Journal of Ethology - Editor's Choice Award
The Editor’s Choice Award and the Editor’s Choice are open to all articles published in the Journal of Ethology. The editorial committee members select Editor’s Choice articles annually, and the first place among them receives a special award. Some or all of the winning articles are given open access through the courtesy of the Japan Ethological Society (currently valued at $3140.00/€2480.00 per article). Unrestricted online access allows high exposure and visibility for the articles.
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The editorial committee of the Journal of Ethology and the Japan Ethological Society make several-minute-long movies to explain the significance and the main results of the studies of some or all of the Editor's Choice articles. You can watch these movies through the Journal of Ethology official YouTube channel (this opens in a new tab). If a movie is already available, you can directly access the movie from the [Video] link under the title of each winning article (see below).
Editor's Choice Award 2023
Article | Journal of Ethology | Volume 41, 111–117
Fish yawn: the state-change hypothesis in juvenile white-spotted char Salvelinus leucomaenis (this opens in a new tab)
Hiroyuki Yamada & Satoshi Wada
Editor's Choice 2023
Article | Journal of Ethology | Volume 41, 59–72
Optimal pit site selection in antlion larvae: the relationship between prey availability and pit maintenance costs (this opens in a new tab)
Taka Hayashi, Kina Hayashi, Noriko Hayashi & Fumio Hayashi
Article | Journal of Ethology | Volume 41, 177–184
Mite dilemma: molting to acquire sexual maturity or not molting to ensure durability and dispersal ability in Phorytocarpais fimetorum (Parasitiformes; Gamasida; Parasitidae) (this opens in a new tab)
Yukio Yasui
Editor's Choice Award 2022
Article | Journal of Ethology | Volume 40, pp 73–284
The origination events of gametic sexual reproduction and anisogamy (this opens in a new tab)
Yukio Yasui & Eisuke Hasegawa
Editor's Choice 2022
Video Article | Journal of Ethology | Volume 40, pp 3–11
Cooperative den maintenance between male Japanese badgers that are delayed dispersers and their mothers (this opens in a new tab)
Hiroshi Tanaka, Yukihiro Fukuda, Etsuko Yuki, Yukihiro Ota, Eiji Hosoi & Wataru Kojima
Short Communiation | Journal of Ethology | Volume 40, pp 85–89
Reddish male swallows have short sperm (this opens in a new tab)
Masaru Hasegawa, Emi Arai & Masahiko Nakamura
Video Article | Journal of Ethology | Volume 40, pp 123–131
Lack of discrimination of sex and maturity of conspecifics in the copulation attempts of the male stalk-eyed fly, Sphyracephala detrahens (Diptera: Diopsidae) (this opens in a new tab)
Ayumi Kudo, Takeshi Fujii & Yukio Ishikawa
Article | Journal of Ethology | Volume 40, pp 145–151
Encounter with heavier females changes courtship and fighting efforts of male field crickets Gryllus bimaculatus (Orthoptera: Gryllidae) (this opens in a new tab)
[Video (this opens in a new tab)]
Takashi Kuriwada
Article | Journal of Ethology | Volume 40, pp 211–221
Locomotion and flow speed preferences in natural habitats by large water striders, Ptilomera tigrina, with micro-morphological adaptations for rowing (this opens in a new tab)
[Video (this opens in a new tab)]
Woojoo Kim, Thai Hong Pham, Phuong Dung Nguyen, Anh Duc Tran, Jungmoon Ha, Piotr G. Jablonski & Sang-im Lee
Editor's Choice Award 2021
Article | Journal of Ethology | Volume 39, pp 369–377
Defensive spray by a semiaquatic osmylid larva (Insecta: Neuroptera) for both aquatic and terrestrial predators (this opens in a new tab)
[Video (this opens in a new tab)]
Tsukuru Iwanami, Pei Yu & Fumio Hayashi
Editor's Choice 2021
Article | Journal of Ethology | Volume 39, pp 329–342
An empirical test of bet-hedging polyandry hypothesis in the field cricket Gryllus bimaculatus (this opens in a new tab)
