ethology

ethology
ethological /ee'theuh loj"i keuhl, eth'euh-/, adj.ethologically, adv.ethologist, n.
/ee thol"euh jee, i thol"-/, n.
the study of animal behavior with emphasis on the behavioral patterns that occur in natural environments.
[1895-1900; earlier, as the study of relations between an organism and its environment < F éthologie, coined by French zoologist I. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire (1805-61); see ETHOS, -LOGY]

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Study of animal behaviour.

It is a combination of laboratory and field science, with strong ties to other disciplines (e.g., neuroanatomy, ecology, evolution). Though many naturalists have studied aspects of animal behaviour through the centuries, the modern science of ethology is considered to have arisen as a discrete discipline with the work in the 1920s of Nikolaas Tinbergen and Konrad Lorenz. Interested in the behavioral process rather than in a particular animal group, ethologists often study one type of behaviour (e.g., aggression) in various unrelated animals.

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      the study of animal behaviour. Although many naturalists have studied aspects of animal behaviour through the centuries, the modern science of ethology is usually considered to have arisen as a discrete discipline with the work in the 1920s of biologists Nikolaas Tinbergen of The Netherlands and Konrad Lorenz of Austria. Ethology is a combination of laboratory and field science, with strong ties to certain other disciplines—e.g., neuroanatomy, ecology, evolution. The ethologist is interested in the behavioral process rather than in a particular animal group and often studies one type of behaviour (e.g., aggression) in a number of unrelated animals.

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Universalium. 2010.

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  • Ethology — E*thol o*gy, n. [Gr. ? a depicting of character; ? custom, moral nature + ? to speak.] 1. A treatise on morality; ethics. [1913 Webster] 2. The science of the formation of character, national and collective as well as individual. J. S. Mill.… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

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  • ethology — late 17c., mimicry, from L. ethologia, from Gk. ethologia, from ethos character (see ETHOS (Cf. ethos)). As a branch of zoology, from 1897 …   Etymology dictionary

  • ethology — ► NOUN 1) the science of animal behaviour. 2) the study of human behaviour from a biological perspective. DERIVATIVES ethological adjective ethologist noun. ORIGIN Greek thologia, from thos nature, disposition …   English terms dictionary

  • ethology — [ē thäl′ə jē] n. [L ethologia, character portrayal < Gr ēthologia: see ETHOS & LOGY] Biol. the scientific study of the characteristic behavior patterns of animals ethological [ē΄thə läj′i kəl] adj. ethologist n …   English World dictionary

  • Ethology — Not to be confused with ethnology. Animal Behavior redirects here. For the journal, see Animal Behaviour (journal). For the Praxis single, see Transmutation (Mutatis Mutandis). Part of a series on …   Wikipedia

  • ethology — Pioneered by Konrad Lorenz and Nikolaas Tinbergen, ethology applies evolutionary theory to early animal and childhood human behaviour, in order to examine its instinctive and adaptive nature. Its roots go back to Charles Darwin s Origin of… …   Dictionary of sociology

  • ethology — etologija statusas T sritis ekologija ir aplinkotyra apibrėžtis Mokslas, tiriantis žmogaus ir gyvūnų elgesį natūralioje aplinkoje. atitikmenys: angl. ethology vok. Ethologie, f rus. этология, f …   Ekologijos terminų aiškinamasis žodynas

  • ethology — noun Etymology: Greek ethos + English logy Date: circa 1843 1. a branch of knowledge dealing with human character and with its formation and evolution 2. the scientific and objective study of animal behavior especially under natural conditions •… …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • ethology — the study of innate behavior; of behaviour in the normal environment of the fish (although often carried out in a simulated environment, the aquarium) …   Dictionary of ichthyology

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