2017

Recent progress in animal behavior research, based on the insight that proximate mechanisms both shape and constrain behavioral responses to natural and sexual selection, has reinforced the importance of knowing the neuromolecular basis of social behavior for understanding its evolution. Here, we review the current state of knowledge of the neural substrates of vertebrate social behavior, with an emphasis on the neuroendocrine and neurochemical pathways involved. Using an integrative perspective, we then discuss the evolution of these mechanisms and highlight several challenges that have hampered progress in this area. Finally, we provide a road map for an integrative evolutionary neuroethology.