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Calendar

LEC # TOPICS KEY DATES
1 Animals in Human History

Amateur and Professional Studies		  
2-3 Introduction to Ethology

Tinbergen's Four Questions

Field Studies of Birds		 Homework 1 due at Lec #3
4 Lorenz' Jackdaws  
5 Ethology of Geese

Fixed Action Patterns and the Central Nervous System		  
6 Input and Output Sides of Innate Behavior

Motivation		  
7 Motivation (cont.)  
8 Lorenz on Fixed Action Patterns  
9 Lorenz on Innate Releasing Mechanisms  
10 Models, Hierarchies and Chains of Action Patterns  
11 Spatial Orientation

Multiple Motivations		  
12 Interlude: Evolutionary Genetics - Guest Lecturer, R. Lewontin Homework 2 due
13 Evolution of Behavior, Genes, Learning  
14 Navigation, Migration, Communication  
15 Communication (cont.)  
16 Foraging Homework 3 due
17 Anti-predator Behavior  
18 Anti-predator Behavior (cont.)  
19 Mating and Reproduction, Introduction  
20 Sociobiology Introduction  
21 Sociobiology Subject Matter  
22 Genes and Behaviors  
23 Sociobiology and Science  
24-25 Discoveries of Sociobiology  
26 Video: Portions of two programs on the behavior of the domestic cat, showing similarities with larger cat species  
27 Videos on the Behavior of Apes  
28 Cultural Determinism and Sociobiology  
29 Sociobiology and Culture Homework 4 due two days after Lec #29
30 Practical Issues in Study of Adaptation  
31 The Triumph of Sociobiology Homework 5 due two days after Lec #31
32-35 Student Project Presentations  
36 Student Project Presentations (cont.), Review  
37 Exam Review Session