Behavioral flexibility, the ability to adapt one’s behavior to changing circumstances based on previous experience, is thought to play an important role in a species' ability to successfully adapt to new environments and expand its geographic range. New findings from researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, the University of California Santa Barbara, and Auburn University, advance our understanding of the responses to novel circumstances by revealing flexibility in behavior on an individual level. These new results provide critical information for predicting which traits facilitate a species' ability to adapt its behavior to new areas, which is crucial in today's changing world.