Publisher's Synopsis
Animal behavior is the scientific study of everything animals do, whether the animals are single-celled organisms, invertebrates, fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, or mammals. It involves investigating the relationship of animals to their physical environment as well as to other organisms, and includes such topics as how animals find and defend resources, avoid predators, choose mates and reproduce, and care for their young. People who study animal behavior are concerned with understanding the causes, functions, development, and evolution of behavior. The causes of behavior include both the external stimuli that affect behavior, and the internal hormonal and neural mechanisms that control behavior. The - functions of behavior include its immediate effects on animals and its adaptive value in helping animals to survive or reproduce successfully in a particular environment. The development of behavior pertains to the ways in which behavior changes over the lifetime of an animal, and how - these changes are affected by both genes and experience. The evolution of behavior relates to the origins of behavior patterns and how these change over generations.