Essentials of Animal Behaviour

Essentials of Animal Behaviour is an introduction to the study of animal behaviour and is primarily intended for first or second year undergraduates attending short courses in the subject. The book concentrates on putting across the basic principles as briefly and lucidly as possible with the aid of carefully selected examples from both the recent and classic literature, together with numerous illustrations. It will enthuse readers with this active and exciting area of research, and will lay a solid foundation on which further study may be based. Its simple and readable style, helped by an extensive glossary, will also make it useful to senior level school students, their teachers and those with a general interest in the subject. It will be particularly rewarding for all those needing the basics in animal behaviour, behavioural ecology and comparative psychology.

Peter Slater is Kennedy Professor of Natural History at the University of St Andrews, and Dean of the Faculty of Science. He was awarded a DSc by Edinburgh University in 1983, and was elected to the Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 1991. He is the author of around 100 scientific papers and several books, including Bird Song: Biological Themes and Variations (1995) with Clive Catchpole.