Day:

Time:

BIOL 467 Integrative Animal Behavior

TR
Location:
HECC 203
9:35-10:50 am
Number of Credits: 03 Credits

Instructor:
Dr. Gil Rosenthal
Department of Biology
Room 203A, Butler Hall
Email: grosenthal@bio.tamu.edu

http://swordtail.tamu.edu
Office hours: TR after class until noon or by
appointment

E-mail will be the primary means of communication for the course. Email will be sent to your
@tamu.edu address. Check your email often and keep your mailbox below quota! Go to
ecampus.tamu.edu for course materials.
Course prerequisites: Any one of the following: BIOL214, 281, 357, 466; ZOOL 388, 405, 434;
ANTH 424; ENTO 424; FRSC 324; RENR 204; WFSC 403, 412, 414, 422; consent of instructor
Course description: This lecture-based course examines how behavior contributes to survival
and reproduction, and in turn how evolutionary history and ecological circumstance interact to
shape the expression of behavior. The major focus of the course will be the integrative nature of
behavior: the interaction of evolutionary processes, mechanistic constraints, and ecological
demands involved in selecting for a set of behavioral strategies. Readings will be drawn from
contemporary reviews and the primary literature.
.
Course requirements:
Attend all lectures and discussion sections and participate actively. Let me know in
advance of any dates you know are coming up (religious holidays, extracurricular
activities) at the beginning of the semester. Absences for previously scheduled activities
will only be excused if they are communicated well in advance. If you have not
discussed an absence with me ahead of time, it will be considered unexcused unless
proper documentation is provided. See http://student-rules.tamu.edu/rule07.
Read all required material (original papers, review papers, and textbook chapters).
Three (3) take-home, open-book exams, to be answered in approximately two hours
each, including short essays, short answers, and quantitative problems. Each exam will
cumulatively cover the previous course material.
Four (4) quantitative problem sets will be distributed one week before the due date and
completed in eCampus. Each problem set, but especially the fourth, will cumulatively
cover previous course material.
Late problem sets will be downgraded a letter grade for each day late, starting at 12:01 am the
day after the due date. Late exams will be downgraded a letter grade for each hour late.
Learning outcomes: The goal of this course is to provide a sophisticated understanding of
animal behavior from both mechanistic and evolutionary perspectives, and more generally to
encourage thinking about biology as a conceptually unified discipline. Students will also learn
how to critically evaluate original research papers as well as improve their skills at quantitative
reasoning and written expression.

Grading: Letter grades will be assigned based as follows: first hour exam: 10%; second hour
exam: 15%; third hour exam: 25%; first three problem sets 10% each, final problem set 20%.
Grade scale: 90-100 A; 80-89 B; 70-79 C; 60-69 D; < 60 F
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA): The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is a federal antidiscrimination statute that provides comprehensive civil rights protection for persons with disabilities.
Among other things, this legislation requires that all students with disabilities be guaranteed a learning
environment that provides for reasonable accommodation of their disabilities. If you believe you have
a disability requiring an accommodation, please contact Disability Services, currently located in the
Disability Services building at the Student Services at White Creek Complex on west campus or call 979845-1637. For additional information, visit http://disability.tamu.edu.

Academic Integrity: For additional information please visit: http://aggiehonor.tamu.edu. Please pay
close attention to guidelines on avoiding plagiarism:
http://aggiehonor.tamu.edu/Descriptions/Plagiarism.aspx.
An Aggie does not lie, cheat, or steal, or tolerate those who do.

REQUIRED TEXTBOOK
Davies, N. B., Krebs, J. R. & West, S. A. 2012. An introduction to behavioural ecology. WileyBlackwell, 4th edition.
SUGGESTED READINGS
Dugatkin, L.A. 2008. Principles of animal behavior. 2nd edition.
Bradbury, J. W. & Vehrencamp, S. L. 2011. Principles of Animal Communication. 2nd edition.
Futuyma, D. J. 2009. Evolution. 2nd edition.
Martin, P. & Bateson, P. 2007. Measuring behaviour: an introductory guide. 3rd edition.
LECTURES, READINGS, AND KEY DATES appear below. For each class, well read a general
review paper or a textbook chapter, and an original research paper. Please download papers
yourself unless specified and read by the lecture for which its assigned. Papers may change up
to a week before the date assigned.

