ABS Book List

Geoffrey E. Hill.   2007. Ivorybill Hunters: The Search for Proof in a Flooded Wilderness

The last documented sighting of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker--one of the rarest and most intriguing animals in the world--was noted over 50 years ago. Long thought to be extinct, the 2005 announcement of a sighting in Arkansas sparked tremendous enthusiasm and hope that this species could yet be saved. But the subsequent failure of a massive search to relocate Ivorybills in Arkansas made hope for the species' revival short-lived. Here, noted ornithologist Geoffrey Hill tells the story of how he and two of his colleagues stumbled upon what may be a breeding population of Ivory-billed Woodpeckers in the swamps of northern Florida. He relates their laborious attempts to document irrefutable evidence for the existence of this shy, elusive bird following the failure of a much larger research team to definitively prove the bird's existence.

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Robert B. Payne, Karen Klitz.   2005. The Cuckoos (Bird Families of the World)

The cuckoos are the most variable birds in social behavior and parental care: a few cuckoos are among the most social of all birds and rear their young in a common nest; most cuckoos are caring parents that rear their own young with some females laying a few eggs in the nests of others; while many cuckoo species are brood parasites who leave their eggs in the nests of other birds to rear, with their young maturing to kill their foster nestmates. In The Cuckoos, Robert B. Payne presents a new evolutionary history of the family based on molecular genetics, and uses the family tree to explore the origins and diversity of their behaviour. He traces details of the cuckoos' biology to their original sources, includes descriptions of previously unpublished field observations, and reveals new comparisons of songs showing previously overlooked cuckoo species. Lavishly illustrated with specially commissioned color plates and numerous maps, halftones, and line drawings, The Cuckoos provides the most comprehensive and up-to-date account of this family yet available.

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Charles R. Brown, Mary Bomberger Brown.   1996. Coloniality in the Cliff Swallow: The Effect of Group Size on Social Behavior

A monograph focusing on the Browns' long-term study of colonial nesting in cliff swallows (Petrochelidon pyrrhonota) along the Platte River in western Nebraska. The book addresses the costs and benefits of group living, alternative reproductive tactics such as brood parasitism and extrapair mating, the demographic consequences of coloniality, and hypotheses for why colony size varies. The book is the most detailed study of animal coloniality ever done and should appeal to ornithologists, behavioral ecologists, evolutionary biologists, and parasitologists.

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Etta Kaner, Greg Douglas.   2002. Animal Talk: How Animals Communicate through Sight, Sound and Smell (Animal Behavior)

Review by Dr. Paul V. Switzer, Eastern Illinois University: Animal Talk is the most recent contribution to an excellent series of animal behavior and ecology books by Etta Kaner and is the RECIPIENT OF THE ANIMAL BEHAVIOR SOCIETY'S 2003 OUTSTANDING CHILDREN'S BOOK AWARD.. The book presents animal communication by dividing communication up by context, including "Saying it with Sound," "Saying it with Smell," and "Body language." In each section, Greg Douglas' outstanding illustrations are paired with descriptions of appropriate examples, often including the method of communication (e.g. woodpeckers hammering on hollow logs to send sound over 1 km) and the possible functions of the behavior (e.g. calling for a mate or defending its territory). Also present in each section are two clever and engaging approaches: hands-on experiments that demonstrate a particular point (e.g. waving a paper towel near perfume to demonstrate why ring-tailed lemurs wave their tails during fights) and a "If you were a [animal species]" box, in which more facts are given for a particular species (e.g. "If you were a howler monkey, you'd live in the tropical rainforests of South America…"). Animal Talk does a nice job of including both familiar animals, such as tigers and dolphins, as well as less familiar animals, such as California ground squirrels and water striders. Each section has enough examples to effectively illustrate the point but not so many as to make it difficult to read. However, this book does include lots of information and for younger readers it may be best tackled one section at a time. Children readers consistently commented that they liked the pictures, the amount of information, and the experiments that they could try.

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J. Wright, M.L. Leonard.   2002. The Evolution of Begging: Competition, Cooperation and Communication

Begging by nestlings birds has become the model system for investigations into evolutionary conflicts of interest within families and the honest signalling of offspring need. Originally inspired by theoretical treatments of parent-offspring conflict and its resolution, the field has broadened to include a range of topics in behaviour, physiology and evolutionary biology. "The Evolution of Begging" is the first book on the topic of begging and includes 24 chapters by the top researchers in the field. The book is divided into six sections including 1) theoretical approaches to begging, 2) begging as a signal and the issue of costs, 3) nestling physiology, 4) sibling competition, 5) brood parasitism and 6) statistical challenges. The book will provide a comphrensive reference for students, teachers and researchers with an interest in behaviour and evolution, and should be a source of ideas for future investigations in this dynamic area.

