Articles tagged with Ethology
Researchers found that diverse spider societies composed of both docile and aggressive spiders are more resilient to temperature fluctuations than those with a single personality. This discovery has implications for restoring animals in changing habitats.
Researchers found that older female bonobos form coalitions to attack and defeat aggressive males, helping younger females maintain social status. This coalition-forming behavior allows young females to join the group without fear of male harassment.
A newly released study analyzed the lives of 255 African and Asian elephants in 68 accredited North American zoos, revealing that social interactions and having an array of opportunities to engage with their surroundings may be more important for elephants than space. The research found that spending time alone was a risk factor for el...
Researchers found that newly hatched ducklings can distinguish same and different objects without training, demonstrating relational concept learning. This ability to identify logical relationships increases a young duckling's chances of recognizing its mother and siblings in the wild.
Researchers found city birds exhibit higher levels of territorial aggression than rural counterparts, possibly due to limited space but better resources to defend. The study, published in Biology Letters, measured bird responses to simulated intrusions at urban and rural sites.
Researchers found that networks based on affiliative behaviors, like preening and sharing food, play a major role in transmitting information among ravens. These social connections, especially between siblings, emphasize the importance of family ties in learning.
A study at Mount Sinai Hospital found that brain reward circuits, specifically the basal forebrain and lateral habenula, mediate motivation to engage in or avoid bullying. The research used a mouse model to demonstrate that activating this circuit makes bullying behavior pleasurable for some individuals.
Researchers discovered a cluster of hypothalamic cells that respond only to male smells, driving intruder mice to explore their surroundings. These cells play a crucial role in regulating social behavior, similar to the human brain, and may hold the key to understanding disorders like autism and schizophrenia.
Researchers at Duke University have developed a new method to control a specific brain circuit in mice, which can alter their mood. By combining super-fine electrodes and tiny amounts of a specific drug, the team was able to restore stressed animals to relatively normal behavior.
Researchers found that trauma-related behavioral alterations are reversible in mice and that epigenetic dysregulation of the glucocorticoid receptor gene can be corrected by low-stress environments. This finding has implications for the transmission of characteristics caused by the environment, such as metabolic disorders.
Researchers investigated the Goffin's cockatoo's ability to make flexible decisions about tool use based on the current 'market' situation. The study found that the birds could overcome immediate impulses in favor of future gains, but only when both tools were not offered simultaneously due to limitations in working memory capacity.
A recent study found that invasive Bighead and silver carp species avoid areas with CO2-infused water, reducing movement and behavior. The researchers tested the effectiveness of infusing water with recycled CO2 gas to deter carp movement.
Research by Sebastian Vetter and colleagues found that personality traits of female wild boars impact their ability to raise offspring. Shy females, with more careful behavior and high maternal care, had greater success in rearing offspring in good mast years.
A study found that women who time their quit smoking with optimal days in their menstrual cycle may have better success. The researchers discovered that during the follicular phase, brain regions that help control behavior are less connected to those signaling reward, making it harder for women to resist smoking cues.
A new study reveals that male sparrows can distinguish between their faithful and unfaithful partners. When paired with an unfaithful female, males provide less food for their chicks. The research suggests that males make this decision based on the partner's behavior during fertile periods rather than detecting which chicks are theirs.
A study by Concordia University researchers found that cues associated with alcohol can trigger behaviors leading to addiction. The study used lab rats conditioned to associate a visual cue with ethanol, showing the rats began interacting with the cue rather than waiting for the reward.
A study by Michigan State University finds that adults with Williams syndrome are susceptible to online victimization due to their trusting nature and frequent use of social networking sites. Roughly a third of participants reported engaging in risky online behaviors without parental supervision.
UC San Diego scientists create innovative imaging system to study brain activity in free-moving fruit flies, providing first glimpse into neural processes underlying mating, learning, memory, and more. The 'Flyception' technique enables real-time monitoring of brain activity at unprecedented speed and precision.
A research team from Northwestern University and Lund University has identified a sensory system in fruit flies that directly detects air humidity, allowing them to adapt to changing environments. Understanding this ability could lead to new tools for mosquito control and inform the prediction of species distribution under global warming.
New research from Cornell Food & Brand Lab highlights the importance of leveraging inside sources for real consumer insights. By utilizing experts such as sales associates or food service workers, researchers can gain unexpected and notable observations about target population behavior.
