Behavioral Science News

May 1, 2025

Top Headlines

Social 'Hippie' Spiders Don't Believe in Labels: Study Challenges Long-Held Assumptions About Animal Personalities

Apr. 28, 2025 — Scientists suggest social spiders are more about going with the flow than sticking to a role, after new research challenges the idea of fixed ...

Zoo Life Boosts Object Exploration in Orangutans

Apr. 30, 2025 — A new study comparing wild and zoo-housed Sumatran orangutans reveals that life in a zoo significantly alters how orangutans interact with their environment. Researchers analyzed over 12,000 instances of daily exploratory object manipulation (EOM) ...

Personality Test for Bees

Apr. 17, 2025 — Researchers have discovered that honey bees from the same colony have different preferences in terms of defensive behavior. While some are still hesitating, others are already ...

Family First: Scientists Reveal Long-Tailed Tits' Remarkable Family Bonds

Apr. 28, 2025 — Forget fleeting friendships the social secrets of the long-tailed tit has revealed an extraordinary level of family commitment even during migratory journeys. Birds that babysit: scientists reveal long-tailed tits' remarkable family ...

Latest Headlines

updated 8:50pm EDT

Animal Energy Usage Made Visible Through Video

Apr. 25, 2025 — Strong methods do exist for measuring animal movement in the context of energy expenditure, but these are limited by the physical size of the equipment used. Now, in a paper published in the Journal ...

Study on the Reproducibility of Behavioral Experiments With Insects Now Published

Apr. 25, 2025 — A recent study provides evidence that some results of behavioral experiments with insects cannot be fully reproduced. So far, possible ...

Monkey Database Reveals Shift Towards Open Science

Apr. 24, 2025 — A database about monkey behavior reveals how science is evolving towards a more open, collaborative ...

Omnivorous? Vegan? Makes No Difference to Muscle Building After Weight Training, Study Finds

Apr. 21, 2025 — A new study asked three questions about muscle protein synthesis in response to a nine-day diet and weight training regimen: First, does the source ...

How Changes in Lemur Brains Made Some Mean Girls Nice

Apr. 21, 2025 — If there was a contest for biggest female bullies of the animal world, lemurs would be near the top of the list. It's the ladies who get their way and keep males in line. In one branch of the lemur ...

Little Birds' Personalities Shine Through Their Song -- And May Help Find a Mate

Apr. 15, 2025 — In birds, singing behaviors play a critical role in mating and territory defense. Although birdsong can signal individual quality and personality, ...

Primate Mothers Display Different Bereavement Response to Humans

Apr. 15, 2025 — Macaque mothers experience a short period of physical restlessness after the death of an infant, but do not show typical human signs of grief, such as lethargy and appetite loss, finds a new study by ...

Unlocking the Genetic Basis of Animal Behavior Using Fruit Flies

Apr. 14, 2025 — Understanding how genes influence complex behaviors remains one of biology's most fascinating challenges. Now, however, in a recent study, researchers have compiled a comprehensive dataset ...

Love Songs in the Sand: Researchers Listen in to Fiddler Crab Courtship

Apr. 9, 2025 — A study has 'listened in' to the fascinating courtship displays of Fiddler crabs using geophones. The findings provide new insights into how the animals communicate effectively on the noisy ...

Do 'Optimistic' Versus 'Pessimistic' Medical Detection Dogs Perform Differently?

Apr. 9, 2025 — A new, exploratory study has revealed statistical links between the performance of medical detection dogs and their scores on behavioral and ...

Animal Behavioral Diversity at Risk in the Face of Declining Biodiversity

Apr. 3, 2025 — Drastic declines in biodiversity due to human activities present risks to understanding animal behaviors such as tool use, according to new research. Shrinking animal populations make the study of ...

How the Brain Evaluates Rewards

Apr. 2, 2025 — Researchers have gained a new understanding of how the brain processes reward and risk information. Neuroscientists show how nerve cells in the so-called amygdala not only encode the probability and ...

Scientists Solve 'Cocktail Party' Mystery of Bat Echolocation

Mar. 31, 2025 — Every night, bats emerge out of roosts in massive numbers, creating what scientists have called a 'cocktail party nightmare' of clashing echolocations. Nobody knew how bats managed this ...

