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‘Some difficult problems’ describes some examples of biological phenomena that are difficult to explain including the evolution of flight, eyes, and protein molecules; and why ageing occurs and how it affects reproduction and death rates. Critics of evolutionary theory by natural selection often ask how complex adaptations evolve. In the evolution of organisms and their complex machinery, many aspects are modified (adapted) versions of pre-existing structures. A succession of small changes to a structure that already works, but can be improved, can therefore produce large evolutionary changes. Two other major and largely unsolved problems in evolution are the origin of the basic features of living cells and the origin of human consciousness. ...Less

The field of behavioural ecology, developed in the 1960s and 1970s, offered new ideas and provided powerful ways of exploring how behaviour evolves. Behavioural ecology examines how the evolution of behaviour is related to an individual’s chance of survival or reproductive success. ‘Winning strategies’ considers the many successes of behavioural ecology in explaining different animal behaviours: the economic decisions made by certain species when feeding or during reproduction; the role of the sexes in parental care; mating systems; sperm competition and cryptic female choice; sexual conflict; altruistic behaviour; kin selection theory; cooperative breeding; and the evolution of eusociality. ...Less

Behaviour is a key way in which animals interact with their world: how animals find and choose mates, look after their young, find food, avoid becoming food for predators, and build nests and burrows. ‘How animals behave (and why)’ describes how the study of animals has changed through time and highlights some key figures in the development of the science, including Margaret Washburn, Charles H. Turner, Ivan Pavlov, and Richard Dawkins. It also considers Niko Tinbergen’s four questions for examining animal behaviour: What is it for? How did it develop during the lifetime of the individual? What mechanisms control the behaviour? How did it evolve over evolutionary time? ...Less

The ‘Afterword’ provides a brief summary and concludes that our modern view of evolution is remarkably close to that of Wallace and Darwin. The chief difference is that two advances mean that the process of evolution through selection acting on random mutations of the genetic material is now much more credible than it was at the beginning of the 20th century. Firstly, we have a much richer body of data demonstrating the action of natural selection at every level of biological organization, from protein molecules to complex behaviour patterns. Secondly, we also now understand the mechanism of inheritance. ...Less