A new species of black fly, Simulium kalimantanense, has been discovered in Indonesia's Kalimantan state. The newly identified species belongs to the family Simuliidae and is part of a larger group known to carry filariasis-causing parasites.
A deep-brain structure called the habenula contains two neural circuits that influence whether a fight will be won or lost in zebrafish. The circuits regulate surrender or continuing aggression based on activity levels in different sub-regions, suggesting a dynamic mechanism for determining fight outcomes.
A study found that salmon are less aggressive in tanks with darker backgrounds, preferring dark grey and black over light grey and light blue. This suggests a simple environmental modification to improve fish welfare.
New research reveals that kin selection drives altruistic defense in enslaved Temnothorax longispinosus ant workers. The study found that slaves rebel against their oppressors' offspring, benefiting relatives living nearby.
A recent study published in Cell reveals that sleep suppresses brain rebalancing, a mechanism crucial for neural activity regulation. This finding contradicts previous theories on the role of sleep in memory consolidation and homeostatic plasticity.
Researchers observed striped hyenas joining grey wolf packs in the Negev desert, suggesting a mutually beneficial relationship. The unlikely alliance may have arisen from necessity, with hyenas utilizing their keen sense of smell and wolves leveraging their agility to tackle prey.
Scientists at Johns Hopkins Medicine discovered a new type of nerve cell that controls feeding behaviors in mice by signaling satiety. The discovery, confirmed through experiments, may lead to new tools for fighting obesity if replicated in humans.
In high-density populations, slow-exploring great tits have a higher chance of survival compared to fast-exploring individuals. However, the birds are unable to adapt their exploratory behavior to changing density, which may explain why selection favors a mix of personality types.
A study in mice reveals a specific brain region, the ventrolateral part of the ventromedial hypothalamus, is responsible for aggressive motivations that lead to violence. The research suggests targeting this region could lead to better control of aggressive behaviors without sedation.
Researchers used an experimental game to study how government representatives make decisions in social dilemmas. The results show that selfish representatives who contribute less than their fair share can still be re-elected and lead their countries to reach the target sum, while others contribute more. This study highlights the comple...
Researchers at UVA University have successfully used a synthetic gene to manipulate the behavior of mice and zebrafish by applying magnetic fields. The breakthrough could lead to new treatments for neurological diseases such as schizophrenia and Parkinson's disease.
A Duke University-led study found that friendly rivalry among fishers can lead to better conservation of marine resources when cooperation and competition are in balance. This balanced approach helps maintain group cooperation and reinforces collective action, ultimately benefiting the communities that depend on these areas.
Research reveals that dopamine regulates both rewarding and aversive behaviors in mice, enabling them to learn and remember to avoid negative situations. The study's findings have implications for understanding post-traumatic stress syndrome.
A study published in Cell Press identified a neural circuit mediating social seeking behavior driven by a loneliness-like state in mice. The discovery sheds light on the neuroscience of isolation and may help understand social anxiety and autism spectrum disorders.
Researchers found reptiles and amphibians to be a crucial high-value food source for whooping cranes, particularly during spring nesting season. This adaptability suggests the birds have an increased chance for survival in human-modified environments.
A Russian-US research team found that aggressive behavior leads to new nerve cells being generated in the brain, specifically in the hippocampus. This discovery could help understand aggression and its link to autism and other disorders.
A new study from Rockefeller University found no overall differences in DNA methylation between worker and queen ants, challenging the popular explanation for their social roles. The research suggests that methylation may contribute to stable expression of household genes, but further studies are needed to confirm this.
A study by Professor Mark Elgar at the University of Melbourne found that older athletes were more likely to be selected as team captains in elite-level sports. The research revealed a significant impact on team discipline, with teams led by older captains receiving fewer penalties per game.
A new study by the University of Exeter found that grey squirrels solve problems in the search for food through persistence and choosing effective behaviors. The research showed increased experience, higher persistence, and behavioral selectivity are directly related to improved problem-solving efficiency.
Neural clocks have been found to exist and can be used to predict timing behavior in rats. Researchers identified a mechanism in the Striatum brain region where populations of neurons create sequences of activity that encode time.
