animal behavior

The 15-year project wasn't a flight of fancy. Biologists used a plane to successfully teach many young, captive-bred whooping cranes to migrate cross-country. But the birds aren't reproducing well.

When the gloomy octopus of Australia turns dark and towers threateningly over his neighbor, he's likely signaling aggression, scientists now say. Neighbors get the message — they turn pale and flee.

Many people spend summertime in the great outdoors, enjoying simpler living. Reporter Fred Mogul took his city dog to a farm in Pennsylvania to see if she might enjoy exploring her shepherding roots.

It can take more than just a keen ear to figure out what animals are saying. Sometimes, scientists are learning, you have to talk back to map the rich networks of conversation in a forest.

Given two choices of attractive mates, female frogs pick the top vocalist. But add a third, inferior male to the mix, and females go for No. 2. The "decoy effect" shapes some human choices, too.

Male humpback whales create "songs" together, scientists say. Katy Payne was the first to hear the shifts in pitch and pattern in the collective calls as complex music — haunting, evolving tunes.

The isle of Cayo Santiago has been home to at least nine generations of rhesus monkeys since the colony's founding in 1938. Primatologists here seek clues to primate kinship, cognition and ecology.

Ants don't show road rage. In fact, some research shows they rarely get into traffic jams and are able to maintain a steady speed even as their numbers swell. Can physics explain it?

Faux eggs made with 3-D printers are better than sculpted versions, researchers say, because it's easier to systematically vary their size, weight and other features. Next goal: 3-D fragile shells.

Veterinarian Vint Virga works with pets and zoo animals on behavior disorders. He talks about how house cats are more fulfilled when they forage for food, and how to show animals affection.