Butterfly wing patterns and flight dynamics work in tandem to create powerful visual illusions that confuse predators, potentially representing one of the most successful visual defence strategies in ...

Collective behaviour is widespread in the animal kingdom and can enhance individual fitness. Yet not all collective behaviours are adaptations. Instead, some may be nonadaptive or ‘evolutionary spandrels’—traits that originated as by-products in the sense proposed by Stephen Jay Gould and Richard Lewontin. Here, we argue that self-organising processes provide a route through which evolutionary spandrels in collective animal behaviour can occur, and we provide three examples: spatial organisation in primate groups, division of labour in ants, and insect chorusing. We then consider how such outcomes may be co-opted into adaptive roles through exaptation and conclude by outlining the challenges associated with testing adaptive and nonadaptive hypotheses in collective behaviour research using individual-based studies, phylogenetic comparative analyses, and agent-based models.

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Animal communication behaviors are complex, dynamic, conspicuous, and often critically important for individual fitness as well as sociality. For these reasons, animal communication has been of intere...

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As of 2026-07-14, this open letter has been signed by 754 people Signatories include 198 Professors and members of 11 National Academies, including 12 Fellows of the Royal Society (FRS) Signatories a...

Animals from different species often rely on surprisingly sophisticated communication to work together, whether finding food, cleaning parasites, or gaining protection. New research suggests these int...

Larger flocks of migrating songbirds orient more accurately toward their population’s migratory direction than smaller flocks.

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Visual camouflage evolution in animals depends on both light’s interaction with its surroundings and the limits of what the natural observers of the camouflage can see. Changes in lighting – such as t...

Abstract. Cognitive responses are linked to consistent individual behavioural variation, but the potential impact of warming on this relationship remains u

Replicating previous research builds confidence that results are real and meaningful. But close replications are rare due to limitations in resources and d

ShoalBase offers a global database on fish social behaviour, supporting research, conservation, and ecology through community contributions and visual data mapping.