How Did the Large Brain Evolve?

Mar. 26, 2025 — Two specific genes that evolve exclusively in humans jointly influence the development of the cerebrum. Researchers have provided evidence that these genes contribute together to the evolutionary ...

A Hit of Dopamine Tells Baby Birds When Their Song Practice Is Paying Off

Mar. 25, 2025 — By watching the ebb and flow of the brain's chemical signals, researchers are beginning to disentangle the molecular mechanisms underlying the intrinsic motivation to learn. In a new study of ...

Slowing Down to Eat Less: Towards Simple Strategies for Obesity Prevention

Mar. 25, 2025 — Obesity prevention strategies often focus on diet, but eating behaviors also play a key role. In a recent study, researchers from Japan investigated factors influencing meal duration, including sex ...

New Research Reveals Secrets About Locust Swarm Movement

Mar. 24, 2025 — New research is reshaping our understanding of one of nature's most stunning yet destructive phenomena -- massive locust swarms moving ...

Galapagos Birds Exhibit 'Road Rage' Due to Noise

Mar. 20, 2025 — A new study has discovered that birds in the Galapagos Islands are changing their behavior due to traffic noise, with those frequently exposed to vehicles showing heightened levels of aggression. ...

Insomniac Fruit Fly Mutants Show Enhanced Memory Despite Severe Sleep Loss

Mar. 20, 2025 — Fruit fly mutants that have severe sleep deficits perform better at olfactory learning and memory tasks, according to a new study. The paradox of enhanced memory despite sleep loss could be explained ...

Science Behind 'Polly Want a Cracker' Could Guide Future Treatment Design for Speech Disorders

Mar. 19, 2025 — A new study explains how a parakeet's brain helps it to mimic human ...

Brain Imaging Reveals Surprises About Learning

Mar. 19, 2025 — By revealing for the first time what happens in the brain when an animal makes a mistake, researchers are shedding light on the holy grail of neuroscience: the mechanics of how we learn. The team ...

Scientists Map Neural Wiring of Vocal Circuits in Songbirds

Mar. 18, 2025 — Researchers have mapped the long-range synaptic connections involved in vocal learning in zebra finches, uncovering new details about how the brain organises learned vocalisations such as ...

Vocal Changes in Birds May Predict Age-Related Disorders in People, Study Finds

Mar. 12, 2025 — Neuroscientists have found a link between vocal changes and the aging brain in zebra finch songbirds, which could help lead to earlier diagnoses for disorders such as Parkinson's and ...

Temperature During Development Influences Connectivity Between Neurons and Behavior in Fruit Flies

Mar. 12, 2025 — The rate of development of poikilothermic animals, such as insects, fish, and reptiles, is determined by environmental temperature. A research team has recently demonstrated how temperature can ...

Dopamine Signals in Primate Brains

Mar. 12, 2025 — We're all familiar with Pavlovian conditioning, in which a reward-anticipatory behavior follows a reward-predicting stimulus. Perhaps you experience it yourself when passing a cafe or restaurant ...

Butterflies Choose Mates Because They Are More Attractive, Not Just Easier to See

Mar. 11, 2025 — A simple neural change alters mating preferences in male butterflies, aiding rapid behavioral evolution, researchers ...

Humans Have a Long Way to Go in Understanding a Dog's Emotions

Mar. 10, 2025 — New research has revealed that people often do not perceive the true meaning of their pet's emotions and can misread their dog. The reasons for this are many and include a human misunderstanding ...

The Changing Chorus: How Movements and Memories Influence Birdsong Evolution

Mar. 7, 2025 — New research has provided fresh insights into how bird songs evolve over time, revealing a significant role for population dynamics in shaping song diversity and change. The findings are based on an ...

Insect Populations Are Declining -- And That Is Not a Good Thing

Mar. 5, 2025 — Using two species of flies from different climates -- one from the cool, high-altitude forests of Northern California, the other hailing from the hot, dry deserts of the Southwest -- scientists ...

Researcher Compares AI, Human Evaluators in Swine Medicine

Mar. 4, 2025 — A research team is studying whether artificial intelligence (AI) could play a supportive role in the evaluation of respiratory disease in ...