Natural History Wanderings

Coursera the free online university has a free class on Animal Behavior beginning August 9.  (Once you register you can view the lectures at your convenience). Here is the link for the class: Animal Behaviour | Coursera.

Click read more to see the course description and syllabus

This course will help you understand the remarkable behaviors of wild animals from an evolutionary perspective.

Many of us derive inspiration from watching natural history documentaries and their astounding catalogue of wild animal behaviours. In this course, we will explore how scientists study animal behaviour, and in particular how behaviour is shaped by the evolutionary forces of natural and sexual selection. Topics include resource acquisition; avoiding enemies; mate choice and sexual conflict; cues, signals and communication; parental care and social behaviour; and the role of genes, hormones and learning in regulating behavioural diversity. We draw on examples from across the animal kingdom to illustrate the complex mechanisms underlying adaptations, and complement these with natural history videos that highlight key concepts. We evaluate the scientific rigour of studies used to test theory, and highlight the often ingenious methods adopted by researchers to understand animal behaviour.

Course Syllabus

We will cover the following topics:

Behaviour, Ecology and Natural Selection

Genes, Hormones and Learning

Economics and Individual Decisions

Enemies and Evolutionary Arms Races

Being Territorial or Joining a Group

Communication

Courtship and Copulation

Family conflict

Social colonies

Suggested Readings

There are no required readings for this course.