Companion animal behaviour
At the Behavioural Ecology group we are interested in a variety of topics linked to the ecology, behaviour and cognition of both cats and dogs. We study cats living at Carus as well as pet dogs living in the Netherlands and free-ranging dogs living in Morocco.
Dogs and cats have been living alongside humans for thousands of years and their relationship with us have been a complex and fascinating one. Dogs and cats live almost everywhere in the world and have become extremely successful in occupying various ecological niches. How is this possible? How do dogs and cats manage to navigate a complex socio-environment such as the human one? At the Behavioural Ecology group we are interested in a variety of topics linked to the ecology, behaviour and cognition of both cats and dogs.
Topics
- Animal communication
- Animal cognition
- Animal personality
- Social behaviour
Our projects
Inside the head of a dog: research on pet dogs’ social intelligence
Research on the behaviour and cognition of dogs has revealed that they are extremely skillful in understanding humans. They understand simple gestures even when they are not/minimally socialised, understand our attentive states and copy our actions to reach a goal. Yet, the way in which dogs perceive us, other dogs, and their environment has plenty of open questions that we study. We also conduct research in Morocco, on the social behaviour, cognition, and ecology of free-ranging dogs.
Decoding cats: research on cat personality and cognition
Cats represent the most common pet in our households, and they have been going through a complex process of domestication. Despite their ancestor was a solitary hunter, domesticated cats are sociable towards humans and other cats. Yet their social cognition and behaviour is yet to be fully understood. We investigate topics such as social learning, communication, perspective taking, knowledge attribution, personality, cooperation, inequity aversion, pro-sociality, and many more.
Inside the head of a dog: research on pet dogs’ social intelligence
Research on the behaviour and cognition of dogs has revealed that they are extremely skillful in understanding humans. They understand simple gestures even when they are not/minimally socialised, understand our attentive states and copy our actions to reach a goal. Yet, the way in which dogs perceive us, other dogs, and their environment has plenty of open questions that we study. We also conduct research in Morocco, on the social behaviour, cognition, and ecology of free-ranging dogs.
Decoding cats: research on cat personality and cognition
Cats represent the most common pet in our households, and they have been going through a complex process of domestication. Despite their ancestor was a solitary hunter, domesticated cats are sociable towards humans and other cats. Yet their social cognition and behaviour is yet to be fully understood. We investigate topics such as social learning, communication, perspective taking, knowledge attribution, personality, cooperation, inequity aversion, pro-sociality, and many more.
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Research themes
Behavioural ecology
Our research in behavioural ecology focuses on understanding how individual animals and populations function and how selection acts on fitness, using a range of different behavioural and life history traits. Our main study organisms are birds and fish.
Conservation biology
Our research in conservation biology encompasses several projects. Part of our work includes the use of animal conditioning interventions to reduce human-wildlife conflicts, which can provide valuable insights for policy and management decisions.
Companion animal behaviour
At the Behavioural Ecology group we are interested in a variety of topics linked to the ecology, behaviour and cognition of both cats and dogs. We study cats living at Carus as well as pet dogs living in the Netherlands and free-ranging dogs living in Morocco.
Behavioural Ecology
The Behavioural Ecology Group of chairholder Marc Naguib studies the causes and consequences of decisions animals make with a focus on social contexts.
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