Life Sciences Commons^™

Anatomy And Three-Dimensional Reconstructions Of The Brain Of A Bottlenose Dolphin (Tursiops Truncatus) From Magnetic Resonance Images, Lori Marino, Keith D. Sudheimer, Timothy L. Murphy, Kristina K. Davis, D. Ann Pabst, William A. Mclellan, James K. Rilling, John I. Johnson

Veterinary Science and Medicine Collection

Cetacean (dolphin, whale, and porpoise) brains are among the least studied mammalian brains because of the formidability of collecting and histologically preparing such relatively rare and large specimens. Magnetic resonance imaging offers a means of observing the internal structure of the brain when traditional histological procedures are not practical. Furthermore, internal structures can be analyzed in their precise anatomic positions, which is difficult to accomplish after the spatial distortions often accompanying histological processing. In this study, images of the brain of an adult bottlenose dolphin, Tursiops truncatus, were scanned in the coronal plane at 148 antero-posterior levels. From these scans …

The Evolution Of Animal Play, Emotions, And Social Morality: On Science, Theology, Spirituality, Personhood, And Love, Marc Bekoff

Attitudes Towards Animals Collection

My essay first takes me into the arena in which science, spirituality, and theology meet. I comment on the enterprise of science and how scientists could well benefit from reciprocal interactions with theologians and religious leaders. Next, I discuss the evolution of social morality and the ways in which various aspects of social play behavior relate to the notion of “behaving fairly.” The contributions of spiritual and religious perspectives are important in our coming to a fuller understanding of the evolution of morality. I go on to discuss animal emotions, the concept of personhood, and how our special relationships with …

Interactions Between Shoal Size And Conformity In Guppy Social Foraging, Rachel L. Day, Tom Macdonald, Culum Brown, Kevin N. Laland, Simon M. Reader

Sentience Collection

Previous experimental studies have established that shoaling fish forage more effectively in large than small groups. We investigated how shoal size affects the foraging efficiency of laboratory populations of the guppy, Poecilia reticulata, exposed to different foraging tasks. Experiment 1 confirmed the prediction that in open water the first fish and focal fish of larger shoals locate food faster than in smaller shoals. However, a second experiment, in which shoals of fish were required to swim through a hole in an opaque partition to locate food, found the reverse pattern: smaller shoals learned to complete the task faster than large …

Compendium Of Chemical Carcinogens By Target Organ: Results Of Chronic Bioassays In Rats, Mice, Hamsters, Dogs, And Monkeys, Lois Swirsky Gold, Neela B. Manley, Thomas H. Sloane, Jerrold M. Ward

Toxicology and Animal Models in Research Collection

Acompendiumof carcinogenesi s bioassay results organized by target organ is presented for 738 chemicals that are carcinogenic in chronic-exposure , long-term bioassays in at least 1 species. This compendium is based primarily on experiments in rats or mice; results in hamsters, monkeys, and dogs are also reported. The compendium can be used to identify chemicals that induce tumors at particular sites and to determine whether target sites are the same for chemicals positive in more than 1 species. The source of information is the Carcinogeni c Potency Database (CPDB), which includes results of 6073 experiments on 1458 chemicals (positive or …

Familiarity With The Test Environment Improves Escape Responses In The Crimson Spotted Rainbowfish, Melanotaenia Duboulayi, Culum Brown

Sentience Collection

Animals that are familiar with their environment have been reported to have greater survivorship for a number of reasons related to their knowledge of the terrain, which they recall from memory. In an initial experiment rainbowfish significantly improved their escape response towards a novel trawl apparatus over a sequence of five runs. Escape latencies were still low during a subsequent exposure 11 months after the initial exposure. While part of the improvement in escape success was certainly due to learning associated with the location of the escape route, it is likely that this was aided by habituation to the tank …

Familiarity Facilitates Social Learning Of Foraging Behaviour In The Guppy, Will Swaney, Jeremy Kendal, Hannah Capon, Culum Brown, Kevin N. Laland

Sentience Collection

Previous studies have shown that guppies, Poecilia reticulata, can learn the route to a food source by shoaling with knowledgeable conspecifics, and prefer to shoal with experienced foragers and familiar fish. We tested the hypothesis that guppies would learn more effectively from (1) familiar than unfamiliar demonstrators and (2) well-trained than poorly trained demonstrators. Demonstrator fish were given experience in swimming a route to a food source and then introduced into shoals of untrained observer guppies; the spread of this foraging skill was recorded over 15 trials. The demonstrators were either familiar or unfamiliar to the observers and either well …

