Oct 17: Iain Couzin's Scientific Spark, why do deer in Japan bow, and why are some plant nectars bitter?

This month I meet some very polite deer who have a special way of asking for food. I discover why some plant nectars contain poisonous toxins. And in the scientific spark, I talk to Iain Couzin from the Max Planck Department of Collective Behaviour. Iain tells me what sparked his interest in becoming a scientist, and how, if his teachers had had their way, he might have been doing something entirely different. Download the MP3 Feeding a sika deer in Nara Park, Japan Today I met the sika deer of who have learned to bow for treats. Seems to be a pic.twitter.com/jTedabe2hW — Dr. Hannah Rowland (@HannahMRowland) October 1, 2017 Quicklinks: Variation and social influence of bowing behavior by sika deer (Cervus nippon) in the journal Ethology Patty Jone' lab webpage at Bowdoin Patty's paper on the consequences of toxic secondary compounds in nectar for mutualist bees and antagonist butterflies. Iain Couzin's Collective Behaviour Department

You can listen to Oct 17: Iain Couzin's Scientific Spark, why do deer in Japan bow, and why are some plant nectars bitter? online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

Oct 17: Iain Couzin's Scientific Spark, why do deer in Japan bow, and why are some plant nectars bitter? is an episode from The Behavioural Ecology and Evolution Podcast (the Beepcast).

The episode duration depends on the source podcast feed and may not always be available.

This episode was published on Oct 22, 2017.

Yes. Use the heart button on the episode page to add it to your favorite episodes list.

Yes. This page shows related episodes from The Behavioural Ecology and Evolution Podcast (the Beepcast) when more episodes are available from the podcast feed.