Answers (2)
"Behavioral ecology, also spelled behavioural ecology, is the study of the evolutionary basis for animal behavior due to ecological pressures. Behavioral ecology emerged from ethology after Niko Tinbergen outlined four questions to address when studying animal behaviors that are the proximate causes, ontogeny, survival value, and phylogeny of behavior."
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Behavioral_ecology
The key there is "evolutionary". That means that knowledge is commanded by some central group of people who claim to have that authority, and any attempt to question the basis of the subject will earn you personal insults and possibly the end of your research grant.