Animal Behavior: An Introduction to Behavioral Mechanisms, Development, and Ecology

This classic textbook is a concise introductory guide to the subject of animal behavior. The book is organized by first building the four-cornered foundations of the subject, then moving higher. In an extremely well-organized progression, the student is lead to an understanding of the essential topics, explained in logical self-contained units. Each chapter ends with suggestions for further reading. In this second edition, the coverage of mechanisms of behavior is much expanded, as is the material on evolution and natural selection. The chapter on development includes much of the new work on learning and memory, especially song-learning in birds. Indeed throughout the book, examples are drawn from recent ground-breaking research.