Animal Behaviour Biology 4701
last update: January 21, 2025
course outline here
do contact me if you have any comments, questions or want to chat about anything
Seminar presentation instructions (here)
Laboratory schedule and suggested papers for review presentations (will be regularly updated)
January 14 THE classic critique of behavioural ecology and sociobiology (Ian presents)
S.J. Gould and R. Lewontin. 1979. The Spandrels of San Marco and the Panglossian paradigm: a critique of the adaptationisty program. Proc. Roy. Soc. (London) 205: 581-598. here
January 21 Genetics of behaviour – human examples: pair bonding and social attitudes
B Landsborough, DR Wilson, DJ Mennill. 2020. Variation in chick-a-dee call sequences, not in the fine structure of chick-a-dee calls, influences mobbing behaviour in mixed-species flocks. Behavioral Ecology 31(1) 54–62. chick-a-dee.pdf presenter: James
Atton N, Galef BJ, Hoppitt W, Webster MM, Laland KN. 2014 Familiarity affects social network structure and discovery of prey patch locations in foraging stickleback shoals. Proc. R. Soc. B 281: 20140579. https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rspb.2014.0579 presenter: James
January 28 Adaptive control of circadian rhythms
Foster et al. 2017. Smaller and bolder prey snails have higher survival in staged encounters with the sea star Pisaster giganteus. Current Zoology 63(6): 633-638. https://www.mun.ca/serg/WC-Foster 2017.pdf presenter: Parker
February 4 Examples of optimality theory testing studies
February 11 Communication
A Wheeldon, P Szymański, A Surmacki, TS Osiejuk. (2021). Song type and song type matching are important for joint territorial defense in a duetting songbird, Behavioral Ecology 32(5):883–894. https://doi.org/10.1093/beheco/arab030 presenter: Kobe
Reid et al. (2022). Breeding status shapes territoriality and vocalization patterns in Spotted Owls. Journal of Avian Biology 2022(2): e02952 https://nsojournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/jav.02952 presenter: Teye
February 18 Mate choice and sexual selection
Morina et al. 2018. While males fight, females choose: male phenotypic quality informs female mate choice in mammals. Animal Behaviour 138: 69-74. presenter: Emily
NL Zweerus, M van Wijk, C Schal, AT Groot. (2021). Experimental evidence for female mate choice in a noctuid moth. Animal Behaviour 179:1-13. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2021.06.022 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0003347221002025 presenter: Grace
February 25 no lab – winter semester break
March 4 Mating systems
Andrew T. Smith, F. Stephen Dobson. (2022). Social complexity in plateau pikas, Ochotona curzoniae. Animal Behaviour 184:27-41. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2021.11.014 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0003347221003766 presenter: Cassandra
Duchateau S, Chéliz G, Gil JA, López-López P. (2022). Adult coloration of the Bearded Vulture (Gypaetus barbatus) in the Pyrenees: relation to sex, mating system and productivity. Ibis 164:505-518. https://doi.org/10.1111/ibi.13032 presenter: Meghan
March 11 Parental care, or not
March 18 Human Behaviour I
Jonason et al. 2015. Birds of a “bad” feather flock together: The Dark Triad and mate choice. Personality and Individual Differences 78: 34-38. presenter: Jessica
March 25 Human Behaviour II
L Glowacki. (2024). The controversial origins of war and peace: apes, foragers, and human evolution. Evolution and Human Behavior 45(6):106618. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2024.106618
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1090513824000941 presenter: Wesley
Larva MA, Rantala M.J. (2024). An evolutionary psychological approach toward BDSM interest and behavior. Archives of Sexual Behaviour 53:2253–2267. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-024-02881-x presenter: Michael
"What if I'm wrong?" (Richard Dawkins - YouTube)
This page is maintained by
Ian L. Jones (iljones 'at' mun.ca)