Taking It Further

Aubrey looking at a mole

Is this it?

Is modern medicine making us weaker as a species? Find out why our culture may be hindering human evolution.

Programme summaries

Find out about the diverse world of animals in the 8 part series The Rules of Life. From their very beginnings to their final end, we follow the lives of animals. Join us on some remarkable journeys as their lives unfold in programme summaries.

If you've been attracted by the antics of animal behaviour and would like to learn more, we've a selection of Open University courses, books and weblinks to take your interest further.

Discovering Science (S103)
An introductory course, covering Biology, Chemistry, Earth Science and Physics. Contains some introductory material on natural selection.

Studying Mammals (S182)
This course is linked to the BBC TV series, The Life of Mammals. In this course you will learn about how mammals differ biologically from others, about the social habits of different mammals, their modes of feeding, reproduction and to what extent their survival is threatened by human interference and exploitation.

Fossils and the history of life (S193)
This course gives you a basic understanding of fossils and an overview of the history of life. It will enable you to explain how organisms become fossilized and help you to identify the common fossils you are likely to find.

Biology: Uniformity and diversity (S204)
A second level course looking at the enormous diversity of life, and explaining how this diversity has arisen from a set of core processes that are remarkably consistent among living organisms.

Biological psychology: Exploring the brain (SD226)
This course presents an integrated, interdisciplinary approach to the brain, behavioural and psychological sciences.

Books

Niko's Nature. A life of Niko Tinbergen and his science of animal behaviour, Hans Kruuk (2003) Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-851558-8

Animal Behaviour: an Evolutionary Approach, John Alcock (1998) 6th Edn. Sinauer Associates, Sunderland, Mass.

An Introduction to Animal Behaviour, Aubrey Manning and Marian Stamp Dawkins, (1998) Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521578914

The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins ( 1989), Oxford Paperbacks
ISBN 0-19-286092-5

Links

An introductory site on Ethnology
http://cas.bellarmine.edu/tietjen/Ethology/
introduction_to_ethology.htm

Journal of Ethology
http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/
journal.asp?ref=0179-1613&site=1

The BBC and The Open University are not responsible for the content of external websites.