ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This paper on mammalian social evolution from a "major transitions" approach was written this summer, July-August, long after I actively retired from the
fields, Behavioral Ecology and Social Biology, save for writing the
occasional book review and curating a Twitter feed, @cbjones1943, as
well as, a Science blog, vertebratesocialbehavior.blogspot.com. This
project, however, gave me the opportunity to acknowledge important
influences throughout my career, I have benefited in numerous ways
from wisdom, support, queries, feedback, training, and expertise
provided by advisors, teachers, colleagues, students, family,
friends, and others. I am, particularly, grateful to the late John F.
Eisenberg who listened to me when I was an undergraduate student,
even though I had nothing of import to say, and to the late Jasper
Loftus-Hills for introducing me, systematically, to Charles Darwin's
theory of “sexual selection,” a topic that became the focus of my
first book, as well as, to the ins & outs of "social parasitism." Harry Levin, Mary Jane West-Eberhard ,and Irwin
Bernstein patiently mentored me early on, providing critical support
and input, for reasons unclear to me now. Mary Jane & I remain in occasional touch. Insights and lessons gained
from professors, and from studying the literature on social evolution
and behavioral ecology, forever changed my thinking about animal
behavior, and I was impacted, particularly, by the expertise and
guidance of OTS 1973 faculty, particularly, Norm Scott & Dan Janzen; Steve Stearns
for constructive criticism and for moving me beyond “r” & “k”
selection; Richard C. Lewontin drove home the fundamental
significance of “stochasticity” and “environmental
heterogeneity,” without such understanding I would never have had a
cogent thought about social evolution; William G.. Eberhard's ideas
about “best of a bad lot” [“best of a bad job”] tactics and
strategies; Steve Emlen's lesson that “ego's” theoretical optimum
is based on the fact that “ego” is related to him/herself by 1.00;
EO Wilson's, The insect
societies—the greatest
book written so far in Ethology and Animal Behavior; William Dilger's
“tough love;” Ruth Buskirk's self-confidence and knowledge of
spider sociality, the first taxon I studied in the field; Sandy
Vehrencamp's willingness to share her knowledge with me (especially,
the calculation of Relative Reproductive Success); Sandy and Steve
Emlen's “reproductive skew” ideas; Steven Austad's research on
“alternative reproductive behaviors” and his differentiation
between genotypic and phenotypic tactics and strategies; Andrew
Bourke's unselfish and patient facilitation as I explored the depths
of “Hamilton's Rule;” Steve Frank's formulations concerning
“repression of competition;” Emlen & Oring's concept,
“operational sex ratio;” Gene Robinson's “sociogenetics,"sociogenomics;”
James Wittenberger's work on “group size and polygamy;” Robert
Trivers' stunning chapter on “parental investment;” and, Shuster
& Wade's “classic” book, Mating
systems and strategies.
The products of so much amazing thought have appeared in the canons
of Social Biology, particularly, and Behavioral Ecology, in general.
I am, surely, failing to formally acknowledge quite a few
publications and scientists who have been, and continue to be,
foundational to my intellectual development (my chemist mother, M.E.P.
Seligman, Bruce Wallace, I. Eibl-Eibesfeldt, B.F. Skinner, Bob
Johnston, Dick Darlington, Lerner,(1954), J.M. Emlen (1973), Schoener
(1971), Parker (1974), Frank Seebacher, Stuart Hall, & Russ Lande
come first to mind). Upon further reflection, M.J. West-Eberhard
deserves additional mention for providing so much material for
thought that motivated me to write several of my own papers and
books--especially her paper on sexual selection & social evolution, as well as, her (2003) tome on developmental plasticity. In the same ballpark, Stu West's and Bernie Crespi's critical
feedback have been generous and significant to me. As a wishful
mathematician, I was fortunate to have found a few of Stu's more
accessible treatments very useful for a richer understanding of
“Hamilton's Rule,” in particular, and social evolution in
general. Stu has become today's premier social biologist, assuming that such ranking is in any way meaningful. Among other lessons, Bernie taught me what eusociality is all about and provided input when I began the social evolution book. Since
the early 1970s, I have been very fortunate, indeed.