[Video (this opens in a new tab)]
Yukio Yasui & Yuto Yamamoto
Video Article | Journal of Ethology | Volume 39, pp 267–274
Wing-waving behaviors are used for conspecific display in the Japanese scorpionfly, (this opens in a new tab)Panorpa japonica (this opens in a new tab)
[Video (this opens in a new tab)]
Ryo Ishihara & Takahisa Miyatake
Article | Journal of Ethology | Volume 39, pp 399–410
Whale shark (Rhincodon typus) predatory flexible feeding behaviors on schooling fish (this opens in a new tab)
[Video (this opens in a new tab)]
Austin N. Montero-Quintana, Carlos F. Ocampo-Valdez, J. Abraham Vázquez-Haikin, Oscar Sosa-Nishizaki & Marcela Osorio-Beristain
Article | Journal of Ethology | Volume 39, pp 55–64
Trade-off between mate choice speed and decision accuracy under mating competition in female sand gobies (this opens in a new tab)
[Video (this opens in a new tab)]
Beatriz Diaz Pauli & Kai Lindström
Article | Journal of Ethology | Volume 39, pp 319–328
Another usage of autotomized penis (this opens in a new tab)
[ (this opens in a new tab)Video (this opens in a new tab)] (this opens in a new tab)
Ayami Sekizawa, Yurika Tsurumi, Natsuki Ito & Yasuhiro Nakashima
Article | Journal of Ethology | Volume 39, pp 379–391
Effects of habitat conditions on the boldness and sociability of wild-caught fish (Zacco platypus) along a river (this opens in a new tab)
Zhonghua Tang & Shi-Jian Fu
Editor’s Choice Award 2020
Video Article | Journal of Ethology | Volume 38, Issue 2, pp 155-160
An elaborate behavioural sequence reinforces the decoy effect of ink during predatory attacks on squid (this opens in a new tab)
[Video (this opens in a new tab)]
Yuto Hikidi, Noritaka Hirohashi, Takashi Kasugai & Noriyosi Sato
Editor's Choice 2020
Article | Journal of Ethology | Volume 38, Issue 1, pp 107–116
Route reassessment by transporter ants improves speed and directional accuracy of cooperative transport in Formica japonica (this opens in a new tab)
Shumpei Hisamoto, Natsumi Hosaka, Yuka Matsunami & Hideo Iwasaki
Article | Journal of Ethology | Volume 38, Issue 1, pp 71–77
Herding mechanisms to maintain the cohesion of a harem group: two interaction phases during herding (this opens in a new tab)
Monamie Ringhofer, Clark Kendrick Go, Sota Inoue, Renata S. Mendonça, Satoshi Hirata, Takatomi Kubo, Kazushi Ikeda & Shinya Yamamoto
Review | Journal of Ethology | Volume 38, Issue 2, pp 137–154
Fiddler crabs and their above-ground sedimentary structures: a review (this opens in a new tab)
[Video (this opens in a new tab)] (this opens in a new tab)
Juan C. F. Pardo, Gabriel Stefanelli-Silva, John H. Christy & Tânia M. Costa
Article | Journal of Ethology | Volume 38, Issue 2, pp 179–184
Experimental tail shortening affects feeding rate depending on original tail length in female barn swallows Hirundo rustica gutturalis (this opens in a new tab)
[Video (this opens in a new tab)]
Masaru Hasegawa, Emi Arai & Masahiko Nakamura
Article | Journal of Ethology | Volume 38, Issue 2, pp 185–194
Widespread army ant aversion among East African jumping spiders (Salticidae) (this opens in a new tab)
Ximena J. Nelson, Samuel Aguilar-Arguello & Robert R. Jackson
Article | Journal of Ethology | Volume 38, Issue 3, pp 253-270
Qualitative description of the submission and agonistic behavior of the Spix’s Macaw (Cyanopsitta spixii, Spix 1824), with special reference to the displacement displays (this opens in a new tab)
[Video (this opens in a new tab)]
Vladislav Marcuk, Cromwell Purchase, Donovan de Boer, Marcellus Bürkle & Katrin Scholtyssek
Editor’s Choice Award 2019
Short Communication | Journal of Ethology | Volume 37, Issue 1, pp 111-115
Unique numerical competence of Asian elephants on the relative numerosity judgment task (this opens in a new tab)
[Video (this opens in a new tab)]
Naoko Irie, Mariko Hiraiwa-Hasegawa, and Nobuyuki Kutsukake
Editor’s Choice 2019
Article | Journal of Ethology | Volume 37, Issue 1, pp 21-29
