#animal-behavior

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#animal-cognition
Philosophy
fromPsychology Today
1 day ago

Animal Minds: Can We Really Know What They Think and Feel?

Challenges in studying animal minds can strengthen scientific understanding and foster a deeper connection with nonhuman species.
Roam Research
fromwww.theguardian.com
9 hours ago

How much have we missed?': book tunes in to overlooked world of female birdsong

Female birdsong is often overlooked, but females sing for territory, to deter rivals, and attract mates, challenging traditional narratives about bird vocalization.
Pets
fromwww.theguardian.com
17 hours ago

From sleeping lions to spitting snakes: a year in the life of London zoo vets

Veterinary teams at ZSL face unique challenges in treating endangered animals, requiring specialized skills and techniques for various species.
fromwww.scientificamerican.com
2 days ago

Songbirds reveal the dark side of making new brain cells as adults

Aging and damaged brain cells, or neurons, can cause memory problems and limit the brain's ability to recover from illnesses. Some scientists have posited that if we could just turn on the ability to make new neurons in the brain—a process called neurogenesis—some of these deleterious changes might be reversed.
OMG science
Psychology
fromSilicon Canals
2 days ago

Psychology says the quietest person in a group conversation often isn't the least engaged - they're often the one processing at a depth the loudest voices in the room have stopped bothering to reach - Silicon Canals

Silence in group settings often indicates deep cognitive processing rather than disengagement.
fromwww.scientificamerican.com
4 days ago

When a naked mole rat queen dies, that usually means warbut not for this colony

Naked mole rat queens rule with an iron forepaw, forbidding any other female from reproducing until they die, leading to violent battles for dominance among the remaining females.
Women
Books
fromPsychology Today
5 days ago

Why Rick McIntyre Is the Go-To Guy for All Things Wolves

Rick McIntyre's memoir offers insights into his life with wolves and valuable lessons about wildlife relationships.
Pets
fromPsychology Today
3 days ago

A Compassionate History of American Attitudes Toward Animals

A new book details the evolution of human-animal relationships and highlights the responsibility for unseen consequences of our actions towards other species.
Writing
fromPsychology Today
1 week ago

Reimagining Animal Sentience: A Novel View of Animal Minds

Animal sentience is real, and poetry can transform our understanding and treatment of animals as conscious beings.
#sperm-whales
OMG science
fromwww.theguardian.com
4 days ago

Sperm whales' communication closely parallels human language, study finds

Sperm whale vocalizations exhibit complex structures similar to human speech, suggesting independent evolution of communication systems.
OMG science
fromwww.scientificamerican.com
4 days ago

Sperm whales may make their own vowel sounds, similar to human language

Sperm whales' click communication resembles human language vowels, revealing deeper similarities between species than previously understood.
OMG science
fromwww.theguardian.com
4 days ago

Sperm whales' communication closely parallels human language, study finds

Sperm whale vocalizations exhibit complex structures similar to human speech, suggesting independent evolution of communication systems.
OMG science
fromwww.scientificamerican.com
4 days ago

Sperm whales may make their own vowel sounds, similar to human language

Sperm whales' click communication resembles human language vowels, revealing deeper similarities between species than previously understood.
Psychology
fromInfoQ
5 days ago

Anthropic Paper Examines Behavioral Impact of Emotion-Like Mechanisms in LLMs

Large language models exhibit internal representations of emotions that influence their behavior, though they do not actually experience these emotions.
Pets
fromwww.npr.org
3 days ago

How seals' whiskers make them master underwater hunters

Harbor seals use their whiskers to sense water movements and track fish, enhancing their hunting abilities.
Philosophy
fromenglish.elpais.com
1 week ago

Richard Wrangham, anthropologist: Humans domesticated ourselves by defeating our alpha male ancestors'

Human beings exhibit both empathy and a unique capacity for planned violence, reflecting a complex duality in our nature.
#chimpanzees
OMG science
fromwww.npr.org
6 days ago

What a chimpanzee 'civil war' can teach us about how societies fall apart

Chimpanzees exhibit brutal behavior similar to humans, as evidenced by civil wars observed in their groups.
Music production
fromMail Online
3 weeks ago

Chimp Bizkit! Chimpanzees can sing and play the drums simultaneously

Chimpanzees can drum and sing simultaneously, showcasing complex musical abilities similar to humans.
OMG science
fromwww.theguardian.com
1 week ago

