Biology

Questions tagged [behaviour]

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The set of actions performed by an organism within a given environment

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1answer
75 views

Hive building animals

Many species of animals build nests to live in. However, a beehive is a structure built by Homo sapians that houses Apis mellifera (or a related bee species). Are there other species of animals that ...
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Is it possible to "triangulate" the location of a termite colony in a horizontal space using light sources as attractive bases?

So we have termites and I noticed that one of the can lights in our subfloor (the 1.5 foot vertical space between our first and 2nd floor) was a lift off point for many swarms. I put some tape over ...
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Do spiders learn how to build webs?

Concerning spiders, is there any research on whether web-building is an inherited behavior, or if it must be observed and learned? e.g. Has anyone hatched spider eggs in isolation and observed whether ...
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Grasshopper vs Tarantula?

This past weekend (October 2021) while hiking west of the VLA in New Mexico (near Datil, NM, ~2200m elevation) my wife and I came across a strange sight. A small (5cm long), likely immature, ...
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1answer
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Do animals lie?

Have there been any studies that show or suggest that species known to be able to communicate information between individuals ever intentionally communicate false information i.e. lie? (Apart from ...
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1answer
80 views

Would it be possible to create logical circuits out of insects?

Could one organise ants, bees or any insects to do addition using logical gates: AND, OR, NOT, XOR. As inputs/signals one could imagine for example that 1 would be food and 0 would be no food.
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1answer
221 views

Are there some natural instances of thermosensitizer?

Let's define thermosensitizer as any chemical or biological agent that can sensitize the cells to heat. In lab setting, thermosensitization seems to be achievable, such as by inhibiting chaperone ...
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121 views

Do crabs actually "rip the legs off of other crabs" if they try to escape a bucket?

I read this strange remark: Picture a bucket full of crabs with no lid. The moment a crab tries to get out, the other crabs will literally rip its legs off. It was said as something that is common ...
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1answer
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How does DNA encode high level features like animal behaviour and language?

We know there are complex features which animals supposed to develop based on their genes as opposed to learning from the environment and the collective, also sometimes being very specific to certain ...
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1answer
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Do Scrubjays weigh peanuts by picking them up?

I have been feeding scrubjays where I live (Monterey, California) with peanuts in the shell. Something interesting I've noticed them do is, after I've laid out a selection of peanuts for them, they ...
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Will carpenter bee larvae die if trapped or find a way to bore out?

I had a carpenter bee problem last year, beginning with the awful sounds the larvae make! The exterminators couldn’t find the bore holes (they were/are inside a gap between top of the foundation and ...
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How does this small brown crescent-headed land planarian(?) "look around" and sense its envirnoment?

This 2-3 cm long, thin brown worm with a wide "anchor" or hammer or crescent shaped head was seen in northern Taiwan slowly moving along a damp tile outdoor surface. It moved by contraction/...
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Is there a word that describes symmetrical correlations between a damaged brain region and behavioral disability?

Specifically, I'm looking to address phenomena such as (1) how damage to only one side of the substantia nigra leads to Parkinson's symptoms on only one side of the body, or (2) retinotopy, how ...
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107 views

How do rats open a walnut?

What techniques do rats use to open a walnut? What are the traces they leave in nature? I have a book on traces that wild animals leave in nature, but it only explains squirrels (splitting the walnut ...
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1answer
54 views

What is the duration between: the moment we stop breathing and to body's and involuntary mucle movement? [closed]

I studied that if someone stops breathing by pressing their nostrils with fingers and start to starve without oxygen, the body will automatically cause the hands to leave the nostrils in a certain ...
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1answer
152 views

How do frogs fight? [closed]

I've seen a video in this link, where two frogs fight. One of commenters asks How...exactly...does one establish dominance in their world? I mean, they’re fat, slippery, no claws, their teeth are ...
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Why do seagulls hit the ground with their feet?

In several occasions I saw some seagulls standing still and pretend as if walking that is they hit the ground with their feet. It always happens on the soil and not for example on the sidewalk. I am ...
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Is there any non-human animal social group that punishes members with "imprisonment" or a similar method?

I was reading this blog on Scientific American, which discusses whether wild animals are happier than domesticated ones. I've also read about strong territorial instincts in some species. This reading ...
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1answer
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Bats observed hunting insect prey - any evidence of "handedness" (laterality) in circular flight pattern?

Whilst watching a bat hunting on the wing at dusk (most likely was a species common to my urban UK location, e.g. pipistrelle) its flight pattern around the garden comprised circles, several metres in ...
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Do bees from different continents have different "taste"?

This question was already asked by me at Gardening Stack Exchange, but I was advised to ask it here instead. I see there is already a closely related question: Do animals have different taste ...
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36 views

Harbor Seal behavior and personality

I'm doing some research on Harbor seal behavior, but I haven't been able to find much on general behavior such as personality, quirks, ect. Does anyone have anyone have any firsthand experience with ...
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1answer
30 views

Term for a prey animal's recognition that something potentially threatening is looking at it?

On my daily walks I frequently see individual or small groups of cattle egrets. At first I would try to photograph them but they would fly away. This vexed me because they ignored everyone else ...
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1answer
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Why do birds legs' not get frostbite?

In a nature documentary I watched a while ago, there was a scene where a flock of flamingos slept in a lake that froze overnight. Each morning they just had to wait until the lake defrosted ...
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What do we know about "continence" in animals?

What do we know about continence in animals? In particular, what do we know about the development of continence in animals? By "continence", I'm referring specifically to whether or not a wild animal,...
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Do animals suffer in agony or pain the same way like homo sapiens suffer?

