Syllabus

Animal Behavior BIOS 4730/5730 Winter 2013 Meeting Time and Location: TTH 12:00 PM to 01:20 PM Irvine Hall 159 Text: Alcock: Animal Behavior: An Evolutionary Approach, Ninth Edition, 2009 Instructor: Dr. M. R. Morris phone: (740) 593-0337 e-mail: morrism@ohiou.edu office: LSB 243 office hours: Wed 2:00-3:00 pm; After Class Course Website: The course web page can be accessed through blackboard portal (https://blackboard.ohiou.edu/). Copy and paste into your internet browser, and then set a bookmark! Your oak ID and password allows you to have access to the site. The website is where you can find the syllabus, all course handouts, lecture notes, assignments, exams, grades and links to journals. Lectures: Topics will generally parallel chapters in the textbook with some additions. Discussions: The discussions are designed to supplement the textbook, introducing you to some of the most current concepts in Animal Behavior, as well as give you an opportunity to learn good discussion skills. A list of the articles we will be reading, as well as PDFs of each article can be found under Assignments and on the course website. Read the assigned article before coming to class. In addition, find one research article (not a review, not one from the review article) on the same topic, and present a short synopsis of the additional article to your discussion group. A typed summary of your synopsis (one paragraph, no longer than one page) will be turned in to me at the end of the discussion. Include your name and date, as well reference information of the article in your summary page in the following format: Morris, M. R., Rios-Cardenas, O. & Brewer, J. 2010. Variation in mating preference within a wild population influences the mating success of alternative mating strategies. Animal Behaviour 79: 673-678. There are four main learning goals for the additional research article. 1) Make sure you know how to find primary research articles; 2) Expand your discussion groups knowledge of the topic; and 3) Give you practice in summarizing an article you have read, and 4) Give you practice in following a citation format. Papers/Projects: Students can choose any topic covered in the textbook for papers or research projects. Papers should comprise a short review, synthesis, and critical evaluation of a current topic (10 pp double-spaced for undergraduates; 15 pp double-spaced for graduate students, not including references). The format for review papers should follow that of an article to be submitted to the journal "Trends in Ecology and Evolution" (URL can be found on courses web site). Research projects can be conducted in lieu of the review paper. Results from the project should be formatted as an article for the journal Animal Behavior, including a short introduction,

methods, results with figures or tables, discussion and references. Topics for your paper are due on the same day as the first exam. Consultation with the instructor on topics prior to this date is advised. Each student will give a short 10 minute presentation of their paper using PowerPoint in class. Evaluations: Students will be evaluated based on one in class exam and one take home exam (100 pts each, 60% final grade), group project (5% final grade), Discussion summaries (5%) and an independent research paper (100 pts total, 75 pts for paper and 25 pts for presentation; 30% of final grade). Exam questions will cover concepts presented in lectures, discussion articles and student presentations. DATE Lecture Topics Reading Assignment (Text) Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 2 Reading #1 Chapter 3 Chapter 4

January 15th Introduction to Animal Behavior January 17th Nature of Science/History Animal Behavior January 22nd January 24th Ultimate and Proximate Causes of Behavior Epigenetics - Discussion #1

January 29th Development of Behavior January 31st Neural Mechanisms February 5th February 7th Methods in Behavior I Class Project and Group Projects (Design) Organization of Behavior

Chapter 5 Reading #2 Chapter 6 Reading #3

February 12th Behavioral Syndromes - Discussion #2 February 14th Group Project (Complete) February 19th Methods in Behavior II - Adaptation February 21st Adaptation and Constraint - Discussion #3 Group Presentations February 26th Class Cancelled! February 28th EXAM 1 (Chapters 1-6, Readings 1-3) Topics for Research Papers Due March 4-8 SPRING BREAK March 12th March 14th March 19th March 21st Evolution of Feeding Behavior Evolution of Communication Reproductive Tactics/Sexual Selection Multiple Signals - Discussion #4

Chapter 7 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Reading #4

March 26th March 28th April 2nd April 4th April 9th April 11th April16th April18th April 23rd April 25th

Variation in Mate Preferences - Discussion # 5 Evolution of Mating Systems Evolution of Parental Care Sexual Conflict - Discussion #6 Evolution of Social Behavior Group Selection - Discussion #7 Evolution of Human Behavior Guest Lecture Mari Johnson Presentations (n = 10) Presentations (n = 10)

Reading #5 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Reading #6 Chapter 13 Reading #7 Chapter 14

FINAL EXAM May 2nd DUE 10:10 AM (Chapters 9-14, Readings 4-8 and Presentations) READING LIST Animal Behavior 2013 Reading #1 Crews, D. 2010. Epigenetics, brain, behavior and the environment. Hormones 9:4150. 229:935-939. Reading #2 Sih et al. 2004. Behavioral syndromes: an ecological and evolutionary overview. TREE, 19: 372-379. Reading #3 Losos 2010. Convergence, adaptation and constraint. Evolution 65: 18271840. Reading #4 Candolin, U. 2003. The use of multiple cues in mate choice. Biological Reviews, 78: 575-595. Reading #5 Cotton et al. 2006, Sexual selection and condition-dependent mate preferences. Current Biology 16, R755-R765. Reading #6 Chapman et al. 2003. Sexual Conflict. TREE, 18:41-54. Reading #7 Wilson, D. S., and E. O. Wilson. 2007. Rethinking the theoretical foundation of sociobiology. The Quarterly Review of Biology 82:327348.