animal behaviour Archives

Size matters:The link between social groups and human evolution

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Robin Dunbar discusses his eponymous 'Dunbar's Number', primates to people, and why size matters with social groups and evolution.

Humans are social creatures; we live in family groups, socialise with friends, and work with colleagues. Evolutionary psychologist Robin Dunbar’s ‘social brain hypothesis’ suggests that brain size is directly related to social group size in mammals. The bigger the group, the bigger the brain. In this interview with Research Outreach, we find out how Dunbar developed his theory as well […]

Protecting bottlenose dolphins from coastal construction

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Professor Ann Weaver of Good-Natured Statistics Consulting, USA, has studied dolphins living free at sea for 20 years. Her numerous scientific discoveries about dolphin behaviour yield ample evidence of intelligence and of sophisticated social behaviour at sea. Drawing from many years of intensive studies in primates, she undertook an impressive 18-year ethological study of the social behaviour and impact of […]

That’s disgusting! How primates decide what not to eat

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Many species either avoid food contaminated with faeces or thoroughly handle the food, trying to clean it before eating.

All animals need to find a way to avoid contact with pathogens when they are eating. For primates, Dr Cécile Sarabian, based at Kyoto University Primate Research Institute in Japan, shows that many species either avoid food contaminated with faeces or thoroughly handle the food, trying to clean it before eating. For the researcher, this is proof that this behaviour […]

A butterfly’s point of view: Contest or sex recognition?

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For many years it was thought that when butterflies chase other males, this is a form of contest behaviour over territory. However, Dr Tsuyoshi Takeuchi from Osaka Prefecture University and his team sought to interrogate the literature to see if a more simple and more likely option could be provided. Their ‘Erroneous Courtship Model’ states that the male butterflies are […]