Introduction to Social Behaviour!
History of studying social behaviour
Social behaviour = activities among members of the same species
that have fitness consequences the focal individual and other
individuals in the group e.g. male-male competition in stags, fish
swimming in groups (shoals/ schools) – individual’s actions dictating
their position in the group impacts upon their predation risk (and
hence dictates position and predation risk of other fish)
FOUNDERS:
1. Charles Darwin:
The Descent of Man, and Selection Relation to Sex (1871) – about
how individuals in groups could work together
The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals (1872) –
looking at humans from an animal behavioural perspective
Struggled to understand the reasoning for group existence as
natural selection acts to maximise individual fitness – the
purpose of individuals helping others in a group is hence unclear.
2. Pjotr Kropotkin
Mutual aid: a factor in evolution (1902)
'As soon as we study animals - not in laboratories and museums
only, but in the forest and prairie, in the steppe and the
mountains - we at once perceive that though there is an
immense amount of warfare …., there is, at the same time, as
much, or perhaps even more, of mutual support, mutual aid, and
mutual defence amidst animals belonging to the same species
or, at least, to the same society. Sociability is as much a law of
nature as mutual struggle.'‘
3. Alfred Espinas (1844-1922)
Des Societes Animales (1878)
In contrast to Darwin who emphasised individuals, Espinas
realised:
-- The significance of society & communal life
-- Animal societies exhibit structured relationships
-- Structure of animal societies may better reflect adaptations to
ecology, rather than phylogenetic descent
THE ETHOLOGISTS:
Ethology = the science of animal behaviour, and also human
behaviour from a biological perspective. Three Nobelists – 1973:
1. Konrad Lorenz, 1903-1989 – ethology & comparative animal
behaviour – studied imprinting in ducks, geese
2. Niko Tinbergen, 1907-1988 – ethology & behavioural ecology –
measured lifetime reproductive success and related this to
, behaviour (remember: the 4 questions)
3. Karl von Frish, 1886-1982 – communication between animals
SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR HISTORY – IN A
NUTSHELL:
--E.O. Wilson, Sociobiology (1975)
-- J.R. Krebs & N.B. Davies, Behavioural ecology (1978) – and
several textbooks and edited volumes since
INVESTIGATING SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR:
-- Brain sciences & sociogenomics: Robinson et al. 2008, Science -
What an individual does is influenced by its brain, physiology and
genes. Can now investigate behaviour on a genomic level – which
genes might be responsible for different aspects of social
behaviour?
-- Sociobiology (or behavioural ecology) - Investigating individuals
within the population. Some individuals are more distinguished:
group members, kin, family members (mates, offspring) Wilson 1975
Sociobiology
-- Sociophylogeography - Selection produces differences
between populations and species: looks at phylogenetic trees and
geographic distributions of populations and relates this to
macroevolutionary patterns in social behaviour.
We are only beginning to understand how the different levels of
selection are interacting to produce some of the most spectacular
behaviours we see in nature.
SOCIOBIOLOGY
-- Warder Clyde Allee, 1855-1955 - The social life of animals (1938)
-- Edward Osborne Wilson, 1929 – Sociobiology (1975), Crafoord Prize
1990 – studied cooperation in animals, particularly ants
-- Robert Trivers, 1943 – Craaford Prize 2007 – studied parent-offspring
conflict as well as altruism
BEHAVIOURAL ECOLOGY
-- John Krebs, 1945 - optimal foraging
-- Nicolas Davies, 1952 – mating systems and brood parasitism
-- Geoff Parker, 1944 – sexual conflict and sperm competition
History of studying social behaviour
Social behaviour = activities among members of the same species
that have fitness consequences the focal individual and other
individuals in the group e.g. male-male competition in stags, fish
swimming in groups (shoals/ schools) – individual’s actions dictating
their position in the group impacts upon their predation risk (and
hence dictates position and predation risk of other fish)
FOUNDERS:
1. Charles Darwin:
The Descent of Man, and Selection Relation to Sex (1871) – about
how individuals in groups could work together
The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals (1872) –
looking at humans from an animal behavioural perspective
Struggled to understand the reasoning for group existence as
natural selection acts to maximise individual fitness – the
purpose of individuals helping others in a group is hence unclear.
2. Pjotr Kropotkin
Mutual aid: a factor in evolution (1902)
'As soon as we study animals - not in laboratories and museums
only, but in the forest and prairie, in the steppe and the
mountains - we at once perceive that though there is an
immense amount of warfare …., there is, at the same time, as
much, or perhaps even more, of mutual support, mutual aid, and
mutual defence amidst animals belonging to the same species
or, at least, to the same society. Sociability is as much a law of
nature as mutual struggle.'‘
3. Alfred Espinas (1844-1922)
Des Societes Animales (1878)
In contrast to Darwin who emphasised individuals, Espinas
realised:
-- The significance of society & communal life
-- Animal societies exhibit structured relationships
-- Structure of animal societies may better reflect adaptations to
ecology, rather than phylogenetic descent
THE ETHOLOGISTS:
Ethology = the science of animal behaviour, and also human
behaviour from a biological perspective. Three Nobelists – 1973:
1. Konrad Lorenz, 1903-1989 – ethology & comparative animal
behaviour – studied imprinting in ducks, geese
2. Niko Tinbergen, 1907-1988 – ethology & behavioural ecology –
measured lifetime reproductive success and related this to
, behaviour (remember: the 4 questions)
3. Karl von Frish, 1886-1982 – communication between animals
SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR HISTORY – IN A
NUTSHELL:
--E.O. Wilson, Sociobiology (1975)
-- J.R. Krebs & N.B. Davies, Behavioural ecology (1978) – and
several textbooks and edited volumes since
INVESTIGATING SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR:
-- Brain sciences & sociogenomics: Robinson et al. 2008, Science -
What an individual does is influenced by its brain, physiology and
genes. Can now investigate behaviour on a genomic level – which
genes might be responsible for different aspects of social
behaviour?
-- Sociobiology (or behavioural ecology) - Investigating individuals
within the population. Some individuals are more distinguished:
group members, kin, family members (mates, offspring) Wilson 1975
Sociobiology
-- Sociophylogeography - Selection produces differences
between populations and species: looks at phylogenetic trees and
geographic distributions of populations and relates this to
macroevolutionary patterns in social behaviour.
We are only beginning to understand how the different levels of
selection are interacting to produce some of the most spectacular
behaviours we see in nature.
SOCIOBIOLOGY
-- Warder Clyde Allee, 1855-1955 - The social life of animals (1938)
-- Edward Osborne Wilson, 1929 – Sociobiology (1975), Crafoord Prize
1990 – studied cooperation in animals, particularly ants
-- Robert Trivers, 1943 – Craaford Prize 2007 – studied parent-offspring
conflict as well as altruism
BEHAVIOURAL ECOLOGY
-- John Krebs, 1945 - optimal foraging
-- Nicolas Davies, 1952 – mating systems and brood parasitism
-- Geoff Parker, 1944 – sexual conflict and sperm competition
