About

About The Scorpion and the Frog

Rats giggle when they’re tickled and flatworms fence with their penises. Who knew? Explore the science behind animal behavior and see where we fit in this quirky world.


About Miss Behavior

Photo by Matt Magolan

Miss Behavior’s real name is Sarah Jane Alger and she is a biologist. Depending on the day, she may be an animal behaviorist, a neuroethologist, a behavioral neuroendocrinologist, a behavioral ecologist, a physiologist, or a statistician. She has a PhD in Zoology and an MS in Biometry from the University of Wisconsin – Madison and she is faculty at the University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point. She is also a mother, a daughter, a sister, a wife, a friend, a student of life, a teacher, an adventurer, an admirer, a traveler and a thinker. Her greatest weakness is cheesecake.

Friend/Follow her on Facebook and/or Google+ (look for this picture) to get updates on The Scorpion and the Frog.


Photo Credits and Animal Identification for the Eye-Montage Header

From left to right: crocodile gecko by Yanpetro, parrot fish by Gustavo Gerdel, wood duck by kat+sam, human by Matt Magolan (Hee hee! That’s me!), longlegged fly by Thomas Shahan, silk snapper by Citron, red-tailed hawk by Steve Jurvetson, Japanese macaque by Alfonso Paz, jumping spider by Opoterser, agua rica leaf frog by Ron Santiago, Amazon parrot by anonymous, stoat by Kevin Law, panther chameleon by H Zell, northern leopard frog by Matt Reinbold, and cheetah by Kevin Law

All images except for the human eye were cropped from images posted on Wikimedia Commons.

My profile picture was taken by Matt Magolan and was previously published in Canoe and Kayak Magazine.

Contact and Policies

If you would like to chat in an informal group setting, please leave a comment attached to one of my posts (either the post that inspired your comment or my most recent post). If you have something to say of a more personal nature or if you would like to send me any suggestions, articles or artwork (see below), e-mail me at missbehaviorbiology(at)gmail(dot)com

While we’re talking about comments, when you leave a comment feel free to be quizzical, challenging, confused, blunt, or contemplative, but please remember to not be mean or completely inappropriate. That’s just rude. I reserve the right to delete mean comments and ban mean people. Hopefully, I won’t ever have to.

If you have any artwork, photographs or video that portrays animals (including people) displaying behavior (including just sitting there) and you would like to see it published (a blog counts as “published”, right?), send it my way. If it ties in with a post I’m writing, I’ll include it and give you credit. And if it inspires a post, I’ll give you credit for that too. Be sure to include the name I should give credit to and any additional information you like.

If you know of a research paper (maybe yours?) on a behavior story that you think would make a good The Scorpion and the Frog  post, send me a copy! I’m always looking for new inspiration.

I am the copyright holder of all written material on this site. If you would like to reproduce or redistribute any part of it, you may only do so with my permission (which I will likely give you if you just ask) and appropriate citations. If you would like to reproduce any imagery on this site, contact me and I will try to get you in touch with the artist/photographer/videographer so you can ask for his/her permission. All opinions expressed in this blog are mine and do not necessarily reflect those of any institution or organization with which I am affiliated.