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.
Populations of suburban deer have been on the rise across the U.S. for the last 50 years. Suburban landscapes are like buffet tables with their plentiful lawns, shrubs, and gardens that tempt the animals into human territory. ...
Ecology
Mar 5, 2026
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Jackdaw chicks learn about predators by listening to adults, new research shows. Scientists played recordings of predator calls to chicks in their nests—and paired the sounds with either adult jackdaw "alarm" calls or "contact" ...
Evolution
Mar 3, 2026
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30
Researchers have found that the size of the amygdala—a region of the brain involved in processing emotions—could be linked to social tolerance in macaque monkeys. Their research, published today in eLife, is described by ...
Plants & Animals
Mar 3, 2026
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199
This Journal of Raptor Research issue focuses on movement ecology—how and why raptors move. This can include classic movements like migration, as well as nomadism.
Plants & Animals
Mar 3, 2026
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306
February 2026 has seen thousands of dead seabirds washing up along the coastlines of the UK, France, Spain and Portugal. There's evidence that these "wrecks" (where large numbers of seabirds are found along beaches) are becoming ...
Plants & Animals
Mar 2, 2026
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29
During their search for food, most insects head specifically for the flowers that promise the highest reward. But how do they know which ones to choose? Researchers from the University of Konstanz and the University of Würzburg ...
Plants & Animals
Mar 2, 2026
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Protected natural areas across Europe are changing. Climate change, with rising temperatures and heavy rainfall, is turbocharging the growth of shrubs and trees, choking the flowers and insects that need the light and heat ...
Plants & Animals
Mar 2, 2026
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553
Adaptation is essential for survival. Across species, it occurs over many generations through evolution and natural selection. Individual animals, however, can also adapt within their own lifetimes—through learning. For many ...
Plants & Animals
Mar 2, 2026
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16
On a hazy day in June 2023, doctoral students Trifosa Simamora and Timothy Boycott noticed that the birds at their field site had gone quiet. Now in a study published in Biological Conservation, they show that the culprit ...
Plants & Animals
Mar 2, 2026
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17
Early mammalian ancestors were nocturnal, sleeping during the day while the dinosaurs dominated the land. However, some mammalian lineages, including human ancestors, independently transitioned to diurnality (active during ...
Evolution
Feb 27, 2026
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