A nudibranch removes rival sperm with a disposable spiny penis (this opens in a new tab)
[Video (this opens in a new tab)] [Video Jpn version (this opens in a new tab)]
Ayami Sekizawa, Shin G. Goto, and Yasuhiro Nakashima
Review | Journal of Ethology | Volume 37, Issue 2, pp 139-150
Kin selection and reproductive value in social mammals (this opens in a new tab)
[Video (this opens in a new tab)] [Video w/Jpn subtitles (this opens in a new tab)]
Masaru Hasegawa and Nobuyuki Kutsukake
Article | Journal of Ethology | Volume 37, Issue 2, pp 167-174
Alarm call modification by prairie dogs in the presence of juveniles (this opens in a new tab)
[Video (this opens in a new tab)] [Video w/ Jpn subtitles (this opens in a new tab)]
Grete E. Wilson-Henjum, Jacob R. Job, Megan F. McKenna, Graeme Shannon, and George Wittemyer
Video Article | Journal of Ethology | Volume 37, Issue 3, pp 259-264
Context-dependent aggression toward non-nestmates in the ant Diacamma sp. from Japan (this opens in a new tab)
[Video (this opens in a new tab)]
Jumpei Uematsu, Masayuki Hayashi, Hiroyuki Shimoji, Michel-Olivier Laurent Salazar, and Kazuki Tsuji
Article | Journal of Ethology | Volume 37, Issue 3, pp 317-323
Nurture is above nature: nursery experience determines habitat preference of red sea bream Pagrus major juveniles (this opens in a new tab)
[Video (this opens in a new tab)]
Kohji Takahashi, Reiji Masuda
Editor’s Choice Award 2018
Article | Journal of Ethology | Vol.36, Issue 1, pp 99–105
Olfactory discrimination of anal sac secretions in the domestic cat and the chemical profiles of the volatile compounds (this opens in a new tab)
[Video (this opens in a new tab)]
Tamako Miyazaki, Takashi Nishimura, Tetsuro Yamashita, Masao Miyazaki
Editor’s Choice 2018
Article | Journal of Ethology | Vol. 36, Issue 2, pp 135–141
Pre-ovipositional maternal care alleviates food stress of offspring in the flower beetle Dicronocephalus wallichii (this opens in a new tab)
[Video (this opens in a new tab)]
Wataru Kojima, Chung-Ping Lin
Article | Journal of Ethology | Vol. 36, Issue 2, pp 161–168
Responses to relaxed and reverse selection in strains artificially selected for duration of death-feigning behavior in the red flour beetle, Tribolium castaneum (this opens in a new tab)
[Video (this opens in a new tab)] [Video w/ Jpn subtitle (this opens in a new tab)]
Kentarou Matsumura, Takahisa Miyatake
Article | Journal of Ethology | Vol. 36, Issue 3, pp 221–228
Comparison of personality between juveniles and adults in clonal gecko species (this opens in a new tab)
[Video (this opens in a new tab)]
Osamu Sakai
Article | Journal of Ethology |Vol. 36, Issue 1, pp 15–22
Effect of social condition on behavioral development during early adult phase in Drosophila prolongata (this opens in a new tab)
[Video (this opens in a new tab)] [Video w/Jpn subtitle (this opens in a new tab)] (this opens in a new tab)
Takashi Matsuo
Article | Journal of Ethology | Vol. 36, Issue 1, pp 85–91
Influence of aging on brain and web characteristics of an orb web spider (this opens in a new tab)
Alain Pasquet, Camille Toscani, Mylène Anotaux
Video Article | Journal of Ethology | Vol. 36, Issue 1, pp 1–13
Mating and aggressive behaviour of Brachyrhaphis olomina (Cyprinodontiformes: Poeciliidae) (this opens in a new tab)
[Video (this opens in a new tab)] [Video w/ Jpn subtitle] (this opens in a new tab)
Carlos A. Garita-Alvarado, Beatriz Naranjo-Elizondo, Gilbert Barrantes
Video Article | Journal of Ethology | Vol. 36, Issue 2, pp 107–116
Ethological description of a fixed action pattern in a kissing bug (Triatominae): vision, gustation, proboscis extension and drinking of water and guava (this opens in a new tab)
[Video (this opens in a new tab)]
Oscar Páez-Rondón, Elis Aldana, Joseph Dickens, Fernando Otálora-Luna
Editor’s Choice Award 2017
Article | Journal of Ethology| Vol. 35, Issue 2, pp 177–185
