Feral pigeons are among the most familiar and abundant birds in the world, urban creatures living in close association with humans yet possessing the characteristics of highly adapted wild birds. However, they are seldom studied, even though the domesticated pigeon has long been one of the major bird models for laboratory research. This definitive monograph focuses on the population, biology, and behavioral ecology of feral pigeons, including a thorough listing of primary references of U.S. and European scholarly literature. Professional and amateur ornithologists, pigeon breeders, and students will find this an invaluable and fascinating study of a species that has evolved from familiar breeds of domesticated birds.

The present book aims to examine how sexual selection works in the human species. Almost all scholarly effort focuses on sexual selection in non-human species and extrapolates the findings to the human one. However, human mating has a unique pattern not found in any other species, namely parental influence over mate choice. Across preindustrial societies, the typical pattern of long-term mating is arranged marriage, where parents choose spouses for their children. By doing so, parents effectively become a sexual selection force. Traits that enhance an individual's chance to be selected as a son- or a daughter-in-law confer important reproductive advantages to those who are endowed with them, increasing in frequency in the population. The author has coined the term parental choice to describe the sexual selection force that arises from parental control over mating. He synthesizes extensive theoretical and empirical work in order to understand and model this force. The aim is to understand which factors give rise to parental choice and to combine these insights into constructing a more formal model. It also aims to further examine whether the predictions of the model fit the patterns of mating found across different types of human societies, and how the model can be used to understand the evolution of behavioral traits involved in mating. By synthesizing the various arguments put forward and published across the literature, the book offers a comprehensive argument and overview of an aspect of sexual selection unique to our species. Furthermore, the book revises and extends previously made arguments and models, while it provides useful insights on how the proposed revision of sexual selection theory can enable us to understand a wide range of human behavioral phenomena. It should be key reading for those interested in studying sexual selection in general and in the Homo sapiens species in particular.

Taylor's Power Law: Order and Pattern in Nature is a broad synthesis of this ubiquitous property of natural and man-made phenomena. This stimulating and approachable work surveys the biological and non-biological empirical data, describes the statistical uses of Taylor's power law (TPL) and its relationship to statistical distributions, exposes the mathematical connections to other power laws, covers the competing explanatory models; and develops an argument for TPL's genesis. Taylor's power law relates the variability of a process or population to its average value. It was first described in relation to insect populations and then more broadly to other animal and plant populations. Subsequently it has been recognized in microbiology, genetics, economics, astronomy, physics, and computer science, and it is thought to be one of the few general laws in ecology where it is routinely used to describe the spatial and temporal distributions of populations. Biologists who know the law as Taylor's power law and physical scientists who know it as fluctuation scaling will be interested in the bigger picture on this fascinating subject. As the relationship between variance and mean is found in so wide a range of disciplines, it seems possible it is a deep property of number, not just a phenomenon in ecology as was thought originally. Although theories abound that purport to explain or predict TPL, none is entirely satisfactory either because it fails to be very predictive, or it does not account for all the available empirical data. To uncover such a property requires a synthesis across disciplines, an acute need that is approached by this exciting work.

New chapter 10 'Going Forward' which offers career advice on entry level positions Each question now comes with a 'Quick Take' which would be an easy to read lay-person answer to the question, and then a more in-depth 'Technically Speaking' answer that is more challenging Accessible writing style

Celebratory, joyous and moving, this is a book about the profoundly healing, curative qualities of dogs - and how we need dogs in our lives more than ever. The dog-human bond is the most extraordinary cross-species friendship on the planet. Dogs give people so much: affection, companionship and profound emotional support. Now, more than ever, we can see the clear health benefits of living with a dog by our side. Drawing on science, research and in-depth personal interviews, Good Dog demonstrates how vastly a dog can improve our mental and physical health as well as our quality of life. Kate Leaver begins by telling the story of how she met her beloved rescue shih tzu, Bertie, and how powerfully he helps her through periods of depression. Then she meets 10 other remarkable dogs who've changed human lives - from Missy the pug, who helps 11-year-old Cody live his best life despite his autism diagnosis, to Pip, who helps her teenage owner manage diabetes, and Jingles, who works with inmates in a prison. With each story, it becomes more and more obvious how profoundly dogs can support us, comfort us and even save our lives. Celebratory, joyous and moving, this is a book for anyone who has ever loved a dog - and known their love in return.

