Blog Archives

What Do We Pay Attention To? The Importance of Cues and Context in Predictive Learning

This gallery contains 3 photos.

What Do We Pay Attention To? The Importance of Cues and Context in Predictive Learning As humans, we choose to pay attention to certain things and deem others irrelevant. A growing body of research focuses on various measures of stimulus … Continue reading

Share
More Galleries | Comments Off on What Do We Pay Attention To? The Importance of Cues and Context in Predictive Learning

Crying Fowl: Peahens Can Tell Each Other’s Calls Apart

Who’s Who in the Animal World It’s a dangerous world out there, and animals know it. For a social species, being able to alert the group to the presence of a predator is incredibly important, and one of the most … Continue reading

Share
More Galleries | Comments Off on Crying Fowl: Peahens Can Tell Each Other’s Calls Apart

Mixed Signals? Blue Jays (Usually) Know What To Do

This gallery contains 1 photo.

Animals acquire information from their environment in many different ways, one important method being communication with other animals.  This communication is heavily reliant on signaling.  Many of these signals are complex, having multiple components to them.  These signals have often been … Continue reading

Share
More Galleries | Comments Off on Mixed Signals? Blue Jays (Usually) Know What To Do

Who finds your call sexy? How both sexes have a say in sexual selection.

This gallery contains 1 photo.

*Grace Day* Sexual selection, a derivation of natural selection in which some individuals out-reproduce others because they are more attractive mates, takes place in all species. In order to understand sexual selection, simply ask yourself, would you rather marry Ryan Gosling … Continue reading

Share
More Galleries | Comments Off on Who finds your call sexy? How both sexes have a say in sexual selection.

Risk Assessment: Scorpions’ Ability to Moderate Venom Spraying Behavior

This gallery contains 1 photo.

Many animals use chemical spraying as a defensive response to aggressors. It is considered a secondary tactic that renders the prey less easily captured, as opposed to a primary tactic, which reduces the likelihood of the prey being detected initially. … Continue reading

Share
More Galleries | Comments Off on Risk Assessment: Scorpions’ Ability to Moderate Venom Spraying Behavior

Does my voice turn you on? Female bark beetle preference for courtship song

This gallery contains 2 photos.

The process of finding a mate is not fully understood in a lot of animals. Some animals use olfaction, while others use mating calls. Close-range courtship signals are thought to be the most influential type of acoustic signal for mating … Continue reading

Share
More Galleries | Comments Off on Does my voice turn you on? Female bark beetle preference for courtship song

You Are Where You Live: How Environmental Changes Affect Life-History

This gallery contains 4 photos.

What They Did and Didn’t Know Changes in the environment occur naturally over geological periods, and in some cases are induced by human impact. These changes include ecological and climate events, such as algal blooms or El Niño years, and … Continue reading

Share
More Galleries | Comments Off on You Are Where You Live: How Environmental Changes Affect Life-History

Even Fish Know Interrupting is Rude

This gallery contains 2 photos.

Most people know that humans are having an effect on the environment. Through pollution, overpopulation, and habitat destruction, we’re already impacting the way many animals live. Lately, people have realized another way we’re changing nature: by adding sound. Noise pollution … Continue reading

Share
More Galleries | Comments Off on Even Fish Know Interrupting is Rude

Prey capture ecology of the Cubozoan Carukia barnesi

This gallery contains 3 photos.

Cnidaria is a diverse phylum containing over 10,000 species, all belonging to two basic body forms: swimming medusae (jellyfish) and sessile polyps. These organisms employ a wide range of strategies for food acquisition ranging from filter feeding and symbiotic relationships … Continue reading

Share
More Galleries | Comments Off on Prey capture ecology of the Cubozoan Carukia barnesi

Early-life Stress Disadvantages Female Starlings’ Perception of Male Songs

This gallery contains 2 photos.

              Environmental stress can cause adverse effects on an animal’s health via the pressure it places on behavioral and physiological processes. These effects may last throughout an animal’s life, especially when the stress occurs … Continue reading

Share
More Galleries | Comments Off on Early-life Stress Disadvantages Female Starlings’ Perception of Male Songs