Male mate choice in a sexually cannibalistic species: male escapes from hungry females in the praying mantid Tenodera angustipennis (this opens in a new tab)
Mika Kadoi, Kotaro Morimoto, Yasuoki Takami
Editor’s Choice 2017
Short Communication | Journal of Ethology | Vol. 35, Issue 3, pp 307–311
Unique arm-flapping behavior of the pharaoh cuttlefish, Sepia pharaonis: putative mimicry of a hermit crab (this opens in a new tab)
Kohei Okamoto, Haruhiko Yasumuro, Akira Mori, Yuzuru Ikeda
Invited Review | Journal of Ethology | Vol. 35, Issue 1, pp 3–12
Agonistic display or courtship behavior? A review of contests over mating opportunity in butterflies (this opens in a new tab)
Tsuyoshi Takeuchi
Article | Journal of Ethology | Vol. 35, Issue 2, pp 169–176
Behavioral assay and chemical characters of female sex pheromones in the hermit crab Pagurus filholi (this opens in a new tab)
Saori Okamura, Takuma Kawaminami, Hiroshi Matsuura, Nobuhiro Fusetani, Seiji Goshima
Article | Journal of Ethology | Vol. 35, Issue 3, pp 251–257
Setting an evolutionary trap: could the hider strategy be maladaptive for white-tailed deer? (this opens in a new tab)
M. Colter Chitwood, Marcus A. Lashley, Christopher E. Moorman, Christopher S. DePerno
Article | Journal of Ethology | Vol. 35, Issue 3, pp 259–267
Sometimes noise is beneficial: stream noise informs vocal communication in the little torrent frog Amolops torrentis (this opens in a new tab)
Longhui Zhao, Bicheng Zhu, Jichao Wang, Steven E. Brauth, Yezhong Tang, Jianguo Cui
Editor’s Choice Award 2016
Article | Journal of Ethology | Vol. 34, Issue 1, pp 79-84
Referential calls coordinate multi-species mobbing in a forest bird community (this opens in a new tab)
Toshitaka N. Suzuki
Editor’s Choice 2016
Article | Journal of Ethology | Vol. 34, Issue 1, pp 9-14
Experiments with claw models explain the function of the waving display of Ilyoplax pusilla (Brachyura: Dotillidae) (this opens in a new tab)
Daichi Izumi, Yoko Kawano, Yasuhisa Henmi
Article | Journal of Ethology | Vol. 34, Issue 2, pp 97-105
Correlated responses in death-feigning behavior, activity, and brain biogenic amine expression in red flour beetle Tribolium castaneum strains selected for walking distance (this opens in a new tab)
Kentarou Matsumura, Ken Sasaki, Takahisa Miyatake
Article | Journal of Ethology | Vol. 34, Issue 3, pp 231-241
Behavioural interactions between the lizard Takydromus tachydromoides and the praying mantis Tenodera aridifolia suggest reciprocal predation between them (this opens in a new tab)
Miyuki Fukudome, Yoshifumi Yamawaki
Article | Journal of Ethology | Vol. 34, Issue 3, pp 249-254
Do weaponless males of the hermit crab Pagurus minutus give up contests without escalation? Behavior of intruders that lack their major cheliped in male-male contests (this opens in a new tab)
Chiaki I. Yasuda, Tsunenori Koga
Article | Journal of Ethology | Vol. 34, Issue 3, pp 291-298
Interference competition between an invasive parakeet and native bird species at feeding sites (this opens in a new tab)
Le Louarn Marine, Couillens Bertrand, Deschamps-Cottin Magali, Clergeau Philippe
Editor’s Choice Award 2015
Article | Journal of Ethology | Vol. 33, Issue 2, pp 117-124
Distance-dependent switching of anti-predator behavior of frogs from immobility to fleeing (this opens in a new tab)
Nozomi Nishiumi, Akira Mori
Editor’s Choice 2015
Video Article | Journal of Ethology | Vol. 33, Issue 1, pp 1-7
Paternal care behaviors of Japanese giant salamander Andrias japonicus in natural populations (this opens in a new tab)
Sumio Okada, Yukihiro Fukuda, Mizuki K. Takahashi
Article | Journal of Ethology | Vol. 33, Issue 1, pp 25-33
Guarding males of the hermit crab climb up algae to avoid male–male competition (this opens in a new tab)
Takuma Kawaminami, Seiji Goshima
Article | Journal of Ethology | Vol. 33, Issue 1, pp 35-40
Conditional discrimination in Octopus vulgaris (this opens in a new tab)
