Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution is honoured to partner with Behaviour 2025 as an official sponsor. This Research Topic is the second of two collections curated for the 38th International Ethological Congress (Behaviour 2025), that invites contributions that reflect the multidisciplinary and global nature of behavioural science, spotlighting work from the Indian subcontinent and comparative studies from around the world.

This particular topic explores how sensory systems and signaling behaviors shape ecological interactions and evolutionary dynamics. The ability of animals to generate appropriate signals, sense their environment and respond to signals have a profound influence on their ecology and behaviour. This special issue investigates the mechanisms underlying sensory signaling, the adaptive functions, and consequences of communication across diverse organisms, highlighting how organismal, environmental and social factors influence sensory perception, signal evolution, and the ecological impact of information exchange in natural populations.

This collection aims to:

- Examine how sensing shapes interaction between individuals, both conspecifics and across species and encourages perspectives spanning from molecular and neural mechanisms to ecological and evolutionary dynamics.
- Highlight cutting-edge research on behavioural patterns across different animals and across a multitude of habitats - from forests and coastlines to human-modified landscapes — leveraging both traditional fieldwork and contemporary cross disciplinary methodologies such as the use of machine learning methods.
- Encourage integrative studies that link behaviour with conservation, human-wildlife interactions, climate change, and sustainable development.
- Foster dialogue on diversity: not only in study organisms and research tools, but also in the backgrounds and experiences of scientists as was represented at the Behavior 2025 meeting, with a focus on, but not limited to, voices from the Global South.

The topics about Sensing the World: Evolution and Ecology of Sensory Signalling in Animal Behavior including but not limited to:

1) Senses and signals underlining plants and pollinator interactions
2) Interdisciplinary approaches to understand song evolution and communication in birds and mammals
3) Vision in attention and camouflage across animals
4) Signaling in a noisy world

By bringing together papers from across the ethological spectrum, this collection will act as a catalyst for new collaborations and inspire the next generation of behavioural researchers around the globe.

Are you interested in contributing a manuscript to this Research Topic?

Sensing the World: Evolution and Ecology of Sensory Signalling in Animal Behavior