CHARISMATIC MINIFAUNA: Andrade’s lab studies animal behavior in some of biology’s less celebrated subjects. (Left)Texas widow harlequin spider; (top right) jumping spider; (bottom right) Western black widowKEN JONES
As researchers working to understand animal behavior, we have studied only a small subset of the more than 1.5 million described animal species. This is unavoidable, as there are many more species than scientists. But the animals we work with are our windows into nature, and it is increasingly clear that our field revolves around animal subjects that simply do not reflect the diversity of the natural world.
Studies in related fields such as ecology and conservation have repeatedly found that research effort is skewed towards warm-blooded vertebrates (birds and mammals) and against cold-blooded vertebrates and invertebrates in general. Our well-documented preferences for what we consider to be attractive or charismatic creatures may be limiting our contributions to a broad understanding of nature.
Does it ...
