In addition, adaptations are expected to manifest as proximate mechanisms that interact with the environment in either a generally obligate or facultative fashion (see above).
In addition there are proximate mechanisms which may account for why an individual preferentially feeds on the most abundant type of prey.
An important theoretical development was Nikolaas Tinbergen's distinction made originally in ethology between evolutionary and proximate mechanisms.
The vast monolith of psychiatric research has placed an emphasis on proximate mechanisms as the cause for illness.
Taking a broader view, all functions have the same end in that they contribute to fitness, though they are each manifested through various proximate mechanisms.
Evolutionary principles have predicted that the reward system is part of the proximate mechanism underlying the behavior.
In mice this can occur by the proximate mechanism of the female smelling the odor of the new male's urine.
Some prominent classes of proximate causal mechanisms include:
The field of ecoimmunology, while young, seeks to give an ultimate perspective for proximate mechanisms of immunology.
The proximate mechanisms of paternal care are not well understood for any organism.