Week 3 Reflection Blog

1. From my Safina readings, I learned how complex wolves can be in their social groups. The chapter mentioned how many researchers label wolves as a number rather than giving them names which stuck with me. Another interesting thing I noted in the chapter was the alpha wolf's behavior, it mentioned that it was powerful yet calm when dealing with the pack. The alpha would know when to step in and address conflict in his group and when to let his pack resolve their issues on their own which I thought was pretty cool.

2. For my research topic I have been considering a few topics. I wanted to look into chimpanzee or bonobo intelligence. I also was considering researching wolves and social behavior after reading the chapter about wolves from Safina's book. As I've went through more research about wolves I want to look into their behavior among their own pack, with family members, and their behavior when dealing with rival wolf packs. I was also considering researching about a tiger and it's intelligence since they are on of my favorite animals.

3. While looking through twitter and the internet about Jane Goodall and the impact she has had on the study of chimpanzees and their behavior. I was surprised to learn that she actually lived with the chimpanzees while studying them in Africa. I have been using Google Scholar and twitter mostly to find some information about chimpanzees. The best source I found was on Google Scholar about chimpanzee's selfishness, altruism, and the mother-infant bond.