Animal Behavior Research Blog Posts

Tracking a wide variety of animals

Video tracking is used to track a widevariety of animal species in even more different test arenas. From insects of 1 mm on leaf discs, to monkeys in a cage, or zebra fish in an aquarium.

To mate or not to mate? Females are less choosy when males are rare

Having a choice for a mating partner is extremely important for females, so they can be critical in choosing which male to mate with.

Zebrafish research: behavioral differences between wild-type strains

Often in animal research, animals with a certain genetic alteration are compared to a “wild-type”. One might assume that there is no differences between wild-types, but many different strains of wild-type animals are used.

Caterpillars speed up seed production in plants

Did you know that plants are not as passive as they appear to be at first sight? Although plants cannot run away when they are attacked by plant eating insects, they have several sophisticated ways to defend themselves.

How environmental enrichment reduces the effects of stroke

Some research requires animals to be studied in groups. For this it is very useful to have video tracking software that can automatically track the behavior of multiple animals simultaneously.

Using several behavioral tests to investigate the role of the NR1 gene in schizo

Studies of the mental disorder schizophrenia in lab animals often include behavioral tests to investigate social behavior, cognitive abilities, and motor functioning.

Mice with Alzheimer’s disease walk well but remember poorly

A large number of genetically engineered mouse models are available to study different aspects of Alzheimer’s disease.

Circadian rhythmicity and other behavioral studies

Many labs use video tracking software to increase the efficiency of their research. In fact, EthoVision XT video tracking software has just reached an impressive milestone: 2000 sites worldwide.

Combining physiology and behavior to create a stress scale for horses

We all are familiar with stress, and how it can have an impact not only on our behavior, but on our bodies and physiology as well. Many people get stress headaches or start to feel sick if they reach high levels of stress.

Plants with more linalool smell good, but taste bad

Plant volatiles play an important role in the interaction between plants and insects that eat them. Insect damage very often induces plants to produce volatiles.

Pesticides in bee colonies affect the behavior of bees

In the past 20 years, populations of honeybees have declined all over the world. This is partly caused by the increased occurrence of parasites and pathogens.

Determining the effect of social hierarchy on foraging in coyotes

Whether it’s an older sibling taking the last piece of cake from their younger sibling or a dominant coyote shoving a subordinate out of the way so it can eat the food, nature has its hierarchies.