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David Evans Walter, Heather Coreen Proctor.   1999. Mites: Ecology, Evolution and Behaviour

Mites (Arachnida: Acari) are among the most species-rich and ecologically diverse of all animals. They live everywhere, from the frozen fields of Antarctica to the sandy deserts of Africa, from the rainforest canopy to the deepest ocean trenches, from the tracheae of honeybees to the pillow beneath your head. Mites are predators, parasites, herbiovores, detritovores, malentities and mutualists. Despite their ubiquity and ecological importance, most biologists know nothing about them. The goal of "Mites: Ecology, Evolution and Behaviour" is to inform students and researchers about these neglected arthropods. The book is a comprehensive natural history of the Acari. It differs from many previous reference works in that it concerns itself with mites of purely scientific interest as well as those of economic importance such as ticks, spider mites and house-dust mites. Topics include evolutionary history, life cycles, habitats, reproductive systems, and biodiversity. It is well illustrated and contains about 1000 references.

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John Alcock.   2005. Animal Behavior: An Evolutionary Approach, Eighth Edition

Animal Behavior: An Evolutionary Approach continues the tradition of its predecessors in showing how evolutionary biologists analyze all aspects of behavior. The book is distinguished by its balanced treatment of both the underlying mechanisms and evolutionary causes of behavior. The text stresses the utility of evolutionary theory in unifying the different behavioral disciplines. Important concepts are explained by reference to key illustrative studies, which are described in sufficient detail to help students appreciate the role of the scientific process in producing research discoveries. Examples are drawn from studies of invertebrates and vertebrates. The writing style is clear and engaging: beginning students have no difficulty following the material, despite the strong conceptual orientation of the text.

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Nebraska Symposium, Daniel W. Leger, Alan C. Kamil, Jeffrey A. French.   2001. Nebraska Symposium on Motivation, 2000, Volume 47: Evolutionary Psychology and Motivation (Nebraska Symposium on Motivation)

Contents: D.W. Leger, A.C. Kamil, & J.A. French: Introduction: Fear and loathing of evolutionary psychology in the social sciences. M. Daly & M. Wilson: Risk-taking, intrasexual competition, and homicide. S. W. Gangestad: Adaptive design, selective history, and women's sexual motivations M.K. McClintock, S. Jacob, B. Zelano, & D.J.S. Hayreh: Pheromones and vasanas: The functions of social chemosignals. G. Gigerenzer: The adaptive toolbox: Toward a Darwinian rationality. R.M. Seyfarth & D.L. Cheney: Cognitive strategies and the representation of social relations by monkeys. R.M. Nesse: Motivation and melancholy: A Darwinian perspective.

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Steven A. Frank.   1998. Foundations of Social Evolution

A theoretical treatment of one of the central problems in evolutionary biology, the evolution of social cooperation and conflict. Steven Frank approaches the problem with a highly original combination of approaches: game theory, classical models of natural selection, quantitative genetics, and kin selection. He combines the three measures of value used in biology - marginal value, reproductive value, and kin selection- into a coherant framework, providing the first unified analysis of social evolution in its full ecological and demographic context.

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Brock Fenton.   1998. The Bat: Wings in the Night Sky

Seven chapters explore various aspects of the biology and behaviour of bats, from echolocation to diet, roosting habits to conservation. Color photographs of over 50 species of bats, as well as black and white photographs of some of their anatomical features. The book is intended for a lay audience.

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Eisen, Westmoreland.   1998. The Living Staircase

The book is designed to integrate fundamental concepts for introductory biology students. Ten chapters cover ten principles of biology, showing how they apply at the molecular, cellular, organismal, and ecological levels. A chapter on chemical signaling as a means of communication draws heavily from animal behavior.

