A Dictionary of Ethology

by Klaus Immelmann, Colin Beer

Overview

What do such words as “information,” “displacement,” and “courtship” mean to the growing ranks of ethologists who study animal behavior? Like all sciences, ethology has accumulated its own set of concepts and terms, taken from everyday language, borrowed from neighboring disciplines, or coined especially to describe novel ideas and phenomena. Klaus Immelmann and Colin Beer have responded to the acute need for an authoritative dictionary of ethology with this valuable guide to the world of animal behavior.

The authors present a balance of historical, enduring, and current terminology, providing clear and concise definitions of the terms central to ethological writing. They give special treatment to terms from related disciplines, particularly evolutionary biology, physiology, ecology, and sociobiology, and to controversial concepts such as “instinct,” “motivation,” and “imprinting.” For words like these, the authors take pains to explain the nature of the problem, to distinguish differences of meaning, and to chart the range of application. A preponderance of terms relate to the behavior of higher vertebrates, especially mammals and birds, since these animals supply a high proportion of ethology’s basic ideas and technical concepts.

Representing the culmination of two decades of assiduous scholarship, this book will be immensely useful to neophyte and professional alike.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780674205079
Publisher:	Harvard University Press
Publication date:	01/01/1992
Edition description:	REPRINT
Pages:	352
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.25(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Klaus Immelmann was Professor of Biology, Universität Bielefeld, Germany.

Colin Beer is Professor of Psychology at Rutgers University.

Editorial Reviews

A helpful guide to the often confusing lexicon of ethology. Words such as ‘instinct,’ ‘territory,’ and ‘courtship’ have very specialized meanings in ethology, often very different from common usage… Immelmann’s dictionary is highly recommended for all college and university libraries and for large public libraries.

Choice

This dictionary clearly and accurately defines more than 600 terms used in ethology, the science of animal behavior, in entries of one or two paragraphs. While there are several reference books dealing with ethology, the only real rival to this title is The Oxford Companion to Animal Behavior , edited by David McFarland (Oxford Univ. Pr., 1982), which covers half as many terms in twice as many pages, has hundreds of illustrations, and an index to the animals mentioned in the text. Smaller libraries can get by with the Oxford reference while larger libraries and natural history collections should have both titles.-- Jonathan F. Husband, Framingham State Coll. Lib., Mass.

Library Journal

Defines the important terms used in animal behavior study, especially terms with different meanings in common usage or in other biological sciences. Often explains the underlying concept at length. Very readable text suitable for the general reader. Lacks pronunciation guidance. Based on the 1982 German edition. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Booknews