Explore groundbreaking research on animal group behavior in this lecture from the Indian Institute of Science's Vishwesha Guttal, presented at IPAM's Modeling Multi-Scale Collective Intelligences Workshop. Delve into two major research themes: the influence of stochasticity on collective motion and its evolutionary implications, supported by theoretical frameworks and empirical data analysis from various animal groups, followed by an examination of collective escape response patterns in animal groups through both theoretical modeling and data-driven approaches. Gain insights into how randomness affects group movement and understand the universal characteristics of how animal groups respond to threats collectively.