*Cognitive Ecology* lays the foundations for a field of study that

*Cognitive Ecology* lays the foundations for a field of study that integrates theory and data from evolutionary ecology and cognitive science to investigate how animal interactions with natural habitats shape cognitive systems, and how constraints imposed on nervous systems limit or bias animal behavior. Using critical literature reviews and theoretical models, the contributors provide new insights and raise novel questions about the adaptive design of specific brain capacities and about optimal behavior subject to the computational capabilities of brains.

Individual chapters consider such issues as the evolution of learning and its influence on behavior; the effects of cognitive mechanisms on the evolution of signaling behavior; how neurobiological and evolutionary processes have shaped navigational activities; the psychological mechanisms and evolutionary reasons for animals' sensitivity to unpredictable environments; how animals make foraging decisions and how these decisions are influenced by the risks of predation; and how cognitive mechanisms affect partner choice.

"This exciting book maps out a new field in the intersection of cognitive psychology and behavioral ecology. Dukas has assembled an array of contributions spanning topics as diverse as neural networks, recognition of bird song, spatial memory, and foraging decisions. The chapters provide up-to-date reviews of current research and together produce a remarkably coherent view of a new field. The book succeeds better than any before it in placing the complexities of behavior in an ecological context."--R. Haven Wiley, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

"Exceptional among edited books for the consistently high quality of its contributions, *Cognitive Ecology* should be required reading for cognitive scientists who do not appreciate how evolutionary ecology can inform their science, and for behavioral ecologists who think that cognition is not their subject matter. An agenda-setting synthesis of exceptional scholarly breadth and critical intelligence."--Martin Daly, McMaster University

The University of Chicago Press

ISBN: 0-226-16933-2 pbk