Hacker News with Generative AI: Animal Behavior

A study on how turtles navigate using the Earth’s magnetic field (unc.edu)
Carolina researchers publish a groundbreaking study on how turtles navigate using the Earth’s magnetic field.
Science, Biology, Animal Behavior, Research
166 points by gmays 7 days ago | 67 comments
Bonobos recognize when humans are ignorant, try to help (arstechnica.com)
A lot of human society requires what's called a "theory of mind"—the ability to infer the mental state of another person and adjust our actions based on what we expect they know and are thinking.
Animal Behavior, Psychology, Primates
3 points by LinuxBender 18 days ago | 0 comments
Repeat offenders may be responsible for many shark attacks (nautil.us)
Veterinarian-turned-shark-expert Eric Clua knows how rare it is for a shark to attack a human. While dogs kill some 30,000 people annually, only 100 shark attacks are documented worldwide each year, and fewer than 15 percent of these are fatal. Still, he wants to understand why sharks attack when they do.
Shark Attacks, Animal Behavior, Science
42 points by rbanffy 22 days ago | 55 comments
Do Insects Feel Pain? (newyorker.com)
Insects make up about forty per cent of living species, and we tend to kill them without pause. New research explores the possibility that they are sentient.
Insects, Sentience, Science, Animal Behavior
20 points by Hooke 23 days ago | 72 comments
The Alpha Myth: How captive wolves led us astray (anthonydavidadams.substack.com)
In 1947, at Switzerland's Basel Zoo, animal behaviorist Rudolf Schenkel peered into an enclosure of captive wolves, meticulously documenting their interactions. What he witnessed – aggressive displays of dominance, rigid hierarchies, the emergence of an "alpha" male – would spawn decades of misunderstanding about power, leadership, and masculinity.
Animal Behavior, Science, Biology, Leadership, Masculinity
403 points by ada1981 25 days ago | 353 comments
Think your dog can understand words? This scientist says you might be right (cbc.ca)
The internet is filled with videos of dogs using soundboards to communicate with their humans — but have they just been trained on which buttons to push? A new study suggests dogs can understand the meaning behind specific words and respond appropriately.
Animal Behavior, Science, Language Understanding, Dogs, Communication
43 points by amichail 26 days ago | 61 comments
Peeing is contagious among chimps (arstechnica.com)
When ya gotta go, ya gotta go, and if it sometimes seems like the urge to pee seems more pressing when others nearby are letting loose—well, there's now a bit of science to back that up. It turns out that humans may not be the only species to experience "contagious urination," according to a new paper published in the journal Current Biology.
Animal Behavior, Science, Biology
4 points by LinuxBender 32 days ago | 1 comments
How to Tell a Leopard from Its Roar (nautil.us)
Making a Shazam for conservationists
Conservation, Wildlife Identification, Animal Behavior, Technology
6 points by dnetesn 38 days ago | 2 comments
Stone selection by wild chimpanzees shares patterns with Oldowan hominins (sciencedirect.com)
The use of broad tool repertoires to increase dietary flexibility through extractive foraging behaviors is shared by humans and their closest living relatives (chimpanzees, Pan troglodytes).
Chimpanzees, Archaeology, Tool Use, Animal Behavior, Evolution
36 points by benbreen 45 days ago | 4 comments
Ants prove superior to humans in group problem-solving maze experiment (phys.org)
Anyone who has dealt with ants in the kitchen knows that ants are highly social creatures; it's rare to see one alone. Humans are social creatures too, even if some of us enjoy solitude. Ants and humans are also the only creatures in nature that consistently cooperate while transporting large loads that greatly exceed their own dimensions.
Science, Animal Behavior, Social Behavior, Research
5 points by pseudolus 59 days ago | 2 comments
AI Decodes the Calls of the Wild (nature.com)
Listening to sperm whales has taught Shane Gero the importance of seeing the animals he studies as individuals, each with a unique history.
Artificial Intelligence, Animal Behavior, Wildlife, Research, Oceanography
90 points by bookofjoe 61 days ago | 37 comments
California squirrels show carnivorous behavior for the first time (cnn.com)
California, Squirrels, Animal Behavior, Carnivores, Science
16 points by peutetre 65 days ago | 7 comments
Squirrels hunting and eating meat (gizmodo.com)
When you think of squirrels, you probably imagine cute, fluffy-tailed rodents stuffing their faces with nuts. This past summer, however, researchers photographed California ground squirrels viciously digging into rodent flesh.
Animal Behavior, Science, California, Wildlife
57 points by ulrischa 65 days ago | 52 comments
Why do animals adopt? (nautil.us)
Taking responsibility for another’s young reveals the deep evolutionary roots of care.
