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American Zoologist 1998 38(1):43-58; doi:10.1093/icb/38.1.43
© 1998 by The Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology
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Integrating Proximate and Ultimate Causation in the Study of Vertebrate Behavior: Methods Considerations1

LEE C. DRICKAMER*;,2 and LYNN L. GILLIE{dagger}
*Department of Zoology, Southern Illinois University Carbondale, Illinois 62901
{dagger}Biology Department, Elmira College Elmira, New York 14901

Correspondence: 2E-mail: drickamer{at}zoology.siu.edu

SYNOPSIS. Methods issues are critical for the integration of proximate and ultimate explanations of animal behavior. Understanding that evolution of behavior may begin with changes in sensory and perceptual systems is a first step. For example, advances in neurobiology can trigger questions about social behavior. Variation in the size of particular brain areas, such as the hippocampus, can be related to variation in socio-spatial systems. Second, procedures, developed in recent years, provide new avenues to understand behavior. Hormone assay techniques, such as RIA and ELISA, can be performed on some hormones from urine and feces collected in the wild. Metabolic measurement, such as the use of doublylabeled water, make it possible to measure energy costs under field conditions. Advances in DNA technologies provide new perspectives, particularly with regard to measuring reproductive success. Third, current theories in behavior can be tested with regard to physiological mechanisms; all that is needed is some ingenuity to design and execute appropriate studies. These include kin recognition, sex ratio variation, and foraging behavior. Fourth, cross—fertilization between laboratory and field approaches produces new insights regarding behavior. Organizational effects of hormones have now been explored in field populations of mice and in domestic swine. Testing aspects of foraging behavior in the laboratory is another example. Fifth, simulation models have been used to produce new questions about both proximate and ultimate aspects of behavior. Exploring behavioral phenomena may involve semi—natural settings. The suitability of semi—natural enclosures for the study of house mouse behavior has been tested with regard to density and home range size.


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