Animal behavior

Animal behavior includes all animal interactions with other organisms and the physical environment. Communication is a process wherein the sender produces a specialized signal that changes the likelihood of the receiver’s behavior and can be associated with the mediation of social interactions during foraging, reproduction, territorial defense and group cohesion. The study of animal communication includes identifying which information is encoded in the signals produced, and how that information is used by receivers. Due to the complexity of the singing behavior of humpback whales, we are developing studies to understand how the cultural evolution of the song occurs over time.