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.
Research led by the University of East Anglia (UEA) sheds new light on how mountain birds adapt to changes in climate. Scientists know that species diversity changes as you go up a mountain, but it is not clearly understood ...
Plants & Animals
Feb 6, 2026
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29
Artificial light is one of the most ingrained features of modern life. For humans, light after dark offers convenience and a sense of safety. For wildlife, it's a growing environmental disturbance. "When humans introduce ...
Plants & Animals
Feb 6, 2026
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94
Imagine an asteroid striking Earth and wiping out most of the human population. Even if some lucky people survived the impact, Homo sapiens might still face extinction, because the social networks humans rely on would collapse.
Plants & Animals
Feb 5, 2026
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1033
Despite decades of independent progress in population ecology and movement ecology, researchers have lacked a theoretical bridge between these two disciplines. "Ecologists have been trying to establish this link since the ...
Plants & Animals
Feb 5, 2026
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10
Birch Aquarium at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego is celebrating another milestone in their little blue penguin breeding program. For the first time, a penguin chick has been raised and reared by its penguin ...
Plants & Animals
Feb 4, 2026
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93
For decades, scientists have tried to answer a simple question: why be honest when deception is possible? Whether it is a peacock's tail, a stag's roar, or a human's résumé, signals are means to influence others by transmitting ...
Evolution
Feb 4, 2026
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52
Dogs who scored well on the Wesen test, which is used to analyze a dog's temperament, tended to have lower levels of cortisol, often called the "stress hormone," and higher levels of serotonin, often called the "happiness ...
Plants & Animals
Feb 4, 2026
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53
Snakes may well be one of nature's greatest predators, capable of eating whole deer or even crocodiles, but just as impressive is that they can go months, or even a whole year, without a single meal. And now an international ...
Precocial animals, the ones that move autonomously within hours after hatching or birth, have many biases they are born with that help them survive, finds a new paper led by Queen Mary University of London, published in Proceedings ...
Plants & Animals
Feb 3, 2026
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75
Imagine enjoying a tasty dinner alone at home—you may freely indulge without worrying about others. Now imagine sharing the same meal with friends or colleagues: depending on the social context, you may find yourself eating ...
Plants & Animals
Feb 3, 2026
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13