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Lee Alan Dugatkin, Hudson Kern Reeve.   2000. Game Theory and Animal Behavior

Game theory has revolutionized the study of animal behavior. The fundamental principle of evolutionary game theory that the strategy adopted by one individual depends on the strategies exhibited by others has proven a powerful tool in uncovering the forces shaping otherwise mysterious behaviors. In this volume, the first since 1982 devoted to evolutionary game theory, leading researchers describe applications of the theory to diverse types of behavior, providing an overview of recent discoveries and a synthesis of current research. The volume begins with a clear introduction to game theory and its explanatory scope. This is followed by a series of chapters on the use of game theory to understand a range of behaviors: social foraging, cooperation, animal contests, communication, reproductive skew and nepotism within groups, sibling rivalry, alternative life histories, habitat selection, trophic level interactions, learning, and human social behavior. In addition, the volume includes a discussion of the relations among game theory, optimality, and quantitative genetics, and an assessment of the overall utility of game theory to the study of social behavior. Presented in a manner accessible to anyone interested in animal behavior but not necessarily trained in the mathematics of game theory, the book is intended for a wide audience of undergraduates, graduate students, and professional biologists pursuing the evolutionary analysis of animal behavior.

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Lee Alan Dugatkin.   2003. Principles of Animal Behavior

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Lee Dugatkin.   1999. CHEATING MONKEYS AND CITIZEN BEES : The NATURE of COOPERATION in ANIMALS and HUMANS

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Lee Alan Dugatkin.   1997. Cooperation among Animals: An Evolutionary Perspective (Oxford Series in Ecology and Evolution)

Despite the depiction of nature 'red in tooth and claw' that is still all too common, cooperation is actually widespread in the animal kingdom. Various types of cooperative behaviors have been documented in everything from insects to primates, and in every imaginable ecological scenario. Yet why animals cooperate is still a hotly contested question in the literature on evolution and animal social behavior. In Cooperation Among Animals: An Evolutionary Perspective, Dugatkin examines the history surrounding the study of cooperation, and proceed to examine conceptual, theoretical and empirical work on this fascinating subject. He outlines four different categories of cooperation reciprocal altruism, kinship, group selected cooperation and byproduct mutualism and attempts to tie these categories together in a single framework called the Cooperator's Dilemma. Hundreds of studies on cooperation in insects, fish, birds and mammals are then reviewed. Cooperation in this wide array of taxa includes, but is not limited to cooperative hunting, cooperative antipredator behavior, cooperative foraging, cooperative sexual coalitions, cooperative grooming, helper's at the nest, territoriality, 'policing' behavior and group thermoregulation. Each example outlined is tied back to the theoretical framework developed early on, whenever the data allows this. Future experiments designed to further elucidate on a particular type of cooperation are provided throughout the book.

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Judy Diamond, Alan B. Bond.   1999. Kea, Bird of Paradox: The Evolution and Behavior of a New Zealand Parrot

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Frans de Waal.   2000. Chimpanzee Politics: Power and Sex among Apes

In Chimpanzee Politics, Frans de Waal expands and updates his extraordinary account of the daily life of a large zoo colony of chimpanzees in Arnhem, The Netherlands. This new edition expands our knowledge of chimpanzee behavior and tells what has happened to the members of the Arnhem colony in the last fifteen years. When first published in 1982, Chimpanzee Politics helped establish the now accepted view that the higher animals experience desires, intentions, and even consciousness. Today, this engrossing account of sexual rivalries and coalitions, of actions governed by intelligence rather than instinct, reaffirms the complex bond between humans and their closest living relatives. The chimpanzees of Arnhem behave in ways we recognize from Machiavelli; the roots of politics, de Waal concludes are older than humanity

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Jae C. Choe, Bernard J. Crespi.   1997. The Evolution of Mating Systems in Insects and Arachnids

Insects and arachnids display the most impressive diversity of mating and social behavior among all animals. This book investigates sexual competition in these groups, and the variety of ways in which males and females, pursue, persuade, manipulate, control and help one another. Each chapter provides a comprehensive review of mating systems in various groups and suggests fruitful avenues for further research.

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Jae C. Choe, Bernard J. Crespi.   1997. The Evolution of Social Behaviour in Insects and Arachnids

Social insects and arachnids exhibit forms of complex behavior that involve cooperation in building a nest, defending against attackers or rearing offspring. This book is a comprehensive, up-to-date guide to sociality and its evolution in a wide range of taxa. In it, leading researchers review the extent of sociality in different groups, analyze the genetic, ecological and demographic causes of sociality from a comparative perspective, and suggest ways the field can be better understood.

