ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book explains the role that animal behavior research plays in the selection and utilization of animals in laboratory research programs. It establishes the fundamental role that studying and understanding animal behavior plays in scientific research that involves animals. The book addresses the behavioral biology of rats, another popular and well-utilized taxon. It discusses the behavioral biology of sheep, explaining that they are highly social, engage in many types of allomimetic behavior, and are, surprisingly, highly trainable. The book discusses marmosets, with an emphasis on the common marmoset, an increasingly important NHP species in laboratory research, given its amenability to CRISPR-Cas9 technology.
