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University of Tennessee, Knoxville

Faculty Publications and Other Works -- Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

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Ethology

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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences

Litter, Color Variation, And Sex Effects On Feeding And Anti-Predator Behavior In Individual Thamnophis Sirtalis, Jennifer F. Porter, Gordon M. Burghardt May 2012

Litter, Color Variation, And Sex Effects On Feeding And Anti-Predator Behavior In Individual Thamnophis Sirtalis, Jennifer F. Porter, Gordon M. Burghardt

Faculty Publications and Other Works -- Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

There are stark coloration differences within single populations of Thamnophis sirtalis such as the Isle Royale population. While these red color patterns cause the snakes to stand out, it is unsure if it is for some defensive purpose such as aposematic coloring. To see if this or other genetic factors, sex, and relatedness with litters, could influence behavior anti-predator and feeding tests were performed on 38 captive-born neonate T. sirtalis. The feeding experiment recorded the latency of feeding from placement of the piece of night crawler to food capture. The anti-predator experiment recorded reactions to a probe touching each snake …


Ethological Causes And Consequences Of The Stress Response, Neil Greenberg, James A. Carr, Cliff H. Summers Jan 2002

Ethological Causes And Consequences Of The Stress Response, Neil Greenberg, James A. Carr, Cliff H. Summers

Faculty Publications and Other Works -- Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

Stress involves real or perceived changes within an organism or in the environment that activate an organism’s attempts to cope by means of evolutionarily ancient neural and endocrine mechanisms. Responses to acute stressors involve catecholamines released in varying proportion at different sites in the sympathetic and central nervous systems. These responses may interact with and be complemented by intrinsic rhythms and responses to chronic or intermittent stressors involving the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis. Varying patterns of responses to stressors are also affected by an animal=s assessment of their prospects for successful coping. Subsequent central and systemic consequences of the stress response include …