Ethosearch: A New Online Resource for Ethograms and Evaluating Behavior and Welfare

Abstract

Ethograms, as compiled catalogs of a species' behavioral repertoire, represent a fundamental underpinning of behavioral research. Well-designed ethograms underlie any rigorous quantitative study of behavior because they specify "units" of data, the acts or events that are recorded and relationships analyzed. The collection of standardized behavioral information in captive and field study sites, along with the increase of collaborative, multi-institutional research, presented a need for a searchable and easily used database of ethograms. Ethosearch: the Ethogram Archive Project (www.ethosearch.org) is designed to address the lack of consistency and provide a resource to both researchers and students. The structure of Ethosearch is based upon the classification of specific behaviors and their functional and operational definitions. Every ethogram has a number of informative "metadata" tags, such as author, publication, citation information, and details on the nonhuman animal population on which the ethogram is based. Users of the database are able to use these tags to access specific ethograms or behaviors of interest. The applications for an archived database of ethograms are broad. With potential application to both the scientific and education community, Ethosearch has a proven niche to address and has positioned itself as a critical resource to encourage high-quality ethological endeavors.