Ethology

Ethology is the scientific study of animal behaviour considered as a branch of zoology. A scientist who practises ethology is called an ethologist.

Social ethology and recent developments

In 1970, the English ethologist John H. Crook published an important paper in which he distinguished comparative ethology from social ethology, and argued that much of the ethology that had existed so far was really comparative ethology, looking at animals as individuals, whereas in the future, ethologists would need to concentrate on the behaviour of social groups of animals and the social structure within them. This was prescient. E. O. Wilson’s book ‘’Sociobiology’’ appeared in 1975, and since that time the study of behaviour has been much more concerned with social aspects. It has also been driven by the stronger, but more sophisticated, Darwinism associated with Wilson and Richard Dawkins. The related development of behavioral ecology has also helped transform ethology. At the same time a substantial rapprochement with comparative psychology has occurred, so the modern scientific study of behaviour offers a more or less seamless spectrum of approaches, from animal cognition, more traditional comparative psychology, ethology, sociobiology and behavioural ecology.

Related Topics:
1970 - English - John H. Crook - E. O. Wilson - Sociobiology - 1975 - Richard Dawkins - Behavioral ecology - Animal cognition - Comparative psychology - Behavioural ecology

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~