Social Behaviour in Animals: With Special Reference to Vertebrates

✍ Scribed by N. Tinbergen (auth.)

• Publisher: Springer Netherlands
• Year: 1990
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 174
• Edition: 2
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

HIS book is not intended as an exhaustive review T of facts. Its aim is rather the presentation of a bio­ logical approach to the phenomena of social behaviour. This type of approach was revived by Lorenz's pioneer studies. It is characterized by emphasis on the need for renewed and careful observation of the huge variety of social phenomena occurring in nature; by emphasis on a balanced study of the three main biological problems­ function, causation, evolution; by emphasis on an appro­ priate sequence of description, qualitative analysis, quanti­ tative analysis; and finally by emphasis on the need for continuous re-synthesis. The character of this approach, combined with the limitations of space, have determined this book's contents. Limits of space led to the omission of a great deal of de scrip­ tion. Thus, Deegener's voluminous work on fhe multitude of types of animal aggregations has not been discussed. Also, the highly specialized 'states' of social insects have not been treated in detail, since there are excellent books dealing exclusively with them.

✦ Table of Contents

Front Matter....Pages i-xviii
Introduction....Pages 1-21
Mating Behaviour....Pages 22-39
Family and Group Life....Pages 40-56
Fighting....Pages 57-71
Analysis of Social Co-Operation....Pages 72-86
Relations between Different Species....Pages 87-98
The Growth of Social Organizations....Pages 99-117
Evolutionary Aspects of Social Organization....Pages 118-128
Some Hints for Research in Animal Sociology....Pages 129-139
Back Matter....Pages 140-150

✦ Subjects

Animal Ecology; Evolutionary Biology