Fisher, J. and R. A. Hinde. The opening of milk bottles by birds. Flannery, K. V. 1972. The cultural evolution of civilizations. This is an upper level sociobiology lecture course examining the comparative social behavior of animals.
Emphasis is placed on methods of investigating and describing animal societies and social systems.
Measures of social organization are considered, as are evolutionary pathways to sociality. Sources of selection favoring or selecting agains sociality are examined, as are kinship and other factors hypothesized to be crucial to the evolution of altruistic behavior. The evolution of behavior is emphasized throughout the course, and examples drawn from the primary scientific literature are examined in weekly discussion groups. Topics covered include mating systems, parental care, territoriality, aggregations, dominance hierarchies, environmental modification, central place theory, colony founding, and levels of social organization. Typical enrollment is 50 students.