1. the scientific study of social behavior in animals and humans based on the theory that such behavior has a biological basis and can be explained by evolutionary principles
Usage: scientific field

Examples

• The professor’s research in sociobiology examines how genetic factors influence cooperative behavior in primates.
• Sociobiology attempts to explain altruism through evolutionary theory.
• Critics argue that sociobiology oversimplifies complex human social behaviors.
• The field of sociobiology emerged in the 1970s with E.O. Wilson’s influential work.
• Sociobiology studies how natural selection shapes social structures in animal communities.
• Many anthropologists debate the applications of sociobiology to human culture.