Research into the lives of animals in their natural environments has revealed a rich tapestry of complex social relationships and previously unsuspected social and mating systems. The evolution of this behavior is increasingly well understood. At the same time, laboratory scientists have made significant discoveries about how steroid and peptide hormones act on the nervous system to shape behavior. An exciting and rapidly progressing hybrid zone has developed in which these two fields are integrated, providing a fuller understanding of social behavior and the adaptive functions of hormones. This book is a guide to these fascinating connections between animal social behavior and steroid and peptide hormones--a synthesis designed to make it easier for graduate students and researchers to appreciate the excitement, engage in such integrative thinking, and understand the primary literature. Throughout, Elizabeth Adkins-Regan emphasizes concepts and principles, hypothesis testing, and critical thinking. She raises unanswered questions, providing an unparalleled source of ideas for future research. The chapter sequence is by levels of biological organization, beginning with the behavior and hormones of individuals, proceeding to social relationships and systems, and from there to development, behavioral evolution over relatively short time scales, life histories and their evolution, and finally evolution over longer time scales. The book features studies of a wide variety of wild and domestic vertebrates along with some of the most important invertebrate discoveries.

The Oxford Handbook of Evolutionary Psychology and Behavioral Endocrinology offers a comprehensive and compelling review of research in behavioral endocrinology from an evolutionary perspective on human psychology. Chapters, written by renowned experts on human behavior, explore a number of subtopics within one of three themes (1) development and survival, (2) reproductive behavior, and (3) social and affective behavior. Such topics include hormonal influences on life history strategy, mate choice, aggression, human hierarchical structure, and mood disorders. This Handbook is situated at the intersection of evolutionary psychology and behavioral endocrinology. Its interdisciplinary approach makes it an important resource for a broad spectrum of researchers, graduate students, and advanced undergraduates who are interested in studying the motivations and mechanisms that affect behavior.

Pancreatic Hormones: Advances in Research and Application: 2011 Edition is a ScholarlyBrief™ that delivers timely, authoritative, comprehensive, and specialized information about Pancreatic Hormones in a concise format. The editors have built Pancreatic Hormones: Advances in Research and Application: 2011 Edition on the vast information databases of ScholarlyNews.™ You can expect the information about Pancreatic Hormones in this eBook to be deeper than what you can access anywhere else, as well as consistently reliable, authoritative, informed, and relevant. The content of Pancreatic Hormones: Advances in Research and Application: 2011 Edition has been produced by the world’s leading scientists, engineers, analysts, research institutions, and companies. All of the content is from peer-reviewed sources, and all of it is written, assembled, and edited by the editors at ScholarlyEditions™ and available exclusively from us. You now have a source you can cite with authority, confidence, and credibility. More information is available at http://www.ScholarlyEditions.com/.

The Routledge International Handbook of Social Neuroendocrinology is an authoritative reference work providing a balanced overview of current scholarship spanning the full breadth of the rapidly developing field of social neuroendocrinology. Considering the relationships between hormones, the brain, and social behavior, this collection brings together groundbreaking research in the field for the first time. Featuring 39 chapters written by leading researchers, the handbook offers impressive breadth of coverage. It begins with an overview of the history of social neuroendocrinology before discussing its methodological foundations and challenges. Other topics covered include state-of-the-art research on dominance and aggression; social affiliation; reproduction and pair bonding (e.g., sexual behavior, sexual orientation, romantic relationships); pregnancy and parenting; stress and emotion; cognition and decision making; social development; and mental and physical health. The handbook adopts a lifespan approach to the study of social neuroendocrinology throughout, covering the role that hormones play during gestation, childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. It also illustrates the evolutionary forces that have shaped hormone-behavior associations across species, including research on humans, non-human primates, birds, and rodents. The handbook will serve as an authoritative reference work for researchers, students, and others intrigued by this topic, while also inspiring new lines of research on interactions among hormones, brain, and behavior in social contexts.

"Evolutionary social science is having a renaissance. This volume showcases the empirical and theoretical advancements produced by the evolutionary study of romantic relationships. The editors assembled an international collection of contributors to trace how evolved psychological mechanisms shape strategic computation and behavior across the lifespan of a romantic partnership. Each chapter provides an overview of historic and contemporary research on the psychological mechanisms and processes underlying initiation, maintenance, and dissolution of romantic relationships. Contributors discuss popular and cutting-edge methods for data analysis and theory development, critically analyse the state of evolutionary relationship science, and provide discerning recommendations for future research. The handbook integrates a broad range of topics (e.g., partner preference and selection, competition and conflict, jealousy and mate guarding, parenting, partner loss and divorce, and post-relationship affiliation) that are discussed alongside major sources of strategic variation in mating behavior, such as sex and gender diversity, developmental life history, neuroendocrine processes, technological advancement, and culture. Its content promises to enrich students' and established researchers' views on the current state of the discipline and should challenge a diverse cross-section of relationship scholars and clinicians to incorporate evolutionary theorizing into their professional work"--

