Animal Societies

The course will cover the evolution and diversity of social behaviors and social organizations across animals. Part 1 will focus on the evolution of complex societies, such as cooperative breeding in birds and mammals and eusociality in insects. We will explore how social evolution theory explains the traits underlying these behaviors. In Part 2, we will focus on complex individualized relationships in some birds and mammals, especially primates. We will explore social cognition underlying decisions about cooperation and conflict, and how social status and integration impact health and wellbeing in both human and nonhuman societies.