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.
Manhattan's Upper West Side has been reveling in the company of its latest celebrities: a family of barn owls nested in a water tower atop a building near Central Park.
Ecology
Oct 15, 2026
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121
Scientists have learned a lot about what happens to the human body as we age. But there's still much to learn about how other species age, including dogs. Even carrying extra weight could affect a dog's cognitive health. ...
Veterinary medicine
Oct 15, 2026
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41
Limbs evolved as a means of locomotion. From the primitive rotating flagella of bacteria to the wings of flies and even our own legs, animals use these appendages to travel to find food or mates or escape predators. But in ...
Plants & Animals
Oct 15, 2026
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15
The coastline near the southern tip of Africa looked vastly different between about 400,000 years ago and 70,000 years ago, compared with today. At times it lay as much as 100km (62 miles) south of its present location, exposing ...
Paleontology & Fossils
Oct 15, 2026
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100
Fireworks are an integral part of many celebrations and cultural events. With their pretty colors, spectacular sights and big bangs, fireworks are a popular attraction for many people.
Veterinary medicine
Oct 15, 2026
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13
Honeybees are outcompeting wild pollinators in the U.K., and new research has found evidence of their aggressive behavior, recording for the first time the extent to which they restrict access to food sources and attack and ...
Plants & Animals
Oct 14, 2026
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14
Sounds have shapes. That might sound strange since sound waves are invisible, but a famous psychological experiment in the 1920s showed that our brains naturally link spoken sounds to visual forms. According to new research ...
Researchers from the University of Amsterdam and Leiden University have discovered that humans and songbirds use markedly different strategies to recognize sequences of complex sounds. The findings shed new light on how biology ...
Plants & Animals
Oct 13, 2026
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21
Georgia has been a destination for quail hunters for more than a century. But recent declines in its bobwhite population have researchers searching for answers to boost the popular game bird's numbers.
Plants & Animals
Oct 13, 2026
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96
We give our pet dogs shelter, veterinary care, affection, training and play. We decide when they eat, where they sleep, when they go outside, who they meet and how they move through the world.
Veterinary medicine
Oct 12, 2026
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71
