The scientific study of animal behaviour, and a sub-topic of zoology.
Questions tagged [ethology]
65 questions
192
votes
4 answers
Will a mother bird abandon her young if touched by a human?
Welcome to installment #2 of my "the science of animals falling" series of questions....
I've heard it said many times since childhood that if you are to find a baby bird on the ground which appears to have fallen from the nest you should not pick…
Monkey Tuesday
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Do Ostriches bury their heads in the sand
I have always believed that Ostriches when frightened bury their heads in the sand.
Upon closer re-examination of this belief, I came to the following conclusions:
Ostriches typically live in arid areas.
Arid areas have dry surfaces.
Dry surfaces…
funkymushroom
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Do sea otters rape baby seals to death?
Popular facebook group
Nature isn’t always kind and cuddly. A study showed that sea otters
will restrain baby seals and then begin copulation; sometimes drowning
it during the 105-minute-long process. Even after the seal is dead,
the otter…
Wertilq
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63
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2 answers
Does swatting/killing a bee cause the hive to attack?
I used to hear this all the time when I was growing up. Just ignore bees, don't swat at or try to kill them, because if they die, they'll send a "signal" to the hive that will attract dozens more. After forgetting about it for many years, I…
Aaronaught
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Are humans the only species to have homophobes?
Here's a quote that's being passed around:
Homosexuality is found in over 450 species. Homophobia is only found in one. Which one seems unnatural now?
With all the good intentions behind what's being said -- and as much as I'd really want to…
Sal Rahman
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47
votes
1 answer
Do pigs have 30 minute orgasms?
A widely circulated internet meme (see e.g. the oatmeal) states that pig orgasms can last up to 30 minutes.
I've been trying to find any source or reference to back up (or refute) this claim, but haven't been able to find anything.
Juan A. Navarro
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38
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Do the older slower wolves lead a wolf pack?
I saw this on Facebook. Is it true?
pretty cool
A pack (wolves): The first 3 are the older or sick and they set the pace of the group. If it was on the contrary, they would be left behind and lost contact with the pack. In ambush case they would…
dwjohnston
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Are humans the only species that hunts down competitors, denies and destroys food for others?
In the book Ishmael by Daniel Quinn, there's a passage that claims "Takers" (i.e. modern man) are the only thing in nature that hunt down competitors, destroy or otherwise deny someone else food. Are there strong arguments to be made that other…
Kit Sunde
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Do lemmings commit suicide by jumping off cliffs?
Lemmings have become widely known for their supposed tendency to run en masse off of cliffs to their deaths. The term "lemming" has even become a commonly used metaphor to describe the behavior of those who would mindlessly follow the crowd,…
Monkey Tuesday
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Do Macaque monkeys steal money from wallets and use it to buy food from vending machines?
I saw this rumor on Reddit, which refers to factsanddetails.com and which doesn't indicate the information source. I saw a video of a monkey using a vending machine on College Humor, but that doesn't say whether monkeys have actually started…
Casebash
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votes
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Do spiders intentionally wear water droplets on their heads?
I discovered today that there are a lot of pictures of spiders "wearing" water drops as hats.
(More research: Warning -- Spiders!)
However, I can't find anything related to why they might do this. Is this some beneficial behavior common to some…
Raven Dreamer
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25
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3 answers
Do male penguins search for pebbles to present to female penguins?
I came across the following unsourced claim:
When a male penguin falls in love with a female penguin, he searches the entire beach to find the perfect pebble to present to her. And when he finally finds it, he waddles over to her and places the…
gerrit
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Will cats eat their deceased owner, but dogs will starve to death instead?
A friend of mine is a former prosecutor for the Crown/State. He's observed that it was often harder to investigate whether a deceased person was murdered when they own cats because the cats will eat the corpse of their owner. He also observed that…
Brian M. Hunt
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Do apes/monkeys open bananas from the floral end?
I often hear people lecturing about how to open a banana from the "right" end, including an explanation that this is how monkeys do it.
A quick search in the internet offers a lot of examples (for example: this Youtube video or this Instructables…
saramkon
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Do wombats share their burrows during fires?
In the wake of the devastating bushfires currently burning in Australia, an image has been widely shared on social media:
Here is one example from Twitter, retweeted 11K times:
While I have an open mind, I am suspicious for three reasons:
It is…
Oddthinking
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