Animals’ reactions to respective excrements monitored by the research team. Top left: Japanese macaques/human-like. Top right: Adélie penguin/white-splash . Bottom left: Red-eared slider/black-pellet. Bottom right: Slow loris/macaque-like but smaller. Credit: KyotoU/Jake TobiyamaLife for all creatures, humans included, would be a lot more straightforward if diseases were as noticeable as flashing warning signs or loud alarm bells.
An international team of scientists has now set up a framework to test disgust and its associated disease-avoidance behaviors across various animal“Over 30 species have been reported to exhibit disease avoidance strategies in the wild.
Disgust can be triggered by sensory cues associated with disease risk, such as the sight of diarrhea, which releases a set of behavioral or physiological responses that help animals avoid parasites, pathogens, and toxins. “Some species living in colonies, such as rabbits and penguins, go further in tolerating diseased mates since a community immunity strategy ensures the colony’s survival,” adds MacIntosh.