Biology 338: Lecture 7Spring 1997

Behavioral Evolution: Historical Analysis

  1. Case study: Posthumous behavior of praying mantises
    1. Questions
    2. Approach options
      1. Fossil record
      2. Survey of living animals (close and distant relatives)
    3. Data
    4. Hypothesis
    5. Predictions

  2. Case study: Flight in birds
    1. Question
    2. Ground-up hypothesis
    3. Tree-down hypothesis
    4. Data: Archaeopteryx
      1. Hindlimbs
      2. Forelimbs
      3. Flight apparatus

  3. Case study: Bipedalism in humans

  4. Case study: Blood-sucking moths
    1. Observation
    2. Question
    3. Approach
    4. Data

  5. Case study: Host preference in brood parasites
    1. Observations
    2. Question
    3. Approach
      1. Construction of phylogeny based on genetic analysis
      2. Superimposition of behavioral information
    4. Data

  6. Lessons of history
    1. Natural selection doesn't start from scratch
    2. Complex, puzzling behaviors usually have a step-by-step history
    3. Natural selection does not have a goal in mind