Studies on animal behaviour are vital for several reasons most importantly in connection with conservation, livestock and wildlife management, animal welfare, sustainable use of animal and human resources, and ultimately for better understanding of human behaviour. In its formative stages, behavioural studies were mostly observational till the classical work of Lorenz, Tin Bergen and Frisch catapulted them into Nobel laureates. This had a cascading effect on research on animal behaviour resulting in intense studies in several areas of behaviour mainly information acquisition (Neuroethology) and transfer (communication), ecological aspects (habitat related, foraging strategies, migration, predator-prey interactions, population ecology etc.), socio-biology (parent-filial interactions, co-operation and conflict, grouping and dispersion, social organization etc.) reproductive strategies, evolutionary aspects (kin selection, altruism, life history strategies etc.), physiology (behavioural endocrinology, rhythms, neurobiology) and applied behaviour (conservation, animal welfare, livestock production, wild life management, man animal conflict etc.)
Recent trends in Animal Behaviour is a compendium reflecting contemporary trends in the study of animal behaviour ranging from organization of insect societies to monitoring of tigers. It is a rich source of information on biological rhythms, behavioural ecology, social behaviour, physiology of behaviour, molecular markers in behavioural studies and applied aspects of behaviour. The sheer range of animals studied makes the book a virtual treasure of information on tropical fauna. The animals investigated are: Mites, a wide variety of insects, silkworm, honey bee, Drosophila, wasps, butterflies, domestic chick, jungle fowl, rodents, bats, dogs, monkeys, chimpanzees and tigers, some in laboratory but a majority in their natural habitat making the book an important contribution to animal behaviour studies and a highly useful reference source for students and researchers alike in this field. |