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John C. Wright, Judi Wright Lashnits.   1996. Is Your Cat Crazy Solutions from the Casebook of a Cat Therapist

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John C. Wright, Judy Wright Lashnits.   2001. Ain't Misbehavin': The Groundbreaking Program for Happy, Well-Behaved Pets and Their People

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John Alcock, Marilyn Hoff Stewart.   1994. Sonoran Desert Spring

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John Alcock.   2003. The Triumph of Sociobiology

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Paul W. Sherman, John Alcock.   2005. Exploring Animal Behavior: Readings from American Scientist, Fourth Edition

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John Alcock, Marilyn Hoff Stewart.   1994. Sonoran Desert Summer

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John Alcock.   2001. Animal Behavior: An Evolutionary Approach

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Brenda Z. Guiberson, Steve Jenkins.   2004. Rain, Rain, Rain Forest

Review by Dr. Christopher Cratsley, Fitchburg State College: Splitter, splat splash! These three words mark the beginning of the tale of a few days in a rain forest in the book Rain, Rain, Rain Forest. The sounds of raindrops, animals and even human activity combine with beautiful illustrations to make the rainforest come alive for the reader. The narrative follows the patterns of rainfall and the behaviors of a number of different animals including a tree sloth, monkeys, poison dart frogs, and leaf-cutter ants as they interact with each other, with the plants of the rainforest, and with the rain itself. The descriptions of the behavior of the animals of the rain forest, though brief, are accurate and provide insight into how these animals survive in this unique environment. The story places human behavior in a similar context, describing how local villagers and researchers can observe animal behavior and learn to use the natural products of the jungle for medicines or other purposes. This book provides a short but engaging glimpse into the biology of the rain forest, making it an excellent jumping off point for children and adults to discuss animal behavior, the environment, and how we as humans interact with our environment. It is a credit to the book's realism that one class of children who read it were concerned about the capture of a monkey by an eagle in the book, and their teacher used this opportunity to discuss predation with them in the classroom.

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Aubrey Lang, Wayne Lynch.   2004. Baby Ground Squirrel (Nature Babies)

Reviewed by Dr. Paul V. Switzer, Eastern Illinois University: Baby Ground Squirrel follows the first season of life for a litter of Richardson's ground squirrels, from the initial conception to right before hibernation. This book describes their development, anti-predator behavior, feeding behavior, burrow layout, and hibernation, all at a level that is appropriate for children new to such ideas. The book also has an informative "Did you know?" section at the end that provides more detail on ground squirrel biology. Throughout, Lynch's photography provides excellent photographs to illustrate the ideas being presented in the text. Our children reviewers loved the pictures and the facts the book presented on the life cycle of the ground squirrel.

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Etta Kaner, Pat Stephens.   2004. Animal Groups: How Animals Live Together (Animal Behavior)

Review by Dr. Abby L. Schwarz, Langara College :: Etta Kaner's writing in Animal Groups is informative, engaging and cheerful, and Pat Stephens' accurate and colourful illustrations add to the book's charm. Many aspects of grouping behavior are covered for a wide variety of animals, including parental behavior, playing, anti-predator behavior, and grooming. Kaner sustains interest in the topic by weaving clear and simple questions into her stories, and continually draws parallels between the activities of her subjects and those of children. Children liked the quality and quantity of information, found it "easy to understand," and found the illustrations "good and realistic." (Note: there is a captioning error on p. 15: "song sparrow" and "male parula warbler" should be reversed).

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Rebecca L. Grambo, Daniel J. Cox.   2004. Lupe: A Wolf Cub's First Year (Wild Beginnings Series)

Reviewed by Dr. Paul V. Switzer, Eastern Illinois University :: Lupe is the ABS OUTSTANDING CHILDREN'S BOOK AWARD RECIPIENT for 2005. The story chronicles the first year of a wolf pup's life. In the process, the reader finds out fascinating information about wolf behavior. Information on other aspects of Yellowstone National Park is also integrated, such as the natural history of other animals (e.g. magpies, river otters, and elk) and plants (e.g. lodgepole pines) and information on the Park’s geology (e.g. hot springs). The text is accompanied by beautiful photographs of wolves and of Yellowstone. The wolves "talk" in the book, which may be objectionable to some who prefer books with a more natural approach, but our adult reviewers found the book to be enjoyable and accurate and our children reviewers liked "how the wolves could talk" and thought the pictures were "wonderful".

