Inborn and learned behaviors | Bases of Ethology

The perception of the surrounding environment occurs through weak or powerful signals that are picked up by our body, to be translated into information. These messages can be processed into behavioral and / or physiological responses, which the individual uses to survive. Not everything we know is taught to us, indeed, there are behaviors that manifest themselves from birth. These, … Read more

Dance of the bees

Converting the stimuli of the surrounding environment into information is a fundamental characteristic for surviving in a world full of dangers and daily challenges. But the ability to send this data to other individuals is an advantage that makes life easier for the population. In man, the possibility of communicating in a complex way has allowed a … Read more

Game Behavior In Animals

Play is perhaps one of the most complex behaviors that we can find in the animal world. It is an action that we know very well because humans play too, and apparently it is a rather important behavior! Play is seen as a broad category of behavior, as basic in its phenomenology to smart complex animals … Read more

Learning in animals

Instincts, reflexes, associative and non-associative learning and other types of learning. The ‘ Learning is experiential and behavioral change is key to ensuring the survival of an individual, as each animal, to survive, must be able to adapt to the changes to which it is subject in its environment. There are different types of learning, from more “automatic” … Read more

Animal aggression in ethological research

animal aggression is a subject that has intrigued humans since its beginnings. Violence, generated by aggression, is found in various situations of the natural world, from social behaviors to the prey-predator relationship , and even in the care of offspring. An example of this is the hen, which if made deaf, attacks anything that passes by including its chicks, because … Read more

Perception of time in animals

The environment presents periodic alterations, in the seasons and over the days; animals, in order to survive, must be able to adapt to them and sometimes to anticipate them. Equally adaptive are the ability to perceive the duration and succession of events [1] , thanks to which, for example, it is possible to react in time to a predator [2] . In … Read more