Animal behavior
- Octopuses recorded hunting with fish — and punching those that don't cooperatewww.nbcnews.com Octopuses recorded hunting with fish — and punching those that don't cooperate
Octopuses have often been thought to prowl the seafloor solo using camouflage. But a new study suggests that some have surprisingly rich social lives.
- Dogs can remember names of toys years after not seeing them, study showswww.theguardian.com Dogs can remember names of toys years after not seeing them, study shows
Research into canine cognition suggests some pets store object names in long-term memory
- Crows Are Even Smarter Than We Thoughtnautil.us Crows Are Even Smarter Than We Thought
New evidence suggests the corvid family has surprising mental abilities.
- Cats appear to grieve death of fellow pets – even dogs, study findswww.theguardian.com Cats appear to grieve death of fellow pets – even dogs, study finds
US researchers say findings challenge view that cats are antisocial and suggest bereavement may be universal
- Elephants Are Doing Something Deeply Humanwww.theatlantic.com Elephants Are Doing Something Deeply Human
They’re part of a growing list of animals that use namelike calls.
- African elephants call each other by unique names, new study showswww.ctvnews.ca African elephants call each other by unique names, new study shows
African elephants call each other and respond to individual names — something that few wild animals do, according to new research published Monday.
- Orcas aren’t attacking boats — they’re just playful teens, scientists saywww.washingtonpost.com Orcas aren’t attacking boats — they’re just playful teens, scientists say
What might seem like killer whales orchestrating vengeful and coordinated attacks on ships is probably a playful fad among bored teen orcas, scientists say.
- Parrots love playing tablet games. That’s helping researchers understand them.news.northeastern.edu Parrots love playing tablet games. That’s helping researchers understand them.
A new Northeastern study delves deep into how parrots use touchscreen devices, with the help of a bespoke gaming app.
- Not just humans: Bees and chimps can also pass on their skillsphys.org Not just humans: Bees and chimps can also pass on their skills
Bumblebees and chimpanzees can learn skills from their peers so complicated that they could never have mastered them on their own, an ability previously thought to be unique to humans, two studies said on Wednesday.
- It’s the Cat’s Meow but You Just Don’t Understandwww.nytimes.com It’s the Cat’s Meow but You Just Don’t Understand
A study suggests that humans often misinterpret a pet’s signals; even purring doesn’t guarantee a contented cat.
- Neurobiology: How bats distinguish different soundswww.sciencedaily.com Neurobiology: How bats distinguish different sounds
Bats live in a world of sounds. They use vocalizations both to communicate with their conspecifics and for navigation. For the latter, they emit sounds in the ultrasonic range, which echo and enable them to create an 'image' of their surroundings. Neuroscientists have now discovered how Seba's short...
- Dog 'Language Geniuses' Are Rare but Apparently Realwww.scientificamerican.com Dog 'Language Geniuses' Are Rare but Apparently Real
A subset of exceptional pooches can identify by name more than 100 different objects, mostly toys
- Physically impaired primates find ways to modify their behaviors to compensate for disabilities, find researchersphys.org Physically impaired primates find ways to modify their behaviors to compensate for disabilities, find researchers
Primates show a remarkable ability to modify their behaviors to accommodate their physical disabilities and impairments according to a new literature review by Concordia researchers.
- Juvenile great apes love to tease and annoy their elders, study findswww.theguardian.com Juvenile great apes love to tease and annoy their elders, study finds
Young chimps, orangutans, bonobos and gorillas show wide range of playful and sometimes aggressive behaviours
- Do Cats Experience FOMO?www.scientificamerican.com Do Cats Experience FOMO?
Feline experts weigh in on clingy cats’ supposed “fear of missing out”
- Male Power Over Females Is Not the Default Social Dynamic in Primatesnews.utexas.edu Male Power Over Females Is Not the Default Social Dynamic in Primates
AUSTIN, Texas — Male dominance has long been assumed to be nearly universal in primates, with female power viewed as a rare exception to the rule. But
- Dogs may wag their tails so much due to rhythm-loving humans, scientists saywww.theguardian.com Dogs may wag their tails so much due to rhythm-loving humans, scientists say
Experts hypothesise that attractiveness of behaviour was selected for during domestication process
- Why woodpeckers don’t get concussionspubs.aip.org Why woodpeckers don’t get concussions
Contrary to popular belief, the birds don’t have shock absorbers in their heads.
- Mouse filmed tidying up man's shed every nightwww.bbc.co.uk Mouse filmed tidying up man's shed every night
Retired postman Rodney Holbrook never expected to capture a Ratatouille-style scene in his own shed.
- Ibis add toxic cane toads to the menu with clever technique to eliminate poison firstwww.abc.net.au Ibis add toxic cane toads to the menu with clever technique to eliminate poison first
Citizen scientists report the much-maligned ibis has an ingenious method of making sure poisonous cane toads don't cause them a problem.
- Deep into Infrasoundwww.elephantlisteningproject.org Deep into Infrasound
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_FRo2OiMwc 3-D model of the sounds made by forest elephants excited about a mating event in the Dzanga forest clearing, Central African Republic. Lowest frequencies are to the left. The height of the peaks indicates how much energy in in that frequency. Infrasound
- Corvids seem to handle temporary memories the way we doarstechnica.com Corvids seem to handle temporary memories the way we do
Birds show evidence that they lump temporary memories into categories.
- Chimps Can Still Remember Faces After a Quarter Centurywww.nytimes.com Chimps Can Still Remember Faces After a Quarter Century
Long-term memories may have been vital to our own evolution, suggests a new study of chimpanzees and bonobos.
- A Sort-of-Common, Very Strange Cat Trickwww.theatlantic.com A Sort-of-Common, Very Strange Cat Trick
Felines who fetch are an evolutionary mystery.
- Serotine bats have sex unlike any other mammalwww.nhm.ac.uk Serotine bats have sex unlike any other mammal
Their style of mating is more similar to birds than any known mammal.
- The way dogs see the world: Objects are more salient to smarter dogswww.eurekalert.org The way dogs see the world: Objects are more salient to smarter dogs
<p style="text-align:justify">When we point at an object, the toddler focuses on the object, while the dog usually takes the gesture as a directional cue. In a recent study, researchers from the Department of Ethology at Eötvös Loránd University find explanations for this phenomenon...
- Cows: Science Shows They're Bright and Emotional Individualswww.psychologytoday.com Cows: Science Shows They're Bright and Emotional Individuals
A new essay reviews the detailed science that demonstrates bovine sentience.
- Animals' Perception of Time - Londolozi Blogblog.londolozi.com Animals' Perception of Time - Londolozi Blog
An African Safari blog which features news on leopards, lions, elephants, our camps as well as the rest of the Big 5 on Londolozi Game Reserve, bordering the Kruger National Park.
- Elephants give each other names — the 1st non-human animals to do so, study claimswww.livescience.com Elephants give each other names — the 1st non-human animals to do so, study claims
Elephants in Kenya's Amboseli National Park appear to call to each other with individual names using low, complex "rumbles," a study has found.
- How hummingbirds fly through spaces too narrow for their wingswww.sciencenews.org How hummingbirds fly through spaces too narrow for their wings
Using high-speed cameras, a new study reveals Anna’s hummingbirds turn sideways to shimmy through gaps half as wide as their wingspan.