Animal Behavior: Mechanisms, Ecology, Evolution [Hardcover]

Lee Drickamer (Author), Stephen Vessey (Author), Elizabeth Jakob (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0070121990 | ISBN-13: 978-0070121997 | Publication Date: July 17, 2001 | Edition: 5

Designed for a one-semester introductory course in Animal Behavior. Animal behavior is a broad discipline with investigators and contributions from diverse perspectives, including anthropology, comparative psychology, ecology, ethology, physiology, and zoology. The authors goal in this textbook is to use evolutionary principles as a unifying theme to provide students exposure to a number of approaches to the field of animal behavior. They also demonstrate that the varied perspectives used to study behavior are complementary and often integrated; they are not mutually exclusive. The subtitle, “Mechanisms, Ecology, and Evolution,” reflects the broad themes that dominate the book.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Lee Drickamer received a PhD in zoology from Michigan State University and is currently teaching at Northern Arizona University. His research interests include population biology, behavioral ecology of rodents, reproductive traits in field mice, comparative mating behavior of stink bugs, and dominance in domestic swine. Lee has been very active in the Animal Behavior Society and the American Society of Zoologists. He also is a member of the American Society of Mammalogists, American Society of Primatologists, British Ecological Society, Ecological Society of America, Illinois Academy of Science, International Society for Behavioral Ecology, Society of American Naturalists, and Wilson Ornithological Society. Lee is lead author of Drickamer et al: Animal Behavior, 4e, also published by WCB/McGraw-Hill.

Stephen H. Vessey is Professor Emeritus of Biological Sciences at Bowling Green State University. His research interests include the behavioral ecology of mammals, especially primates and rodents. He has been studying a population of white-footed mice in northwestern Ohio for more than 25 years. He is a formed associate editor of the Journal of Mammalogy and is a Fellow of the Animal Behavior Society. He has taught mammalogy and animal behavior at Bowling Green for 28 years, and is co-author of Animal Behavior, 4/e with Lee Drickamer.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 432 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill Science/Engineering/Math; 5 edition (July 17, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0070121990
• ISBN-13: 978-0070121997
• Product Dimensions: 11.1 x 8.7 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #210,028 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The best of the current texts available, September 28, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Animal Behavior: Mechanisms, Ecology, and Evolution (Hardcover)

I have used this as a text and have found it to be the best available. It is well written and is easily understood by undergraduate students, without talking down to them. Its incorporation of ecology and evolution is particularly important and useful. The examples work well in giving a complete picture. The practical emphasis on how behaviors are studied and measured helps to interest students in research and equip them to evaluate new information.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent if a touch dry., January 9, 2010

By 

James Yanni (Bellefontaine Neighbors, Mo. USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Animal Behavior: Mechanisms, Ecology, Evolution (Hardcover)

This is a very good introduction to the field; it gives a wide variety of examples of many different behaviors, and while it doesn't go into any of them in any depth, that is to be expected in an introductory treatment. It is not exceptionally fascinating reading, but it is not exceptionally dry, either, and it is far from impenetrable even to a non-scientist. Generally well-written, there are only a very few typos or grammatical mistakes that have slipped through the editing process.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Animal Behavior, October 12, 2009

By 

Helen "Vet nurse" (Oslo, Norway) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Animal Behavior (Hardcover)

This is pure visdom. It should have been on the curriculum for both vet student and vet nurses! It starts hard, but gets more and more interesting. And the reader ends up with another wiew on animal behavior...