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The search for powerful optimizers has led to the development of a multitude of metaheuristic algorithms inspired from all areas. This work focuses on the animal kingdom as a source of inspiration and performs an extensive, yet not exhaustive, review of the animal inspired metaheuristics proposed in the 2006–2021 period. The review is organized considering the biological classification of living things, with a breakdown of the simulated behavior mechanisms. The centralized data indicated that 61.6% of the animal-based algorithms are inspired from vertebrates and 38.4% from invertebrates. In addition, an analysis of the mechanisms used to ensure diversity was performed. The results obtained showed that the most frequently used mechanisms belong to the niching category.
Drăgoi et al. (Tue,) studied this question.