The Effect Of Response Contingencies On Scale Model Task Performance By Chimpanzees (Pan Troglodytes), Valerie A. Kuhlmeier, Sarah T. Boysen

Sentience Collection

The effects of modified procedures on chimpanzees' (Pan troglodytes) performance in a scale model comprehension task were examined. Seven chimpanzees that previously participated in a task in which they searched an enclosure for a hidden item after watching an experimenter hide a miniature item in the analogous location in a scale model were retested under procedures incorporating response costs. In Experiment 1, chimpanzees were trained under procedures that rewarded only item retrievals occurring on the 1st search attempt. During test trials, 6 chimpanzees performed above chance, including 4 that were previously unsuccessful under the original procedures (V. A. Kuhlmeier, S. …

Observations Of Scent-Marking And Discriminating Self From Others By A Domestic Dog (Canis Familiaris): Tales Of Displaced Yellow Snow, Marc Bekoff

Ethology Collection

Little is known about what stimuli trigger urinating or scent-marking in domestic dogs, Canis familiaris, or their wild relatives. While it is often suggested that the urine of other animals influences urinating and scent-marking patterns in canids, this has not been verified experimentally. To investigate the role of urine in eliciting urinating and marking, in this pilot study I moved urine-saturated snow (‘yellow snow’) from place-to-place during five winters to compare the responses of an adult male domestic dog, Jethro, to his own and others’ urine. Jethro spent less time sniffing his own urine than that of other males or …

Assessing The ‘Whole Animal’: A Free Choice Profiling Approach, Françoise Wemelsfelder, Tony E.A. Hunter, Michael T. Mendl, Alistair B. Lawrence

Sentience Collection

The qualitative assessment of animal behaviour summarizes the different aspects of an animal’s dynamic style of interaction with the environment, using descriptors such as ‘confident’, ‘nervous’, ‘calm’ or ‘excitable’. Scientists frequently use such terms in studies of animal personality and temperament, but, wary of anthropomorphism, are reluctant to do so in studies of animal welfare. We hypothesize that qualitative behaviour assessment, in describing behaviour as an expressive process, may have a stronger observational foundation than is currently recognized, and may be of use as an integrative welfare assessment tool. To test this hypothesis, we investigated the inter- and intraobserver reliability …

Mammalian Play: Training For The Unexpected, Marek Špinka, Ruth C. Newberry, Marc Bekoff

Ethology Collection

In this review, we present a new conceptual framework for the study of play behavior, a hitherto puzzling array of seemingly purposeless and unrelated behavioral elements that are recognizable as play throughout the mammalian lineage. Our major new functional hypothesis is that play enables animals to develop flexible kinematic and emotional responses to unexpected events in which they experience a sudden loss of control. Specifically, we propose that play functions to increase the versatility of movements used to recover from sudden shock such as loss of balance and falling over, and to enhance the ability of animals to cope emotionally …

Mirror Self-Recognition In The Bottlenose Dolphin: A Case Of Cognitive Convergence, Diana Reiss, Lori Marino

Sentience Collection

The ability to recognize oneself in a mirror is an exceedingly rare capacity in the animal kingdom. To date, only humans and great apes have shown convincing evidence of mirror self-recognition. Two dolphins were exposed to reflective surfaces, and both demonstrated responses consistent with the use of the mirror to investigate marked parts of the body. This ability to use a mirror to inspect parts of the body is a striking example of evolutionary convergence with great apes and humans.

Magnetic Resonance Imaging And Three-Dimensional Reconstructions Of The Brain Of A Fetal Common Dolphin, Delphinus Delphis, Lori Marino, Timothy L. Murphy, Lyad Gozal, John I. Johnson

Veterinary Science and Medicine Collection

To demonstrate the kinds of data that can be obtained non-destructively and non-invasively from preserved museum specimens using modern imaging technology the head region of a whole body fetal specimen of the common dolphin, Delphinus delphis, aged 8–9 months post-conception, was scanned using Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). Series of scans were obtained in coronal, sagittal and horizontal planes. A digital three-dimensional reconstruction of the whole brain was prepared from the coronal series of scans. Sectional areas and three-dimensional volumes were obtained of the cerebral hemispheres and of the brainstemplus-cerebellum. Neuroanatomical features identified in the scans include the major sulci of …

