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Humans have studied animal behavior since prehistoric times. Understanding the habits of potential prey, as well as those of their predators, was of great value to hunters. Appreciation of behavioral traits led to the domestication of animal species. Accounts of animal behaviors such as seasonal appearances and disappearances, mating displays, aggression, prey capture, parental care, and communication are found throughout recorded history. Yet the scientific study of animal behavior did not truly get under way until the early 1900s.