Research at the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior
For animals, life means making decisions. When does a blackbird depart on its dangerous annual migration? On which tree does a Kinkajou search for food? How does a fish in a school of hundreds decide what to do? Decisions like these determine an individual’s survival and their probability of reproducing. Often these decisions are made in a group. At the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, we aim to achieve a quantitative and predictive understanding of animal decision-making and movement in the natural world. Pursuing an integrative approach, we combine physiological, neural, ecological and evolutionary perspectives, questions and methods.
The Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior is home to three Departments, three Max Planck Research Groups, eight Research Groups, and many professional staff. We are housed in three locations in the greater Konstanz area: Radolfzell, the University of Konstanz, and Bücklestraße in Konstanz. These locations include state-of-the-art facilities for field and laboratory research in animal behavior. A number of external partners and affiliates are associated with the MPI-AB.
Max Planck Research Groups
Max Planck Fellows
Ariana Strandburg-Peshkin
Latest Publications
Behringer, V.; Deimel, C.; Ostner, J.; Fruth, B.; Sonnweber, R.: Modulation of cell-mediated immunity during pregnancy in wild bonobos. Biology Letters
20 (3), 20230548 (2024)
Bello, C.; Crowther, T. W.; Ramos, D. L.; Morán-López, T.; Pizo, M. A.; Dent, D. H.: Frugivores enhance potential carbon recovery in fragmented landscapes. Nature Climate Change (2024)
Ben Mocha, Y.; Frisoni, F.; Keynan, O.; Griesser, M.: Proto-tool use for food processing in wild Arabian babblers: matching processing methods, substrates and prey types. Animal Cognition
27 (1), 35 (2024)
Blake, S.; Cabrera, F.; Cruz, S.; Ellis-Soto, D.; Yackulic, C. B.; Bastille-Rousseau, G.; Wikelski, M.; Kuemmeth, F.; Gibbs, J. P.; Deem, S. L.: Environmental variation structures reproduction and recruitment in long-lived mega-herbivores: Galapagos giant tortoises. Ecological Monographs, e1599 (2024)
Blake, S.; Cabrera, F.; Rivas-Torres, G.; Deem, S. L.; Nieto-Claudin, A.; Zahawi, R. A.; Bastille-Rousseau, G.: Invasion by Cedrela odorata threatens long distance migration of Galapagos tortoises. Ecology and Evolution
14 (2), e10994 (2024)