Animal Behavior

by Michael D. Breed, Janice Moore

Animal Behavior, Second Edition, covers the broad sweep of animal behavior from its neurological underpinnings to the importance of behavior in conservation. The authors, Michael Breed and Janice Moore, bring almost 60 years of combined experience as university professors to this textbook, much of that teaching animal behavior. An entire chapter is devoted to the vibrant new field of behavior and conservation, including topics such as social behavior and the relationship between parasites, pathogens, and behavior. Thoughtful coverage has also been given to foraging behavior, mating and parenting behavior, anti-predator behavior, and learning. This text addresses the physiological foundations of behavior in a way that is both accessible and inviting, with each chapter beginning with learning objectives and ending with thought-provoking questions. Additionally, special terms and definitions are highlighted throughout. Animal Behavior provides a rich resource for students (and professors) from a wide range of life science disciplines.

552 pages, Paperback

First published January 4, 2011

Reviews

[Innastholiel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a wonderful introductory textbook. It provides a good overview of the different aspects of behaviour in animals, and it doesn’t assume any pre-existing knowledge, so nearly everything is explained and defined. It also provides definitions of key terms in orange boxes on the page margins, which I really appreciate because it breaks up the text and makes it easier to extract really essential information. Furthermore, there are short summaries of case studies, ideas for discussion points, and it also engages the reader — it tries to get you to think about questions to ask and how you could design an experiment to answer those questions.