Suggested preparation: Introductory biology is helpful.
Optional preparation: Free Yale Course: Evolution, Ecology and Behavior.
About this course
Investigate animal behavior through ethology, communication, social organization and evolutionary explanation. MIT lectures connect observed behavior with competing ways of interpreting its biological and cultural context.
Topics and lesson examples
- Lec4: Ethology and Konrad Lorenz' Jackdaws
- Lec9: Lorenz on fundamental ethology, part 1
- Lec12: Evolution and the development and plasticity of behavior, part 1
- Lec15: Communication and Meerkats of the Kalahari Desert, part 2
- Lec30: Konrad Lorenz on learning, part 3
Course at a glance
| Provider | MIT |
|---|---|
| Platform | YouTube · MIT OpenCourseWare |
| Access | Free Video |
| Level | Intermediate — WikiFree study-level assessment |
| Language | English |
| Available lessons | 25 |
| Video duration | 17h 25m · self-paced |
| Details checked | 10 October 2026 |
Preparation and study approach
Suggested preparation: Introductory biology is helpful.
Follow the available videos in sequence, pausing to summarize the main argument or reconstruct a worked example. Keep a short list of assumptions, unfamiliar terms and questions to revisit. Additional reading, problem solving and practice will take time beyond the listed video duration.
Using this video classroom
Select a lesson from the list, or search for a topic. Previous and Next move through the sequence. You can mark lessons complete; progress is stored in this browser without a WikiFree account.
Free access and course scope
The public MIT OpenCourseWare videos in this classroom are free to watch. This listing provides the available playlist recordings, which may include selected lectures, recitations, demonstrations or supporting discussions rather than every component of the original campus course. Textbooks, equipment, software licenses, supervised labs, graded assignments and instructor feedback are not supplied by WikiFree. No purchase is required to watch the videos or use the note-based study approach above.
WikiFree independently organizes these resources for self-paced study. Watching does not award an MIT certificate, academic credit or admission to MIT.
Video provider and credit: MIT OpenCourseWare on YouTube. WikiFree titles, descriptions and cover artwork are independently prepared.
Related courses for your next step
- Review a lower-level optionFree Yale Course: Evolution, Ecology and Behavior
Focus: Biological reasoning · Evolutionary concepts
Beginner - Explore a higher-level optionFree MIT Course: Systems Biology and Biological Networks
Focus: Introduction to the Class and Overview of Topics · Graph Properties of Transcription Networks
Professional - Compare another approachFree Yale Course: Evolution and Medicine
Focus: Evolutionary reasoning · Biological variation
Intermediate
Compare course focus, level and study time
| Course | Level | Focus | Study time |
|---|---|---|---|
| This course — Free MIT Course: Animal Behavior and Behavioral Ecology | Intermediate | Lec4: Ethology and Konrad Lorenz' Jackdaws · Lec9: Lorenz on fundamental ethology, part 1 · Lec12: Evolution and the development and plasticity of behavior, part 1 | 17h 25m of video; practice time is additional |
| Free Yale Course: Evolution, Ecology and Behavior | Beginner | Biological reasoning · Evolutionary concepts · Ecological thinking | 27h 28m of video; practice time is additional |
| Free MIT Course: Systems Biology and Biological Networks | Professional | Introduction to the Class and Overview of Topics · Graph Properties of Transcription Networks · Robustness and Bacterial Chemotaxis | 31h 48m of video; practice time is additional |
| Free Yale Course: Evolution and Medicine | Intermediate | Evolutionary reasoning · Biological variation · Research interpretation | 11h 33m of video; practice time is additional |
Provider: MIT. Videos play from the MIT OpenCourseWare channel on YouTube.
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