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Behaviour of seabirds during migration revealed

By Guest PostMay 6, 2013Natureanimal behavior, anthropogenic pressure, behaviour of seabirds, behavioural states, centre for mathematics, complex data series, computational analyses, conservation concern, environmental, environmental conditions, ethoinformatics, flight, geolocators, gps tracking, lightweight gps loggers, manx shearwater, migration, migration data, new method, patterns of foraging, puffinus puffinus, rest, robin freeman, royal society, small seabird, south america, south eastern brazil, species, tracking technologies, ucl, uk birds, university of oxford, western atlantic

The behaviour of seabirds during migration – including patterns of foraging, rest and flight – has been revealed in new detail using novel computational analyses and tracking technologies.

Using a new method called ‘ethoinformatics’, described as the application of computational methods in the investigation of animal behaviour, scientists have been able to analyse three years of migration data gathered from miniature tracking devices attached to the small seabird the Manx Shearwater (Puffinus puffinus). (more…)

New Measurement of Crocodilian Nerves Could Lead to Better Understanding of Ancient Animals’ Behavior, MU Researcher Finds

By Guest PostApril 15, 2013Sciencealligators, animal behavior, casey holliday, crocodile skulls, crocodilian facial nerves, dinosaurs, doctoral student, ian george, invisible whiskers, trigeminal nerve, university of missouri, visual cortex

COLUMBIA, Mo. — Crocodilians have nerves on their faces that are so sensitive, they can detect a change in a pond when a single drop hits the water surface several feet away. Alligators and crocodiles use these “invisible whiskers” to detect prey when hunting. Now, a new study from the University of Missouri has measured the nerves responsible for this function, which will help biologists understand how today’s animals, as well as dinosaurs and crocodiles that lived millions of years ago, interact with the environment around them. (more…)

Male lions use ambush hunting strategy

By Guest PostMarch 21, 2013Nature3d maps, africa, african savanna, ambush style hunting, animal behavior, balance, cao aircraft, carnegie, carnegie airborne observatory, craig tambling, female lions, females, gps tracking, greg asner, habitats, hunting, kruger national park, lidar scanner, male lions, open grassy savannas, petr kratochvil, predators, prey, savanna vegetation, scott loarie, South Africa, species, university of pretoria, viewsheds

Washington, D.C.— It has long been believed that male lions are dependent on females when it comes to hunting. But new evidence suggests that male lions are, in fact, very successful hunters in their own right. A new report from a team including Carnegie’s Scott Loarie and Greg Asner shows that male lions use dense savanna vegetation for ambush-style hunting in Africa. Their work is published in Animal Behavior.

Female lions have long been observed to rely on cooperative strategies to hunt their prey. While some studies demonstrated that male lions are as capable at hunting as females, the males are less likely to cooperate, so there were still questions as to how the males manage to hunt successfully. The possibility that male lions used vegetation for ambushing prey was considered, but it was difficult to study given the logistics and dangers of making observations of lions in densely vegetated portions of the African savanna. (more…)

Microbes Help Hyenas Communicate via Scent

By Guest PostSeptember 2, 2012Natureage, animal, animal behavior, bacteria, beneficial relationship, chemical signature, communication, communication system, diversity, DNA, hyena, hyena clan, kay holekamp, kenyan plains, kevin theis, key controller, mammal, michigan state university, microbial community, reproductive status, scent gland, sex, symbiotic bacteria, trait

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Bacteria in hyenas’ scent glands may be the key controllers of communication.

The results, featured in the current issue of Scientific Reports, show a clear relationship between the diversity of hyena clans and the distinct microbial communities that reside in their scent glands, said Kevin Theis, the paper’s lead author and Michigan State University postdoctoral researcher.

“A critical component of every animal’s behavioral repertoire is an effective communication system,” said Theis, who co-authored the study with Kay Holekamp, MSU zoologist. “It is possible that without their bacteria, many animals couldn’t ‘say’ much at all.” (more…)

What Do Animals ‘Know’? More Than You May Think

By Guest PostDecember 11, 2011Nature, Scienceaaron blaisdell, aging, ambiguity, ambiguous situations, animal behavior, animal cognition, animal intelligence, animal kingdom, auditory cues, brain, brain malfunctions, cynthia fast, degenerative diseases, face of uncertainty, human imagination, lack of information, logical inferences, national science foundation, origins of imagination, psychologists, rational, rats, sugar solution, teenagers like soda, uncertainty

Rats use their knowledge to make decisions when faced with ambiguous situations, UCLA psychologists report.

“Rats often make judgments and behave as if they’re rational creatures,” said UCLA associate professor of psychology Aaron Blaisdell, a member of UCLA’s Brain Research Institute and senior author of a new study published in the December issue of the journal Psychonomic Bulletin and Review.

“To make a decision in the face of uncertainty, rats call on prior history and reasoning,” Blaisdell said. “They apply what they know to a situation where they are uncertain. The rats are not necessarily thinking like little humans, but they have learned through experience. A lot of animal behavior seems to be rational. Their behavior follows logical inferences.” (more…)

Contact With Dads Drops When Women Ovulate

By Guest PostNovember 30, 2010Scienceanimal behavior, behavior, biological forces, cell phone, cycle, debra lieberman, elizabeth pillsworth, evolutionary biologists, evolutionary inbreeding, high-fertility days, martie haselton, ovulating, period, sexual decisions, women

*Evidence of evolutionary protection against inbreeding in women?*

Through an innovative use of cell phone records, researchers at UCLA, the University of Miami and Cal State, Fullerton, have found that women appear to avoid contact with their fathers during ovulation.

“Women call their dads less frequently on these high-fertility days and they hang up with them sooner if their dads initiate a call,” said Martie Haselton, a UCLA associate professor of communication in whose lab the research was conducted. (more…)

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