Do Animals Have Friends? | Tumble Episode
- tumblepodcast
- 7 hours ago
- 2 min read
Do animals have friends? And what are those friendships like? In this episode we'll meet two scientists who have spent their life studying animal friendships. Karen Bales and Annaliese Beery each specialize in studying adorable animals who love to spend time with their closest friends. Listen in to find out what they've learned from animal besties!
🎧 Listen to the Episode
🐭 What Kids Will Learn
How scientists look at animal's behavior to try to tell what it might be thinking and feeling
What animal friendships can tell us about our own.
🔎About The Featured Experts
Karen Bales is a professor at UC Davis and Director of the California National Primate Research Center. Her research explores the biology of social bonds, including friendship, pair bonding, and parenting, in animals like titi monkeys and prairie voles. She is Editor-in-Chief of the American Journal of Primatology and a former president of the American Society of Primatologists.
Annaliese Beery is a professor at UC Berkeley whose research explores the biology of social bonds and friendship. She previously taught at Smith College, trained at Caltech, Williams College, UC Berkeley, and UCSF, and brings an interdisciplinary background that spans biology, teaching, and software engineering. Outside of the lab, Dr. Beery takes care of two humans, 8 chickens, and one cat, and occasionally throws pots.
🧑🏫 Classroom & Home Resources
🔗 NGSS Alignment: 3-LS2-1, 4-LS1-1
📜Crosscutting Concepts: Patterns, Cause and Effect
📚 Learn More:
Animal Diversity Web - Find pages with more information about titi monkeys, prairie voles, and tuco tucos here.
For grown-ups and advanced kids, check out Annaliese Beery's lab's webpage for lots of interesting research and cool pictures of friendly rodents.
Learn more about Titi Monkeys from Karen Bales' lab.
💬 Discussion Questions
Do you think animals can have friends the way humans do? Why or why not?
What were something you noticed that humans have in common with voles and titi monkeys? What were some things that are different?
Do you think you'd like to be a friendship scientist?
🎧 More Episodes About Animals: Why Do Animals Play?, Why Are Capybaras So Big?
📚 For Teachers: Explore our Audio Courses for NGSS-aligned science learning.
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