In recent decades, the use of video datasets such as wildlife cameras or lab videos has become one of the most important tools for the study of animal behavior. These datasets help researchers make behavioral observations by capturing detailed and real-time data that can be analyzed repeatedly, allowing for quantitative analyses of movements, interactions and patterns, tracking, and behavioral classifications. When it comes to mice, however, most of the many existing video datasets only show simple or social actions that barely allow for the study of more complex, goal-oriented behaviors, such as problem-solving. Researchers from the Cluster of Excellence Science of Intelligence in Berlin have created a new, large-scale collection of video data involving mice working to solve “lockbox” puzzles in order to get a reward. This dataset, which includes multiple camera angles, is one of the largest mouse datasets ever obtained and it provides a benchmark for researchers to develop and test new tools for the study of complex animal behavior.

Joint research between the Department of Medicine and Life Sciences (MELIS) at Pompeu Fabra University and the University of Trento (Italy) has, for the first time, ascertained the composition of the intestinal microbiome of the indri, a critically endangered lemur only found in the north-east of Madagascar. In addition to determining up to 47 hitherto unknown species of bacteria, the study has concluded that the indri’s microbiome is transmitted within their social group. This could have implications for the preservation of their habitats.

A major global study reveals that people judge a potential long-term partner's sexual history not just by the number of past partners, but also by when those encounters occurred – marking the first research to consider timing as a key factor in mating preferences.