Animal behavior is the scientific study of the observable actions, interactions, and behavioral patterns of animals, typically investigated within ethology, behavioral ecology, and comparative psychology. It encompasses mechanisms (proximate causes such as neural, hormonal, and genetic control), development (ontogeny and learning), function (adaptive value in survival and reproductive success), and evolution (phylogenetic history and divergence among taxa). Research on animal behavior quantifies activities such as foraging, mating systems, parental care, communication, social organization, and antipredator strategies, often integrating experimental, observational, and modeling approaches to understand how behavior emerges from organism–environment interactions and contributes to fitness and ecological dynamics.
The next time you watch your dog visit the same places around your yard or notice that your cat seems to explore a new area every time it ventures outside, consider this: You might be witnessing an ancient evolutionary strategy ...
Plants & Animals
Sep 29, 2025
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The waggle dance, performed by successful forager honeybees (Apis mellifera) inside the hive, is a well-known form of symbolic communication that informs nestmates about the location of resources. It is well known that the ...
Plants & Animals
Sep 29, 2025
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The animal world is incredibly colorful, and behind this color palette is a constant game of survival.
Plants & Animals
Sep 26, 2025
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Streets, walls, concrete—cities may seem like a harsh environment. Yet some animals adapt remarkably well. A new study published in Biology Letters from Bielefeld University shows that common wall lizards (Podarcis muralis) ...
Plants & Animals
Sep 24, 2025
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Scientists in Brazil recently recorded evidence that a jaguar visited an isolated island in the reservoir area of the Serra da Mesa Hydroelectric Power Dam in northern Goiás State. The same jaguar had been identified on ...
Several genetic variants associated with social behavior in honey bees are located within genes that have previously been linked to social behavior in humans, Ian Traniello at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, ...
Ecology
Sep 16, 2025
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If you happen to be walking in the forests of Panama, you might just come across a bug that will wave at you, which scientists at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) have been studying for a while. The matador ...
Plants & Animals
Sep 10, 2025
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A new Virginia Tech study published in PLOS One establishes a crucial baseline for understanding dog behavior on a large scale.
Plants & Animals
Sep 10, 2025
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One of the most effective ways we learn is through third-party imitation, where we observe and then copy the actions and behaviors of others. Until recently, this was thought to be a unique human trait, but a new study published ...
How is an animal feeling at a given moment? Humans have long recognized certain well-known behavior like a cat hissing as a warning, but in many cases we've had little clue of what's going on inside an animal's head.
Biotechnology
Aug 25, 2025
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