5 ECTS credits
125 u studietijd
Aanbieding 1 met studiegidsnummer 4012840FNR voor alle studenten in het 1e semester met een gespecialiseerd master niveau.
• Overview of animal groupings and the definition of various levels of sociality. Theoretical introduction on how natural selection operates in animal societies: altruism and selfishness, reciprocity, kinship, inclusive fitness, etc. Levels of sociality. Illustration of these notions by case studies.
• Sociality in Arthropods. Increasingly complex societies: parental behaviour in insects, web sharing in spiders, sociality in wood-dwelling beetles, gall-living thrips and aphids, social shrimps. Evolution of complex termite colonies from wood-feeding blattoid ancestors.
• The social Hymenoptera. Theoretical implications of haplodiploidy. Evolution of highly social bees, wasps and ants. Applications of natural selection theory to established societies (sex ratio, reproductive division of labour).
• Cooperatively breeding vertebrates. Kin selection, parental manipulation, reproductive skew, and importance of ecological conditions: examples from cichlid fishes and birds.
• Mammals. Applications of natural selection theory to the social organization of carnivores and primates. Insect-like sociality in rodents (mole-rats).
• General conclusions: common features of all animal societies.
Prof. Yves ROISIN
ULB
email : yroisin@ulb.ac.be Specific documents related to case studies will be provided
This course explicitely contributes to the following competences of the Biology curriculum :
Evaluate the societal relevance
Evaluate the scientific releance
Extrapolation between different scientific fields
Recognize and work out bio-ethical implications
The question behind this course is "How did animal societies evolve, from loose aggregations or basic mother-offspring groups to highly complex army ant colonies or baboon troops ?"
Students are expected to acquire (1) an overall view of the diversity of social organization pattrens in animals, (2) a basic theoretical knowledge of how natural selection acts upon animal societies, and (3) the ability to identify such selective pressures through the formulation and testing of hypotheses and predictions.
De beoordeling bestaat uit volgende opdrachtcategorieën:
Examen Mondeling bepaalt 100% van het eindcijfer
Binnen de categorie Examen Mondeling dient men volgende opdrachten af te werken:
Oral examination.
Deze aanbieding maakt deel uit van de volgende studieplannen:
Master in de biologie: ecologie en biodiversiteit
Master in de biologie: onderwijs
Master of Biology: Ecology and Biodiversity (enkel aangeboden in het Engels)
Master of Biology: AR Erasmus Mundus Joint Master Degree in Tropical Biodiversity and Ecosystems, start at Brussels (enkel aangeboden in het Engels)
Master of Biology: AR Erasmus Mundus Joint Master Degree in Tropical Biodiversity and Ecosystems, start at Paris (enkel aangeboden in het Engels)
Master of Biology: AR Erasmus Mundus Joint Master Degree in Tropical Biodiversity and Ecosystems, start at Cayenne (enkel aangeboden in het Engels)
Educatieve master in de wetenschappen en technologie: biologie (120 ECTS, Etterbeek)