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Animal behavior: An evolutionary approach
Following the theory of natural selection and how scientific logic promotes effective thinking, this textbook examines the evolution of feeding behavior, communication, mating systems, parental care, and social behavior in both invertebrates and vertebrates. The eighth edition combines the two chapters on the genetic and environmental influences on development. Annotation ©2005 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR
652 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1975
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About the author
John Alcock
87 books21 followersJohn Alcock (b. 1942) is an American behavioral ecologist and author. He is currently the Emeritus' Professor in the School of Life Sciences at Arizona State University. His research interests include the evolution of diversity in insect populations, studying the adaptive value of different ways in which males find mating partners. He has authored several books, including The Kookaburras' Song: Exploring Animal Behavior in Australia (1988), Sonoran Desert Summer (1990), The Triumph of Sociobiology (2003), and Animal Behavior: An Evolutionary Approach (ninth edition, 2009). He authored Sonoran Desert Spring (1994) which was illustrated by Marilyn Hoff Stewart, and also authored In a Desert Garden: Love and Death Among the Insects (1999) illustrated by Turid Forsyth.
Alcock is one of the original scientists to participate in the Ask A Biologist program and continues to participate in interviews as well as answering questions from students around the world.
Alcock is one of the original scientists to participate in the Ask A Biologist program and continues to participate in interviews as well as answering questions from students around the world.
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Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
October 16, 2018
This is the first textbook I've read since college, which has been well over a decade. This subject was far from my major (Computer Science) but I'd say this book provides a very thorough understanding of the subject with tons of examples to illustrate both how behavior works and adapts.
I find this subject fascinating because conceding that all animals (including us) are essentially cleverly-crafted machines, I'm curious how they work. Alcock warns that there's not genes "for" a specific behavior, genes code for proteins and genes are turned on or off by environmental conditions that can exist both in and outside of the body. But I came away certainly thinking genes do determine behavior to a large extent, depending on how you think about it.
There's a few examples given throughout of a single gene which modifies a particular behavior. A single gene in fruit fly larvas make them either sit in one spot, or rove about. A single gene in mice affects hippocampus development which underlies the differences in spatial memory performance. Knocking out the fosB gene in mice makes them indifferent to their young. A single mutation in the per-gene will drastically throw off an animal's circadian rhythm. It seems to me that in some cases we're getting dangerously close to being able to ascribe behaviors to particular genes. Again, Alcock would say genes code for proteins and enzymes, which make hormones which develop certain neuron pathways and structures.
There's some fascinating stories here...
--Mice engage in infanticide for three weeks after ejaculation during copulation, but after three weeks have passed their own offspring are born and they grow parental for a time. Then seven weeks after ejaculation have passed they return to infanticidal behavior. This seems to be an adaptation to destroy rival offspring during the three weeks of pregnancy, and by the time seven weeks have passed their own young will have dispersed and the infanticidal behavior can resume. Scientists have found that by "speeding up" the number of days the mice think have passed using artificial lighting, they could cause the mice to attack young or not, showing that it is based to some extent on an internal clock, and corroborated by environmental cues about time passage.
--Developmental homeostasis is the ability for an animal to acquire proximate foundations for correct behaviors, even under bad conditions. In one case researchers re-routed the optical nerve in an infant ferret to the auditory cortex of the brain, and it actually developed as a second visual cortex. The genes in the cells responded to the visual messages and developed along that pathway. Weird!
--Fixed action patterns are behaviors elicited automatically by a cue. Some species have learned to exploit this in others. The rover beetle uses an attractant pheromone normally used by other ants. This causes ants to accept its larva into their brood chambers, which proceeds to eat the ant eggs. If that isn't enough, this species of beetle also knows how to "tap" ants mandibles to elicit the automatic response of regurgitating liquid food.
--Bird migration is covered a few times throughout the book. The direction they fly in appears to be mostly gene-determinate (although singing interestingly is learned in some species, leading to local "dialects.") But what amazed me was scientists hybridized birds that migrate southwest with birds that migrate southeast -- the hybrids were an intermediate and fly due south! It makes perfect sense, but is still so weird.
