Nothing To Gobble At: Social Cognition in Turkeys
We tend to think of the domestic turkey as a fairly unintelligent bird, skilled at little more than waddling around, emitting the occasional gobble, and frying up golden-brown-and-delicious...
Stories by Jason G. Goldman
Photoblogging: Lazy Hyena
A Sudanese Striped Hyena takes a nap at the San Diego Zoo. From the Thoughtful Animal Archives: Hyenas Give Up Eating Garbage for Lent, Hunt Donkeys Instead Silver Spoon Hyenas: Maternal Social Status Affects Male Reproductive Success Photo taken October 11, 2013 at the San Diego Zoo with a Canon 60D and Canon 75-300mm f/4.0-5.6 [...]..
Does Your Dog Love You Back?
You love your dog. Does your dog love you back? Is the love that an owner feels for her dog reciprocated? That's the question that a group of Swedish and Danish researchers wanted to answer...
Man’s Best Friend or Oversized Rat?
Here’s something curious. The phrase “man’s best friend” didn’t appear in print, according to Google’s n-grams, until after the year 1750.
Photoblogging: Secretary Bird
Photo taken October 11, 2013 at the San Diego Zoo with a Canon 60D and Canon 75-300mm f/4.0-5.6 telephoto zoom lens.
Incredible Camera Trap Footage of the Rare African Golden Cat [Video]
The Wildlife Conservation Society released new camera trap footage of the elusive African golden cat. One important outcome of their research is a new understanding of the daily activity patterns of the species...
Photoblogging: Portrait of a Meerkat
Meerkats are one of the few other species in the animal kingdom that has something close to human-like teaching. Read about it in an old piece of mine at BBC Future: Pay attention… time for lessons at animal school Photo taken October 11, 2013 at the San Diego Zoo with a Canon 60D and Canon [...]..
Watch Me Talk Dolphin on @TakePartLive Tonight
I'll be on participating in a panel about dolphins, animals in captivity, and the award-winning documentary The Cove tonight. Catch it on Take Part Live on the Pivot channel at 9pm Pacific/12am Eastern...
You Can Run But You Can’t Hide (From Predators)
Probably the worst thing to happen to you, if you’re an animal playing the game of life, is to be eaten by some bigger beast. If you’ve already managed to successfully reproduce by then, as far as evolution is concerned, maybe it’s OK for you to shuffle off that mortal coil...
Storify of Live Tweets of CNN’s Airing of the Award-winning Documentary ‘Blackfish’
Last night, I joined a group of marine mammal and animal behavior experts to livetweet and liveblog CNN’s airing of the award-winning documentary Blackfish.
“Blackfish” Will Air on CNN Tomorrow at 6pm Pacific/9pm Eastern. Watch and Tweet With Us!
Join me and a group of marine mammal and animal behavior experts tomorrow as we livetweet CNN's airing of the award-winning documentary Blackfish.
The Birds in my Backyard
I'm an animal behavior expert and I've lived in Los Angeles all my life. Why don't I know the birds in my backyard? In my latest piece, at Zocalo Public Square, I argue that I should know who my wildlife neighbors are, and that understanding our natural world can create a better human community, too...
Searching for the Social in Contagious Yawning
Evidence has been accumulating for several years that contagious yawning is driven by social cognition. But how? And is it related to empathy?
Photoblogging: Airborne Pelicans
It’s interesting what a small change in wing position does to a photo of a single bird. In this first photo of a Brown Pelican, Pelecanus occidentalis, the forward bend in the wings gives the bird a magnificent, almost regal quality...
You’ll Never Guess How Biologists Lure Jaguars To Camera Traps
Camera traps are a useful tool that scientists to use study jaguars. The downside is they have to wait for an animal to pass in front of the camera.
Photoblogging: More California Gulls
Following on last week’s California gull photo, here are a few more from that day. It’s a lesson in composition: the top photo tells a story.
How Trophy Hunting Actually Benefits Croatian Brown Bears
Shoot a bear in Croatia, and you can skin it and turn the hide into a rug to adorn the floor of your living room. Or, if you wanted, you could hack off its head, stuff it, mount it, and hang it above your fireplace...
Photoblogging: Seagull in Flight
Most people in Los Angeles interact with seagulls – that is, the California gull, Larus californicus – mainly by shooing them away from our picnics at the beach.
Forget Kaiju. Japan’s Real Invaders Are Much Furrier.
Tales of monsters invading Japan are a longstanding tradition, usually involving menacing kaiju—literally “strange creatures”—rising from the sea to wreak havoc on a Japanese city.
Golden Eagle Versus Deer: Eagle Wins
After setting camera traps to study tigers, researchers received a surprise when they found the world's first recorded evidence of a golden eagle attacking a sika deer.
