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Gender, status and family fortunes in the white-fronted bee-eater

Nature volume 367, pages 129–132 (1994)Cite this article

Abstract

Models of how people make decisions are central to economic theory. But when cast in a darwinian framework, such models provide insights into animal social behaviour. This is especially true of family-based societies in which the profitability of pursuing different behaviours is strongly influenced by gender, kinship and social position within the group. The potential of this approach is shown by modelling the reproductive decisions facing individuals in a complex bird society, that of the white-fronted bee-eater.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Section of Neurobiology and Behavior, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, 14853, USA

    Stephen T. Emlen & Peter H. Wrege

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  1. Stephen T. Emlen
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  2. Peter H. Wrege
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Emlen, S., Wrege, P. Gender, status and family fortunes in the white-fronted bee-eater. Nature 367, 129–132 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1038/367129a0

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