Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t8hqh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-25T05:09:18.579Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

14 - Human Biology

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 March 2024

Jeremy Koster
Affiliation:
Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig
Brooke Scelza
Affiliation:
University of California, Los Angeles
Mary K. Shenk
Affiliation:
Pennsylvania State University
Get access

Summary

Human behavioral ecology traditionally examines ultimate questions while “black boxing” physiological mechanisms and modes of inheritance. This chapter addresses how the intersection between human biology and behavioral ecology allows researchers to open these black boxes and how an examination of mechanisms can help to answer ultimate questions. First, the chapter discusses how physiological systems are intertwined with behavioral ones through chemical messengers, such as hormones, which broadcast information throughout the organism and coordinate actions inside the body with those outside the body. Next, the chapter looks inside the “black box of inheritance” to consider how mechanisms of inheritance beyond genes and culture, such as epigenetic inheritance, are relevant for behavioral ecology. The chapter concludes by discussing how studies of biology and behavioral ecology can complement and inform one another, leading to general insights that would be missed if both biology and behavior had not been considered in concert.

Type
Chapter
Information
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2024

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×