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J. W. Bradbury, Sandra L. Vehrencamp.   1998. Principles of Animal Communication

The study of animal communication requires a broader set of perspectives than nearly any other topic in biology. Relevant disciplines include physics, chemistry, neurobiology, cognitive science, evolutionary biology, behavioral ecology, and economics. Principles of Animal Communication integrates all of these approaches in its treatment of animal signal evolution. The taxonomic scope is kept broad, and all sensory modalities are discussed. The text is aimed at upperlevel undergraduate or beginning graduate students. Quantitative approaches are emphasized but kept to the level of simple algebra, and the relevance of all results and analyses is explained verbally. Many unresolved issues for future research are identified. Topics begin with the physics and physiology of signal production, propagation, and reception, turn to the economics of cooperating communicators, and end with the complications arising when sender and receiver do not have identical interests during communication. A variety of signal analysis and evolutionary methods are explained and demonstrated with examples. Principles of Animal Communication can be used as the basis for a general introduction to animal communication studies or, by focusing on specific sections, for more specialized and advanced courses.

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Patrick Bateson, Johan J. Bolhuis, Jerry A. Hogan.   1999. The Development of Animal Behavior: A Reader

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Sue Boinski, Paul A. Garber.   2000. On the Move: How and Why Animals Travel in Groups

Getting from here to there may be simple for one individual. But as any parent, scout leader, or CEO knows, herding a whole troop in one direction is a lot more complicated. Who leads the group? Who decides where the group will travel, and using what information? How do they accomplish these tasks? ON THE MOVE addresses these questions, examining the social, cognitive, and ecological processes that underlie patterns and strategies of group travel. Chapters discuss how factors such as group size, resource distribution and availability, the costs of travel, predation, social cohesion, and cognitive skills affect how individuals as well as social groups exploit their environment. Most chapters focus on field studies of a wide range of human and nonhuman primate groups, from squirrel monkeys to Turkana pastoralists, but chapters covering group travel in hyenas, birds, dolphins, and bees provide a broad taxonomic perspective and offer new insights into comparative questions, such as whether primates are unique in their ability to coordinate group-level activities.

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Jeffrey M. Black, Mark Hulme.   1996. Partnerships in Birds: The Study of Monogamy (Oxford Ornithology Series)

Some birds mate for life, while others have many partners. Why? In this book, fourteen classic studies are brought together to compare different partnership patterns from ecological and evolutionary perspectives. The subjects have been chosen to include the same species living in different habitats (Sparrowhawks) and at different population densities (Great Tits. There are comparisons between closely related species (Mute Swans and Bewick's Swans; Florida Scrub Jays and Pinyon Jays. The studies span the globe and the behavioural gradient, from Iceland's strictly monogamous Whooper Swans to Australia's sexually promiscuous splendid Fairy-wrens. In all cases, sexual and social relationships strongly influence a bird's survival and breeding success. Recent research has revealed an astonishing diversity in avian male-female relationships. Social monogamy and sexual fidelity are not necessarily the same thing, and birds have been shown to adopt many variations on this theme. The book opens with three stimulating general chapters by Jeff Black; Patty Gowaty; and Doug Mock, Patricia Schwagmeyer and Geoff Parker. These chapters place the key issues in perspective and highlight unresolved questions. Two overview chapters by Tim Birkhead and Anders Moller, and by Bruno Ens and others, complete this volume, which is the first to bring together the current ferment of ideas and data on bird pair bonds.

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Marc Bekoff.   2000. Strolling with Our Kin: Speaking for and Respecting Voiceless Animals

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Gordon M. Burghardt, Brian Sutton-Smith.   2005. The Genesis of Animal Play: Testing the Limits (Bradford Books)

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Marc Bekoff, John A. Byers.   1998. Animal Play: Evolutionary, Comparative and Ecological Perspectives

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Marc Bekoff, Colin Allen, Gordon Burghardt.   2002. The Cognitive Animal: Empirical and Theoretical Perspectives on Animal Cognition

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Marc Bekoff, Jane Goodall.   2003. Minding Animals: Awareness, Emotions, and Heart

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Marc Bekoff, Stephen Jay Gould.   2000. The Smile of a Dolphin: Remarkable Accounts of Animal Emotions

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Edward M. Barrows.   1995. Animal Behavior Desk Reference

