ETHOLOGY
Academic year and teacher
If you can't find the course description that you're looking for in the above list,
please see the following instructions >>
- Versione italiana
- Academic year
- 2021/2022
- Teacher
- CRISTIANO BERTOLUCCI
- Credits
- 6
- Curriculum
- BIODIVERSITA' ED EVOLUZIONE
- Didactic period
- Secondo Semestre
- SSD
- BIO/05
Training objectives
- The main aim of the course is to provide knowledge of the basic concepts of classic ethology and of modern eco-ethology and sociobiology by using a comparative approach.
The student will be guided to observe and understand the behavior of animals in laboratory and wild conditions. Prerequisites
- Knowledge of general and systematic zoology.
Course programme
- The course consists of 48 hours of lectures (6 CFU). No practice will be accomplished. The detailed content of the course is given below:
Innate behaviour; Key stimuli and releasers; Motivation; Conflict behaviour; Ritualisation of behaviour; Aggression; Animal comunication; Maturation and learning; Classification of animal societies; Territories; hierarchic order; Evolution of eusociality in Insects; Sexual conflicts, sexual selection; Altruism and parental care; Migration, orientation in birds; sun, star and magnetic compass; Animal navigation; Biological clock and behavioural rhythms. Didactic methods
- Lectures with slides concerning in detail all the topic of the course. The course does not include practice.
Learning assessment procedures
- The aim of the examination is to test the level of knowledge of the topics of the course. The evaluation is expressed in thirtieths (minimum grade 18, maximum grade 30 cum laude).
Examination is written and consists of both multiple choices questionnaire (40 questions)
To get through the examination, the student need to answer correctly at least 24 questions. To obtain the maximum score (30/30) the student need to answer correctly at least 39 questions (40 correctly questions to obtain 30 cum laude/30).
Students will have a maximum of 40 minutes to answer to all questions.
To cope with the COVID-19 emergency and limit any inconvenience to the students, exams could take place in a different way than described above. Reference texts
- J. Alcock. Etologia - Un approccio evolutivo. (Zanichelli Bologna)
J. R. Krebs and N. Davies -Ecologia e comportamento animale (Bollati - Boringhieri)
I. Eibl-Eibesfeldt - I fondamenti dell'etologia - (Adelphi, Milano)
