Cognition-centered conservation as a means of advancing integrative animal behavior

•Integration is the future of animal behavior.•Conservation provides insight into dynamic and selective environment.•Behavioral studies gain perspective with conservation.•The conservation mindset can help realize the integrative approach.

The field of conservation has recently seen a shift toward the integration of behavior into the context of preserving biodiversity. We contend that this integration has been one-sided, typically done to improve conservation outcomes while ignoring the potential benefits that conservation has to the field of behavior itself. We propose that conservation provides a strong selective framework in which to investigate the origin and maintenance of behavior as well as a forum to examine the interdisciplinary nature of animals' cognitive responses to their environment. Using ectotherms as models, we argue that by engaging conservation, behaviorists have the opportunity to generate novel hypotheses, test established hypotheses in novel ways, and engage in collaborations central to the goals of integrative animal behavior.