--The male prairie vole wanders over a larger area to mate than the female, and thus has a larger hippocampus to map out landmarks. Most interestingly, this part of the brain actually SHRINKS during non-breeding season when it's not used. The testes of most birds shrink during non-breeding seasons as well. It makes sense from an efficiency standpoint.
--The last chapter on the evolution of human behavior is especially well-written, often having some dark implications. Step-children are more often abused, mothers of step-children and adopted children spend less on food. These could be maladaptive by-products of the previously adaptive trait of treating genetic offspring favorably. Infanticide and rape are covered in some detail. Of course Alcock is not trying to justify any of this, just explain why it happens from an evolutionary perspective. But when you have an understanding from previous chapters of the brutality of how nature operates, including things like infanticide and parent-sanctioned siblicide, it's difficult to not come away a bit disturbed.
You really start to question what behaviors you have that are remotely "yours." What does it even mean to be "you?" Those aren't the questions Alcock is trying to elicit, but they inevitably came to my mind because of my philosophical views about the world.
I liked the pervasive cost-benefit analysis that comes up in later chapters. Crows fly to the exact optimal height for dropping and breaking open whelks to eat, not wasting energy flying higher than needed. Some birds are able to regulate the sex of their offspring, depending on the quality of the territory they inhabit. Better territory dictates more females who may stay around to help with the next brood, but for birds living in a poor territory a female is another mouth to feed. There is a cost of exaggerated begging in a brood of baby chicks in that they deprive their siblings of food, and harm the reproductive success of someone they share genes with. So the degree to which individuals moderate their begging behavior is a function of the degree of relatedness among the nestmates. It has been found, as predicted that broods of mixed parentage are louder than broods of monogamous species where the children share more genes.
This gets more complicated when Alcock delves into how altruism appears as a function of helping those related to you. For example, mathematically your genes have more chance of continuing into the future if you sacrifice parenting one child which will have 50% of your genes, for helping a sibling raise three children who each have 25% of your genes.
It gets even more complicated with "eusocial" species which have whole non-reproductive castes who are helpers, foragers, defenders, etc. Species of this type are usually haplodiploid. This is when eggs destined to be males are unfertilized and so the male gets only one set of chromosomes, not two, nothing from the father. In one wasp species this results in relatedness among the daughters of the queen of approximately 75%~. Since their father has only one set of chromosomes the sisters share a full 50% of genes from the father already, and another 0-50% from the mother. Compare this 75% relatedness to humans where you're genetic relation to a sibling is only around 50%. This high degree of relatedness due to haplodiploidy is used to explain eusocial, self-sacrificing behavior in many species. An interesting aside -- these sister wasps share LESS relatedness with their brothers. The brothers get none of the father's genes, so there's 50% of possible commonality missing with their sisters, and they share only between 0-50% of their common mother's genes. As predicted, this means the sisters help feed their brothers less.
Nature starts to look like one big mathematical calculation, but it makes sense.
I read the Seventh Edition of this text, from 2001 and I'm sure some info has changed or been enhanced by new experiments or genome sequencing. The latter was a big factor in the updates to Dawkin's "The Ancestor's Tale" between the first edition in 2004 to the second in 2016. But the focuses of these two books are quite different. Furthermore, most animal behavior is determined by hypotheses, predictions and observation/experimentation and do not require the level of the genome itself.
For example; hypothesis: A resident defends his territory more strongly than a rival will try to take it because he has more to lose than the rival, not only the resources of the territory, but the time put into creating relationships with neighbors which saves them time and energy engaging in struggles. Prediction: The probability a territory holder that is experimentally removed and later released will reclaim his territory is a function of how long the replacement has occupied the site in his place -- this is true. Another hypothesis: Nesting colonies of foraging birds serve as an "information center" and others will follow those who have recently found food. Prediction: If info is shared they will leave together and follow in the same direction -- this is true.
