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Articles on Animal behaviour

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This rapacious little critter could actually help humans one day. Larah McElroy

Worker antics could lead us to search and rescue robots

When disaster strikes, search and rescue robots could save lives by finding and retrieving people buried under rubble. But designing robots that can descend rapidly through unstable and uneven rubble has…
Rapid colour change may occur due to various “triggers” – but what are they? Today is a good day

How do chameleons and other creatures change colour?

When most people think of colour change, they think of octopuses or chameleons - but the ability to rapidly change colour is surprisingly widespread. Many species of crustaceans, insects, cephalopods (squid…
Ronan the sea lion was able to keep a musical beat, even when hearing a song for the first time. American Psychological Association

Dancing seal is first non-human mammal to keep a beat

US scientists have trained a seal to bob its head in time to music, in a study that the researchers say presents the first ever evidence that non-human mammals can keep a beat. It was previously thought…
Dingo: when they come to rely on humans for food and water, not killing them can be naive. Flickr/woulfe

Non-violence has its place, but let’s give dingoes due credit

The sad reality of human-dingo relations is that blood will be shed, as Brad Purcell recently reminded us in these pages with his article about non-violent co-existence, The Australian Dingo: to be respected…
An important ‘apex predator’ that should neither be hunted as an enemy nor treated as a pet. With respect and wisdom, we can coexist. AAP/Tony Phillips

The Australian dingo: to be respected, at a distance

It’s the dry season in the Northern Territory, and for many people that means camping under a clear winter’s sky in the Top End. Yet rediscovering nature can be a fraught exercise in wilderness areas like…
Steve Irwin may be more famous, but corvids are among our most successful expats. Chris73/Wikimedia

Stone the crows! Could corvids be Australia’s smartest export?

Among birds, crows and ravens (or corvids) are the most intelligent. They have the largest brains for body size; they’re more like primates than birds. In fact, some people call them “flying monkeys…

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