This volume connects current ideas and concepts about sleep functions and circadian rhythms with the search for novel target-selective sleep-wake therapeutics. To do so, it provides a timely, state-of-the-art overview of sleep-wake mechanisms in health and disease, ongoing developments in drug discovery, and their prospects for the clinical treatment of sleep-disordered patients. It particularly focuses on the concept that sleep and wakefulness mutually affect each other, and the future therapeutic interventions with either sleep- or wake-promoting agents that are expected to not only improve the quality of sleep but also the waking behavior, cognition, mood and other sleep-associated physiological functions. The chapter 'Sleep Physiology, Circadian Rhythms, Waking Performance and the Development of Sleep-Wake Therapeutics' available open access under a CC BY 4.0 license at link.springer.com

The second volume of Behavioral Genetics of the Mouse provides a comprehensive overview of the major genetically modified mouse lines used to model human neurobehavioral disorders; from disorders of perception, of autonomous and motor functions to social and cognitive syndromes, drug abuse and dependence as well as neurodegenerative pathologies. Mouse models obtained with different types of genetic manipulations (i.e. transgenic, knockout/in mice) are described in their pathological phenotypes, with a special emphasis on behavioral abnormalities. The major results obtained with many of the existing models are discussed in depth highlighting their strengths and limitations. A lasting reference, the thorough reviews offer an easy entrance into the extensive literature in this field, and will prove invaluable to students and specialists alike.

This volume explores various themes at the intersection of archaeology and philosophy: inference and theory; interdisciplinary connections; cognition, language and normativity; and ethical issues. Showcasing this heterogeneity, its scope ranges from the method of analogical inference to the evolution of the human mind; from conceptual issues in assessing the health of past populations to the ethics of cultural heritage tourism. It probes the archaeological record for evidence of numeracy, curiosity and creativity, and social complexity. Its contributors comprise an interdisciplinary cluster of philosophers, archaeologists, anthropologists, and psychologists, from a variety of career stages, of whom many are leading experts in their fields. Chapter 3 is available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.

The common fruit fly - Drosophila melanogaster - has been the subject of genetics research since the early twentieth century. The complete genomic sequence of Drosophila was published in 2000 and it is still the model organism par excellence for the experimental study of biological phenomena and processes. It is also by far the best model for studying gene function in mammals, including humans. Presenting state-of-the-art studies on the behaviour of Drosophila, this volume discusses normal and pathological models of neurobehavioral disorders and encompasses the specialised methods that have been used, from anatomical, histological, immunohistological and neurophysiological to genomic, genetic and behavioural assays. A comprehensive and thorough reference, this volume is a valuable resource for students and researchers alike across several disciplines of life sciences, including behavioral genetics, neurogenetics, behavioral neuroscience, molecular biology, evolutionary biology and population biology.

Advances in the Study of Behavior, Volume 51, provides users with the latest insights in this ever-evolving field. Users will find new information on a variety of species, including The troublesome gift: the spermatophylax as a purveyor of sexual conflict and coercion, Conformity and over-imitation: an integrative review of two forms of hyper-reliance on social learning, Copulatory behavior and genital morphology in vertebrates, Sexual selection in polyandrous societies: Lessons from the fowl, Sensory information in social insects, Evolution of female coloration, what have we learned from birds in general and blue tits in particular, Sexual selection and social behavior in spiders, and more.

This book brings together the latest information on tropical ungulates in different Latin American countries. These animals are not only important from the point of view of their role in different ecosystems, but also have cultural value for people. The book also discusses topics such as habitat transformation and hunting as these species are an important source of food in many places. Addressing ungulate natural communities in diverse ecosystems and countries, the book provides information on specific aspects of each of the most representative species, and highlights topics to help readers better understand these species and develop effective management and conservation strategies. The information presented also reveals the need for more knowledge and will hopefully provide the incentive for continued studies on this important group of animals. This publication serves as a reference for academic research on ungulate ecology, behavior and dynamics, as well as the basis for conservation strategies.