Of course I would love to see what experiments have been done in intervening years to corroborate or refute various theories, or clear up a few questions here and there which are left uncertain. But those new textbooks are so pricey!
I find this subject fascinating because conceding that all animals (including us) are essentially cleverly-crafted machines, I'm curious how they work. Alcock warns that there's not genes "for" a specific behavior, genes code for proteins and genes are turned on or off by environmental conditions that can exist both in and outside of the body. But I came away certainly thinking genes do determine behavior to a large extent, depending on how you think about it.
There's a few examples given throughout of a single gene which modifies a particular behavior. A single gene in fruit fly larvas make them either sit in one spot, or rove about. A single gene in mice affects hippocampus development which underlies the differences in spatial memory performance. Knocking out the fosB gene in mice makes them indifferent to their young. A single mutation in the per-gene will drastically throw off an animal's circadian rhythm. It seems to me that in some cases we're getting dangerously close to being able to ascribe behaviors to particular genes. Again, Alcock would say genes code for proteins and enzymes, which make hormones which develop certain neuron pathways and structures.
There's some fascinating stories here...
--Mice engage in infanticide for three weeks after ejaculation during copulation, but after three weeks have passed their own offspring are born and they grow parental for a time. Then seven weeks after ejaculation have passed they return to infanticidal behavior. This seems to be an adaptation to destroy rival offspring during the three weeks of pregnancy, and by the time seven weeks have passed their own young will have dispersed and the infanticidal behavior can resume. Scientists have found that by "speeding up" the number of days the mice think have passed using artificial lighting, they could cause the mice to attack young or not, showing that it is based to some extent on an internal clock, and corroborated by environmental cues about time passage.
--Developmental homeostasis is the ability for an animal to acquire proximate foundations for correct behaviors, even under bad conditions. In one case researchers re-routed the optical nerve in an infant ferret to the auditory cortex of the brain, and it actually developed as a second visual cortex. The genes in the cells responded to the visual messages and developed along that pathway. Weird!
--Fixed action patterns are behaviors elicited automatically by a cue. Some species have learned to exploit this in others. The rover beetle uses an attractant pheromone normally used by other ants. This causes ants to accept its larva into their brood chambers, which proceeds to eat the ant eggs. If that isn't enough, this species of beetle also knows how to "tap" ants mandibles to elicit the automatic response of regurgitating liquid food.
--Bird migration is covered a few times throughout the book. The direction they fly in appears to be mostly gene-determinate (although singing interestingly is learned in some species, leading to local "dialects.") But what amazed me was scientists hybridized birds that migrate southwest with birds that migrate southeast -- the hybrids were an intermediate and fly due south! It makes perfect sense, but is still so weird.
--The male prairie vole wanders over a larger area to mate than the female, and thus has a larger hippocampus to map out landmarks. Most interestingly, this part of the brain actually SHRINKS during non-breeding season when it's not used. The testes of most birds shrink during non-breeding seasons as well. It makes sense from an efficiency standpoint.
--The last chapter on the evolution of human behavior is especially well-written, often having some dark implications. Step-children are more often abused, mothers of step-children and adopted children spend less on food. These could be maladaptive by-products of the previously adaptive trait of treating genetic offspring favorably. Infanticide and rape are covered in some detail. Of course Alcock is not trying to justify any of this, just explain why it happens from an evolutionary perspective. But when you have an understanding from previous chapters of the brutality of how nature operates, including things like infanticide and parent-sanctioned siblicide, it's difficult to not come away a bit disturbed.
You really start to question what behaviors you have that are remotely "yours." What does it even mean to be "you?" Those aren't the questions Alcock is trying to elicit, but they inevitably came to my mind because of my philosophical views about the world.
