The world of animals is wonderful. These beings surprise us with their incomparable characteristics and behaviors, have you ever wondered why animals behave in a certain way? It is a discipline dedicated to that.
It’s true. There is a science that studies the behavior of animals, isn’t it wonderful ?, ethology is responsible for asking questions like: why do animals exhibit a certain behavior ?, what is it?How did they do it?
- Through ethology.
- We can understand certain animal behaviors that we didn’t know before and we can understand why they occur.
Next, we’ll tell you how this wonderful science was born, what it is, who participates in it, and what your contributions are.
“I think I’ve found the missing link between the monkey and the civilized man: us. “- Konrad Lorenz-
Ethology was born thanks to the joint work of professionals who had an inexhaustible passion for animals, where they spent much of their time.
Konrad Lorenz, Niko Tinbergen and Karl Von Frisch won the Nobel Prize in Physiology for their behavioral studies in 1973.
Lorenz deepened the behavior of geese and proposed fingerprint theory. Tinbergen became interested in the instinct of a specific fish and studied otoñal migration. Meanwhile, Von Frish focused on how bees communicate.
In addition, they were influenced by the analyses of other thinkers who studied animal behavior. Morton Wheeler, for example, has long tried to study the behavior of ants. He popularized the term “ethology. “
While studies have already been conducted exploring animal behavior in other disciplines, such as comparative psychology, it was from the Nobel Prize obtained by Lorenz, Kinbergen and Von Frisch that ethology began to be considered a science.
Ethology studies animal behavior and takes into account natural selection, professionals in charge of studying it are called ethologists, among its functions stand out:
Therefore, ethology is interested in innate and learned behaviors, so ethologists focus on aspects such as imronta, social life, development, sexual selection, cooperation, aggression, among others.
Ethology has made many contributions. Here are some of them
Thus, ethology studies the distinctive behavioral characteristics of animals, almost always through observation. In addition, his study contributes to understanding human behavior through comparisons.
Thanks to the research of ethologists, we have conservation tools.
In collaboration with environmentalists, these professionals promote sustainable wildlife treatment and the protection of threatened species, as Marcelo H suggests. Cassini in his study published in the Spanish Journal of Ethology.
Ethology therefore contributes to increasing animal welfare, optimizing production, diagnosing diseases and promoting the survival of endangered species; In addition, his study provides tools for animal-assisted therapy.
“Ethology gives us an overview of animal behavior and promotes a holistic view of human development. “