Teaching
ETHOLOGY, 5 ECTS credits (cod. 33061)
Ethology is a scientific discipline devoted to the study of animal and human behavior from an evolutionary and naturalistic perspective. Ethology is a biological discipline, traditionally considered a part of Zoology, and its conceptual foundations are firmly grounded in the theoretical framework provided by evolutionary biology. Ethologists are interested in the movements, postures, sounds, smells, and colors that animals use to interact with others of the same or of a different species, to find their way through the environment, to reproduce, to care for their offspring, to eat and avoid being eaten, etc. In brief, ethologists study what animals do and how and why they do it. Behavior is one of the most important elements of an animal’s phenotype. For example, behavior is crucial for many biological adaptations and its study has made important contributions to evolution
ary biology.
Ethology has undergone important changes since its founding during the first decades of the XX century. The key actors in the establishment of ethology as a discipline were the Nobel award recipients Konrad Lorenz and Niko Tinbergen. Despite being relatively young, Ethology is a highly dynamic discipline that holds enormous potential for further development. Ethologists use a multidisciplinary, integrative, and comparative approach in their research, and are interested in the study of the mechanisms, development, function, and evolution of behavior. The comparative approach fosters an attitude of respect and appreciation for biodiversity and enables ethologists to study human behavior from a perspective different from that used by other, more human-centered disciplines.
BEHAVIORAL ECOLOGY, 3 ECTS credits (Master en Biodiversidad: Conservación y Evolución, cod. 43244)
HERPETOLOGY, 3 ECTS credits (Master en Biodiversidad: Conservación y Evolución, cod. 43237)
ANIMAL WELFARE, 3 ECTS credits (Master en Biodiversidad: Conservación y Evolución, cod. 43253)
Contact
Headquarters (Scientific Park, Main Building)
Cavanilles Institute of Biodiversity and Evolutionary Biology (ICBiBE)
University of Valencia
E-mail
enrique.font@uv.es
Phone
963543659
Fax
963543670