The approach to psychology advocated by the radical behaviourists was often misunderstood and frequently gave rise to controversy. Originally published in 1974, this book introduced current research in operant conditioning and explains the attempt to understand behaviour inherent in such experiments at the time. After considering the philosophical context in which behaviouristic psychology developed, the author outlines the basic characteristics of operant research by reviewing single experiments on the effects of reinforcement on behaviour. Chapters on schedules of intermittent reinforcement extend this approach to more complex situations and emphasize that behaviour can be maintained and controlled in many different ways by environmental events. The author then discusses recent work on conditional reinforcement and on the discriminative control of behaviour and shows how operant research has changed our understanding of these important concepts in psychology. Subsequent chapters review research within the operant paradigm on the effects on behaviour of punishment, anxiety, aversive stimuli and drugs, again by emphasising the special contribution to these topics made by operant conditioning techniques and methodology. The final chapters consider the general implications of operant research for educational practice and for clinical psychology, and place this approach within the context of psychology as a whole. Dr Blackman argues that it should be recognized as one important attempt to further the scientific analysis of behaviour. This book, filled a long recognized need for an undergraduate text in this area at the time, and helped students form their own evaluation. Now it should be read in its historical context.

In her groundbreaking and bestselling book Animals in Translation, Temple Grandin drew on her own experience with autism as well as her distinguished career as an animal scientist to delivery extraordinary insights into how animals think, act, and feel. Now she builds on those insights to show us how to give our animals the best and happiest life - on their terms, not ours. It's usually easy to pinpoint the cause of physical pain in animals, but to know what is causing them emotional distress is much harder. Drawing on the latest research and her own work, Grandin identifies the core emotional needs of animals. Then she explains how to fulfill them for dogs and cats, horses, farm animals and zoo animals. Whether it's how to make the healthiest environment for the dog that you leave alone in the house during the day, how to how to keep pigs from being bored, or how to know if the lion pacing in the zoo is miserable or just exercising, Grandin teaches us to challenge our assumptions about animal emotions. Making Animals Happy is the culmination of almost 30 years of research, experimentation, and experience. This is essential reading for anyone who's ever owned, cared for, or simply cared about an animal.

This book presents visual plant defenses (camouflage, mimicry and aposematism via coloration, morphology and even movement) against herbivores. It is mainly an ideological monograph, a manifesto representing my current understanding on defensive plant coloration and related issues. The book is not the final word in anything, but rather the beginning of many things. It aims to establish visual anti-herbivory defense as an integral organ of botany, or plant science as it is commonly called today. I think that like in animals, many types of plant coloration can be explained by selection associated with the sensory/cognitive systems of herbivores and predators to reduce herbivory. It is intended to intrigue and stimulate students of botany/plant science and plant/animal interactions for a very long time. This book is tailored to a readership of biologists and naturalists of all kinds and levels, and more specifically for botanists, ecologists, evolutionists and to those interested in plant/animal interactions. It is written from the point of view of a naturalist, ecologist and evolutionary biologist that I hold, considering natural selection as the main although not the only drive for evolution. According to this perspective, factors such as chance, founder effects, genetic drift and various stochastic processes that may and do influence characters found in specific genotypes, are not comparable in their power and influence to the common outcomes of natural selection, especially manifested when very many species belonging to different plant families, with very different and separate evolutionary histories, arrive at the same adaptation, something that characterizes many of the visual patterns and proposed adaptations described and discussed in this book. Many of the discussed visual defensive mechanisms are aimed at operating before the plants are damaged, i.e., to be their first line of defense. In this respect, I think that the name of the book by Ruxton et al. (2004) "Avoiding Attack" is an excellent phrase for the assembly of the best types of defensive tactics. While discussing anti-herbivory, I do remember, study and teach physiological/developmental aspects of some of the discussed coloration patterns, and I am fully aware of the simultaneous and diverse functions of many plant characters in addition to defense.