Size Matters: Impact Of Item Size And Quantity On Array Choice By Chimpanzees (Pan Troglodytes), Sarah T. Boysen, Gary G. Berntson, Kimberly L. Mukobi

Sentience Collection

The authors previously reported that chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) showed a striking bias to select the larger of 2 candy arrays, despite a reversed reward contingency in which the animals received the smaller, nonselected array as a reward, except when Arabic numerals were used as stimuli. A perceptual or incentive-based interference occurred that was overcome by symbolic stimuli. The authors of the present study examined the impact of element size in choice arrays, using 1 to 5 large and small candies. Five test-sophisticated chimpanzees selected an array from the 2 presented during each trial. Their responses were not optimal, as animals …

Social Play Behaviour: Cooperation, Fairness, Trust, And The Evolution Of Morality, Marc Bekoff

Ethology Collection

No abstract provided.

Modifying Water Nipples For Newborn Pigs, P. A. Phillips, D. Fraser

Learning Ability Collection

The use of bite nipples by piglets during the first six days after birth was monitored by time-lapse video recording. Simple bite nipples, mounted at a downward angle, were not discovered by most piglets within the six days, even after the nipple had been modified to drip water continuously. However, two modifications resulted in most piglets discovering the nipple within three days. These modifications were (1) mounting the nipple close to the floor with an upward angle and (2) adding a short length of chain to the valve lever

The State Of The Animals: 2001, Deborah J. Salem, Andrew N. Rowan

How has the state of animals improved in the last half century? How has it worsened? Where are gains made on behalf of animals under threat? In one landmark volume, distinguished scholars and experts examine these questions–and offer often-provocative answers–for farm animals, companion animals, laboratory animals, zoo animals, and wildlife worldwide.

Dissection: The Scientific Case For Alternatives, Jonathan Balcombe

Experimentation Collection

This article presents the scientific argument that learning methods that replace traditional nonhuman animal-consumptive methods in life science education—so-called alternatives to dissection—are pedagogically sound and probably superior to dissection. This article focuses on the pedagogy, a learning method’s effectiveness for conveying knowledge.

The Ethical Limits Of Domestication: A Critique Of Henry Heffner’S Arguments, Colin Allen, Marc Bekoff, Lori Gruen

Experimentation Collection

Henry E. Heffner argues that “animals bred for research are properly viewed as animals who have successfully invaded the laboratory niche, relying heavily on kin selection to perpetuate their genes.” (1999, p. 134). This view of human–animal interactions is the cornerstone of his defense of animal experimentation in two widely-distributed papers (Heffner 1999, 2001). We argue that Heffner’s defense lacks adequate attention to ethical distinctions and principles.

Urban Wildlife Control: It Starts In Our Own Backyard, John Hadidian

Conservation Collection

No abstract provided.

Is There A Place In The World For Zoos? / Another View Of Zoos, David Hancocks, Richard Farinato

State of the Animals 2001

We human animals make rapid technological and cultural advancements because we have the ability to pass definitive information to succeeding generations. But we also accept too much from the past without challenge. The good, the bad, and the indifferent are muddled together, accumulating in layers that smother each succeeding age. Cultural mores ranging from the silly to the profane, from charming to dangerous, clutter our world. They exist only because, as the British are wont to say, “We have always done things this way.” One very troubling example is the public zoological parks found in almost every city: they are …

Animal Research: A Review Of Developments, 1950–2000, Andrew N. Rowan, Franklin M. Loew

State of the Animals 2001

The third phase of the animal research debate started around 1950. After World War II the government became a major sponsor of scientific research, including biomedical research. The budget of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) grew dramatically and has continued to grow, with a few minor retrenchment periods, up to the present time (see Figure 1). This growth led to an enormous expansion in publicly funded research. In the private sector, the discovery of penicillin and streptomycin led to a tremendous expansion in pharmaceutical research and in the size of the prescription drug industry. These expansions in government funding …

Urban Wildlife, John Hadidian, Sydney Smith

State of the Animals 2001

Despite the potential for difficulty, there are several reasons why urban wildlife should be valued and better understood. First is its scientific and heuristic value. Urban wildlife populations are essentially parts of ongoing natural experiments in adaptation to anthropogenic stress. How urban animals are affected by human activities— and how they cope with them— can represent, on a highly accelerated scale, a model of what is happening to species in other biomes. No other wild animals live in such intimate contact and under such constant constraint from human activities as do synanthropes. Second, urban animals are exposed to many environmental …

