Integrative animal behaviour and sociogenomics

Integrative animal behaviour is on the rise: some behavioural neuroscientists are increasingly asking 'why', while some behavioural ecologists are starting to ask 'how'. For example, the most recent edition of Krebs and Davies' authoritative Behavioural Ecology: an Evolutionary Approach contains, for the first time, a section on mechanistic analyses of behaviour within an ecological context. This nascent synthesis can be catalysed by molecular genetic analyses of behaviours that occur in a natural context. Recent findings can provide a foundation for increased integration in the study of social behaviour, and provide the basis for an agenda for research on 'sociogenomics'.