#animal behavior

[fadbucker]

[great-and-small]

One of the things I really like about Tumblr is there seems to be a healthy appreciation for invertebrate biology here, which I don’t always see as much on other social media websites. Tumblr users overall seem to love bugs, and it’s important to me that every person who loves bugs knows the name Charles Henry Turner. If you’re not yet familiar with this man, I’m delighted to introduce you to one of the most remarkable minds ever born of this earth, and a true pioneer in the field of entomology and animal behavior.

Charles Turner was born in the United States just a few years after the end of the civil war. His brilliance was evident from the start, and after graduating valedictorian of his high school class he quickly went on to earn his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in short order. While in school, Turner’s relentless curiosity became his greatest advantage. He was drawn to and fascinated by topics that were largely ignored by modern science at the time, namely the cognitive behaviors of insects and other invertebrates. While many of his colleagues believed insects to be mindless automata acting on instinct alone, Turner felt deeply that the brains of these oft overlooked animals were far more complex than the scientific community suspected. He performed extensive experiments to test his theories and found overwhelming evidence of problem solving and individualism among organisms as small as ants and spiders.

By the time Turner earned his zoology pHD in 1907 he had published dozens of papers in highly esteemed journals and had even co-authored a book. It is likely that Turner was the first African American to earn a pHD from the University of Chicago. With such a sparkling academic reputation and enormous body of research, one would expect this candidate to have no issues obtaining a professorship at a prestigious school. Though by every right Turner should have been head of science department at a top university, the systemic racism that permeated academia meant that doors a white man would have walked through were locked and bolted shut for Charles Henry Turner.

Turner did not allow this prejudice to dim in any way his blindingly bright passion for knowledge. He took a job as a high school teacher, and continued to perform and publish research on his own all while he instilled his students with a love for zoology. He published more than 70 papers in extremely respected journals and he remained passionately curious for the entirety of his life. If I tried to list here all of the incredible discoveries Turner made in his lifetime it would take me days to sufficiently express the impact he had on the field of invertebrate behavior. His experiments were so ahead of their time that entomologists today marvel at his research and wonder how much more we would know if Turner’s work had been given the attention and respect of other scientists working at the time. Turner’s mind was about a century ahead of those entomological contemporaries who had no interest in giving him a seat at the table. His tombstone simply reads “scientist”

Like many people of color throughout history, Turner’s exceptional contributions to our world have been unfairly overlooked by many. His name has historically been left out of entomology textbooks and courses, despite laying down groundwork that is still used today. I really recommend that anyone interested in entomology or even biology in general read up on Charles Henry Turner and his works. This is an excellent article that discusses his many challenges and triumphs in the field.

[orcinus-veterinarius]

As a veterinarian, and as a lifelong dog lover, one thing I need dog owners to understand and accept is that dogs can be extremely dangerous, especially large ones. Sometimes they don’t even mean to be, but that doesn’t change the fact that they can do serious harm to a human being. They are very powerful animals.

You should not let your dog free-roam. You should not force your dog to accept touch. You should very heavily supervise interactions with children, and with certain dogs, these interactions may never be safe. You must learn to read canine body language. And if a veterinary professional recommends a muzzle or sedatives for vet visits, take these recommendations seriously.

“But I care about my dog more than people” this is in your dog’s best interest. If they maim or kill a person, especially a child, they will be euthanized. You do not want lose them in that traumatic way, ending their life and ruining your own (and those of others) in the process. You do not want to be responsible for the loss of a human life.

Every dog, no matter how sweet, should be muzzle-trained in case they ever need to wear one. Pain and fear can make them act out of character. And if your dog has aggressive tendencies, especially with humans, seek out professional help and take measures to protect both your dog and people.

Signed,

A vet who wants people and dogs to be safe

[all-about-that-grayce]

There are so many reasons to be a biologist, and one of them is there are at least 150 different species of deep-sea carnivorous sponges that use microscopic hooks to capture their prey and then GROW A NEW STOMACH that MIGRATES to where the prey is hooked in order to digest it, which they do over the course of days until the animal’s (usually a crustacean) soft tissue is entirely broken down for nutrients and all that is left is the shell.

May I say one more time that they GROW AND MIGRATE A NEW STOMACH

Studying biology is an acid trip of WAIT IS THAT REAL and OMG IT IS REAL THAT IS SO FUCKING COOL

[violetsandshrikes]

Really cool write up that links to the original paper that just came out this year (2025)!

This is a really cool example of foraging innovation.

[craftingcreatures]

So I was watching a video on ptarmigans and it was mentioned that they dig burrows in the snow for shelter and protection. Which, cool! Burrowing bird! Then they showed this picture and

It's perfect

[mammalianmammals]

Camera Traps Reveal Iberian Lynxes Soaking Their Prey, a First-Ever Discovery Among Carnivores

Scientists speculate that the wild cats are trying to improve hydration or ease their cubs’ transition to solid food. The finding points to resilience in one of the world’s most endangered felines

A camera trap in Spain recorded a wild female Iberian lynx carrying a dead rabbit to a water trough and dunking it, researchers were shocked. Then, they spotted the behavior several more times. In a study published in March in Ecology, scientists detailed these findings, which they say are the first-ever observations of a carnivore soaking its dead prey in water. The unusual phenomenon has raised questions about how predatory species adapt to changing environments—and it hints at resilience in one of the world’s most endangered felines. “This is very interesting and genuinely a surprising observation,” says Wai-Ming Wong, the director of small-cat conservation science for Panthera, who was not associated with the study. “Wild cats are typically thought of as highly efficient, instinct-driven hunters, so seeing an individual modify how it handles prey in this way is quite remarkable.”...

Read more: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/camera-traps-reveal-iberian-lynxes-soaking-their-prey-a-first-ever-discovery-among-carnivores-180988591/

[herpsandbirds]

These fish can tell when you’re staring

Fish may possess the ability to perceive where another being’s attention is focused. And they don’t like when it’s focused on them or on their children

The emperor cichlid (Boulengerochromis microlepis) is endemic to Lake Tanganyika, Zambia and ranks among the largest members of the family Cichlidae, reaching up to 80 cm in total length. Breeding pairs are stable, with both males and females jointly defending egg broods against potential predators. In a new study, researchers examined whether the gaze of human divers directed towards the offspring guarded by parental emperor cichlids altered aggressive behaviour towards divers. Emperor cichlids attacked divers significantly more frequently when divers looked directly at the offspring than when they averted their gaze or turned their fins towards the offspring. These findings suggest that fish may possess a rudimentary form of 'attention attribution', the ability to recognise where another individual's focus lies which should be considered in ecotourism and conservation contexts.

Read the news article in Scientific American: https://www.scientificamerican.com/.../these-fish-know.../

Read the research article in Royal Society Open Science: https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.251919

photograph by Ryo Hidaka