Fertility Control In Animals, Jay F. Kirkpatrick, Allen T. Rutberg

State of the Animals 2001

There are, effectively, only two choices for actively managing the size of animal populations: reducing the birth rate and increasing the death rate. (Local population size may also be controlled by movement of individuals in and out; but when the size of animal populations concerns us, movement of individuals merely relocates the concerns. We are not absolved of our responsibility for animals simply because they go somewhere else.) Killing certainly can reduce and even destroy wildlife populations if enough animals of the right description are removed from the population. Until the last decade of the twentieth century, however, fertility control …

Tail Docking Dairy Cattle: Effects On Cow Cleanliness And Udder Health, Cassandra B. Tucker, David Fraser, Daniel M. Weary

Farm Animal Husbandry Collection

To determine whether tail docking would influence cow cleanliness and udder health in a free-stall system, we monitored milking cows after half the animals in a herd were docked. A sample of 223 docked and 190 undocked cows (reducing to 169 and 105 over the study as cows were dried off) were monitored for 8 wk. Cow cleanliness was scored in two areas: along the spine, and the rump adjacent to the tail at 1, 2, 3, 5, and 8 wk after docking. Cleanliness was evaluated by counting squares that were soiled (0 to 14 on a 5- × 17.5-cm …

Animal Suffering: An Invertebrate Perspective, Jennifer A. Mather

Sentience Collection

Consideration of the welfare of other animals often is anthropocentric, focusing usually on mammals similar to humans. This article argues the necessity of evaluating the extension of such consideration more widely to invertebrates. Although unlike humans, some groups such as cephalopod molluscs probably have the potential for pain and suffering. In addition, a morality of care, rather than one of rights, and the damage humans do to themselves by cruel treatment of animals both argue for the extension of consideration to all animal species. This consideration predicts extension of basic care of cephalopods from simple housing and feeding into areas …

The First Forty Years Of The Alternatives Approach: Refining, Reducing, And Replacing The Use Of Laboratory Animals, Martin L. Stephens, Alan M. Goldberg, Andrew N. Rowan

State of the Animals 2001

The concept of the Three Rs— reduction, refinement, and replacement of animal use in biomedical experimentation—stems from a project launched in 1954 by a British organization, the Universities Federation for Animal Welfare (UFAW). UFAW commissioned William Russell and Rex Burch to analyze the status of humane experimental techniques involving animals. In 1959 these scientists published a book that set out the principles of the Three Rs, which came to be known as alternative methods. Initially, Russell and Burch’s book was largely ignored, but their ideas were gradually picked up by the animal protection community in the 1960s and early ’70s. …

The Gray Wolves (Canis Lupus) Of British Columbia’S Coastal Rainforests, Chris T. Darimont, Paul C. Paquet

Biogeography and Ecological Opportunity Collection

The mainland coast of British Columbia (BC) is a remote area that is comparatively free from human-caused disturbance. However, concerns about current and anticipated increases in industrial forestry activity have prompted conservation biologists to investigate the biota in this understudied region. We were commissioned by the Raincoast Conservation Society to study coastal wolves so that information could be incorporated into ongoing conservation planning and education efforts. The summer of 2000 marked the pilot season of a multi-year research project. Our team spent more than 240 person days in the field during the summer and fall seasons. We surveyed 18 mainland …

The Effect Of Littermate Weight On Survival, Weight Gain, And Suckling Behavior Of Low-Birth-Weight Piglets In Cross-Fostered Litters, Barry N. Milligan, David Fraser, Donald L. Kramer

Ontogeny Collection

Objective: To determine whether low-birth-weight piglets show better survival, weight gain, and suckling behavior when grouped with other small piglets by cross-fostering.

Methods: We manipulated the number and size of foster littermates for low-birth-weight piglets in 31 small (eight or nine piglets) and 22 large (11 or 12 piglets) litters. Experimental litters were composed of four to six piglets of lowest birth weight and either four to six slightly heavier or four to six much heavier piglets from two combined litters.

Results: Low-birth-weight piglets raised with much heavier littermates had somewhat lower survival rates, but showed no tendency towards lower …