Animal Studies Commons^™

Development Of Semantic Reference For Location Symbols By Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops Truncatus) Using A Two-Way Communication Keyboard, Alyssa Taylor

Master's Theses

The ability for humans to communicate with another species has been an aspiration and well documented. One example is through training animals to make associations between a designated cue and conditioned response (Pryor, 1986). Two-way communication, however, in which both species can express wants/needs has been predominantly pursued with apes and dolphins. Studies conducted by Louis Herman demonstrated the capabilities of dolphins to comprehend complex semantic and syntactic commands in an artificial language system (Herman, Richards, & Wolz, 1984). Researchers working with primates have used American Sign Language, a computer keyboard system with discrete lexigrams, and a portable lexigram keyboard (Gardner & Gardner, 1969; Rumbaugh, 1977; Savage-Rumbaugh, 1986). Savage-Rumbaugh decided to take a different approach to learning after one individual demonstrated the ability to use the keyboard ...

Assessment Of A Nutritional Rehabilitation Model In Two Modern Broilers And Their Jungle Fowl Ancestor: A Model For Better Understanding Childhood Undernutrition, Mikayla Baxter

Theses and Dissertations

The World Health Organization, estimated that 22.9% of children under the age of 5 are stunted. The etiology of stunting is multifactorial and is associated with poor linear growth, villous atrophy, dysbiosis, and increased intestinal permeability. Inclusion of rye in poultry diets induces nutrient deficiencies and increases intestinal permeability, dysbiosis and decreases growth rates. The objective of this dissertation was to determine if chickens consuming a rye based diet exhibited a similar pathophysiology of stunted children to develop a relevant animal model. Therefore, early or late phase malnutrition was induced determine the effects of malnutrition on performance, bone mineralization ...

Variables Affecting Latency Of Rats Running On A Maze, Divya Subramanian

Honors Scholar Theses

When rats are running on a maze, what factors affect their latency? This project examines how time of day of training and hunger levels of the rats affect how long they take to complete the sessions of a behavioral task. A training day consists of three sessions, each with 20 runs. I hypothesize that the rats’ performance will improve if they are trained later in the day, if they are hungrier, and in successive sessions.

Darkness As A Positive Reinforcer In Weakly Electric Fish, Amber Lea D. Kincaid

School of Arts & Sciences Theses

Darkness was used as a positive reinforcer in 14 Gnathonemus petersii fish in an object discrimination task. One subject showed a significant learning response. This study provides preliminary support for the use of darkness as positive reinforcement in weakly electric fish and presents potential areas of interest for future study.

How To Help When It Hurts? Think Systemic, Corey L. Wrenn

Corey Lee Wrenn, Ph.D.

Impact Of Teat Order On Feed Consumption In Swine From Birth To Nursery, Callan Lichtenwalter

Animal Science Undergraduate Honors Theses

A relationship between teat order and feed consumption has been assumed in pigs, but no study has looked at this exact relationship. Pigs were observed shortly after birth to be in either a cranial, middle, or caudal teat positon. Growth performance data and active and total plasma ghrelin concentrations were analyzed at birth, weaning, and at the end of the nursery stage of production to see if a relationship with teat order was present. Further growth performance data were analyzed during different phases of the nursery stage. Overall, no effect of teat order was found on average daily gain, average ...

The Vaginal Microbiome Related To Reproductive Traits In Beef Heifers, Maryanna Wells Mcclure

Theses and Dissertations

The greatest impact on profitability of a commercial beef operation is reproduction. In the human vaginal microbiome, dominance by Lactobacillus is a sign of reproductive health and fitness. In other species (non-human primates and ewes), Lactobacillus is found in low amounts and dominators of these microbial communities are considered to be pathogenic in humans. In beef heifers, little is known about the vaginal and fecal microbiota with respect to their relationship with fertility. To this end, we followed heifers through gestation to examine the dynamics of vaginal and fecal microbial composition throughout pregnancy.

Heifers were exposed to an estrus synchronization ...

