Animals share an intimate and life-long partnership with a myriad of resident microbial
species, collectively referred to as the microbiota. Symbiotic microbes have been shown to …

Growing evidence indicates that the mammalian microbiome can affect behaviour, and
several symbionts even produce neurotransmitters. One common explanation for these …

Parasites have evolved independently in numerous animal lineages, and they now make up
a considerable proportion of the biodiversity of life. Not only do they impact humans and …

Many taxa of parasites modify the behavior of their hosts in ways that improve their
probability of transmission. Regardless of its evolutionary origins or underlying mechanisms …

There is nothing like a pandemic to get the world thinking about how infectious diseases
affect individual behavior. In this respect, sick animals can behave in ways that are …

For millions of years, parasites have altered the behaviour of their hosts. Parasites can affect
host behaviour by:(1) interfering with the host's normal immune–neural communication,(2) …

Cat odors induce rapid, innate and stereotyped defensive behaviors in rats at first exposure,
a presumed response to the evolutionary pressures of predation. Bizarrely, rats infected with …

The study of the proteome (proteomics), which includes the dynamics of protein expression,
regulation, interactions and its function, has played a less prominent role in evolutionary and …

Parasites must overcome host immunity and change hosts for dispersal. Therefore,
seemingly odd behaviors of parasitized animals, like those exhibited by “Zombie ants” or the …

Parasites often alter the behavior of their hosts in ways that are ultimately beneficial to the
parasite or its offspring. Although the alteration of host behavior by parasites is a widespread …