Geographic Variation In Behavior

Studies of animal behavior often assume that all members of a species exhibit the same behavior. Geographic Variation in Behavior shows that, on the contrary, there is substantional variation within species across a wide range of taxa. Including work from pioneers in the field, this volume provides a balanced overview of research on behavioral characteristics that vary geographically. The authors explore the mechanisms by which behavioral differences evolve and examine related methodological issues. Taken together, the work collected here demonstrates that genetically based geographic variation may be far more widespread than previously suspected. The book also shows how variation in behavior can illuminate both behavioral evolution and general evolutionary patterns. Unique among books on behavior in its emphasis on geographic variation, this volume is a valuable new resource for students and researchers in animal behavior and evolutionary biology.

Studies of animal behavior often assume that all members of a species exhibit the same behavior. Geographic Variation in Behavior shows that, on the contrary, there is substantional variation within species across a wide range of taxa. Including work from pioneers in the field, this volume provides a balanced overview of research on behavioral characteristics that vary geographically. The authors explore the mechanisms by which behavioral differences evolve and examine related methodological issues. Taken together, the work collected here demonstrates that genetically based geographic variation may be far more widespread than previously suspected. The book also shows how variation in behavior can illuminate both behavioral evolution and general evolutionary patterns. Unique among books on behavior in its emphasis on geographic variation, this volume is a valuable new resource for students and researchers in animal behavior and evolutionary biology.

This book describes one of our closest relatives, the orangutan, and the only extant great ape in Asia. It is increasingly clear that orangutan populations show extensive variation in behavioural ecology, morphology, life history, and genes. Indeed, on the strength of the latest genetic and morphological evidence, it has been proposed that orangutans actually constitute two species which diverged more than a million years ago - one on the island of Sumatra the other on Borneo, with the latter comprising three subspecies. This book has two main aims. The first is to carefully compare data from every orangutan research site, examining the differences and similarities between orangutan species, subspecies and populations. The second is to develop a theoretical framework in which these differences and similarities can be explained. To achieve these goals the editors have assembled the world's leading orangutan experts to rigorously synthesize and compare the data, quantify the similarities or differences, and seek to explain them. Orangutans is the first synthesis of orangutan biology to adopt this novel, comparative approach. It analyses and compares the latest data, developing a theoretical framework to explain morphological, life history, and behavioural variation. Intriguingly, not all behavioural differences can be attributed to ecological variation between and within the two islands; relative rates of social learning also appear to have been influential. The book also emphasizes the crucial impact of human settlement on orangutans and looks ahead to the future prospects for the survival of critically endangered natural populations.

In the last ten years, the "comparative method" has been revolutionized by modern statistical ways of incorporating phylogenies into the design and analysis of comparative studies. The results of this revolution are particularly important in the study of animal behavior, which has relied on interspecific comparisons to infer universal trends and evolutionary patterns. The chapters of this edited volume consider the impact of modern phylogenetic comparative methods on the study of animal behavior and discuss the main issues that need to be considered in design and analysis of a comparative study, considers possible differences between the evolution of behavior and the evolution of morphology, and reviews how phylogenetic comparative studies have been used in certain areas of behavioral research.

"This volume attempts to make the case that our understanding of psychological phenomena can be greatly informed by a geographical perspective--one that explores the spatial organization of psychological phenomena and considers how individual characteristics, social entities, and physical features of the environment contribute to their organization. The chapters in the book highlight the ways in which social and physical features of the environment, such as local demography, political and economic institutions, topography, and climate, influence and interact with psychological processes. The perspectives described herein complement and extend theory and research in several areas of psychology, including social, personality, cultural, environmental, evolutionary, and comparative. By bringing together streams of research at the intersection of geographical psychology, I have tried to show how widely studied psychological constructs relate to and are influenced by broad social, ecological, economic, and political forces. At the same time, this research demonstrates the relevance of psychology for understanding macro-level processes. Ultimately, this book is designed to inform researchers about the value of examining psychological phenomena and their spatial components"--Introduction. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved).

In the preface to Sir Vincent B. Wigglesworth's classic 1939 book on insect physiology he asserted that insects provide an ideal medium in which to study all the problems of physiology. A strong case can be made as well for the use of insects as significant systems for the study of behavior and genetics. Contributions to genetics through decades of research on Drosophila species have made this small fly the most important metazoan in genetics research. At the same time, population and behavioral research on insects and other invertebrates have provid ed new perspectives that can be combined with the genetics approach. Through such in tegrated research we are able to identify evolutionary genetics of behavior as a highly signifi cant emerging area of interest. These perspectives are ably described by Dr. Guy Bush in the introductory chapter of this book. During March 21-24, 1983, many of the world's leading scientists in invertebrate behavioral genetics were drawn together in Gainesville, Florida, for a colloquium entitled "Evolutionary Genetics of Invertebrate Behavior." This conference was sponsored jointly by the Department of Entomology and Nematology, University of Florida, chaired by Dr. Daniel Shankland, and the Insect Attractants, Behavior and Basic Biology Research Laboratory, U.S. Department of Agriculture, directed then by Dr. Derrell Chambers.

Advances in the Study of Behavior, Volume 30 continues to serve scientists across a wide spectrum of disciplines. Focusing on new theories and research developments with respect to behavioral ecology, evolutionary biology, and comparative psychology, these volumes foster cooperation and communications in these dense fields. The aim of Advances in the Study of Behavior remains as it has been since the series began: to serve the increasing number of scientists who are engaged in the study of animal behavior by presenting their theoretical ideas and research to their colleagues and to those in neighboring fields. We hope that the series will continue its "contribution to the development of the field", as its intended role was phrased in the Preface to the first volume in 1965. Since that time, traditional areas of animal behavior have achieved new vigor by the links they have formed with related fields and by the closer relationship that now exists between those studying animal and human subjects.