Tag: animal behavior

You’re not too important to pick up poop: The quirks and perks of working with primates

Posted March 21, 2020 by Chloe Holden

Pictured are the seven bonobo residents of the Ape Initiative. Starting in the top left to right is Kanzi, Maisha, Elikya and Nyota. The bottom row from left to right is Mali, Clara, and Teco.

For the past three and a half years, I have been volunteering at the Ape Initiative as part of my research interests in primatology and cognition research. The Ape Initiative is a non-profit research and conservation facility that is home to 7 bonobos (Pan paniscus) and counting! Bonobos are one of the closest living relatives to humans, sharing about 98-99% of their DNA…

World Elephant Day

Posted August 10, 2019 by Chloe Holden

A herd of African elephants walks across the savannah at the Mpala Research Centre in Kenya. There are five adult females and six offspring.

World Elephant Day, coming up on Monday, August 12th, was established in 2012 as a way to celebrate these wonderful mammals and promote conservation efforts. There are two main genera alive today: the African elephant (Loxodonta) and the Asian elephant (Elephas). The African elephant genus is split between two species the African bush elephant (Loxodonta… Read more »

The early bird gets the worm, part II: How behavioral ecology is connecting the dots between early-life stress and aging

Posted May 28, 2019 by Kat Munley

A young bird is perched on top of a person’s fingers. The bird has white feathers on its abdomen and gray feathers on its back.

This is the second post of a two-part series on a day in the life of a behavioral ecologist, which features the stories and research of members of Dr. Kim Rosvall’s laboratory in the Department of Biology. Click here to read the first post of the series! In Part I of this series, I discussed… Read more »

The early bird gets the worm, part I: What can behavioral ecology tell us about female aggression and its underlying mechanisms?

Posted January 22, 2019 by Kat Munley

One adult bird in the background is chasing another bird in the foreground mid-air near a single wooden bird box attached to a metal pole. The bird in the background is arching its body and extending its legs towards the bird in the foreground, and the bird in the foreground is glancing at the other bird over its right shoulder. Both birds have white feathers on their abdomens, with iridescent green and blue feathers on their heads, necks, and backs.

This post is the first of a two-part series on a day in the life of a behavioral ecologist, which features the stories and research of members of Dr. Kim Rosvall’s laboratory in the Department of Biology. When most people imagine a scientist, they picture a person wearing a stark white lab coat and thick-rimmed… Read more »

How cutting edge technology can help us understand animal migration

Posted September 4, 2018 by Abby Kimmitt

Two undergraduates are working on the device they created to measure the cardinal direction of flight of a moth. One undergrad is adjusting the moth attached to the device; the other undergraduate is checking the computer to make sure it is ready to record data

Scientists have long been interested in understanding animal migration, but gathering migration data proved difficult in the past. For example, the process of catching and recapturing migratory songbirds using mist nets is a laborious process. In the past, recovering songbirds produced data only about the breeding location and their migration destination, and rarely about the migration itself. Studying… Read more »