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.
When female bottlenose dolphins want to avoid males known for pushy mating behaviors, they listen out for their unique signature whistles. That's the suggestion of a study published in Proceedings of the National Academy ...
Researchers are celebrating the release of the once locally extinct burrowing bettong back into the NSW desert—with the aim of training them to survive alongside feral cats and foxes.
Plants & Animals
Jun 16, 2026
0
241
Dwarf mongooses anticipate encounters with rival groups and adjust how they move, communicate and defend resources beforehand, according to new research from the University of Bristol. The study, published in Nature Ecology ...
Plants & Animals
Jun 16, 2026
0
38
"Love makes fools of all of us," wrote 19th-century novelist William Makepeace Thackeray. A moment spent watching the pigeons at your local park suggests he was right: males with puffed-up, shimmering necks hop, pirouette, ...
Evolution
Jun 15, 2026
0
14
Bee species that nest in plant stems appear to be at the greatest short-term risk from increasing temperatures due to climate change, while those that nest in the ground are better able to evade extreme heat, according to ...
Plants & Animals
Jun 15, 2026
0
27
Few animals put on a show quite like manakins. In the rainforests of Central and South America, males of these small tropical birds, with strikingly bright plumage, often gather at communal display sites (leks), where they ...
Plants & Animals
Jun 14, 2026
0
65
It's an insect everybody loves to hate. Pesky mosquitoes will be out in swarms as the weather warms up across the U.S.—and their bites aren't just itchy. They can transmit pathogens that can cause diseases like West Nile ...
Plants & Animals
Jun 13, 2026
3
84
A new study shows that horse owners' psychological characteristics, including their attachment styles and personality traits, are systematically linked to how frequently they ride, train, and spend quality time with their ...
Veterinary medicine
Jun 12, 2026
0
18
Migration flights of dragonflies and damselflies crisscross much of our planet, new research reveals. Scientists from the universities of Exeter and Lund reviewed global evidence and found 100 dragonfly and damselfly species ...
Ecology
Jun 12, 2026
0
29
In the split second after you hear a noise, your brain is already making a potentially life-or-death deduction: Did I do that, or did something else? Our nervous systems answer this question using something called corollary ...
Plants & Animals
Jun 12, 2026
0
22