This book is for students, researchers, teachers, writers, and others interested in science. It contains over 5,000 terms in animal behavior, biogeography, ecology, entomology, evolution, genetics, psychology, systematics, statistics, and other related sciences. It is formatted like a standard dictionary and depending on the term; it contains multiple definitions listed chronologically; term hierarchies summarized in tables; definition sources; directives that show where a concept is defined under a synonymous name and concepts related to focal ones; non-technical and obsolete definitions; pronunciations; synonyms; classifications of organisms and descriptions of many taxa; and organizations relevant to animal behavior, ecology, evolution, and related sciences. This book discusses how definitions impact the way people communicate and relates controversies regarding the meanings of many terms.

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Edward M. Barrows.   2000. Animal Behavior Desk Reference, Second Edition: A Dictionary of Animal Behavior, Ecology, and Evolution

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George W. Barlow.   2002. The Cichlid Fishes: Nature's Grand Experiment in Evolution

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R. P. Balda, I. M. Pepperberg, A. C. Kamil.   1998. Animal Cognition in Nature: The Convergence of Psychology and Biology in Laboratory and Field

The authors who contributed to this volume view cognition as an adaptive trait, shaped largely by the influence of natural selection. Cognition is part of the adaptive arsenal with which animals cope with environmental demands and constraints. The quantity and quality of information an animal has about its environment, and how well it can process this information, will be translated into the biological success of the animal. Authors of each chapter were challenged to present their most contemporary data, discuss their data in a cognitive framework, considering what advantages and disadvantages such a framework might offer and address potentially fruitful areas of future research within a cognitive perspective.

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Stuart A. Altmann.   1998. Foraging for Survival: Yearling Baboons in Africa

The most intensive investigations ever carried out on foraging behavior and its consequences for survival and reproduction. Basing his study on field observations of eleven yearling baboons, Altmann includes detailed data on what types of food and how much each baboon ate, as well as chemical analyses of these foods to identify differences in nutrient intake. He then statistically compares these actual data with ideal figures determined by a general model of optimal diets. Perhaps the most striking result of Altmann's study is that the baboons' subsequent survival and reproductive success could be accurately predicted from what they had eaten as yearlings. Those that had energy intakes closest to the optimum and protein intakes furthest above their requirements were most likely to survive to adulthood and to successfully produce offspring. The result of decades of research, Foraging for Survival will be an essential reference for primatologists, behavioral ecologists, mammalogists, and nutritionists.

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John Alcock, Turid Forsyth.   1997. In a Desert Garden: Love and Death Among the Insects

The book describes the conversion of a once insect-unfriendly Bermuda grass front yard into a suburban insect oasis, without totally alienating the neighbors. The task required changing the standard all-American front yard into a patch of reconstructed desert chaparral with a small rectangular vegetable garden set off to the side. This metamorphosis opened the door to a parade of insects who came to stay or at least visit for awhile, sharing their lives with the author while also sharing part of the garden's produce in some cases. After explaining how this transformation came to be, the book's following chapters wander through the front yard, pointing out the insects on the brittlebush, milkweed, and zucchini while explaining what is interesting about the brittlebush aphid, the milkweed bug, and the zucchini bee. A combination gardening and insect behavior book.

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Susan A. Foster, John A. Endler.   1999. Geographic Variation in Behavior: Perspectives on Evolutionary Mechanisms

Traditional approaches to the study of animal behavior have most often assumed that all members of a species exhibit the same behavior, termed species typical behavior. The papers in Geographic Variation in Behavior demonstrate the fallacy of this assumption, providing ample evidence of variation across the ranges of a wide variety of taxa. Each of the chapters in this edited book describes research on behavioral characters that vary geographically, at least in part as a consequence of underlying genetic variation. The authors explore either the mechanisms by which the behavioral differences have evolved, or methodological issues in the evolutionary study of geographic variation in behavior. Taken together, the body of work represented in this book demonstrates that genetically based geographic variation in behavior may be the norm, rather than the exception. Equally, the examples offer exciting insights into the ways in which geographic variation in behavior can be used to understand the causes and consequences of behavioral evolution, and of evolutionary pattern in general. The book is unique in its emphasis on geographic variation in behavior as a source of evolutionary insight, and of information on the mechanisms of behavioral evolution.

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Reuven Dukas.   1998. Cognitive Ecology: The Evolutionary Ecology of Information Processing and Decis