Ethological Society

🧪Before the day begins, meerkats share a unique ritual. After emerging from their burrows, they spend up to an hour "sunning" to warm up for the day. During this quiet time, they produce soft, tonal "sunning calls". Just standing, sunbathing, and calling. But why❓ #bioacoustics #meerkats #kalahari

🚨 PhD offer (please share)
Fascinated by bird migration and movement ecology? 🦜🌍 Join us at @vogelwarte.bsky.social to study annual cycle energetics with multi-sensor loggers in multiple species

Deadline: 20 Feb 2026
Starting: June 2026
Supervision: Martins Briedis & me

Info: tinyurl.com/2dbv9nzh

Job alert! The University of Zurich is hiring a professor for Evolutionary Anthropology and Primatology. Learn more here: www.appointments.mnf.uzh.ch/auth/Apply/0...

Researchers from #UniKonstanz, @mpi-animalbehav.bsky.social and the University of Zurich have investigated how meerkats use vocal exchanges – rather than physical touch – to maintain social bonds and manage their complex group hierarchies. t1p.de/okuf3
Vlad Demartsev

Cover Picture and Issue Information Front Cover A male northern cricket frog (Acris crepitans) calling in a pond in Virginia, USA. Males respond aggressively to a range of cricket frog calls, including those of the closely related sou...

New issue of ETHOLOGY - check it out! onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

"Body size shapes average behaviour, social impact, and social responsiveness in agonistic interactions" doi.org/10.32942/X2H...

Studying social transmission using STbayes Post provided by Michael Chimento. When studying animal culture, it’s important to establish whether novel behaviours or information have spread through social contact, or are rather innovated or p…

New blog post!!🚨

Michael Chimento gives an overview of the new R package STbayes, designed for creating, fitting and understanding Bayesian models of social transmission 🌍 🧪

Read the blog here 👇

Evolution of sensory systems underlies the emergence of predatory feeding behaviors in nematodes | PNAS Understanding how animal behavior evolves remains a major challenge, with few studies linking genetic changes to differences in neural function and...

How does evolution turn a harmless bacterial feeder into an active predator?
Our new study led by @marianneroca.bsky.social and published in @pnas.org explores how sensory systems were rewired to enable prey detection and predatory behaviour in nematodes.
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

🧵below!

Short-term stability over time and across situations of behavioural traits in gestating and lactating sows AAnimBehS

Elefantenbabys knüpfen früh soziale Bindungen! 🐘💞
Revathe & Vidya zeigen, dass asiatische Elefantenkälber bereits früh differenzierte Beziehungen aufbauen: Sie interagieren eng mit Mutter und „Begleitkühen“, die allomaternale Fürsorge leisten, meiden jedoch meist andere Weibchen. #Sozialverhalten

Young Asian Elephant Calves Show Differentiated Social Relationships With Conspecifics We studied spatial and behavioural interactions between young calves (< 6 months old) and conspecific females to understand social ontogeny in a wild Asian elephant population. We found differentiate...

🧪 ETHOLOGY: Baby elephants build social bonds early! 🐘💞
Revathe & Vidya show that Asian elephant calves form differentiated relationships early on: they interact closely with mothers and “escorts” who provide allomaternal care, while largely avoiding other females. Read: doi.org/10.1111/eth....

Maternal effects of gestating red deer Hinds on fetal body condition: influence of individual and social environmental features - Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology Maternal effects —non-genetic influences of the mother on her offspring phenotype— play a crucial role in shaping early development and fitness

Maternal effects of gestating red deer Hinds on fetal body condition: influence of individual and social environmental features BES

Spielt die Hintergrundfarbe eine Rolle für heranwachsende Kaulquappen? 🐸🎨
Amin et al. zeigen, dass Goldmantella-Kaulquappen dunkle Hintergründe bevorzugen – besonders in jungen Entwicklungsstadien. Das Wachstum wurde zwar nicht beeinflusst, doch Kaulquappen in dunkleren Becken waren weniger aktiv.

The Effect of Background Colour on Behaviour and Development of Golden Mantella (Mantella aurantiaca) Tadpoles This study examined how background colour influences behaviour and development in golden mantella (Mantella aurantiaca) tadpoles across ontogeny. Tadpoles preferred darker backgrounds, and this prefe...

🧪 ETHOLOGY: Does background colour matter for growing tadpoles?🐸🎨
Amin et al. show that golden mantella tadpoles prefer dark backgrounds, especially when young. While growth wasn’t affected, tadpoles reared in darker tanks were less active. It's #OpenAccess: doi.org/10.1111/eth.... #Ontogeny

Latent feeding behaviors promote trophic versatility in cichlids The relationship between morphology and ecology is mediated by behavior. We explore this relationship by assessing the link between trophic ecology and the use of prey-specific feeding behaviors in a cichlid fish system. Cichlid diversification features repeated transitions between free-moving prey and attached benthic prey, requiring predators to evolve prey-specific approaches to feeding. Using 2000 Hz video, we characterized feeding behavior on an experimental attached benthic prey in seven species of Mesoamerican heroine cichlid spanning three independent transitions to specialized piscivory and two to specialized benthic-feeding ecology. We investigated the effect of feeding ecology on the behavior and kinematics of benthic grazing, a derived, specialized mode of cichlid feeding. Surprisingly, all species readily fed on benthic prey, regardless of their feeding ecology. Nearly all non-benthic species used the same benthic-feeding behaviors as ecological benthic-feeders. Our findings demonstrate an unexpected level of behavioral versatility among cichlid species in exploiting functionally demanding prey outside their typical diets. We propose that this repertoire of latent feeding behaviors supports trophic versatility and facilitates niche diversification. We also show that two benthic-feeding lineages of Neotropical cichlids evolved distinct approaches to benthic feeding, exhibiting the highest and lowest total feeding-strike kinesis, respectively. Together, our findings highlight the importance of behavior in linking morphology and ecology and motivate further study into the diversity and evolutionary context of benthic feeding across the Cichlidae.

