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News Articles: animal behavior

In this still from a wildlife camera, a one-to-two-day-old howler monkey infant clings to the body of a young capuchin monkey. Scientists say the capuchins are likely kidnapping the howler babies for their own amusement.

Tagged as: 

  • Science

Researchers puzzle over rash of baby monkey kidnappings

Young, male capuchin monkeys have started kidnapping the babies of nearby howler monkeys. Why? Maybe boredom.

May 19, 2025
|
By:
  • Nell Greenfieldboyce
A Fiji Island iguana is seen at the Smithsonian National Zoological Park in Washington, D.C.  A new study suggests these iguanas reached the tropical island by crossing thousands of miles of ocean.

Tagged as: 

  • Science

How land-loving iguanas from North America may have ended up in Fiji

A new study suggests iguanas reached Fiji by rafting around 5,000 miles from North America.

March 20, 2025
|
By:
  • Jonathan Lambert
Mice may exhibit revival-like behaviors to help unconscious cage mates.

Tagged as: 

  • Science

Lab mice may give 'first aid' to unconscious mates

New research suggests mice may exhibit revival-like behaviors to help unconscious mice recover faster.

February 24, 2025
|
By:
  • Jonathan Lambert
A white-browed sparrow weaver inspects a roost under construction, after just receiving some grass brought by another member of its group.

Tagged as: 

  • Research News

When birds build nests, they're also building a culture

Nest-building isn’t just instinct. Birds can learn from others, letting groups within one species develop their own distinctive nest-building traditions.

August 30, 2024
|
By:
  • Nell Greenfieldboyce
Crows can be trained to count out loud much in the way that human toddlers do, a new study finds.

Tagged as: 

  • Research News

Crows can count out loud like human toddlers — when they aren't cheating the test

A study finds that carrion crows can be taught to count and make vocalizations that indicate the number counted, much in the same way that human toddlers do.

July 18, 2024
|
By:
  • Ari Daniel
A macaque sits on a rock at Cayo Santiago as a rainbow stretches across the sky in February 2022.

Tagged as: 

  • Science

These monkeys were 'notoriously competitive' until Hurricane Maria wrecked their home

Rhesus macaques on Cayo Santiago are known for being intolerant, hierarchical and aggressive. After 2017's Hurricane Maria destroyed their home, the monkeys' society underwent surprising changes.

July 10, 2024
|
By:
  • Ari Daniel
This adult elephant in Kenya was named "Desert Rose" by researchers, but does she have her own elephant name?

Tagged as: 

  • Science

Wild elephants may have names that other elephants use to call them

Forget names like "Dumbo"—wild elephants appear to have their own unique names that other elephants use while talking to them in low rumbles.

June 11, 2024
|
By:
  • Nell Greenfieldboyce
Woodpeckers are known for banging on wood, but some individuals living in urban environments also bang on metal.

Tagged as: 

  • Science

'Chimney caps, vent pipes, gutters': Why some woodpeckers are major metal heads

When an NPR reporter heard a startling loud metallic noise in her house, she was about to get an interesting lesson in animal behavior.

June 03, 2024
|
By:
  • Sacha Pfeiffer
A sea otter in Monterey Bay with a rock anvil on its belly and a scallop in its forepaws.

Tagged as: 

  • Animals

When sea otters lose their favorite foods, they can use tools to go after new ones

Some otters rely on tools to bust open hard-shelled prey items like snails, and a new study suggests this tool use is helping them to survive as their favorite, easier-to-eat foods disappear.

May 22, 2024
|
By:
  • Nell Greenfieldboyce
Weliton Menário Costa (center) holds a laptop while surrounded by dancers for his music video, "Kangaroo Time." From left: Faux Née Phish (Caitlin Winter), Holly Hazlewood, and Marina de Andrade.

Tagged as: 

  • Science

'Dance Your Ph.D.' winner on science, art, and embracing his identity

Weliton Menário Costa's award-winning music video showcases his research on kangaroo personality and behavior — and offers a celebration of human diversity, too.

May 04, 2024
|
By:
  • Ari Daniel
A coyote at the Fort Worth Zoo is photographed in the hours leading up to the April 8 total solar eclipse.

Tagged as: 

  • Animals

Animals get stressed during eclipses. But not for the reason you think

After studying various species earlier this month, some scientists now say they understand the origin of animal behavior during solar eclipses.

April 25, 2024
|
By:
  • Kathryn Fink
A post-reproductive toothed whale mother and her son.

Tagged as: 

  • Science

Most animals don't go through menopause. So why do these whales?

Across the animal kingdom, menopause is something of an evolutionary blip. We humans are one of the few animals to experience it. But Sam Ellis, a researcher in animal behavior, argues that this isn't so surprising. "The best way to propagate your genes is to get as many offspring as possible into the next generation," says Ellis. "The best way to do that is almost always to reproduce your whole life."

So how did menopause evolve? The answer may lie in whales. Ellis and his team at the University of Exeter recently published a study in the journal Nature that studies the evolution of menopause in the undersea animals most known for it. What they uncovered may even help explain menopause in humans.

Curious about other animal behavior mysteries? Email us at shortwave@npr.org.

March 22, 2024
|
By:
  • Margaret Cirino,
  • Emily Kwong,
  • and 2 more
Mountain goats roamed the streets of LLandudno, Wales in March of 2020, as the COVID-19 lockdown kept people and tourists away.

Tagged as: 

  • Science

Humans traveled less during COVID restrictions. Animals traveled more

Animals being tracked by scientists tended to travel longer distances in the early months of the pandemic, when people stayed home. The wildlife also ventured closer to roads.

June 08, 2023
|
By:
  • Nell Greenfieldboyce
A female cockroach considers accepting a sugary offering from a male cockroach.

Tagged as: 

  • Science

These cockroaches tweaked their mating rituals after adapting to pest control

The German cockroach evolved to live only in human environments. This roach is very good at adapting to pest control methods — even if it means changing its mating rituals.

March 31, 2023
|
By:
  • Ari Daniel
A new study finds that bumblebees can learn how to solve puzzles from each other.

Tagged as: 

  • Science

Can insects have culture? Puzzle-solving bumblebees show it's possible

A new study in PLOS Biology finds that bumblebees can learn to solve puzzles from each other — suggesting that even invertebrate animals may have a capacity for culture.

March 07, 2023
|
By:
  • Ari Daniel
  • Load More

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