Koji Tokuda, Reiji Masuda, Yoh Yamashita
Short Communication | Journal of Ethology | Vol. 33, Issue 1, pp 55-57
Rapid development of tool use as a strategy to predate invasive land snails (this opens in a new tab)
Márcio A. Efe, Fábio Nunes de Paiva, João Marcelo Holderbaum, Richard J. Ladle
Video Article | Journal of Ethology | Vol. 33, Issue 2, pp 109-115
Object play in thick-toed geckos during a space experiment (this opens in a new tab)
Valerij Barabanov, Victoria Gulimova, Rustam Berdiev, Sergey Saveliev
Editor’s Choice Award 2014
Article | Journal of Ethology | Vol. 32, Issue 3, pp 173-178
Prey size affects the costs and benefits of group predation in nymphs of the predatory stink bug Andrallus spinidens (Heteroptera: Pentatomidae) (this opens in a new tab)
Daisuke Hyodo, Chihiro Himuro, Kenji Fujisaki
Editor’s Choice 2014
Article | Journal of Ethology | Vol. 32, Issue 1, pp 23-27
Hidden burrow plugs and their function in the tiger beetle, Cosmodela batesi (Coleoptera, Cicindelidae) (this opens in a new tab)
Shou-Wang Lin, Toshinori Okuyama
Article | Journal of Ethology | Vol. 32, Issue 1, pp 43-51
Cannibalistic siblicide in praying mantis nymphs (Miomantis caffra) (this opens in a new tab)
Murray P. Fea, Margaret C. Stanley, Gregory I. Holwell
Article | Journal of Ethology | Vol. 32, Issue 2, pp 91-102
Sexual dimorphism and courtship behavior in Drosophila prolongata (this opens in a new tab)
Shiori Setoguchi, Hisaki Takamori, Tadashi Aotsuka, Jun Sese, Yukio Ishikawa, Takashi Matsuo
Article | Journal of Ethology | Vol. 32, Issue 3, pp 137-143
Variation in female guppy preference for male olfactory and visual traits (this opens in a new tab).
Aya Sato, Naoko Ozawa, Kenji Karino
Article | Journal of Ethology | Vol. 32, Issue 3, pp 145-153
Juvenile social play and yearling behavior and reproductive success in female Belding’s ground squirrels (this opens in a new tab)
Scott Nunes
Editor’s Choice 2013
Article | Journal of Ethology | Vol. 31, Issue 1, pp 9-15
Acoustic structure of songs in island populations of the Japanese bush warbler, Cettia diphone, in relation to sexual selection (this opens in a new tab)
Shoji Hamao
Article | Journal of Ethology | Vol. 31, Issue 1, pp 29-34
Love is in the air: olfaction-based mate-odour identification by jumping spiders from the genus Cyrba (this opens in a new tab)
Ana M. Cerveira, Robert R. Jackson
Article | Journal of Ethology | Vol. 31, Issue 1, pp 79-83
Divergent tail and throat ornamentation in the barn swallow across the Japanese islands (this opens in a new tab)
Masaru Hasegawa, Emi Arai
Article | Journal of Ethology | Vol. 31, Issue 2, pp 123-128
Preadaptation for parthenogenetic colony foundation in subterranean termites Reticulitermes spp. (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae) (this opens in a new tab)
Kazutaka Kawatsu, Kenji Matsuura
Article | Journal of Ethology | Vol. 31, Issue 2, pp 141-149
Exchange of “signature” calls in captive belugas (Delphinapterus leucas) (this opens in a new tab)
Tadamichi Morisaka, Yayoi Yoshida, Yuichiro Akune, Hideki Mishima, Sayo Nishimoto
Article | Journal of Ethology | Vol. 31, Issue 2, pp 185-191
Paternity assurance before and after fertilization by male burying beetles (Nicrophorus quadripunctatus) (this opens in a new tab)
Mamoru Takata, Takuma Kurachi, Satoshi Koyama, Toshiyuki Satoh, Hajime Fugo
Short Communication | Journal of Ethology |Vol. 31, Issue 2, pp 219-221
Allocleaning behavior by the sentinel crab Macrophthalmus banzai: a case of mutual cooperation (this opens in a new tab)
Yurika Fujishima, Keiji Wada
Article | Journal of Ethology | Vol. 31, Issue 3, pp 305-313
Mother–calf interactions and social behavior development in Commerson’s dolphins (Cephalorhynchus commersonii) (this opens in a new tab)
Mai Sakai, Tadamichi Morisaka, Mari Iwasaki, Yayoi Yoshida, Ikuo Wakabayashi, Atsushi Seko, Masahiko Kasamatsu, Shiro Kohshima