Towards Quantifying Relevant Land Cover Change: A Case Study In The Central Flyway Of The Monarch Butterfly, Hanna Lenee Ford

Theses and Dissertations

Over the past 20 years notable decreases in monarch butterfly populations have led researchers to begin evaluating the landscape for changes and seeking out opportunities for enacting conservation programs to better support their survival. The monarch butterfly has recently come under consideration for listing under the Endangered Species Act which has created a need for a more informed view of the landscape through which the migrate and breed, the central United States. In this research three spatially-explicit models are explored using the most applicable datasets currently available to address pressing policy and land manager decisions regarding monarch butterfly and pollinator ...

Effects Of Norharmane And Nicotine On The Conditioned Place Preference Of Mice, Lindsey Galbo

All NMU Master's Theses

Tobacco smoking in the United States is used by approximately 25% of adults. Many studies using animal models have suggested that nicotine has rewarding properties. Contrastingly, several studies have also found it to be a weakly reinforcing substance at low and high dose levels. Due to this, other tobacco constituents, such as the monoamine oxidase inhibitor norharmane which is found in tobacco leaf and smoke, may be responsible for tobacco addiction by potentiating the rewarding properties of nicotine. Several studies have attempted to observe this phenomenon, however, monoamine oxidase inhibitors that are not found in tobacco leaf or smoke have ...

Effects Of Environmental Enrichment On Behavior In A Domestic Goat Herd, Stephanie Peramas

Senior Honors Projects

Animal welfare is one of the most important parts of animal management. Apart from other measures of good animal welfare, like being in good health, animal behavior can be indicative of the animal’s internal state and is often one of the first signs of improper welfare. Stereotypies, or stereotypic behavior, are commonly viewed as a symptom of improper animal welfare. Unenriched, or barren, environments associated with farmed livestock have long been associated with inducing stereotypic behavior. The addition of precise enrichment to the animals’ environment is a common remedy for stereotypic behavior. With respect to stereotypic goat behavior, few ...

Keeping And Killing: Six Conversations On The Complex Nature Of The Human-Animal Relationship, Shannen Cashman

Senior Theses

This thesis examines the complexity of animal-human relationships in the contemporary United States, drawing on literature, science, and philosophy to explore the various ways that humans keep animals in captivity, such as in the instances of pet-keeping, animal research, and animal agriculture, while also having to kill them. By examining these ways of interacting with animals, an inherent duality within human consciousness is exposed. Humans both do and do not want to take responsibility for their actions regarding animals, often times resulting in humans telling themselves stories that make them feel more comfortable with these conflicting desires. The final chapter ...

Behavioural Flexibility In Bumblebees (Bombus Impatiens), Caroline Strang

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Foraging bumblebees (Bombus impatiens) extract nectar and pollen from a wide variety of morphologically distinct flower species, referred to as flower handling. Bumblebees learn this behaviour and acquisition of multiple flower handling techniques is a demonstration of behavioural flexibility. The purpose of this thesis is to understand how bumblebees are able to forage flexibly. This research has three specific goals: (1) to identify the cognitive mechanisms that support flower handling learning, (2) to understand how bumblebees avoid interference costs between multiple handling techniques, and (3) to explore the relation between behavioural flexibility and the mushroom bodies of the bumblebee brain ...

Furs: Functionality, Fashion, And Franchise, Jenna Q. Detweiler

Environmental Studies Honors Papers

Animal furs have been used in various manners through human history. Early humans cut crude shawls for warmth, and with the development of tools such as needles, closer-fitting clothing such as fur pants became possible. As time went on, products such as wool and cotton were used for clothing and, with fur alternatives, furs were reserved for the ultra-wealthy in some cultures. The image of fur as a luxury item has remained ever since, but simultaneously fur has become more accessible to the general public. Meanwhile, animal rights movements have successfully dampened interest in fur in some countries and communities ...

The Effects Of Equine-Assisted Interventions On Children With Autism: A Systematic Review, Jenna Starke

Carroll College Student Undergraduate Research Festival

Objective: This systematic review was conducted to determine the effects of equine-assisted interventions (EAI) on children aged 3 to 16 years of age with autism in order to further increase knowledge about EAI as an intervention for children with autism.

