Human Behavioral Ecology: (Series Number 92 Cambridge Studies in Biological and Evolutionary Anthropology)

Human behavioral ecology (HBE) applies the principles of evolutionary theory and optimisation to the study of human behavioural and cultural diversity. Among other things, HBE attempts to explain variation in behaviour as adaptive solutions to the competing life-history demands of growth, development, reproduction, parental care, and mate acquisition. This book is a comprehensive introduction to the theoretical orientation and specific findings of HBE. It consolidates the insights of evolution and human behaviour into a single volume that reflects the current state and future of the field. It brings together leading scholars from across the evolutionary social sciences to provide a comprehensive and thought-provoking review of the state of the topic. Throughout, the authors explain the latest developments in theory and highlight critical debates in the literature, while also engaging readers with ethnographic insights and field-based studies that remain at the core of human behavioral ecology.

Table of Contents:
Foreword Eric Alden Smith and Bruce Winterhalder; 1. Human behavioral ecology Brooke Scelza, Jeremy Koster and Mary K Shenk; 2. Life history Michael D Gurven; 3. Foraging strategies Jeremy Koster and Douglas Bird; 4. Modes of production Bram Tucker; 5. Cooperation Michael Alvard and David Nolin; 6. The division of labor Brian F Codding and Rebecca Bliege Bird; 7. Status Chris von Rueden; 8. Political organization Paul L Hooper and Adrian V Jaeggi; 9. Mating Brooke A Scelza; 10. Marriage Mary K Shenk; 11. Parental care David W Lawson; 12. Allocare Karen L Kramer; 13. Demography Rebecca Sear, Siobhán M Mattison and Mary K Shenk; 14. Human biology Aaron Blackwell and Benjamin C Trumble; 15. Cultural evolution Karthik Panchanathan; 16. Evolutionary psychology H Clark Barrett; 17. The ends of human behavioral ecology Richard McElreath and Jeremy Koster; Bibliography, Index.

About the Author :
Jeremy Koster is an external faculty member at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. He conducts research among indigenous Nicaraguans and co-directs a collaborative project that examines the social determinants of wealth inequality. His interdisciplinary work on the behavior and demography of domestic dogs helps to advance understandings of the mechanisms for artificial selection. Brooke Scelza is Professor of Anthropology at the University of California, Los Angeles, and co-director of the Kunene Rural Health and Demography Project in Namibia, where she has been working with Himba pastoralists since 2010 to study family dynamics and reproductive decision-making. She is a former president of the Evolutionary Anthropology Society. Mary K. Shenk is Associate Professor of Anthropology, Demography and Asian Studies at the Pennsylvania State University. Her research focuses on marriage, parental investment, and fertility in South Asia where she has conducted fieldwork since 2001. She is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and former President of the Evolutionary Anthropology Society.

Review :
'This is a fantastic book and the best yet on HBE. The authors are standard bearers and the new leaders in the field.' Keith Prufer, University of New Mexico, Main Campus 'A blend of epistemological humility and an omnivorous taste for the best tools from any field one encounters distinguishes both the field and this excellent edited volume. Each of the 17 chapters is a rich examination of an aspect of behavior, probed with a variety of methods and tools, extracting sense from the noise, uncertainty, and compelling variety that inheres to human behavior, but without pushing for trite simplicity. For me, this book offers recipes one might wish to try in approaching new questions, new environments, or new populations.' Robert C. Brooks, The Quarterly Review of Biology 'A blend of epistemological humility and an omnivorous taste for the best tools from any field one encounters distinguishes both the field and this excellent edited volume. Each of the 17 chapters is a rich examination of an aspect of behavior, probed with a variety of methods and tools, extracting sense from the noise, uncertainty, and compelling variety that inheres to human behavior, but without pushing for trite simplicity. For me, this book offers recipes one might wish to try in approaching new questions, new environments, or new populations.' Robert C. Brooks, The Quarterly Review of Biology