Animal behavior

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Study of how animals act and communicate with each other and their environment, including mating, social behavior, and communication.

Ethology: The scientific study of animal behavior, its causation, development, function, evolution, and understanding of behavior in terms of genetic, physiological, and environmental factors.
Instinctive behavior: Innate behavior patterns; instinctive behavior refers to an animal’s innate behavior which is influenced by genetic factors and not learned.
Social behavior: A set of interactions among individuals of the same species often occurring in a shared space, that are usually beneficial for both the participants and the species.
Communication: Refers to the transmission of information between an animal and another animal, or between an animal and its environment.
Aggression: Includes any behavior that is intended to intimidate, harm, or kill other animals. It often occurs when resources are limited or during territorial disputes.
Sexual behavior: Sexual behavior refers to the behavior of animals (including humans) that is related to sexual activity.
Learning and memory: Refers to a relatively permanent change in behavior that results from experience or the acquisition of new information.
Foraging and feeding behavior: The strategies and tactics used by animals to locate, capture, and consume food.
Spatial orientation: The ability of an animal to navigate its environment and to locate resources, using various cues, such as landmarks, and environmental features.
Sleep and circadian rhythms: Sleep is an essential physiological function in many animals, including humans, and it is closely related to circadian rhythms.
Biological clocks: Are internal mechanisms in animals that help them to maintain their internal physiological processes and behaviors in synch with the external environment.
Migration: The regular, long-distance movement of animals from one location to another, often driven by seasonal changes and the need to locate resources.
Animal personality: Refers to consistent, distinctive, and stable characteristics of behavior or temperament that differ among individuals.
Evolution of behavior: The process by which behavior has changed over time in response to changes in the environment, genetic selection, and other factors.
Animal cognition and mental processes: The study of the mental processes and cognitive abilities of animals, including perception, attention, learning, and memory.
Animal environmentalism: Studies the interactions between animals and their environment, including the effects of environmental changes and the management of natural resources.
Anthropomorphic thinking and animal welfare: The study of the welfare of animals in human environments including farming, research, and domesticated pets. It also includes the study of attitudes towards animals in society.
Animal conservation and ecology: The study of the conservation of animal populations and the impact of humans on their natural habitats.
Animal domestication: The process by which animals have been selectively bred over generations for various purposes, including human companionship, food production, transport, and work.
Animal communication in a wider ecological context, including plant communication: Species interaction and ecological niche theory, including ideas of producer and consumer trophic levels in ecosystems, all of which relate to the study of animal behavior.
Aggressive behavior: Any behavior that is intended to cause harm to another individual.
Altruistic behavior: Behavior that benefits others, often at a cost to oneself.
Courtship behavior: Behavior displayed by animals during the process of attracting and selecting a mate.
Dominance behavior: Behavior intended to establish dominance over other individuals.
Feeding behavior: The behavior of animals as they obtain and consume food.
Migration behavior: Behavior in which animals move from one region to another at regular intervals.
Nesting behavior: Behavior associated with constructing and maintaining a nest or other dwelling site.
Social behavior: The behavior of animals in groups or societies.
Territorial behavior: A behavior where an animal will defend a specific area against other members of its species.
Defensive behavior: Behavior displayed when an animal is threatened or attacked.
"Ethology is a branch of zoology that studies the behavior of animals, usually with a scientific focus on behavior under natural conditions, and viewing behavior as an evolutionarily adaptive trait. Behaviorism, on the other hand, refers to the scientific and objective study of animal behavior, usually measured responses to stimuli or trained behavioral responses in a laboratory context, without a particular emphasis on evolutionary adaptivity."
"Ethology has its scientific roots in the work of Charles Darwin and of American and German ornithologists of the late 19th and early 20th century, including Charles O. Whitman, Oskar Heinroth, and Wallace Craig."
"The modern discipline of ethology is generally considered to have begun during the 1930s with the work of Dutch biologist Nikolaas Tinbergen and Austrian biologists Konrad Lorenz and Karl von Frisch, the three recipients of the 1973 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine."
"Ethology combines laboratory and field science, with a strong relation to some other disciplines such as neuroanatomy, ecology, and evolutionary biology."
"Since the dawn of the 21st century, researchers have re-examined and reached new conclusions regarding many aspects of animal communication, emotions, culture, learning, and sexuality that the scientific community long thought it understood."
"Understanding ethology or animal behavior can be important in animal training as it enables trainers to select the individuals best suited to perform the required task."
"It also enables trainers to encourage the performance of naturally occurring behaviors and the discontinuance of undesirable behaviors."
"Ethologists typically show interest in a behavioral process rather than in a particular animal group, and often study one type of behavior, such as aggression, in a number of unrelated species."
"The main areas of study within ethology include animal communication, emotions, culture, learning, and sexuality."
"Ethology studies the behavior of animals under natural conditions, focusing on behavior as an evolutionarily adaptive trait."
"Ethology views behavior as an evolutionarily adaptive trait, considering how it has shaped and benefited animal species over time."
"Ethology combines laboratory and field science, suggesting the importance of both controlled laboratory experiments and observations in natural environments."
"The study of ethology has led to new conclusions and insights regarding animal communication, such as the varied methods and signals used by different species."
"New fields, such as neuroethology, have developed, indicating ongoing growth and exploration within the discipline."
"Considering the natural behaviors of different species or breeds enables trainers to select the individuals best suited to perform the required task."
"Behaviorism refers to the scientific and objective study of animal behavior, usually measured responses to stimuli or trained behavioral responses in a laboratory context."
"Ethology has its scientific roots in the work of Charles Darwin, who extensively studied aspects of animal behavior."
"In the late 19th and early 20th century, influential ornithologists such as Charles O. Whitman, Oskar Heinroth, and Wallace Craig contributed to the early understanding of ethology."
"Ethology has a strong relation to other disciplines such as neuroanatomy, ecology, and evolutionary biology."
"Ethology studies behavior as an evolutionarily adaptive trait, shedding light on how specific behaviors have contributed to the survival and adaptation of different animal species."