A recent study published in the Journal of Neuroscience found that songbirds' vocal muscles can change their function to produce different sound parameters, similar to a trained opera singer. The research, led by Samuel Sober, shows that the bird's brain directs complex changes in muscle combinations to create complex songs.
Research supports theory of kin selection, suggesting that altruistic behavior occurs to pass genes to next generation. Genes inherited from queen promote altruistic behavior in worker bees, while those from father's promote selfish behavior.
Research suggests that symptoms of illness are not caused by direct infection but rather serve as a mechanism to isolate the infected individual and prevent further transmission. This 'selfish gene' hypothesis proposes that evolution has preserved such behavior over millennia.
A new theoretical model proposes that humans have an exclusively human capacity for mental time travel, composed of episodic memory and scenario construction. However, no definitive evidence supports foresightful behavior in animals, suggesting they may not possess the same level of mental time travel capabilities.
A study by Friederike Range and colleagues found that dogs donated food to familiar partners more often than to unfamiliar ones. The researchers also discovered that the degree of familiarity among the dogs influenced this behavior, with prosocial behavior exhibited less frequently towards unfamiliar dogs.
Researchers at the University of York and University of St Andrews observed greater vasa parrots using small pebbles or date pits to grind calcium from seashells, a behavior never seen before in this species.
A study by Michael Platt at the University of Pennsylvania found that the amygdala influences positive social functions like kindness and charitable giving in humans. Rhesus macaques showed a neural response to recipient rewards, which was correlated with prosocial behavior.
A Canadian research team developed a device to detect social wasp alarm pheromones, revealing three species have similar chemical messages. This discovery highlights the insects' ability to recognize and respond to other species' alarm pheromones.
A study published in PLOS ONE found that cichlid fish can accurately recognize individuals using facial color patterns, requiring longer viewing distances for unfamiliar faces than familiar ones. Fish demonstrated rapid discrimination between familiar and unfamiliar individuals, with recognition times under 0.5 seconds.
A female bonobo named Kuni was found to have a spontaneous drumming tempo of 270 beats per minute, faster than observed in human children. She synchronized her drumming with the human drummer on 54% of trials, with greater success near her preferred tempo.
Researchers demonstrated that specific regions in the brain represent sweet and bitter tastes, allowing for control over sensory perception and behavioral actions. Silencing or activating these regions can evoke different taste perceptions, including sweet or bitter, without actual tasting.
Researchers at Queen Mary University of London found male bumblebees equal to female worker bees in learning floral colors. The study showed that male bees can learn new flower colors as indicators for nectar even when the original color changes.
Researchers have discovered that electric eels can double the power of their electrical discharge by curling up their bodies, allowing them to handle larger and more struggling prey. This behavior enables the eels to induce involuntary fatigue in prey, rendering them temporarily immobilized.
Researchers studied female fruit flies' auditory pathways to understand how external stimuli become behavior. They found that longer song segments prompt females to slow down and let males approach, a finding relevant to humans' ability to recognize patterns in the environment.
Researchers at Emory and Georgia Tech have developed inhibitory luminopsins that can modulate neuronal firing in culture and in vivo, enabling the study of ways to halt or prevent seizure activity. The tools use a glowing protein from coral as a light source, offering a cleaner alternative to traditional optogenetics.
Researchers at Linköping University found that domesticated animals grew faster and laid larger eggs when selected for reduced fear of humans. The study used red junglefowl and bred them over five generations to demonstrate the link between tameness and desirable traits.
A new study published in PLOS Computational Biology found that rodents behave like a self-organizing system when huddling together to regulate their temperature. This allows the group to better adapt to changing temperatures, with individual behaviors improving the ability of the whole group to regulate its temperature.
Trichoplax, a multicellular marine animal without organs, exhibits complex feeding behavior involving external digestion of algae. The organism's cells coordinate a sequence of behaviors, including gliding and secretion of granules that break down the algae, indicating local control and cellular communication.
Researchers discovered that larger groups of animals synchronize their behavior, with social interactions playing a key role. The study found that even without external cues, internal mechanisms are regulated by social presence, leading to increased synchronization in group settings.
Scientists have created a tool that can identify thousands of chemosensory receptors stimulated by specific smells in various species, from mice to flies. This breakthrough could help unravel the logic of chemosensory code across animal species and has countless applications, including understanding behaviors triggered by odorants.