Wild chimpanzees recorded waging civil war' with coordinated attacks between two groups

Chimpanzees in Uganda's Kibale national park exhibited a civil war, marking a significant behavioral shift in their social dynamics.
OMG science
fromwww.npr.org
6 days ago

What a chimpanzee 'civil war' can teach us about how societies fall apart

Chimpanzees exhibit brutal behavior similar to humans, as evidenced by civil wars observed in their groups.
Music production
fromMail Online
3 weeks ago

Chimp Bizkit! Chimpanzees can sing and play the drums simultaneously

Chimpanzees can drum and sing simultaneously, showcasing complex musical abilities similar to humans.
OMG science
fromwww.theguardian.com
1 week ago

Wild chimpanzees recorded waging civil war' with coordinated attacks between two groups

Chimpanzees in Uganda's Kibale national park exhibited a civil war, marking a significant behavioral shift in their social dynamics.
Pets
fromMail Online
3 days ago

First Punch, now Linh Mai! Baby elephant is shunned by her mother

Linh Mai, a baby elephant, was abandoned by her mother but is thriving under the care of her auntie, Swarna, at the Smithsonian's National Zoo.
Pets
fromPsychology Today
6 days ago

Cows Are Smarter Than You Think

Humans perceive edible animals as unintelligent and companion animals as intelligent, influenced by cultural beliefs and justifications for factory farming.
from6abc Philadelphia
4 days ago

Mother bear and cubs take up residence under family's home in New Jersey

Veronica O'Brien-Lim explained that the bears were living under her home due to the previous owners digging a foundation under half of the addition. Initially adorable, the bears began causing problems by going through neighbors' trash and chewing on wires.
Pets
Online Community Development
fromPsychology Today
1 month ago

The Power of Human-Animal Relationships: 'Unleashing the Bond'

Human-animal relationships significantly influence physical health, emotional well-being, and community resilience through scientifically measurable mechanisms beyond sentimental value.
Pets
fromPsychology Today
6 days ago

What I Learned From My Cat, a Meow Is Not Always a Meow

Cats may vocalize excessively due to health issues like hyperthyroidism, which can lead to misunderstandings between pets and their owners.
Philosophy
fromPsychology Today
3 weeks ago

'Animate': How Nonhuman and Human Minds Are Inherently Linked

Humans share traits with animals and have become disconnected, wrongly believing in our superiority over them.
fromFuturism
6 days ago

Video Shows Humanoid Robot Chasing a Pack of Wild Boars

A customized Unitree G1 robot can be seen chasing a small flock of wild boars through an empty car parking lot in Warsaw, Poland. The widely disseminated footage shows the robot jogging across a small patch of grass while chasing down the wild animals, only to raise its fist in the air in frustration after they successfully get away.
Pets
Pets
fromPsychology Today
1 week ago

The Clout of Companion Animal Psychology for Dogs and Cats

Zazie Todd aims to improve the lives of dogs and cats through scientific understanding and compassionate care.
fromOpen Culture
1 month ago

In Her Final Reflections, Jane Goodall Issues a Warning: "Without Hope, We Fall Into Apathy"

Somebody sent to this world to try to give people hope in dark times, because without hope, we fall into apathy and do nothing, and in the dark times that we are living in now, if people don't have hope, we're doomed. How can we bring little children into this dark world we've created and let them be surrounded by people who've given up?
Writing
Psychology
fromwww.scientificamerican.com
1 month ago

These fish can tell when you're staring

Fish can perceive when they or their offspring are being watched and respond with increased aggression, demonstrating attention attribution abilities previously documented mainly in primates, birds, and domestic animals.
Pets
fromPsychology Today
3 weeks ago

Dogs, Cats, and Other Nonhumans Are Not 'Just Animals'

A new book challenges speciesist narratives and promotes deeper respect for animals as sentient beings with powerful social bonds.
Philosophy
fromThe Conversation
1 month ago

What's it like to be a bat? Scientists develop new solution to the puzzle of animal minds

A new 'teleonome' framework evaluates animal welfare by understanding each species' evolutionary needs rather than isolated physiological measurements.
fromMail Online
3 weeks ago

Scientists explain why entire pack of wolves needed to be euthanised

The charity claims long-term separation was not a viable solution, as wolves' welfare is closely tied to living within a stable pack structure, and isolation can create further welfare concerns.
Pets
#animal-tool-use
Pets
fromPsychology Today
3 weeks ago

