Alcock, John : Arizona State University

John Alcock is a Regents' Professor of Zoology at Arizona State University. He received his Ph.D. from Harvard University under the direction of Ernst Mayr. His research deals with the behavioral ecology of insect mating systems, with projects that have taken him from Arizona to Costa Rica and Australia. He coauthored The Evolution of Insect Mating Systems (1983) with Randy Thornhill and has also written six other books on animal behavior and natural history for general audiences. One of these, In a Desert Garden, received the Burroughs' Award for natural history writing in 1998; another book, The Triumph of Sociobiology, will be published in 2001. Dr. Alcock also received the Dean's Quality Teaching Award the first year it was given at Arizona State University.

This new edition of Animal Behavior has been completely rewritten, resulting in a more compact yet thoroughly up-to-date text. Notable is the inclusion, for the first time, of four-color photographs and illustrations throughout. Like previous editions, the book shows how evolutionary biologists analyze all aspects of behavior. It is distinguished by its balanced treatment of both the underlying mechanisms and evolutionary causes of behavior, and stresses the utility of evolutionary theory in unifying the different behavioral disciplines. Important concepts are explained by reference to key illustrative studies, which are described in sufficient detail to help students appreciate the role of the scientific process in producing research discoveries. Examples are drawn evenly from studies of invertebrates and vertebrates, and are supported by nearly 1,300 reference citations. The writing style is clear and engaging: beginning students have no difficulty following the material, despite the strong conceptual orientation of the text. Indeed, instructors consistently report a high level of enthusiasm for the book on the part of their students.

The book is organized into two major sections, one dealing with the proximate mechanisms of behavior and the other with the ultimate or evolutionary causes of behavior. The first two chapters introduce the distinction between proximate and ultimate causes in biology that is the foundation for the remaining chapters. Four subsequent chapters then take a more detailed look at different aspects of proximate bases of behavior.

The text then shifts to the other major section that covers the evolution of behavior. Making the point that each behavioral trait has an evolutionary history as well as potential current adaptive significance, the author examines the history and adaptive value of various categories of behavior, including evasion of predators, reproductive tactics and social behavior. A final chapter presents an evolutionary view of human behavior.

Throughout Animal Behavior, the author keeps the essence of the scientific enterprise clearly in front of the student reader. The text stresses the role of theory and hypothesis-testing in doing science. The book also emphasizes the tentative nature of scientific conclusions, and it identifies controversial and unresolved issues. In addition, Dr. Alcock conveys his deep enthusiasm for the process of science and the discoveries made by behavioral researchers.

An accompanying Instructor's Manual provides answers to the discussion questions presented in the text and sample exam questions (and answers), as well as a listing of films on animal behavior for use in the classroom.

1. An Evolutionary Approach to Animal Behavior

Questions about Behavior
How Questions about Proximate Causes
Why Questions about Ultimate Causes
Answering Proximate and Ultimate Questions About Behavior
Beewolves and Homing Behavior
Gulls and Egg Shell Removal
Darwinian Theory and Ultimate Hypotheses
The Problem with Group Selection
Testing Alternative Hypotheses
Certainty and Science

2. Proximate and Ultimate Causes of Behavior: How and Why Birds Sing

Different Songs: Proximate Causes
Social Experience and Song Development
The Avian Song System
The Development of the Song System
Song Differences Between the Sexes
Avoiding a Misunderstanding
Different Songs: Ultimate Causes
The Adaptationist Approach
Why Do Only Males Sing?
Natural Selection and Dialects
Proximate and Ultimate Causes are Complementary

3. The Development of Behavior: A Focus on Heredity

The Genetics of Behavior
Genetic Differences and Human Behavior
Genetic Differences and IQ Differences
How Many Genetic Differences Are Needed to Produce a Behavioral Difference?
The Evolution of Behavior
Different Selection Pressures, Different Genes, Different Behaviors

4. The Development of Behavior: A Focus on the Environment

The Interactive Theory of Development
When To Become a Forager in a Honeybee Colony
When To Become a Territorial Male
Experience and Behavioral Development
Early Experience and Recognition of Relatives
Learning as Behavioral Development
Evolution and Behavioral Development
The Adaptive Value of Developmental Flexibility
Sex Differences in Spatial Learning Ability
The Evolution of Associative Learning
The Evolution of Developmental Homeostasis
The Adaptive Value of Developmental Homeostasis

5. The Control of Behavior: Neural Mechanisms

How Nerve Cells Control Behavior
How Do Moths Evade Bats?
Nerve Cells and Stimulus Filtering
Selective Tactile Perception
Selective Visual Perception
The Neurophysiology of Navigation
An Olfactory Map?
Mechanisms of Motor Control
The Song of the Midshipman Fish
Central Pattern Generators

6. The Organization of Behavior: Neurons and Hormones

How Neural Command Centers Organize Behavior
Neural Inhibition among Command Centers
Clock Mechanisms and Behavioral Schedules
How Do Circadian Mechanisms Work?
Long-Term Cycles of Behavior
The Physical Environment Influences Long-Term Cycles
Changing Priorities in Changing Social Environments
The Effects of Copulation in the Green Anole
Hormones Help Organize Social Behavior

7. Adaptation and Anti-Predator Behavior

The Meaning of Adaptation
Is the Mobbing of Predators an Adaptation?
The Comparative Method for Testing Adaptationist Hypotheses
The Importance of Divergent Evolution
The Importance of Convergent Evolution
The Diversity of Anti-Predator Adaptations
The Value of Body "Decorations"
The Value of Warning Behavior
How To Stop a Pursuer
The Value of Vigilance
The Dilution Effect and the Selfish Herd
Fighting Back
A Tactic of Last Resort?