Latent feeding behaviors promote trophic versatility in cichlids bioRxivpreprint

📣 Annual Meeting of the Ethologische Gesellschaft 2026
🎤 Keynote: Thomas Bugnyar 🐦‍⬛
Leading researcher on ravens and cognition, Professor of Behavioral & Cognitive Biology @univie.ac.at
📍 Grünau | 📅 Feb 18–21, 2026
Four days of science and exchange—where ethology made history.
Picture: A. Monteanu

Erkennen Krabben Individuen wieder? 🦀👀
Robinson liefert Hinweise darauf, dass Geisterkrabben vertraute Artgenossen von unbekannten unterscheiden können. In einem 3-Kammer-Test verbrachten sie mehr Zeit bei bekannten Individuen–ein Zeichen für individuelle Wiedererkennung über visuelle Hinweise!

Recognition of Individual Conspecifics: Evidence From a 3‐Chambered Test With Ghost Crab (Ocypode quadrata) Ghost crabs (Ocypode quadrata) were assessed for sociability and conspecific recognition in a 3-chambered apparatus. In the former, a single unfamiliar conspecific was placed in one radial chamber. C...

🧪 ETHOLOGY: Do crabs recognize other individuals? 🦀👀
Robinson presents evidence that ghost crabs can distinguish between familiar and unfamiliar conspecifics, spending more time with them in a 3-chamber test—suggesting recognition based on visual cues! doi.org/10.1111/eth....

@dingemanselab.bsky.social

Recently out in #animalbehaviour: Yuval Zukerman investigated Interindividual variation in tolerance behavior of #NubianIbex inhabiting human settlements and found that the way humans behave shapes the behavior of the ibex, leading to separate social cliques.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Latest issue of Cowrent Biology is up! www.cell.com/current-biol...

Postdoctoral Researcher in Statistical Ecology and Evolution Postdoctoral Researcher in Statistical Ecology and Evolution

Postdoc in statistical ecology & evolution! Develop models bridging evolutionary theory with empirical data on sex differences in immunity and life history. Apply now!
#postdoc #statistics #evolution #academicjobs #ecology jobs.helsinki.fi/job/Helsinki...

Internships are now available with the Cornish Jackdaw Project! 🐦‍⬛

Duties will include assisting with nest monitoring, bird ringing, data entry, and the potential to help with ongoing research projects.

If you are organising a symposium related to animal cognition @ecbb2026.bsky.social and would like to develop/guest edit a special collection in the journal Animal Cognition to accompany it, please get in touch #ecbb2026 #AnimalCognition #AcademicPublishing #SpecialCollection

Wenn Räuber Räubern helfen 🐟🌀
Saltzman et al. beobachteten Cobia wie sie jagenden Stechrochen folgen, und Beute fressen, die die Rochen aufscheuchen. Diese kommensalstische Zusammenarbeit könnte eine wichtige, bisher unterschätzte, Strategie in küstennahen Lebensräumen sein! #OpenAccess

Behavioral Evidence of Predator–Predator Commensalism: Cobia Track and Feed on Prey Disturbed by Southern Stingrays We documented a novel predator–predator commensal foraging interaction between cobia (Rachycentron canadum) and a southern stingray (Hypanus americanus) in a shallow coastal habitat of Biscayne Bay, ...

🧪 ETHOLOGY: When predators help predators 🐟🌀
Saltzman et al. observed cobia closely following foraging southern stingrays and feed on prey the rays disturb but don’t eat. This predator–predator commensalism may be an overlooked foraging strategy in nearshore habitats! doi.org/10.1111/eth....

Last days to register for the Annual meeting in Austria next month!

New paper out!

Early-life social instability increases aggression in chickens, but does not affect response inhibition 🐤
We discuss what this means for developmental links between social environments, cognition, and social behaviour, highlighting strong context dependence

Full text: rdcu.be/eYOzC

We are hiring – postdoc position exploring how kinship shapes social ageing in killer whales. Collaboration with @samellisq.bsky.social @drwhale.bsky.social and Prof Rufus Johnstone (Cambridge) starts 1st April 2026 and ends 31st March 2029. Apps close 2nd Feb. www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DPZ788/p...

We’re looking for:

Postdoctoral Research Associate, Social Fluids Lab (deadline: 9 Feb)
Find out more: www.jobs.cam.ac.uk/job/54112/

Research Assistant (Dynamic Baselines for Carbon Markets) Conservation Science Group (deadline: 18 Jan)
Find out more: www.jobs.cam.ac.uk/job/54010/

ASAB Spring Video Contest 2026 — ASAB

Attention student attendees of #ASABSpring2026 ! Our annual video contest is NOW OPEN for submissions. Prepare a 1-2 min video on your animal behaviour research, and you could win £100 💰💰💰💰

Due date is Fri March 20 !

Details and submission form here: www.asab.org/asab-spring-...