The Reciprocal Relationships of Pets and Their Caregivers

Cats vocalize more frequently with male caregivers, suggesting a learned behavior to attract attention.
Pets
fromwww.dw.com
3 weeks ago

Humans and dogs scientists find new proof of ancient bond

A female puppy from 15,800 years ago in Turkey is identified as the earliest-known dog, predating the previous record by 5,000 years.
#monogamy
Environment
fromPsychology Today
2 months ago

Rewilding Rejects the We're-So-Special Exceptionalism

Rewilding requires rehabilitating human hearts, overcoming self-centeredness, and treating nature with compassion so ecosystems and nonhuman lives can flourish.
US politics
fromPsychology Today
2 months ago

How ICE Is Disrupting the Human-Animal Bond

Abrupt immigration enforcement severs human-animal bonds, causing lasting trauma, abandoned pets, and reluctance to seek veterinary care.
Science
fromSilicon Canals
2 months ago

5 unlikely animal friendships that prove connection has no species barrier - Silicon Canals

Animals form deep, unexpected interspecies bonds that transcend instinct, demonstrating that genuine connection can override species boundaries and learned categories.
Psychology
fromPsychology Today
1 month ago

Animal Consciousness: Behavioral Flexibility is Ubiquitous

Consciousness exists across diverse species including insects, demonstrating that humans are not uniquely conscious and behavioral flexibility indicates sentience in nonhuman animals.
#animal-communication
Pets
fromwww.scientificamerican.com
1 month ago

What animal are you? Humans and animals tend to like the same mating calls

Humans and animals tend to prefer the same mating calls, suggesting humans are more attuned to animal acoustic signals than previously understood.
Pets
fromMail Online
1 month ago

What mating call do YOU find most appealing? Take the test

Humans and animals share remarkably similar preferences for mating calls, with people consistently choosing the same calls that females of various species prefer.
OMG science
fromMail Online
1 month ago

Scientists solve the mystery of why cats always land on their feet

Cats' ability to land on their feet results from an exceptionally flexible thoracic spine that rotates nearly three times more than their lumbar spine, enabling rapid mid-air body reorientation.
#bonobo-cognition
Philosophy
fromThe Conversation
1 month ago

The cost of casting animals as heroes and villains in conservation science

Hero-villain narratives in ecology oversimplify complex ecological stories and inappropriately impose human moral frameworks onto non-moral natural processes and species.
Psychology
fromLady Freethinker
2 months ago

The Link Between Animal Cruelty and Human Violence

Animal cruelty commonly co-occurs with interpersonal violence and serves as a strong early warning sign indicating elevated risk to both animals and people.
fromPsychology Today
2 months ago

The Hidden Lives of Lab Animals and the Need for Reform

Countless millions of nonhuman animals (animals) of all sorts are used in a diverse array of laboratory research. Their treatment varies from being unspeakably inhumanely abused to being treated with kindness, depending on the questions at hand and the values and attitudes of the researchers themselves. The lives of these animals truly are hidden, and most people are incredulous when they learn that laboratory rats and mice still are not considered "animals" under the current federal Animal Welfare Act.
Science
Science
fromFuturism
2 months ago

Scientists Suddenly Discover That Cow Tools Are Real

A cow spontaneously selected, adjusted, and used a broom handle to scratch itself, demonstrating tool use and suggesting cattle possess underestimated cognitive abilities.
fromDefector
1 month ago

Which Chimp Should Wield The Crystal? | Defector

After washing and displaying them, I invited my colleagues to observe them. One colleague seemed very angry after examining them, picked up a piece straight away, hit it hard on the other stone fragments, and exclaimed, 'These kinds of broken stones can be seen everywhere on the road!' But later that fall, the French archaeologist Henri Breuil examined the crystals and agreed with Wenzhong: The crystals were not just stones, but artifacts collected by the early humans who lived in the cave.
OMG science
Science
fromwww.npr.org
2 months ago

An ape, a tea party and the ability to imagine

Kanzi the bonobo demonstrated pretend play, indicating imaginative abilities existed in common ancestors of humans and great apes.
fromArs Technica
2 months ago

Unique structure of elephant whiskers give them built-in sensing "intelligence"

An elephant's trunk is a marvelous thing, flexible enough to bend and stretch as it forages for food, but also stiff enough to grasp and maneuver even delicate objects like peanuts or a tortilla chip. That's because the trunk is highly sensitive when it comes to sensing touch. Scientists have determined that the whiskers lining the trunk are crucial for that sensitivity thanks to their unique structure, amounting to a kind of innate "material intelligence, according to a new paper published in the journal Science.
Science
fromThe New Yorker
2 months ago

Animals Say Hello, but Do They Say Goodbye?

