Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Bilingual Animals



Sniffing, a common behavior in dogs, cats and other animals, has been observed to also serve as a method for rats to communicate.
Researchers have long observed how animals vigorously sniff when they interact, a habit usually passed off as simply smelling each other. But Daniel W. Wesson, PhD, of Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, whose research is published today in Current Biology, found that rats sniff each other to signal a social hierarchy and prevent aggressive behavior.
            I liked this article because it talks about how animals sniffing each other kind of show emotion in the process. So if you think about it the animals kind of have their own second language. It’s like a little sign language.

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