John Alcock is Regents� Professor Emeritus of Biology 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 wrote The Triumph of Sociobiology (2001) and coauthored The Evolution of Insect Mating Systems (1983) with Randy Thornhill. Alcock 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. Dr. Alcock also received the Dean�s Quality Teaching Award the first year it was given at Arizona State University.

This classic text continues to offer a balanced treatment of the underlying mechanisms and evolutionary bases of behaviour with a focus on the importance of evolutionary theory for the unification of the different behavioral disciplines. The new edition has been thoroughly rewritten with coverage of recent work in the field.

1. An Evolutionary Approach to Animal Behavior

* Understanding Monogamy
o Levels of Analysis
o Proximate and Ultimate Explanations in Biology
* How to Discover the Causes of Behavior&3151;Scientifically
* Darwinian Theory and Ultimate Hypotheses
o Darwinian Theory and the Study of Behavior
o The Problem with Group Selection
o Testing Alternative Hypotheses
o Certainty and Science

2. Understanding the Proximate and Ultimate Causes of Bird Song

* Different Songs: Proximate Causes
o Social Experience and Song Development
o The Development of the Underlying Mechanisms of Singing Behavior
o How the Avian Song Control System Works
* Different Songs: Ultimate Causes
o The Reproductive Benefits of Song Learning
o The Benefits of Learning a Dialect
o Female Preferences and Song Learning
* Proximate and Ultimate Causes Are Complementary

3. The Development of Behavior

* The Interactive Theory of Development
o The Nature-or-Nurture Fallacy
o Behavioral Development Requires Both Genes and Environment
* What Causes Individuals to Develop Differently?
o Environmental Differences and Behavioral Differences
o Genetic Differences and Behavioral Differences
o Hereditary Differences in the Food Preferences of Garter Snakes
o Single-Gene Effects on Development
* Evolution and Behavioral Development
* Adaptive Features of Behavioral Development
o Developmental Homeostasis: Protecting Development against Disruption
o The Adaptive Value of Developmental Switch Mechanisms
o The Adaptive Value of Learning

4. The Control of Behavior: Neural Mechanisms

* How Neurons Control Behavior
o Sensory Receptors and Survival
o Relaying and Responding to Sensory Input
o Central Pattern Generators
* The Proximate Basis of Stimulus Filtering
o Cortical Magnification in the Tactile Mode
* Adaptation and the Proximate Mechanisms of Behavior
o Adaptive Mechanisms of Human Perception
o Adaptive Mechanisms of Navigation
o Adaptive Mechanisms of Migration

5. The Organization of Behavior: Neurons and Hormones

* Neural Command Centers Organize Behavior Behavioral Schedules
o How Do Circadian Mechanisms Work?
o Long-Term Cycles of Behavior
o The Physical Environment Influences Long-Term Cycles
* Changing Priorities in Changing Social Environments
o Hormones and the Organization of Reproductive Behavior
o The Variable Role of Testosterone

6. Behavioral Adaptations for Survival

* Mobbing Behavior and the Evolution of Adaptations
o The Comparative Method for Testing Adaptationist Hypotheses
* The Cost�Benefit Approach to Antipredator Behavior
o The Costs and Benefits of Camouflage
* Some Darwinian Puzzles
o Optimality Theory and Antipredator Behavior
o Game Theory Applied to Social Defenses

7. The Evolution of Feeding Behavior

* Optimal Foraging Behavior
o How to Choose an Optimal Mussel
o Criticisms of Optimal Foraging Theory
* Game Theory and Feeding Behavior
* More Darwinian Puzzles in Feeding Behavior
o Why Do Some Spiders Make Their Webs Conspicuous?
o Why Do Humans Consume Alcohol, Spices, and Dirt?
* The Adaptive Value and History of a Complex Behavior
o The Adaptive Value of Honey Bee Dances
o The Origin and Modification of Honey Bee Dances

8. Choosing Where to Live

* Habitat Selection
o Habitat Preferences of a Territorial Aphid
o The Costs and Benefits of Dispersal
* Migration
o The Costs of Migration
o The Benefits of Migration
o Migration as a Conditional Tactic
* Territoriality
* Territorial Contests

9. The Evolution of Communication

* The Origin and Modification of a Signal
o The Adaptive Value of a Signal
o An Adaptationist Hypothesis
* The History of a Signal-Receiving Mechanism
o The History of Insect Wings
* Sensory Exploitation of Signal Receivers
* Adaptationist Questions about Communication
o Why Do Baby Birds Beg So Loudly?
o How to Deal with Illegitimate Receivers
o Why Settle Disputes with Harmless Threats?
o How Can Deception Evolve?

10. The Evolution of Reproductive Behavior

* The Evolution of Differences in Sex Roles
o Testing the Evolutionary Theory of Sex Differences
* Sexual Selection and Competition for Mates
o Alternative Mating Tactics
o Conditional Mating Strategies
o Distinct Mating Strategies
o Sperm Competition
o Mate Guarding
* Sexual Selection and Mate Choice
o Mate Choice without Material Benefits
o Does Male Courtship Signal Mate Quality?
o Testing the Healthy Mate, Good Genes, and Runaway Selection Theories
* Sexual Conflict

11. The Evolution of Mating Systems

* Is Male Monogamy Adaptive?
o Male Monogamy in Mammals
o Male Monogamy in Birds
* What Do Females Gain from Polyandry?
o Polyandry and Good Genes
o Polyandry and Material Benefits
* The Diversity of Polygynous Mating Systems
o Female Defense Polygyny
o Resource Defense Polygyny
o Scramble Competition Polygyny
o Lek Polygyny

12. The Evolution of Parental Care

* The Cost�Benefit Analysis of Parental Care
o Why More Care by Mothers than Fathers?
o Exceptions to the Rule
o Why Do Male Water Bugs Do All the Work?
* Discriminating Parental Care
o Why Adopt Genetic Strangers?
o The History of Interspecific Brood Parasitism
o Why Accept a Parasite�s Egg?
* The Evolution of Parental Favoritism
o How to Evaluate the Reproductive Value of Offspring

13. The Evolution of Social Behavior

* The Costs and Benefits of Social Life
* The Evolution of Helpful Behavior
o The Reciprocity Hypothesis
o Altruism and Indirect Selection
o The Importance of Relatedness
o Indirect Selection and the Alarm Call of Belding�s Ground Squirrel
* The Concept of Inclusive Fitness
o Inclusive Fitness and the Pied Kingfisher
o Inclusive Fitness and Helpers at the Nest
o The Evolutionary History of Helping at the Nest
o Insect Helpers at the Nest
* The Evolution of Eusocial Behavior
o Haplodiploid Sex Determination and the Evolution of Extreme Altruism
o Testing the Haplodiploid Hypothesis
o Eusociality in the Absence of Very Close Relatedness
o The Ecology of Eusociality

14. The Evolution of Human Behavior

* The Adaptationist Approach to Human Behavior
o The Sociobiology Controversy
o Arbitrary Culture Theory
o Cultural Evolution Theory
* Adaptive Mate Preferences
o Adaptive Mate Preferences of Women
o Conditional Mate Preferences of Men and Women
o Sexual Conflict
o Coercive Sex
* Adaptive Parental Care
o Helping Children Marry
* Applications of Evolutionary Psychology