Animal Traditions: Behavioural Inheritance in Evolution - Hardcover

Avital, Eytan; Jablonka, Eva

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0521662737 ISBN 13: 9780521662734

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 2000

Synopsis

Despite its almost universal acclaim, the authors contend that evolutionary explanations must take into account the well-established fact that in mammals and birds, the transfer of learned information is both ubiquitous and indispensable. Animal Traditions maintains the assumption that selection of genes supplies both a sufficient explanation of evolution and a true description of its course. The introduction of the behavioral inheritance system into the Darwinian explanatory scheme enables the authors to offer new interpretations for common behaviors such as maternal behaviors, behavioral conflicts within families, adoption, and helping. This approach offers a richer view of heredity and evolution, integrates developmental and evolutionary processes, suggests new lines for research, and provides a constructive alternative to both the selfish gene and meme views of the world. This book will make stimulating reading for all those interested in evolutionary biology, sociobiology, behavioral ecology, and psychology.

About this title

Book Description

Animal Traditions introduces the behavioural inheritance system into existing evolutionary theory, offering new interpretations of behaviours such as adoption, maternal behaviour and helping. Describing the variety and importance in evolution of the cultural traditions of birds and mammals, it shows how our understanding of behavioural evolution is enriched by considering how the system of passing on information from one generation to the next works. Although firmly set within the Darwinian framework, it offers alternatives to both the 'selfish gene' and 'meme' views of the world for all evolutionary biologists.

Review

"Animal Traditions provides a well-written, handsomely bound, multiply indexed, though idiosyncratic, introduction to behavioural ecology...They provide a wealth of references to material consistent with their view." Ethology 2001

"...Animal Traditions is an important book, for it shows that there are more possible (and plausible) explanations for the evolution of animal behaviours than people with a gene-centric view of inheritance are able to consider. So every person interested in evolutionary biology and psychology should read it." Biology and Philosophy

"full of natural history that is fun and interesting to read." SCIENCE July 2001

Edition details

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 2000
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0521662737
• ISBN 13: 9780521662734
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 448