Reproductive Biology of Teleost Fishes is the first integrated review of the reproductive biology of the bony fishes, which are the most species-rich and diversified group of vertebrates. Teleosts display remarkable variation in their modes of reproduction, and this volume is intended to provide a framework for understanding the remarkable reproductive diversity of this group. It describes their reproductive biology using, wherever possible, phylogenetic analyses and life-history theory as a means to interpret the information. The book addresses the genetic, physiological, behavioural, ecological, evolutionary and applied aspects of teleost reproduction in a comparative framework that emphasises the adaptive basis of reproductive diversity. Reproductive Biology of Teleost Fishes provides a comprehensive synthesis of fish reproduction that will be of great interest to life scientists, particularly ecologists, evolutionary biologists, physiologists and advanced undergraduates, postgraduates and research workers requiring a comprehensive overview of fish reproduction. The book is suitable for courses in fish biology and ecology, reproductive physiology and reproductive genetics. It also addresses applied questions and will be of value for courses on fisheries science and aquaculture. Libraries in all universities and research establishments where biological sciences, fisheries science and aquaculture are studied and taught should have several copies of this important book on their shelves.

Hormones and Reproduction of Vertebrates, Volume 3: Reptiles is the third of five second-edition volumes representing a comprehensive and integrated overview of hormones and reproduction in fishes, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals. The book includes coverage of endocrinology, neuroendocrinology, physiology, behavior, and anatomy of reptilian reproduction. It provides a broad treatment of the roles of pituitary, thyroid, adrenal, and gonadal hormones in all aspects of reproduction, as well as descriptions of major life history events. New to this edition is a concluding assessment of the effect of environmental influences on reptiles. Initial chapters in this book broadly examine sex determination, reproductive neuroendocrinology, stress, and hormonal regulation as it relates to testicular and ovarian function. Subsequent chapters examine hormones and reproduction of specific taxa, including turtles, crocodilians, lizards, and snakes. The book concludes with an examination of endocrine disruption of reproduction in reptiles. Hormones and Reproduction of Vertebrates, Volume 3: Reptiles is designed to provide a readable, coordinated description of reproductive basics in reptiles, as well as an introduction to the latest trends in reproductive research and a presentation of our understanding of reproductive events gained over the past decade. It may serve as a stand-alone reference for researchers and practitioners in the field of herpetology or as one of five coordinated references aligned to provide topical treatment across vertebrate taxa for researchers, practitioners, and students focused on vertebrate endocrinology. - Covers endocrinology, neuroendocrinology, physiology, behavior, and anatomy of reptile reproduction - Includes pituitary, thyroid, adrenal, and gonadal hormones - Focuses on turtles, crocodilians, lizards, and snakes - Provides new coverage on environmental influences on reptiles

This interdisciplinary volume unites evolutionary and molecular biologists from various fields (life history theory, molecular biology, developmental biology, aging, phenotypic plasticity, social behaviour, and endocrinology) who use studies of molecular mechanisms to solve fundamental questions in life history evolution in a variety of organisms.

Hormones, Brain and Behavior, Third Edition offers a state-of-the-art overview of hormonally-mediated behaviors, including an extensive discussion of the effects of hormones on insects, fish, amphibians, birds, rodents, and humans. Entries have been carefully designed to provide a valuable source of information for students and researchers in neuroendocrinology and those working in related areas, such as biology, psychology, psychiatry, and neurology. This third edition has been substantially restructured to include both foundational information and recent developments in the field. Continuing the emphasis on interdisciplinary research and practical applications, the book includes articles aligned in five main subject sections, with new chapters included on genetic and genomic techniques and clinical investigations. This reference provides unique treatment of all major vertebrate and invertebrate model systems with excellent opportunities for relating behavior to molecular genetics. The topics cover an unusual breadth (from molecules to ecophysiology), ranging from basic science to clinical research, making this reference of interest to a broad range of scientists in a variety of fields. Comprehensive and updated coverage of a rapidly growing field of research Unique treatment of all major vertebrate and invertebrate model systems with excellent opportunities for relating behavior to molecular genetics Covers an unusual breadth of topics and subject fields, ranging from molecules to ecophysiology, and from basic science to clinical research Ideal resource for interdisciplinary learning and understanding in the fields of hormones and behavior