Sunday, November 05, 2006
Differential reproductive success
Ultimately, all behavior is subject to natural selection as with any other trait of an animal. Therefore animals that employ optimal behavioral strategies specific to their environment will generally leave greater numbers of offspring than their suboptimal conspecifics. Animals that leave a greater number of offspring than others of their own species are said to have greater fitness than their suboptimal cousins. However, over time environments change meaning that what might be good behavior today might not be the best behavior in 10,000 years time or even 10 years time. Recent glaciation and future global warming mean that one thing will be certain. The behavior of animals has and will continue to change in response to the environment. Behavioral ecology is one of the best ways to study these changes. As the great geneticist Theodosius Dobzhansky famously wrote, "nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution".
Ultimately, all behavior is subject to natural selection as with any other trait of an animal. Therefore animals that employ optimal behavioral strategies specific to their environment will generally leave greater numbers of offspring than their suboptimal conspecifics. Animals that leave a greater number of offspring than others of their own species are said to have greater fitness than their suboptimal cousins. However, over time environments change meaning that what might be good behavior today might not be the best behavior in 10,000 years time or even 10 years time. Recent glaciation and future global warming mean that one thing will be certain. The behavior of animals has and will continue to change in response to the environment. Behavioral ecology is one of the best ways to study these changes. As the great geneticist Theodosius Dobzhansky famously wrote, "nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution".
