Some animals display weird behaviors, including some you might think of as human-only.
Article: 10 Surprising Behaviors in Nonhuman Animals
http://animals.howstuffworks.com/animal-facts/10-behaviors-in-nonhuman-animals.htm
Music Attribution:
"One Nice Thing Once a Day" by Ultracat
'I Am Groot' Impression:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lj8-pDLk7XE
What the Stuff?! episodes are available every Monday and Friday at Noon ET.
Subscribe http://bit.ly/1AWgeM7
Twitter https://twitter.com/HowStuffWorks
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/HowStuffWorks
Google+ https://plus.google.com/+howstuffworks
Website http://www.howstuffworks.com
Watch More https://www.youtube.com/HowStuffWorks
Humans are pretty weird animals. Let me count the ways, right? But our nonhuman compatriots display weird behaviors of their own, including some you might think of as human-only:
Empathy: Experiments done at the University of Chicago showed that most rats will help an imprisoned rat pal escape for play and companionship. Even when the rats were presented with two cages, one containing a peer and the other a favorite snack like chocolate, they usually got their friend out first and shared the treat. This indicates empathy: The recognition of what another being is feeling, and sharing that feeling with them.
Holding a Grudge: At the University of Wisconsin, a group of scientists began trapping crows for research. Soon, other crows began harassing them whenever they stepped outside their lab. It didn't seem to matter whether the researchers changed clothes, so they experimented by wearing different masks around campus. Once they'd worn any given mask during trapping, the crows would pester anyone wearing that mask. One researcher even put on a mask that the team had used 5 years before, and birds still descended, Hitchcock-style – implying that older crows had been tweeting about which faces to watch out for.
Teaching: Most animals in the wild learn through observation and imitation, but some actively try to teach their peers what they know. Take, for example, the meerkat - which happens to include scorpions in its diet. Instead of teaching their young ones by just letting ‘em loose in scorpion-studded fields, they bring home dead or nearly dead scorpions for practice. And as the pups rack up fatalities, the parents bring back progressively livelier scorpions until the youngsters are skilled enough to hunt on their own.
Same-Sex Relationships: Scientists had long studied Laysan albatross at Kaena Point on Oahu for their apparent lifelong dedication to a single partner – interesting because only 5% of animal species form such strong relationships. Then they realized that nearly a third of the birds were actually in female pairs. They had observed the pairs protecting a nest, preening each other’s feathers, and displaying the albatross equivalent of PDA – but the males and females look similar, and the scientists never questioned the birds’ sexes. And some of these birds had been together for more than 15 years.
That’s all the animal behavior stuff we have time for today, but I wanna know: What weird and awesome behaviors have you observed in the nonhuman animals you hang out with? Tell me in the comments. And hey, if you dug this video, let me and my bosses know by hitting Like, and subscribe so you won't miss the next one. Oh, and to learn more, like how pigeons procrastinate and wolves grieve, check out our article "10 Surprising Behaviors in Nonhuman Animals" on HowStuffWorks.com.
Tagged under: surprising,behaviors,animals,nonhuman,animal, stuff,whatthestuff,howstuffworks, stuff works,behavior,human,human-,empathy,holding,grudge,teaching,-sex,gay,relationships,relationship,homosexual,lesbian,rat,rats,lab rats,scientists,crow,crows,The Birds,Hitchcock,mask,tweeting,wild,learn,learning,meerkat,meerkats,scorpions,Laysan,Albatross,female,pairs,pda,weird,awesome, bored,teach , learn, groot
Find more lesson plans like this:
'Out, Damned Spot': Meaning & OverviewClip makes it super easy to turn any public video into a formative assessment activity in your classroom.
Add multiple choice quizzes, questions and browse hundreds of approved, video lesson ideas for Clip
Make YouTube one of your teaching aids - Works perfectly with lesson micro-teaching plans
1. Students enter a simple code
2. You play the video
3. The students comment
4. You review and reflect
* Whiteboard required for teacher-paced activities
With four apps, each designed around existing classroom activities, Spiral gives you the power to do formative assessment with anything you teach.
Quickfire
Carry out a quickfire formative assessment to see what the whole class is thinking
Discuss
Create interactive presentations to spark creativity in class
Team Up
Student teams can create and share collaborative presentations from linked devices
Clip
Turn any public video into a live chat with questions and quizzes
Tried out the canvas response option on @SpiralEducation & it's so awesome! Add text or drawings AND annotate an image! #R10tech
Using @SpiralEducation in class for math review. Student approved! Thumbs up! Thanks.
Absolutely amazing collaboration from year 10 today. 100% engagement and constant smiles from all #lovetsla #spiral
Students show better Interpersonal Writing skills than Speaking via @SpiralEducation Great #data #langchat folks!
A good tool for supporting active #learning.
The Team Up app is unlike anything I have ever seen. You left NOTHING out! So impressed!