Scientists’ preferences may hold back animal science discoveries, per a study

The study advocates broadening of the research scope.

We may be missing out on some important discoveries because the scientists are studying the animals they find appealing, rather than exploring the full diversity of life on Earth, report the researchers in Ecology and Evolution. The study suggests that researchers’ emotional attachments to certain animals, shaped by their exposure to films or TV shows, can influence which organisms they choose to study.

“We don’t know what we don’t know,” says Pietro Pollo at the University of New South Wales in Australia. “The next major discovery could be in an organism we currently ignore because we don’t find it cute or exciting.”