According to Konrad Lorenz, Charles Otis Whitman and Oskar Heinroth, the first American and the other German, were two significant precursors of the modern study of animal behaviour. Active in the early 1900s, they were interested in birds. While Whitman wrote a monumental work on the pigeon (Columba livia), ducks […]
N. Emilio Baldaccini
27 posts
In every branch of science, a careful and complete description of observed phenomena must precede experimental study. The study of behaviour is certainly no exception to this requirement.When studying a species, however, achieving a comprehensive understanding of its behaviour is a challenging task. It requires patient observation and objective description […]
Ethology and animal behaviour are two terms that are now considered synonymous. However, for a long time, they were not, leading to significant disputes in the scientific community and beyond. Let us explore the reasons why. Since the beginning of the last century, the study of animal and human behaviour […]
Among marine organisms, jellyfish are certainly not our species’ favorites. Seeing them nearby while swimming triggers a sudden but justified sense of revulsion, given the stinging cells they possess, which are often truly dangerous even to humans. However, if we could for a moment ignore the unpleasant consequences of encountering […]
It is generally known that all fish live and move with the cranial-caudal axis kept in a horizontal position, but there is an exception: seahorses, which live in a vertical position. Their adaptation process must have been long and complex, involving the loss of the caudal and ventral fins, scales, […]