Animal Behavior, Evolution, Parenting
47 points by dnetesn 73 days ago | 53 comments
Monkeys Can Predict Election Outcomes (stevestewartwilliams.com)
This is insane: New research suggests that monkeys can accurately predict U.S. election outcomes. According to a fascinating preprint by researchers Yaoguang Jiang, Annamarie Huttunen, Naz Belkaya, and Michael Platt, our furry primate cousins have an uncanny knack for forecasting which candidates will win, simply by looking at their faces.
Politics, Animal Behavior, Research, Artificial Intelligence
10 points by MrBuddyCasino 75 days ago | 12 comments
Orcas start wearing dead salmon hats again after ditching the trend for 37 years (livescience.com)
Orcas, Animal Behavior, Trends, Marine Biology, Wildlife
15 points by pseudolus 83 days ago | 4 comments
I taught rats to drive a car, and it may help us lead happier lives (bbc.com)
Teaching rats to drive a tiny car around a laboratory had some far-reaching effects – it taught scientists a lot about the benefits of anticipating the joy brought by the things we love.
Animal Behavior, Science, Psychology, Research
44 points by PotatoNinja 84 days ago | 25 comments
Unique killer whale pod may have acquired special skills to hunt whale sharks (phys.org)
Killer whales can feed on marine mammals, turtles, and fish. In the Gulf of California, a pod might have picked up new skills that help them hunt whale sharks—the world's largest fish, growing up to 18 meters long.
Marine Biology, Killer Whales, Whale Sharks, Animal Behavior
57 points by pseudolus 84 days ago | 42 comments
Vasopressin boosts sociability in solitary monkeys (thetransmitter.org)
When monkeys that avoid social interactions inhale the hormone vasopressin, their sociability improves, a new study finds.
Neuroscience, Biology, Animal Behavior, Social Interaction
27 points by domofutu 85 days ago | 18 comments
Rats learned to drive (theconversation.com)
Rats will choose to take a longer route if it means they get to enjoy the ride to their destination.
Animal Behavior, Science, Research
236 points by uprootdev 95 days ago | 100 comments
The Argonaut Octopus Has Mastered the Free Ride (defector.com)
In 2019, the photographer Harris Narainen had just wrapped up a night dive off Anilao in the Philippines and begun his staggered ascent to the surface when his dive leader pointed a flashlight at something bright and yellow.
Marine Biology, Photography, Animal Behavior
80 points by zdw 108 days ago | 12 comments
Cats may be able to learn human words (nautil.us)
Felines may be able to learn human words.
Animal Behavior, Language, Research
50 points by dnetesn 111 days ago | 57 comments
Long-term tracking of social structure in groups of rats (nature.com)
Rodents serve as an important model for examining both individual and collective behavior. Dominance within rodent social structures can determine access to critical resources, such as food and mating opportunities. Yet, many aspects of the intricate interplay between individual behaviors and the resulting group social hierarchy, especially its evolution over time, remain unexplored.
Animal Behavior, Social Dynamics, Science, Research
41 points by PaulHoule 120 days ago | 13 comments
The role of cat eye narrowing movements in cat–human communication (nature.com)
Domestic animals are sensitive to human cues that facilitate inter-specific communication, including cues to emotional state.
Animal Behavior, Communication, Science, Human-Animal Interaction
17 points by libpcap 124 days ago | 1 comments
Scientists working to decode birdsong (newyorker.com)
On a drizzly day in Grünau im Almtal, Austria, a gaggle of greylag geese shared a peaceful moment on a grassy field near a stream.
Science, Ornithology, Animal Behavior, Language
166 points by tintinnabula 124 days ago | 151 comments
Bumblebee queens choose to hibernate in pesticide-contaminated soil (phys.org)
An alarming discovery from University of Guelph researchers raises concerns for bumblebee health, survival and reproduction.
Pesticides, Environmental Science, Bees, Animal Behavior, Research
78 points by andai 124 days ago | 33 comments
Rodents remotely move matter using sound to enhance their sense of smell: study (buffalo.edu)
Scientists have debated the purpose of the ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs) produced by rodents since the discovery of these sounds in the 1950s.
Science, Animal Behavior, Acoustics, Research
49 points by peutetre 130 days ago | 8 comments
Octopuses and fish join forces to hunt, and discipline those who freeload (npr.org)
Octopuses and fish join forces to hunt, and discipline those who freeload
Animal Behavior, Marine Biology, Cooperation
10 points by gmays 146 days ago | 1 comments
Sea robins use leg-like fins to taste, navigate seafloor, researchers discover (phys.org)
Sea robins are ocean fish particularly suited to their bottom-dwelling lifestyle.
Science, Marine Biology, Fish, Research, Animal Behavior
54 points by wglb 147 days ago | 8 comments
Octopuses seen hunting together with fish (nbcnews.com)
Octopuses don’t always hunt alone — but their partners aren’t who you’d expect.
Animal Behavior, Marine Biology, Octopuses, Fish
351 points by ceejayoz 151 days ago | 262 comments