The research could ultimately give insights into animal behaviour and help humans visit distant places.
They studied animal behaviour, among others, to try and understand the behaviour of humans.
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As well as gaining an understanding of the complexities of animal behaviour, these studies are trying to unpick its evolutionary origins.
Animal behaviour experts says it's possible we are seeing more of them, as urban foxes are becoming more accustomed to humans and getting braver.
The latest search for unknown beasties, carried out by Charles Paxton of the Animal Behaviour Research Group at Oxford University, is rather more unusual.
Short videos of "cute" animal behaviour are often popular on video websites such as YouTube and Vimeo, but cats seem to be a perennial favourite.
These researchers believe that such signals are far more common than biologists had realised and that they could explain a lot of otherwise inexplicable features of animal behaviour.
The result, published in the latest edition of Animal Behaviour, is that children who looked and smelled like their fathers did indeed enjoy more paternal care than those who did not.
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"They are coming closer, collecting food, rolling over, even allowing petting - in some instances the behaviour is more dog-like than fox-like, " says Dr Roger Mugford, an animal psychologist who runs the Animal Behaviour Centre.
"We wanted to test whether the salmon were able to recognise the otter as a threat using just chemical cues, and also to see whether they were detecting the smell of the predator's itself or of its diet, " said Dr Roberts, whose research was published in the Animal Behaviour Journal.
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When a tag is fitted it takes 6-10 days to build up a database of the animal's behaviour, and the sensors have a range of up to 600 metres.
Allowing untrained council workers or police community support officers to issue orders "could lead to compromises in animal welfare or even make dog behaviour worse due to lack of understanding in these areas", the letter added.
Animal studies have shown them to affect neurological and reproductive behaviour.
In a statement, the BSAVA said that shocks received during training could be stressful, painful and frightening for the animal and may also produce long-term adverse effects on behaviour.
Animal psychologist Roger Mugford, who founded the UK-based Training and Behaviour Centre, which works with problem dogs, echoes that view.
For example, altruistic behaviour towards relatives, infidelity, rape and murder are all widespread in the animal kingdom.
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