8. The Evolution of Feeding Behavior

Locating Food
The Origins of Prey Locating Mechanisms
Getting Help From Companions
The History of Honeybee Dances
The Adaptive Value of Honeybee Dances
The Information Center Hypothesis
Locating Prey by Deceit
Selecting What to Eat
How To Choose an Optimal Clam
How To Choose an Optimal Mussel
Criticisms of Optimality Theory
The Evolution of Alternative Diets
Consuming What You Select To Eat
How To Open a Whelk
Why Do Humans Consume Alcohol, Spices and Dirt?

9. Choosing Where To Live

Habitat Selection
Habitat Preferences in a Territorial Species
Dispersing from One Place to Another
Migration
The Fitness Costs and Benefits of Migration
The Migration of the Monarch Butterfly
Migrants and Nonmigrants Can Coexist in the Same Species
Territoriality
Territoriality and Calories
Territorial Puzzles
Why Do Territory Holders Almost Always Win?

10. The Evolution of Communication

The Origins and Adaptive Value of a Signal
Cumulative Selection and Multiple Changes
The Adaptive Value of Past Changes
Current Adaptive Value
The History of a Signal Receiving Mechanism
The History of Insect Wings
Sensory Exploitation of Signal Receivers by Signalers
Sensory Preferences May Precede the Evolution of a Signal
The Adaptationist Approach to Communication Systems
Why Do Baby Birds Beg so Noisily?
Illegitimate Receivers
Adaptive Signal Receiving
Receivers May Require Honest Signals
Why Does Deception Occur?

11. The Evolution of Reproductive Behavior

The Evolution of Differences in Sex Roles
Testing the Evolutionary Theory of Sex Differences
Sexual Selection and Competition for Copulations
Social Dominance and Male Fitness
Alternative Mating Tactics
A Conditional Strategy with Alternative Mating Tactics
Three Distinct Strategies: Three Mating Tactics
Sexual Selection and Sperm Competition
Mate Guarding
Sexual Selection and Female Mate Choice
Female Mate Choice without Material Benefits
Testing the Healthy Mate, Good Genes, and Runaway Selection Theories
Sexual Conflict Between Males and Females

12. The Evolution of Mating Systems

The Adaptive Value of Monogamy?
Monogamy in Mammals
Monogamy in Birds
Extra-Pair Copulations: The Male Perspective
Extra-Pair Copulations: The Female Perspective
Polyandry without Polygyny
Polygyny
Female Defense Polygyny: The Female Perspective
Resource Defense Polygyny
Resource Defense Polygyny: The Female Perspective
Scramble Competition Polygyny
Lek Polygyny
Why Do Males Aggregate in Leks?
Why Do Females Mate with the Same Males at Leks?

13. The Evolution of Parental Care

Why is Parental Care More Often Maternal than Paternal?
Exceptions to the Rule
Why Do Male Waterbugs Do All the Work?
Discriminating Parental Care
Offspring Recognition: Comparative Studies
Why Adopt Genetic Strangers?
The History of Interspecific Brood Parasitism
Why Accept a ParasiteÕs Egg?
Can Adoption Benefit Foster Parents?
The Evolution of Parental Favoritism

14. The Evolution of Social Behavior

The Benefits and Costs of Social Life
The Evolution of Helpful Behavior
Reciprocal Altruism or Personal Gain?
Unadorned Altruism and Indirect Selection
The Alarm Call of BeldingÕs Ground Squirrel
The Concept of Inclusive Fitness
More on Helpers at the Nest
Insect Helpers at the Nest
The Evolution of Eusocial Behavior
Testing The Haplodiploid Hypothesis
Very Close Relatedness Is Not Essential for Eusociality to Evolve
The Ecology of Eusociality

15. The Evolution of Human Behavior

The Adaptationist Approach to Human Behavior
The Sociobiology Controversy
Evolution and the Diversity of Human Cultures
Sociobiology versus Arbitrary Culture Theory
Adaptive Mating Decisions
Adaptive Mate Choice by Women
Adaptive Mate Choice by Men
Conflict between the Sexes
Coercive Sex
Adaptive Parental Care
Helping Children Marry

Ancillaries
Instructor's Art CD-ROM: contains line art illustrations from the text.
Instructor's Manual: Provides answers to the discussion questions presented in the text and sample exam questions (and answers), as well as a listing of films on animal behavior for use in the classroom.