Animal Behavior

Within the field of animal behaviour we are especially interested in the mechanisms that enhance and stabilise social interactions in mammals. We aim to understand the adaptive significance of social behaviour, as well as how interactions with conspecifics structure groups and populations. The knowledge gained from our behavioural ecology studies on threatened species is used to advise on their conservation. We use ethological, ecological, physiological and molecular genetic methods in our studies on wild populations and lab animals. Currently, we work on small rodents, bats, carnivores, and also domestic cats and dogs.

Research groups

• Cognitive and Cultural Ecology (Prof. Dr. Lucy Aplin)
• Social Evolutionary Ecology (Prof. Dr. Damien Farine)
• Animal Curiosity and Cognition (Dr. Sofia Forss)
• Evolution and Genetics of Social Behaviour (Prof. Dr. Anna Lindholm)
• Communication and Cognition in Social Mammals (Prof. Dr. Marta Manser)

Associated projects

• Leopard Ecology & Conservation (Monika Schiess)

Former research groups

• Cooperation and Social Structuring in Mammals (Prof. em. Dr. Barbara König)
• Behavioral Endocrinology & Eco-Physiology (Dr. Carsten Schradin)
• Comparative Communication and Cognition (Dr. Simon William Townsend)
• Companion Animal Ethology and Human-Animal Relationships (PD Dr. Dennis C. Turner)