I liked the pervasive cost-benefit analysis that comes up in later chapters. Crows fly to the exact optimal height for dropping and breaking open whelks to eat, not wasting energy flying higher than needed. Some birds are able to regulate the sex of their offspring, depending on the quality of the territory they inhabit. Better territory dictates more females who may stay around to help with the next brood, but for birds living in a poor territory a female is another mouth to feed. There is a cost of exaggerated begging in a brood of baby chicks in that they deprive their siblings of food, and harm the reproductive success of someone they share genes with. So the degree to which individuals moderate their begging behavior is a function of the degree of relatedness among the nestmates. It has been found, as predicted that broods of mixed parentage are louder than broods of monogamous species where the children share more genes.
This gets more complicated when Alcock delves into how altruism appears as a function of helping those related to you. For example, mathematically your genes have more chance of continuing into the future if you sacrifice parenting one child which will have 50% of your genes, for helping a sibling raise three children who each have 25% of your genes.
It gets even more complicated with "eusocial" species which have whole non-reproductive castes who are helpers, foragers, defenders, etc. Species of this type are usually haplodiploid. This is when eggs destined to be males are unfertilized and so the male gets only one set of chromosomes, not two, nothing from the father. In one wasp species this results in relatedness among the daughters of the queen of approximately 75%~. Since their father has only one set of chromosomes the sisters share a full 50% of genes from the father already, and another 0-50% from the mother. Compare this 75% relatedness to humans where you're genetic relation to a sibling is only around 50%. This high degree of relatedness due to haplodiploidy is used to explain eusocial, self-sacrificing behavior in many species. An interesting aside -- these sister wasps share LESS relatedness with their brothers. The brothers get none of the father's genes, so there's 50% of possible commonality missing with their sisters, and they share only between 0-50% of their common mother's genes. As predicted, this means the sisters help feed their brothers less.
Nature starts to look like one big mathematical calculation, but it makes sense.
I read the Seventh Edition of this text, from 2001 and I'm sure some info has changed or been enhanced by new experiments or genome sequencing. The latter was a big factor in the updates to Dawkin's "The Ancestor's Tale" between the first edition in 2004 to the second in 2016. But the focuses of these two books are quite different. Furthermore, most animal behavior is determined by hypotheses, predictions and observation/experimentation and do not require the level of the genome itself.
For example; hypothesis: A resident defends his territory more strongly than a rival will try to take it because he has more to lose than the rival, not only the resources of the territory, but the time put into creating relationships with neighbors which saves them time and energy engaging in struggles. Prediction: The probability a territory holder that is experimentally removed and later released will reclaim his territory is a function of how long the replacement has occupied the site in his place -- this is true. Another hypothesis: Nesting colonies of foraging birds serve as an "information center" and others will follow those who have recently found food. Prediction: If info is shared they will leave together and follow in the same direction -- this is true.
Of course I would love to see what experiments have been done in intervening years to corroborate or refute various theories, or clear up a few questions here and there which are left uncertain. But those new textbooks are so pricey!
October 20, 2014
As far as textbooks go, it was very good. There were plenty of color illustrations and pictures to get the information across. Which is helpful if you are a visual person, and in reality they were more the focus. I would actually read the text only to help explain a diagram or image. It is full of animal behavior experiments and teaches biological concepts through them. So it is very great about focusing on real world scenarios, then the theory and understanding of the biological mechanisms and how they work come after that. I loved the format. Some of the material was really challenging so this kind of approach made the whole subject much more... approachable! Ha.
Excellent book. I wish all biology courses were taught with this real-world-scenario-then-the-theory-coming-after approach.
It succeeds where other Biology texts fail--being conversational, easy to read through, and being full of intriguing information about behavior. I'd find myself trying to connect it to the way humans behave and really having some interesting ideas and pondering about the material. It is a fascinating subject and this text doesn't downplay that with cold stuffy writing.
Excellent book. I wish all biology courses were taught with this real-world-scenario-then-the-theory-coming-after approach.
It succeeds where other Biology texts fail--being conversational, easy to read through, and being full of intriguing information about behavior. I'd find myself trying to connect it to the way humans behave and really having some interesting ideas and pondering about the material. It is a fascinating subject and this text doesn't downplay that with cold stuffy writing.
