Ethology

The focus of the course is on fundamental concepts in ethology/animal behaviour, with an emphasis on how theories on the evolution of behaviour can be put to a test empirically. The course builds on BI 1003 Evolutionary Biology, Ecology and Ethology, but develops certain topics further and also addresses new ones.. A major part of the course is a student project, conducted in teams, where the current state of central and controversial issues is reviewed based on original scientific literature. The projects includes training in hypothesis testing in biology.

Knowledge

The candidate should obtain knowledge in:

• Animal behaviour and the evolution of fixed and plastic behaviours
• Optimality theory and its application in foraging behaviour
• Life history evolution, parental investment, parent-offspring conflict and the evolution of begging behaviour
• Cooperative behaviour of animals, with particular emphasis on group living
• Basic behavioural data collection and experimental design, including welfare and ethical implications
• Problem-solving regarding optimal strategies through practical work

Skills

The candidate should be able to:

• Identify and understand adaptationist and game theoretical approaches to selected topics
• Formulate and design data collection and experiments to test scientific hypotheses
• Understand and interpret empirical data as a means to explain behavioural phenomena
• Present and discuss the evolution of optimal strategies, using examples from behavioural ecology

General competence

The candidate should be able to:

• Use knowledge about optimal foraging, social behaviour and life histories in assessments of biological questions
• Critically assess adaptive problems in behavioural ecology and the techniques used to generate hypotheses and tests
• Discuss approaches to answering scientific questions based on known examples in the scientific literature

Lectures: 20 hours

Practical and Project: mandatory