Ethology and Strange Animal Behavior

Ethology is the study of animal behavior, based in zoology. Ethologists study the evolutionary basis and development of animals' innate behaviors, like a spider knowing how to make a web without learning from a parent. They also study forms of communication (physical, chemical, visual) and social interactions between animals. Human ethology research looks at the evolutionary origins of human behavior and also compares behaviors across cultures. Other studies of animal behavior are based in psychology, focusing on things like learned behavior and teaching behaviors to animals and applying the results to humans.