When an animal suffer in agony or pain, do they feel it the same way as homo sapiens or human beings? I saw a documentary where it showed that while the child cattle were being slaughtered mother ...
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1answer
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Identify this giant green moth(?) with great taste?

One evening in late February I sat down to eat dinner after a day of hiking in hills around New Taipei City and discovered that someone else shared my taste in clothes. A very large green moth-like ...
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2answers
352 views

Can you explain the behavior of this snake?

I just saw this video in which a snake is swallowing grapes. ("Whip snake eating grapes"). In the video, the snake just doesn't eat but goes on to swallow 2-3 grapes. I did some research on the ...
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Genetic variance for a behavioural trait among human populations

From this article from The Guardian: We instinctively assume that differences in behaviour that are in fact due to culture must be linked to – even caused by – characteristics of appearance. That ...
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1answer
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What's the technical terminology for call-and-respond type behaviour?

The groups of some species such as water birds display a behavior that once out of line-of-sight a member will periodically initiate an interaction by make some type of sound, which will be followed ...
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Examples of animals who 'forget' their offspring

Occasionally on the news I read about young children dying in hot cars on a sunny day. Usually the article reports that the parent(s) 'forgot' about their children still being in the car. Obviously ...
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Are there solitary animals communicating with themselves?

I can imagine 3 different kinds of communication between individuals: Communication between individuals of the same species. Communication between an individual and another from a different species. ...
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27 views

Predatory animal tracking methods

As far as I know, humans are the only animals that use visual references to track prey that is not immediately visible to them. Do any other animals do this? I'm not referring to stalking prey ...
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2answers
122 views

Why are children so violent, compared to other adolescent animals, when they play?

When children play it is frequent that someone starts crying, suffers minor injuries and that they are intentionally mean towards each other (e.g., bite, pull hair, throws sand, pushes someone so they ...
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2answers
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Nature versus nurture regarding aggression in specific dog breeds

A week ago I was bitten in my face by a dog that originally came from an asylum. That dog is half Rottweiler. Some people claim that the history of the dog is probably different from what the asylum ...
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1answer
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Looking for books on How the limbic system works and it role in non-verbal behavior

This is my first post. I just read and I'm currently studying a book called "How everybody works" as a guide to understanding nonverbal behaviors. After I'm done studying it and while I experiment ...
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1answer
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What is this grasshopper doing?

I spotted a grasshopper standing on a pavement with a long sting placed in asphalt. I also recorded a video of it moving: https://youtu.be/JoDdg2yUuYo What is it doing?
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1answer
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What are some examples of animals who return to their group when threatened?

Based on my (limited) understanding, some types of animals use the power of numbers for protection. I assume, then, some species instinctively respond to threat by immediately seeking out and joining ...
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3answers
150 views

Why are ducks more cautious than pigeons?

In my city park there are mostly two types of bird: Mallard ducks Rock doves (pigeons) When I feed pigeons, they approach me very closely. Sometimes they peck the food that fell on my feet. If I ...
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1answer
100 views

What are the various types of plugs found in a bee house and how do they help us with identification?

I have a Mason bee house with small tubes that is currently buzzing with life but I am completely clueless about what's in there. Some plugs seem made of clay, some of crushed leaves, some of resin, ...
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Anybody know of any sources/papers on wild animals identifying birds by their calls/sounds?

I'm doing a literature review about identifying birds, and was hoping to find some examples of animals being able to identify birds by sound (eg a mouse knowing the normal call of a sparrow is not the ...
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1answer
57 views

Why squirrel behaviour varies greatly throughout India?

Common squirrels seen in India, probably Indian palm squirrels; seem to have drastic different behaviour. And all squirrels of a definite locality, behave in a very consistently same whay. That seems ...
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1answer
24 views

How do bullfrogs eat?

I have a very small pond in my backyard and a bullfrog lives in it. I see him all the time, but I never see him eat anything. He either sits in the water with his head just above the water or he sits ...
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2answers
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Are there any animal species other than humans & chimps that engage in tribal conflicts?

i.e., between tribes within the specie. (For chimps, see, e.g., https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/01/160130-animals-insects-ants-war-chimpanzees-science.) Am seeking examples to develop ...
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Why is there a weevil on top of a beetle?

A click beetle was walking around and there is a weevil on top of it. Any idea why? I would also like to know the exact species of these insects. ! Time: 18:50, place: Netherlands / Noord-Hollands ...
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1answer
86 views

Why do we develop addiction? [duplicate]

Recently, while on the train, I saw a person not holding the handrails on purpose. He decided that playing a game with no outcome whatsoever was more important than his safety. In fact, he bumped into ...
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1answer
61 views

How do animals learns seductional behaviour?

I was curious how the gender behaviour, the male role or female role, is known in mammals. Do mammals instinctively know how to do seduce the opposed sex or do the animals learn it from their parents/...
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87 views

Are there five common fear responses in animals?

It's been claimed on psy SE that are five common fear responses Fight, Flight, Freeze, Fawn, and Faint (or maybe fright, flight, fight, freeze, fawn as in a post further linked from there). To me ...
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1answer
384 views

Why are mules/donkeys aggressive when faced with predators but horses are not?

I came upon an interesting quote after going down the rabbit hole on a variety of subjects. While deep in the data, I came upon this quote oat and farm animal owners likes to have mules with their ...
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Do non-human primates have mental disorders like humans?

I was at the zoo today and watched a gorilla pick at a scab on its finger, compulsively, until it started bleeding. Is this OCD or is it just a nervous thing that non-human primates do at the zoo? Do ...
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Do orcas react differently to swimmers in orca-like dresses?

Question on animal behaviour. This video shows the trainers of the orcas in swimming pool with them. Why do they use orca-like dresses? Is it just for the show, or do orcas then treat them more ...

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