5 ECTS credits
125 h study time
Offer 1 with catalog number 4012840FNR for all students in the 1st semester at a (F) Master - specialised level.
• 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.
The final grade is composed based on the following categories:
Oral Exam determines 100% of the final mark.
Within the Oral Exam category, the following assignments need to be completed:
Oral examination.
This offer is part of the following study plans:
Master of Biology: Ecology and Biodiversity (only offered in Dutch)
Master of Biology: Education (only offered in Dutch)
Master of Biology: Ecology and Biodiversity
Master of Biology: AR Erasmus Mundus Joint Master Degree in Tropical Biodiversity and Ecosystems, start at Brussels
Master of Biology: AR Erasmus Mundus Joint Master Degree in Tropical Biodiversity and Ecosystems, start at Paris
Master of Biology: AR Erasmus Mundus Joint Master Degree in Tropical Biodiversity and Ecosystems, start at Cayenne
Master of Teaching in Science and Technology: biologie (120 ECTS, Etterbeek) (only offered in Dutch)