July 5, 2013
This is not a light read, but something to delve into when you feel like stretching your mind. I found it really interesting. Each chapter explores certain behaviours displayed by different animals and discusses how these could have evolved over time. From mating and sexual behaviour, to finding homes and food, everything is covered here. The final chapter is really interesting, as it discusses human behaviour and the fact that we are not quite so removed from the rest of the animal kingdom as some would have us believe! Definitely recommended if you are interested in this subject.
August 17, 2007
I assigned this book for my Animal Behavior classes last year. It's really pretty well-done. Lots of good figures. I didn't realize it at the time, but Alcock's approach to all of the chapters is very gene-centered. I agree with this approach, but at the same time I think it might have worked better to present a more balanced approach for the purposes of an undergraduate textbook.
December 13, 2017
3.5. Will update review later when I'm not drowning in finals.
March 15, 2016
(Reviewing the 6th edition) Incredible book! Absolutely soul-stirring! Constant application of Tinbergen's questions throughout, so no one side of any behavior escapes examination. Examples could not be used more suitably than they are by Alcock, and the defense of sociobiology in the last chapter is icing on the 6th Ed. cake.
November 11, 2017
Excellent textbook on Animal Behavior. Alcock is informative, witty, and presents well-described case studies of the evolution of various behaviors. I loved this text (8th Ed) when I took Animal Behavior and I love it now when I'm teaching the course with the 10th edition (however, I do prefer the topic progression in the 8th rather than how it's presented in the 10th).
May 26, 2016
So far so good--well written, accessible, very very tightly reasoned.
October 24, 2007
Fascinating insight into animal behavior from the "human" perspective...who knew ants could be so complex?
November 6, 2023
(i read the 11th edition)
i like this a lot!!!!! this is probably my favourite psychology textbook i’ve read. as a psychology student i usually hate doing my readings and i have such a hard time getting through them. this was not the case with this book.
the writing is very clear and the language is not hard to understand. they explain everything very well. i like how they lay out the main objectives of each chapter at the start before diving into it. i like how they make references to other chapters and cite it so we know. it’s also humorous at times which i wasn’t sure at first if it was intentional but now i think it definitely was (“morbid chastity belt” will remain in my memory forever). i also like how they reinforce how important the scientific method is in psychology throughout the book
i love evolutionary psychology, so the content itself was fun for me.
my only gripe is that they sometimes break up sentences by putting a graphic in the middle of it, so i would either have to skip the graphic and finish the sentence or be distracted by it and forget the sentence. however it did not ruin my experience or anything so i can live with it. but maybe they fix it in later editions?
rip John Alcock i was so sad to find out he died earlier this year your work is GOATED
i like this a lot!!!!! this is probably my favourite psychology textbook i’ve read. as a psychology student i usually hate doing my readings and i have such a hard time getting through them. this was not the case with this book.
the writing is very clear and the language is not hard to understand. they explain everything very well. i like how they lay out the main objectives of each chapter at the start before diving into it. i like how they make references to other chapters and cite it so we know. it’s also humorous at times which i wasn’t sure at first if it was intentional but now i think it definitely was (“morbid chastity belt” will remain in my memory forever). i also like how they reinforce how important the scientific method is in psychology throughout the book
i love evolutionary psychology, so the content itself was fun for me.
my only gripe is that they sometimes break up sentences by putting a graphic in the middle of it, so i would either have to skip the graphic and finish the sentence or be distracted by it and forget the sentence. however it did not ruin my experience or anything so i can live with it. but maybe they fix it in later editions?
rip John Alcock i was so sad to find out he died earlier this year your work is GOATED
September 20, 2017
Read the tenth edition. It started of rather boring but as the book processed the chapters become more interesting. Of course that is because the introductory chapters came with information I was already largely familiar with. Excellent book, the suggested readings will keep me occupied.
