Our eyes, gestures, and tone bring us together in a more profound way than words alone. It’s why we look hopefully toward the return of in-person, face-to-face connection.
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The neuroscience of behavior in the wild.
Mary Bates Ph.D.
What can the physiological peculiarities of naked mole-rats and their kin teach us about pain relief?
Some ant colonies have workers with special jobs: to rescue those who are trapped. Research shows these ant first responders inherit their specialization from their dads.
Horses are group-living animals that share a close relationship with humans. What sorts of sophisticated social skills have they evolved to manage their social lives?
Seals, sea lions, and walruses have highly prominent and sensitive whiskers. Are they as adept at using them as land-living whisker specialists such as rats and shrews?
Bumble bees can discriminate objects they have only experienced through sight by touch and vice versa. Does it mean they have mental imagery?
According to new research, cows talk to one another, expressing their emotions, both positive and negative, through individualized voices.
Can animals predict earthquakes? A study of farm animals in Italy shows that, collectively, they may be sensitive to some precursors of seismic activity.
Some birds hiss like snakes to keep intruders out of their nests, but is it a true case of mimicry?
Once described as "living rocks," giant tortoises are proving that they have giant learning and memory prowess, too.
What can rats tell us about the evolution of empathy? Is it all about avoiding danger rather than helping others?
What factors affect the ability to delay gratification? Researchers test the self-control of kids and crows under varying conditions.
Does your dog remember specific personal events like you do? A new study suggests that they can form and use episodic-like memories.
Mutual grooming and blood regurgitation form the basis of long-term social relationships in vampire bats.
How can a fish use electricity to navigate without the help of vision?
These ants welcome one snake species into their nest, which may help protect them from another kind of snake.
Rats quickly learn to play hide-and-seek with humans—and they turn out to be quite strategic players!
Squirrels look to neighboring songbirds for signs of danger, or signals that it's safe.
Male birds aren't the only ones who sing. But much less is known about when and why female birds break into song.
Could building nests for their tadpoles be the reason Goliath frogs grow to be giants?
Octopuses represent an alternative evolutionary path towards intelligence.
When play fighting, meerkats swiftly and automatically mimic playmates’ facial expressions to share their positive mood.
Elephants have a nose for quantity discrimination—they can distinguish between containers of more and less food using only their sense of smell.
Golden paper wasps learn and recognize the faces of their nestmates. But social isolation completely wipes out this ability.
Light pollution hurts bats: they won't drink when a site is illuminated.
Asiatic lionesses avoid infanticide and sexual harassment by practicing promiscuous sex, thereby confusing paternity of their cubs.
Why do we cringe when we see someone get hurt? A study in rats suggests it's due to emotional mirror neurons that fire in response to our own pain and the pain of others.
Fenced ecosanctuaries protect native animals from invasive predators. But the ability to recognize and react to these predators can disappear over time.
Whip spiders are arachnids that walk on six legs—the other two are sensory structures that they use to smell their way back home.
Are we underestimating the possible cognitive abilities of tiny animals? Orb-weaving spiders’ flexible behavior during web construction points to some degree of insight.
A new relationship between bats and deer is discovered that may benefit both partners.
Mary Bates, Ph.D., is a science writer who specializes in neuroscience, animal behavior, psychology, and biology.