Synopsis: |
Darwin’s theories of natural and sexual selection are the core of the study of animal behavior, which integrates ethology, neuroscience, endocrinology, ecology, and evolution. In the past 40 years, major theoretical refinements, such as kin selection and parent-offspring conflict, have stimulated research in a wide range of taxa. However, in recent years, there has been an explosion of technological advances that have dramatically changed the nature and range of phenomena studied. This symposium will highlight several examples of novel behavioral research on animals living in social groups, illustrating how these new tools have transformed our understanding of the processes of organization at physiological, individual, and group levels. These studies emphasize endocrinological mechanisms, communicative signals, genomics, metabolic actions, robotics, and computational modeling. With these new tools, scientists are gaining a better knowledge of the costs and benefits of group living and sexual reproduction. In particular, researchers are able to gather elegant data to answer evolutionary questions about free-living animals that previously could only be attempted in laboratory settings. In sum, these approaches offer exciting new windows into the mechanisms and processes of social evolution and are opening frontiers for the next century of study. |
