Natural Behavior

Transfer to a naturalistic setting restructures fear responses in laboratory mice

Appropriate classification of a novel stimulus as threatening or benign depends on a repertoire of prior environmental experiences involving challenge, risk, and opportunity1,2. Without this library, individuals may classify harmless stimuli as dangerous — a hallmark of generalized anxiety1,2. In...

Year Published: 2025Topics: Housing, Natural BehaviorAnimal Type: Bird, Chicken, Mouse, Rodent

Citation: Zipple, M. N., Loflin, B., Kuo, D. C. et al. 2025. Transfer to a naturalistic setting restructures fear responses in laboratory mice. Current Biology 35(24), R1175–R1176.

Responses of mountain gorillas (Gorilla beringei beringei) to deceased infants

Studying nonhuman primates’ responses to the death of conspecifics has gained growing interest in comparative thanatology providing wider evolutionary context for our understanding of human responses to death and mourning. Primates exhibit diverse reactions to infant deaths, with infant corpse...

Year Published: 2026Topics: Natural BehaviorAnimal Type: Nonhuman Primate, Other Nonhuman Primate

Citation: Munyawera, J., Morrison, R., Eckardt, W. 2026. Responses of mountain gorillas (Gorilla beringei beringei) to deceased infants. Primates 67(1), 37–48.

Assessing nest-building performance in mice: A multifactorial study of strain, age, sex, and environmental factors

Providing nesting material is one of the main forms of environmental enrichment for laboratory mice. Nest building is an innate behavior, widely observed in wild mice, which construct complex, dome-shaped, multi-layered structures. Although various materials can be used in microisolator...

Year Published: 2026Topics: Environmental Enrichment, Natural BehaviorAnimal Type: Mouse, Rodent

Citation: Cintra, L., Hernandes, C. F., Alexandre-Ribeiro, S. R. et al. 2026. Assessing nest-building performance in mice: A multifactorial study of strain, age, sex, and environmental factors. Journal of Veterinary Behavior 83, 98–105.

Transfer to a naturalistic setting restructures fear responses in laboratory mice

Appropriate classification of a novel stimulus as threatening or benign depends on a repertoire of prior environmental experiences involving challenge, risk, and opportunity. Without this library, individuals may classify harmless stimuli as dangerous — a hallmark of generalized anxiety. In...

Year Published: 2025Topics: Housing, Natural BehaviorAnimal Type: Mouse, Rodent

Citation: Zipple, M. N., Loflin, B., Kuo, D. C. et al. 2025. Transfer to a naturalistic setting restructures fear responses in laboratory mice. Current Biology 35(24), R1175–R1176.

Validation of enhanced floor pen housing for chickens

This study assesses the transition from isolator housing to an enhanced floor pen system for chickens, with the goal of improving Animal Welfare and promoting natural behaviours. Historically, chickens in our facility were housed in isolators, which limited the opportunities...

Year Published: 2025Topics: Environmental Enrichment, Housing, Husbandry & Management, Natural BehaviorAnimal Type: Bird, Chicken

Citation: Teggart, M., Mackay, F., Merck Enrichment Team 2025. Validation of enhanced floor pen housing for chickens. Animal Technology and Welfare 24(3), 251–253.

Chemosensory-driven foraging and nocturnal activity in the freshwater snail rivomarginella morrisoni (Gastropoda marginellidae): A laboratory-based study

Rivomarginella morrisoni is a freshwater snail endemic to Thailand, yet its behavioral ecology remains poorly understood. This study described the feeding behavior of R. morrisoni, focusing on its foraging activity, behavioral patterns, and food detection mechanisms under laboratory conditions using...

Year Published: 2025Topics: Natural BehaviorAnimal Type: Invertebrate, Other Invertebrate

Citation: Subpayakom, N., Dumrongrojwattana, P., Poeaim, S. 2025. Chemosensory-driven foraging and nocturnal activity in the freshwater snail rivomarginella morrisoni (Gastropoda marginellidae): A laboratory-based study. Journal of Zoological and Botanical Gardens 6(4).

Simple life, simple minds? How habitat simplification in aquatic ecosystems shape fish cognition

This narrative review synthesises current knowledge on the effects of habitat complexity, defined as the variation in physical structures within ecosystems, on fish cognition, brain morphology, and personality. Globally, habitat complexity is declining through a process known as habitat simplification,...

Year Published: 2026Topics: Environmental Enrichment, Housing, Natural Behavior, PersonalityAnimal Type: Fish, Other Fish, Salmon, Shark & Ray, Tilapia, Trout, Zebrafish

Citation: Klinke, A., Brown, C. 2026. Simple life, simple minds? How habitat simplification in aquatic ecosystems shape fish cognition. Animal Cognition 29(1), 23.

The effect of rearing environment on feather pecking in young and adult laying hens

Although the rearing period has an important influence on the development of feather pecking in laying hens, few studies have quantified the risk factors operating on commercial farms during this time and identified their long-term impact. Our aim was to...

Year Published: 2013Topics: Abnormal/Problematic Behavior, Husbandry & Management, Natural Behavior, Rearing & WeaningAnimal Type: Bird, Chicken

Citation: Gilani, A.-M., Knowles, T. G., Nicol, C. J. 2013. The effect of rearing environment on feather pecking in young and adult laying hens. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 148(1), 54–63.

Relationships between beak condition, preening behavior and ectoparasite infestation levels in laying hens

The effects of beak condition on ectoparasite populations and preening in laying hens were investigated. Beak-trimmed and beak-intact caged Hy-Line W-36 hens were infested with either chicken body lice or northern fowl mites using a 2 × 2 factorial design...

Year Published: 2015Topics: Body Modification/Mutilation, Natural BehaviorAnimal Type: Bird, Chicken

Citation: Vezzoli, G., Mullens, B. A., Mench, J. A. 2015. Relationships between beak condition, preening behavior and ectoparasite infestation levels in laying hens. Poultry Science 94(9), 1997–2007.

Beak trimming reduces feeding efficiency of hens

The ability of beak-trimmed and intact laying hens to ingest feed pellets was examined by highspeed video filming of feeding birds. The birds were exposed to either a deep layer of pellets or a single layer of pellets. In the...

Year Published: 2004Topics: Body Modification/Mutilation, Natural BehaviorAnimal Type: Bird, Chicken

Citation: Prescott, N. B., Bonser, R. H. C. 2004. Beak Trimming Reduces Feeding Efficiency of Hens. Journal of Applied Poultry Research 13(3), 468–471.