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It’s Getting Cramped Over Here! Big Cities Are Changing Bird Dynamics

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  Birds are a vast class of animals that can be found in a variety of habitats around the world.  One environment many reside in is also home to thousands of people; urban areas.  As the world’s population climbs, so do the … Continue reading

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Even Insects Hate Traffic: How Noise Affects the Song Patterns of Tree Crickets

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Traffic poses a direct threat to the survival of insects; they can easily be squashed under a tire or on a windshield. However, it also may pose an indirect threat by causing noise that interferes with mating calls. Traffic and … Continue reading

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I Scratch Your Back, You Scratch Mine: Lemurs Groom-at-a-Distance through Vocalizations

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I Scratch Your Back, You Scratch Mine: Lemurs Groom-at-a-Distance through Vocalizations We have all heard it before: communication is the key to a successful relationship. Talking things out with friends and family is healthy for everyone involved. But what about … Continue reading

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

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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

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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

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

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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

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

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*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

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Risk Assessment: Scorpions’ Ability to Moderate Venom Spraying Behavior

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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

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

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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

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

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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

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