February 17, 2018
Best biology book I've ever seen. I really enjoyed reading it. The evolutionary/ethological approach is the only sensible way of explaining (and not merely describing) animal behavior. Plenty of sections on Human Behavior makes this book a prerequisite even for Psychology scholars.
September 1, 2025
For a textbook written in the 90s it's solid information with very little that has changed. DNA technology is much more advanced but with the scientific knowledge of the time all of this is very thoroughly done.
July 6, 2020
My university ethology textbook. From the moment, I opened it, I was entranced. By the end I knew what my PhD would be about.
Aside from being a textbook, it’s also a good read.
Aside from being a textbook, it’s also a good read.
April 1, 2022
Great read!
Want to read
March 11, 2025I want to read for knowledge
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 11, 2025
Exceptional. I made so many notes! Very grateful for this being my introduction to the field.
April 14, 2020
A hard read but worth it. Easy to understand science.
Pro:
This book is filled with information about behaviour. All kinds of animals are in it and it presents all the basics of all behavior traits in an easy to understand way with many colored pictures and graphs. Still this is not ALL behavior a lot of anecdotes and observations will be found in other books about animals - but none so grand as this one.
Con:
It's a textbook. It has no humor, nearly no personal stories and no clever wordplays or people stories. It is bare science and observations. At the end it gets boring. Few can just sit at home and read 454 pages of scientific text day after day. It is very exciting but don't read more than 30 pages a day. And skip the questions. They make the book longer and are not even answered by the author. So you never know if you are correct in your assumptions. They are made for the course about it and should have not been in the book! There should be an interactive website for these things. Laymen can easily read this book. But it is not written in an exciting way like Richard Dawkins stories about similar behavior patterns in animals.
Pro:
This book is filled with information about behaviour. All kinds of animals are in it and it presents all the basics of all behavior traits in an easy to understand way with many colored pictures and graphs. Still this is not ALL behavior a lot of anecdotes and observations will be found in other books about animals - but none so grand as this one.
Con:
It's a textbook. It has no humor, nearly no personal stories and no clever wordplays or people stories. It is bare science and observations. At the end it gets boring. Few can just sit at home and read 454 pages of scientific text day after day. It is very exciting but don't read more than 30 pages a day. And skip the questions. They make the book longer and are not even answered by the author. So you never know if you are correct in your assumptions. They are made for the course about it and should have not been in the book! There should be an interactive website for these things. Laymen can easily read this book. But it is not written in an exciting way like Richard Dawkins stories about similar behavior patterns in animals.
May 13, 2016
This is what I feel a textbook should be. There are numerous illustrations and graphs to help visualize information. There are also critical thinking questions throughout. Another aspect of this book that I don't commonly see are citations to specific studies and further reading recommendations at the end of each chapter. This book is also easy to read in the sense that font type and word spacing are conducive to keeping track of where you are. This textbook is very nicely formatted on the whole and encourages outside research and the formation of informed opinions/viewpoints outside of what is taught in the book.
December 4, 2015
This text was clear and concise without either over explaining or too briefly touching upon the main concepts and ideas presented. Alcock provided countless, helpful examples, graphs and diagrams that thoroughly explained the material and led to my further understanding of animal behavior. This textbook not only greatly guided me to my success in my animal behavior class, but also left with a newfound interest in animal behavioral studies.
March 6, 2011
Now dated, this edition represents one of the finest texts in the study of animal behavior at the time of its publication. The evolutionary bases of animal behavior or portrayed quite well; the writing style was fine for a textbook and was accessible to students. All in all, a good text in its day.
Read
November 19, 2008Bedbug sex, and all the rest.
Read
October 27, 2010muy bueno
November 6, 2014
Many issues are addressed in this work including the evolution of animals as well as genetics. The author believes that the species behaviors are developed over time and offers examples.
September 16, 2019
Excellent textbook on the subject, very readable for a typical science student.
February 5, 2021
Really quality text, accessible and quite readable while still offering a bounty of worthwhile knowledge.
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews