Open Office Hours: 11:30 - 1:00 Mon & Wed in Science Center 163

BY 340Animal BehaviorFall 1999

Dr. Tom Langen: , phone 268-7933

Open Office Hours: 11:30 - 1:00 Mon & Wed in Science Center 163

TEXT: JR Krebs & NB Davies An Introduction to Behavioral Ecology & Supplementary Readings

LECTURES: Monday – Wednesday – Friday @ 10:00 –10:50 in Science Center 354

WEEK DATE TOPIC CHAPTER

18/30Natural Selection and Behavior1

9/1Methods of Studying Behavior2

9/3Discussion Problem Set: Integrative Studies of Behavior

29/6Behavioral Genetics

9/8Foraging 3

9/10Discussion Problem Set: Optimal Foraging & Jays

39/13Foraging5 (pp 102-110)

9/15Social Foraging6

9/17Territoriality5 (pp 110-118)

49/20Evolutionary Game Theory

9/22Animal Contests7

9/24DiscussionProblem Set: Game Theory & Animal Fighting

59/27Animal Contests

9/29Sexual Selection8 (except pp 177-182)

10/1First Midterm: lectures 8/30 – 9/27, 20% of grade

610/3Holiday

10/6Sexual Selection

10/8Discussion: Sexual Selection

710/11Sexual Selection10 (except pp 260-263)

10/13Mating Systems

10/15Discussion: Mating Systems

810/18Mating Systems

10/20Parental Care9 (except pp 239-241)

10/22Discussion: Parental CareNatal Dispersal

910/25Sex Allocation9 (pp 177-182), 10 (pp 260-263)

10/27Family Conflict

10/29Second Midterm: lectures 9/29 – 10/25, 20% of grade

1011/1Dispersal9 (pp 239-241)

11/3Cooperation11

11/5Discussion: Sex Allocation, Family Conflict

1111/8Cooperation

11/10Cooperative Breeding12

11/12Discussion Problem Set: Cooperation

1211/15Eusociality13

11/17Eusociality

11/19Discussion: Complex Social Systems

1311/22Third Midterm: lectures 10/27 – 11/19, 20% of grade

11/24, 11/26 Happy Thanksgiving!

1411/29Coevolution & Arms Races4

12/1Communication14

12/3Discussion: Coevolution & Communication

1512/6Human Behavior

12/8Human Behavior

12/10Discussion: Human Behavior

16Final Exam: cumulative, 30 % of Grade

READINGS: It is essential to read the assigned material to do well in this course. Overheads, figures and supplementary material will be made available through the copy center.

EXAMS: All exams are ‘closed book’ and include material from the lectures, the texts, supplementary readings and problem sets. Exams will consist of short answer and essay questions plus a few quantitative problems to solve (without calculators!). I stress conceptual thinking rather than memorization. I will provide some sample questions to get you prepared.

GRADES: The grades will be based on three midterm exams (20% grade per exam), one final (30% grade) and participation during discussion (10 % grade). In the past, 50 % of students received a grade of B or better and very few students receive lower than a C.

MISC. POLICY: Requests for regrades must be submitted in writing within one week of receiving the graded exam. A grading key will be posted, please refer to it before making a regrade request that is not due to clerical error (i.e. I added the points incorrectly). Exams cannot be made up except under extraordinary circumstances. Discuss any conflict with me ASAP.

DISCUSSIONS

Discussion days (usually Fridays) are an integral component of this course. We will work problem sets, discuss papers, and view video clips of animals behaving. I expect you to have completed the problem set, read the assigned papers and thought about the discussion questions BEFORE a discussion section. I will not collect homework, but 10% of your grade will be based on preparedness and participation on discussion days.

Week 1 (9/3) 1. Probability problem set. 2. DA McLennan (1996) Integrating phylogenetic and experimental analyses: the evolution of male and female nuptial coloration in the stickleback fishes (Gasterosteidae). Systematic Biology 45:261-277.

Week 2 (9/10) 1. Optimal foraging problem set. 2. LN Trut (1999) Early canid domestication: The farm-fox experiment. American Scientist 160-169. 3. M Milinski (1988) Games fish play: making decisions as a social forager. Trends in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology 3:325-330.

Week 3 - None Scheduled

Week 41. Game theory problem set. 2. ER Keeley & JWA Grant (1993) Visual information, resource value, and sequential assessment in convict cichlids (Cichlasoma fasciatum) contests. Behavioral Ecology 4: 345-349.

Week 5 - None Scheduled

Week 6 – RM Gibson, JW Bradbury & SL Vehrencamp (1991) Mate choice in lekking sage grouse revisited: the roles of vocal display, female site fidelity, and copying. Behavioral Ecology 1:165-180.

Week 7 – 1. L Rowe, G. Arnqvist, A Sih & JJ Krupa (1994) Sexual conflict and the evolutionary ecology of mating patterns: water striders as a model system. Trends in Ecology and Evolution.

Week 8 – 1. SJ Schoech (1998) Physiology of helping in Florida Scrub-jays. American Scientist 86:70-77.2. KE Holekamp & PW Sherman (1989) Why male ground squirrels disperse. American Scientist 77:232-239.

Week 9 – None Scheduled

Week 10 - 1. DW Mock, H Drummond & CH Stinson (1990) Avian siblicide. American Scientist 78:438-449. 2RR Warner (1984) Mating behavior and hermaphroditism in coral reef fishes. American Scientist 77:128-136.

Week 11– 1. Kin selection problem set. 2. GS Wilkinson (1990) Food sharing in vampire bats. Scientific American 262:76-82. B Heinrich & J Marzluff (1995) Why ravens share. American Scientist 83:342-349.

Week 12– 1. PW Sherman, JUM Jarvis & SH Braude (1992) Naked mole rats. Scientific American 267:325-330. 2. NR Franks (1989) Army ants: a collective intelligence. American Scientist 77: 139-145.

Week 13–None Scheduled

Week 14 –TBA

Week 15– 1. T. Bereczkei & RIM Dunbar (1997) Female biased reproductive strategies in a Hungarian gypsy population. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 264:17-22. 2. BI Strassmann (1996) Menstrual hut visits by Dogon women: A hormonal test distinguishes deceit from honest signaling. Behavioral Ecology 7:304-315.