Daviesetal.chapterorreviewpaper
Date Topic
30Aug Courseorganization;introductiontoanimalbehaviorandbehavioralecology
M.R.Servedioetal.2014PLoSBiology.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.1002017
1Sep Quantitativereasoninginanuncertainworld
Chapter1:NaturalSelection,EcologyandBehavior; Fay,J.C.
2011.TrendsinGenetics27:343349(providedonecampus).
6Sep Adaptationism;McDonaldKreitmantestanddN/dS
8Sep Comparativemethodsandbehavioralevolution

Chapter2:TestingHypothesesinBehaviouralEcology
McNamaraetal.2006,Oikos
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/155504/file/625390.pdf

13Sep Bayesianupdating
Optimalforagingandtheidealfreedistribution
15Sep (GraceSmarsh)
Chapter3:EconomicDecisionsandtheIndividual
Cognitiveconstraintsonforaging;FIRSTPROBLEMSET Dukas,R.2004.Annu.Rev.Ecol.Evol.Syst.2004.35:34774
psych.mcmaster.ca/dukas/dukas%202004%20arees.pdf
20Sep DUE
22Sep Predator/preycoevolution
Chapter4:PredatorsversusPrey:EvolutionaryArmsRaces
Takehome,openbookessayexam
27Sep FIRSTEXAM
Chapter5:CompetingforResources
29Sep Evolutionarygametheory
4Oct Livingingroupsandcollectivedecisionmaking
Chapter6:LivinginGroups
Sih,A.etal.2009.Behav.Ecol.Sociobiol.63:975988.
6Oct Socialnetworktheory

Originalpaper
Carrigan,M.A.etal.2015Proc.Natl.Acad.Sci.USA112:458463
(providedonecampus).
Stolz,U.etal.2003.Proc.Natl.Acad.Sci.USA100:1495514959.
Podos,J.2001.Nature409:185188.AlsocommentarybyRyan,
Nature409:139140.
Biernaskie,S.C.etal.2009.Am.Nat.174:413423.
Jensen,K.etal.2012.Proc.R.Soc.Bdoi:10.1098/rspb.2011.2410.
Ings,T.C.&L.Chittka2008.CurrentBiology
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2008.07.074
House,P.K.etal.2011.PLoSOne6:e23277.

Kokko,H.etal.2014.Proc.R.Soc.B281:20141794.
Clmentetal.2015.Anim.Behav.105:8593.
Oh,K.P.&A.V.Badyaev2010.DOI:10.1086/655216
MacasGarcia,C.,&SaldvarLemus2012.Proc.R.Soc.B.2012
11Oct SexualselectionI:evolutionoftraits&preferences
Chapter7:SexualSelection,SpermCompetition,andSexualConfli doi:10.1098/rspb.2011.2611
Mechanismsofcommunication;SECONDPROBLEMSET
Leary,G.P.etal.2012.Proc.Natl.Acad.Sci.USA109:14081
14086.
Chapter14:Communication
13Oct DUE
18Oct Learningandmatechoice;alternativematingstrategies Verzijdenetal.2012,TREE27:511:519
tenCateetal.2006.Curr.Biol.16:11281132.
Chapman,T.2006.CurrentBiology16,R744R754
Brennan,P.L.R.etal.2010.Proc.R.Soc.B.277:13091314.
20Oct Sexualconflict;introductiontokinselection
25Oct Postmatingsexualselection
Eberhard,W.G.2009.Proc.Natl.Acad.Sci.USA106:1002510032Fisher,H.S.&Hoekstra,H.E.2010.Nature463:801803.
Takehome,openbookessayexam
27Oct SECONDEXAM(COMPREHENSIVE)
Limbourg,T.etal.2004.Proc.R.Soc.B
doi:10.1098/rspb.2004.2825
1Nov Evolutionofparentalcare&matingsystems
Chapter8:parentalcare
H.K.Kindsvater&S.H.Alonzo2014.Proc.R.Soc.BDOI:
10.1098/rspb.2013.1981
3Nov Parentoffspringconflict;maternalallocation
Chapter9:Matingsystems
Sexallocationtheoryandsexchange;THIRDPROBLEM
Chapter10:Sexallocation
Kappus,S.&Fong,P.2014.Behav.Ecol.25:827833.
8Nov SETDUE
Gilbertetal.2007.Proc.Natl.Acad.Sci.USA104:89138917.

10Nov Kinselection
15Nov Theevolutionofcooperation.

Chapter11:Socialbehaviors
Chapter12:Cooperation

Carter,G.G.&Wilkinson,G.S.2013.Proc.R.Soc.B280:

17Nov Eusociality
18Nov LASTDAYFORQDROP
22Nov Socialbehaviorandmacroevolution

Chapter13:Altruismandconflictinthesocialinsects

Tsutsui,N.D.,etal.2000.Proc.Natl.Acad.Sci.USA97:59485953.

Ritchie,M.G.2007.Annu.Rev.Ecol.Evol.Syst.38:79102.

29Nov Biologyandthepseudoscienceofrace
1Dec THIRDEXAM(COMPREHENSIVE)

GravleeC.Am.J.ofPhys.Anthropol.2009139
Takehome,openbookessayexam

Pfennig,K.S.2007.Science318:965967.
Kurzbanetal.2001PNAS
www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.251541498

6Dec Humanbehavioralecology;FINALPROBLEMSETDUE

Studentselected

Studentselected