Methods: Articles were screened on PubMed and CINAHL databases for relationships between equine-assisted interventions and effects on autistic behavior or autistic severity in children with autism.

Results: Studies showed that children receiving EAI improved in social functioning, social skills, motor skills, attention and focus, empathizing, irritability, maladaptive behavior, motivation, executive functioning, quality of life, length of gait cycle, mood and ...

Fuzz Fix: The Physiological Effects Of Both Human And Canine Interactions On A College Campus, Bridget Bloesch, Skyler Howard, Marie Suthers Dvm

Carroll College Student Undergraduate Research Festival

The implementation of Animal Assisted Activities (AAA’s) on college campuses during finals week has grown in popularity in recent years. The belief is that AAA’s help reduce student stress levels during a week of difficult exams. However, there is limited research on the effects of these programs on both the students and the dogs. This study looked at the effects that interaction with a dog prior to taking a test had on student’s heart rate and blood pressure. Participants in the experimental group had their heart rate and blood pressure measured before and after interacting with a ...

Role Of Human Personalities In Horse Handling, Lauren Castillo

Carroll College Student Undergraduate Research Festival

How do people with different personalities interact with horses? The researchers designed this study to determine if introverts have an easier time handling an unfamiliar horse when compared to extroverts. Volunteers with little to no horse experience completed the Myers Briggs Personality Type Indicator. The researcher assigned a horse at random to volunteers to lead over a 12-foot platform in an indoor arena. All horses were familiar with this obstacle. The researcher videotaped every participant. The dependent variables included the fluid motion of the horse, horse facial expressions, and horse body language along with horse-human interactions. The hypothesis is that ...

The Purpose Of Animals According To Mark And Athanasius, Caroline Herzog

Carroll College Student Undergraduate Research Festival

Religion affects how groups of people view animals, and these views can vary between writers within the same religion. Both the author of the Gospel of Mark and the author of “The Incarnation of the Word of God” present animals as subordinate to humans, revealing hierarchies within the cultures of their original audiences. The Gospel of Mark offers a more inclusive view of animals than “The Incarnation of the Word of God” by inferring that the purpose of animals is for human use and to reveal God, whereas Athanasius believes their purpose is solely to offer a foil to the ...

Social Play And The Development Of Temperament In Juvenile Belding’S Ground Squirrels (Urocitellus Beldingi), James Hurst-Hopf

Creative Activity and Research Day - CARD

We evaluated the hypothesis that social play behavior influences the development of temperament in young animals, using docility as a measure of temperament. We observed the play behavior of juvenile Belding’s ground squirrels (Urocitellus beldingi) during the developmental period in which play primarily occurs, and conducted behavioral tests measuring docility at the beginning and end of the play interval. Tests involved handling squirrels and recording their responses. Body mass was a reliable predictor of docility at the beginning of the play period. Rates of social play and maximum distances traveled from the natal burrow during the play interval were ...

Explaining China’S Wildlife Crisis: Cultural Tradition Or Politics Of Development, Peter J. Li

Peter J. Li, Ph.D.

This chapter is about China’s wildlife crisis. As the following sections attempt to demonstrate, abuse of and assault on wildlife in captivity and in the wild have reached an unprecedented level on the Chinese mainland in the reform era (1978–present). Shocking brutality against wildlife animals has been frequently exposed by Chinese and international media. To readers outside East Asia, they ask if the Chinese are culturally indifferent to animal suffering. Indeed, does the Chinese culture sanction cruelty to animals? Or is it the contemporary politics of economic development that is more directly responsible for the crisis?

Role Of Human Personalities In Horse Handling, Lauren Castillo

Anthrozoology Undergraduate Theses

How do people with different personalities interact with horses? This study was designed to determine if introverts have an easier time handling an unfamiliar horse when compared to extroverts. Volunteers with a range of horse experience were asked to complete the Myers Briggs Personality Assessment. Volunteers were assigned a horse to lead over a 12-foot platform in an outdoor arena. All horses were familiar with this obstacle. Every participant was videotaped. The dependent variables included the fluid motion of the horse, horse facial expressions, and horse body language along with horsehuman interactions. The hypothesis was that introverts would experience an ...