The scientific study of animal behavior is called Ethology. Much of ethology is concerned with understanding what is instinctive behavior and what is learned behavior. Instinctive behavior, sometimes called innate behavior, is inherited and not based on any prior experience. Exactly how instinct is transmitted from one generation to the next is still being studied, but the fact that it exists and the resulting observable actions are what I find really fascinating. Consider this: a sea turtl ...