Jane Goodall, the late primatologist, was known for her imitations of chimpanzee greetings. When she met with Prince Harry, in 2019, she approached him slowly, making panting noises through circular lips. She prompted him to pat her lightly on the head, then reached up for an embrace, making soft hooting sounds. During her career, Goodall observed chimps engaging in more than a thousand such greetings. They sometimes touched their lips together, breathed into one another's open mouths, or stood on two legs and hugged.
Science
#chimpanzee-behavior
Pets
fromMail Online
1 month ago

Cats turn their noses up at being helpful with humans and THIS is why

Cats rarely help humans find hidden objects unless the item benefits them directly, unlike dogs and toddlers who spontaneously assist regardless of personal reward.
fromThe Washington Post
2 months ago

Scientists have discovered one of elephants' most sensitive secrets

The list of feats Andrew Schulz has witnessed an elephant perform with its trunk is as long as, well, an elephant's trunk. These powerful proboscises are strong enough to push over 900 pound trees and gentle enough to pick up a tortilla chip without breaking it. They can snuffle along the ground to sense vibrations from far-off herd movements. They can be used to solve puzzles, peel bananas, craft tools, console a fellow pachyderm or a human friend.
Science
Science
fromwww.theguardian.com
2 months ago

So a cow can use a stick to scratch its backside. When will we learn that humans are really not that special? | Helen Pilcher

Cows can deliberately use tools flexibly, demonstrating problem-solving, manipulation, and underestimated intelligence.
Science
fromArs Technica
2 months ago

Macaque facial gestures are more than just a reflex, study finds

Multiple cortical regions jointly generate facial gestures in macaques, with distinctions between social and non-social actions arising from different temporal neural codes rather than separate anatomical loci.
Pets
fromPsychology Today
2 months ago

For Your Pet To Thrive, Listen to What They're Asking of You

A love-centered, consent-based, animal-perspective holistic approach unlocks pets' natural healing, fostering vitality, balance, and empowered human-animal relationships.
fromwww.dw.com
2 months ago

Holy cow! Cattle may be a lot smarter than we thought

The 13-year-old Swiss Brown cow lives in the village of Notsch at the foot of the Carinthia mountains in southern Austria. She's kept as a pet by a local farmer, and can roam her meadow to her heart's delight. Like many other pets, she likes to have her back scratched. If no friendly humans are around to do the job, that's not a problem Veronika uses a brush or stick to do it herself.
Science
fromMail Online
1 month ago

What will happen to Punch the monkey? Scientists reveal macaque's fate

I expect Punch will be under careful observation by the keepers, and it sounds like they are trying various approaches to find a way to keep Punch in the group, which is best practice. If it looks like he is at risk of physical harm he would be removed from the group. As macaques are highly social intelligent primates this would be the last resort, only if he were deemed to be at risk of physical harm.
Science
Science
fromwww.theguardian.com
2 months ago

Spider monkeys found to share insider knowledge' to help locate best food

Spider monkeys share food-location and fruiting-time information by frequently switching subgroups, producing combined, synergistic collective knowledge for foraging.
fromNature
1 month ago

The age of animal experiments is waning. Where will science go next?

Last November, the UK government announced a bold plan to phase out animal testing in some areas of research. Animal tests for skin irritation are scheduled for elimination this year, and some studies on dogs should be slashed by 2030. The long-term vision is 'a world where the use of animals in science is eliminated in all but exceptional circumstances'.
Science
Science
fromSilicon Canals
2 months ago

9 natural disaster warning signs animals display before humans notice anything wrong - Silicon Canals

Animals often detect imminent natural disasters through subtle environmental cues and flee before humans.
Science
fromPsychology Today
2 months ago

Do Dogs Enjoy Playing More Than Cats, Rats, or Dolphins?

Joy serves as a unifying, evolved positive emotion across species that motivates adaptive behaviors, can become maladaptive in excess, and is difficult to measure.
Science
fromenglish.elpais.com
2 months ago

Veronika the cow astounds science with first consistent case of tool use

A cow in Austria used a broom and stick flexibly, adjusting her grip anticipatorily to scratch body areas, demonstrating tool use like primates and corvids.
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