What's to be done about a jaywalking moose? A bear caught breaking and entering? A murderous tree? Three hundred years ago, animals that broke the law would be assigned legal representation and put on trial. These days, as New York Times best-selling author Mary Roach discovers, the answers are best found not in jurisprudence but in science: the curious science of human-wildlife conflict, a discipline at the crossroads of human behavior and wildlife biology. Roach tags along with animal-attack forensics investigators, human-elephant conflict specialists, bear managers, and "danger tree" faller blasters. Intrepid as ever, she travels from leopard-terrorized hamlets in the Indian Himalaya to St. Peter's Square in the early hours before the pope arrives for Easter Mass, when vandal gulls swoop in to destroy the elaborate floral display. She taste-tests rat bait, learns how to install a vulture effigy, and gets mugged by a macaque. Combining little-known forensic science and conservation genetics with a motley cast of laser scarecrows, langur impersonators, and trespassing squirrels, Roach reveals as much about humanity as about nature's lawbreakers. When it comes to "problem" wildlife, she finds, humans are more often the problem-and the solution. Fascinating, witty, and humane, Fuzz offers hope for compassionate coexistence in our ever-expanding human habitat.

Winner of the "Outstanding Academic Title" recognition by Choice for the 2020 OAT Awards. The Choice OAT Award represents the highest caliber of scholarly titles that have been reviewed by Choice and conveys the extraordinary recognition of the academic community. In recent years social media has gained significant popularity and has become an essential medium of communication. Such user-generated content provides an excellent scenario for applying the metaphor of mining any information. Transfer learning is a research problem in machine learning that focuses on leveraging the knowledge gained while solving one problem and applying it to a different, but related problem. Features: Offers novel frameworks to study user behavior and for addressing and explaining task heterogeneity Presents a detailed study of existing research Provides convergence and complexity analysis of the frameworks Includes algorithms to implement the proposed research work Covers extensive empirical analysis Social Media Analytics for User Behavior Modeling: A Task Heterogeneity Perspective is a guide to user behavior modeling in heterogeneous settings and is of great use to the machine learning community.

Contests are an important aspect of the lives of diverse animals, from sea anemones competing for space on a rocky shore to fallow deer stags contending for access to females. Why do animals fight? What determines when fights stop and which contestant wins? Addressing fundamental questions on contest behaviour, this volume presents theoretical and empirical perspectives across a range of species. The historical development of contest research, the evolutionary theory of both dyadic and multiparty contests, and approaches to experimental design and data analysis are discussed in the first chapters. This is followed by reviews of research in key animal taxa, from the use of aerial displays and assessment rules in butterflies and the developmental biology of weapons in beetles, through to interstate warfare in humans. The final chapter considers future directions and applications of contest research, making this a comprehensive resource for both graduate students and researchers in the field.

The neotropical primate family Pitheciidae consists of four genera Cacajao (uacaris), Callicebus (titis), Chiropotes (bearded sakis) and Pithecia (sakis), whose 40+ species display a range of sizes, social organisations, ecologies and habitats. Few are well known and the future survival of many is threatened, yet pitheciines have been little studied. This book is the first to review the biology of this fascinating and diverse group in full. It includes fossil history, reviews of the biology of each genus and, among others, specific treatments of vocalisations and foraging ecology. These studies are integrated into considerations of current status and future conservation requirements on a country-by-country basis for each species. A state-of-the-art summary of current knowledge, Evolutionary Biology and Conservation of Titis, Sakis and Uacaris is a collective effort from all the major researchers currently working on these remarkable animals.

The use of hermit crabs as an experimental model for motivational studies is discussed in this book by expert behavioural ecologists. The book is timely since there is a growing recognition that the integration of causal and functional studies are needed, which is discussed by the authors. This book should be of interest to a wide range of behavioural ecologists.

This book analyzes the psychological mechanisms critical to animal communication. The topics covered range from single neurons to broad-scale phylogenetic patterns, shedding new light on the sensory, perceptual, and cognitive processes that underlie the communicative behaviors of signalers and receivers alike. In so doing, the contributing authors collectively integrate research questions and methods from behavioral ecology, cognitive ethology, comparative psychology, evolutionary biology, sensory ecology, and neuroscience. No less broad is the volume's taxonomic coverage, which spans bees to blackbirds to baboons. The ultimate goal of the book is to stimulate additional research into the diversity and evolution of the psychological mechanisms that make animal communication possible.

