This textbook helped to define the field of Behavioural Ecology. In this
fourth edition the text has been completely revised, with new chapters
and many new illustrations and full colour photographs. The theme, once
again, is the influence of natural selection on behaviour - an animal's
struggle to survive and reproduce by exploiting and competing for
resources, avoiding predators, selecting mates and caring for
offspring, - and how animal societies reflect both cooperation and
conflict among individuals.
Stuart A. West has joined as a co-author bringing his own perspectives
and work on microbial systems into the book.
Written in the same engaging and lucid style as the previous editions,
the authors explain the latest theoretical ideas using examples from
micro-organisms, invertebrates and vertebrates. There are boxed sections
for some topics and marginal notes help guide the reader. The book is
essential reading for students of behavioural ecology, animal behaviour
and evolutionary biology.
**
Key Features:**
- Long-awaited new edition of a field-defining textbook
- New chapters, illustrations and colour photographs
- New co-author
- Focuses on the influence of natural selection on behavior, and how
animal societies reflect both cooperation and conflict among
individuals
"The long-awaited update to a classic in this field is now here,
presenting new direc-tions in thinking and addressing burning questions.
Richly informed by progress in many other disciplines, such as sensory
physiology, genetics and evolutionary theory, it marks the emergence of
behav-ioural ecology as a fully fledged discipline..... This is a
marvellous book, written in a lucid style. A must-read for those in the
field, it is also a cornucopia of new thinking for anyone interested in
evolution and behaviour."
Manfred Milinski, Nature, 2012
