What is schooling?

Schooling is one of the most precise aggregations that exists in the animal kingdom.  Not only do members of a school stay close to one another, they also mimic the exact speed and directional changes of their neighbors, producing the effect of effortless synchronicity. parrotfish school

Tinbergen's four questions

This website attempts to analyze behavior in terms of Tinbergen's four areas of questioning: Ontogeny, Phylogeny, Mechanism, and Adaptation.  While these divisions are essential for understanding the different proximate and ultimate causes for a behavior on an individual- and species-wide level, we have attempted to make significant connections throughout the site.  Please take the time to browse through all the pages and see the diverse factors governing this unique behavior.

Image courtesy of www.cjwinston.com (CJ Winston, accessed 11/4/2008).