Evolution and the Human-Animal Drive to Conflict examines how fundamental, universal animal drives, such as dominance/prevalence, survival, kinship, and "profit" (greed, advantage, whether of material or social nature), provide the basis for the evolutionary trap that promotes the unstable, conflictive, dominant-prone individual and group human behaviours. Examining this behavioural tension, this book argues that while these innate features set up behaviours that lean towards aggression influenced by social inequalities, the means implemented to defuse them resort to emotional and intellectual strategies that sponsor fanaticism and often reproduce the very same behaviours they intend to defuse. In addressing these concerns, the book argues that we should enhance our resources to promote solidarity, accept cultural differences, deter expansionist and uncontrolled profit drives, and achieve collective access towards knowledge and progress in living conditions. This entails promoting the redistribution of resources and creative labour access and avoiding policies that generate a fragmented world with collective and individual development disparities that invite and encourage dominance behaviours. This resource redistribution asserts that it is necessary to reformulate the global set of human priorities towards increased access to better living conditions, cognitive enhancement, a more amiable interaction with the ecosystem and non-aggressive cultural differences, promote universal access to knowledge, and enhance creativity and cultural convivence. These behavioural changes entail partial derangement of our ancestral animal drives camouflaged under different cultural profiles until the species succeeds in replacing the dominance of basic animal drives with prosocial, collective ones. Though it entails a formidable task of confronting financial, military, and religious powers and cultural inertias – human history is also a challenging, continuous experience in these domains – for the sake of our own self-identity and self-evaluation, we should reject any suggestion of not continuing embracing slowly constructing collective utopias channelled towards improving individual and collective freedom and creativeness. This book will interest academics and students in social, cognitive, and evolutionary psychology, the neurosciences, palaeoanthropology, philosophy, and anthropology.

The assignment events, objects, state of beings, etc., to an experiential category is a fundamental activity carried out by human (and by other animals). So rudimentary are the processes involved in categorizing that it is indeed impossible to imagine conscious awareness to exist without the presence of categories. A considerable body of writing exists on categories dating from the times of Classical philosophy. Plato developed a categorical ontology and Aristotle produced one of the earliest examples of a complex understanding of basic ontologies. A number of other categorially structured ontologies have been proposed including those by Lowe, Westerhoff, Chisholm, etc. The book is an edited collection of up to the moment essays that address critical aspects on the understanding of categories and categorial systems. The perspectives included in the book are drawn from philosophy, psychology, theology, divinity, comparative cognition and facet theory. The authors are all renowned experts in the area of their writing. Topics addressed include both contemporary advances in the understanding of perennial debates and latest thinking upon how categories are employed to structure our experiences of the world we live in. The book is distinct as being written by philosophers and psychologists. The book is a collection of writings from selected academics at the fore of debates and understandings of categories in contemporary thought. The text provides a single source for contemporary scholarship in categories. No single text that brings together expositions of categorial experiences for students and academics within the above listed disciplines.

Asymmetry of the brain and behaviour (lateralization) has traditionally been considered unique to humans. However, research has shown that this phenomenon is widespread throughout the vertebrate kingdom and found even in some invertebrate species. A similar basic plan of organisation exists across vertebrates. Summarising the evidence and highlighting research from the last twenty years, the authors discuss lateralization from four perspectives - function, evolution, development and causation - covering a wide range of animals, including humans. The evolution of lateralization is traced from our earliest ancestors, through fish and reptiles to birds and mammals. The benefits of having a divided brain are discussed, as well as the influence of experience on its development. A final chapter discusses outstanding problems and areas for further investigation. Experts in this field, the authors present the latest scientific knowledge clearly and engagingly, making this a valuable tool for anyone interested in the biology and behaviour of brain asymmetries.

Dog Behavior: Modern Science and Our Canine Companions provides readers with a better understanding of canine science, including evolutionary concepts, ethograms, brain structures and development, sensory perspectives, the science of emotions, social structure, and the natural history of the species. The book also analyzes relationships between humans and dogs and how the latter has evolved. Readers will find this to be an ideal resource for researchers and students in animal behavior, specifically focusing on dog behavior and human-canine relationships. In addition, veterinarians seeking further information on dog behavior and the social temperament of these companion animals will find this book to be informative.