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American Black Bear Den-Site Selection And Characteristics In An Urban Environment, Toryn L. J. Schafer, Stewart W. Breck, Sharon Baruch-Mordo, David L. Lewis, Kenneth R. Wilson, Julie S. Mao, Thomas L. Day Jan 2018

American Black Bear Den-Site Selection And Characteristics In An Urban Environment, Toryn L. J. Schafer, Stewart W. Breck, Sharon Baruch-Mordo, David L. Lewis, Kenneth R. Wilson, Julie S. Mao, Thomas L. Day

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Selection of den sites is a crucial aspect of American black bear (Ursus americanus) life history. High-quality dens provide thermal insulation, protection from disturbance, suitable environment for parturition and cub development, and proximity to available forage upon emergence. Black bears are increasingly coexisting with people in human-dominated landscapes; however, little is known about whether urban environments influence characteristics of dens and den site selection. Our objective was to determine the effect of housing density (a proxy for human activity and availability of anthropogenic resources) on selection of den sites in years of good and poor natural forage.We additionally …

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Diversity Of Water Bugs In Gujranwala District, Punjab, Pakistan, Muhammad Shahbaz Chattha, Abu Ul Hassan Faiz, Arshad Javid, Irfan Baboo, Inayat Ullah Malik Jan 2018

Diversity Of Water Bugs In Gujranwala District, Punjab, Pakistan, Muhammad Shahbaz Chattha, Abu Ul Hassan Faiz, Arshad Javid, Irfan Baboo, Inayat Ullah Malik

Journal of Bioresource Management

Water bugs fall under the order Hemiptera, suborder Heteroptera, which is further divided into two types, i.e., semi-aquatic (Gerromorpha) and true water bugs (Nepomorpha). They play a vital role as biological control agents and also a source of food for fishes, birds and other aquatic organisms. The present work was carried out to ascertain aquatic Hemiptera in different lentic and lotic water bodies of various sizes in Gujranwala district, Pakistan. A total of 10 species belonging to five families were identified. Species include Nepa ruber Linnaeus, Laccotrephes elongatus Montandon, Ranatra filiformis Fabricius (Nepidae), Corixa substriata Uhler, Micronecta proba …

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Adiposity And Fat Metabolism During Combined Fasting And Lactation In Elephant Seals, Melinda Fowler, Cory Champagne, Daniel Croker Jan 2018

Adiposity And Fat Metabolism During Combined Fasting And Lactation In Elephant Seals, Melinda Fowler, Cory Champagne, Daniel Croker

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Animals that fast depend on mobilizing lipid stores to power metabolism. Northern elephant seals (Mirounga angustirostris) incorporate extended fasting into several life-history stages: development, molting, breeding and lactation. The physiological processes enabling fasting and lactation are important in the context of the ecology and life history of elephant seals. The rare combination of fasting and lactation depends on the efficient mobilization of lipid from adipose stores and its direction into milk production. The mother elephant seal must ration her finite body stores to power maintenance metabolism, as well as to produce large quantities of lipid and protein rich …

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Review: Application Of Tick Control Technologies For Blacklegged, Lone Star, And American Dog Ticks, Alexis White, Holly Gaff Jan 2018

Review: Application Of Tick Control Technologies For Blacklegged, Lone Star, And American Dog Ticks, Alexis White, Holly Gaff

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Tick population control technologies have been studied for several decades but no method is successful in all situations. The success of each technology depends on tick species identity and abundance, host species identity and abundance, phenology of both ticks and hosts, geographic region, and a multitude of other factors. Here we review current technologies, presenting an overview of each and its effect on three common tick species in the eastern United States: blacklegged ticks (Ixodes scapularis (Say; Ixodida: Ixodidae)), lone star ticks (Amblyomma americanum (Linnaeus; Ixodida: Ixodidae)), and American dog ticks (Dermacentor variabilis (Say; Ixodida: Ixodidae)). Moreover, …

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Nocturnally-Migrating Birds Traverse Earth's Most Light-Polluted Regions, And Bright Lights Confound Their Habitat Use En Route, Jeffrey J. Butler, James D. Mclaren, Sergio A. Cabrera-Cruz, Jaclyn A. Smolinsky, Timothy D. Schreckengost, Matthew E. Boone, E. Emiel Van Loon, Deanna K. Dawson, Eric L. Walters Jan 2018

Nocturnally-Migrating Birds Traverse Earth's Most Light-Polluted Regions, And Bright Lights Confound Their Habitat Use En Route, Jeffrey J. Butler, James D. Mclaren, Sergio A. Cabrera-Cruz, Jaclyn A. Smolinsky, Timothy D. Schreckengost, Matthew E. Boone, E. Emiel Van Loon, Deanna K. Dawson, Eric L. Walters

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

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Towards Understanding The Role Of Small Mammals In The Transmission Of Lyme Disease In Virginia, Usa, Robert K. Rose, Laura Bitzer, Wayne Hynes, Holly D. Gaff, Robyn Nadolny, Jory Brinkerhoff Jan 2018

Towards Understanding The Role Of Small Mammals In The Transmission Of Lyme Disease In Virginia, Usa, Robert K. Rose, Laura Bitzer, Wayne Hynes, Holly D. Gaff, Robyn Nadolny, Jory Brinkerhoff

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Larvae and nymphs of many species of ticks select small mammals, reptiles, and birds as hosts. Since 2011, we have examined more than 1,000 small mammals of 10 species and collected a small tissue sample as well as all visible ticks; rates of infestation range from 18% in harvest mice to 53% in meadow voles. Identification of immature ticks is challenging and requires molecular or genetic methods beyond classification as being from the genus Ixodes or another genus. Ixodes ticks include Ixodes scapularis, the species that transmits the Lyme disease-causing bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi to humans. Of the approximately 2,300 ticks …

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Review Of The Family Rivulidae (Cyprinodontiformes, Aplocheiloidei) And A Molecular And Morphological Phylogeny Of The Annual Fish Genus Austrolebias Costa 1998, Marcelo Loureiro, Rafael O. De Sá, Sebastián W. Serra, Felipe Alonso, Luis Esteban Krause Lanés, Matheus Vieira Volcan, Pablo Calviño, Et. Al. Jan 2018

Review Of The Family Rivulidae (Cyprinodontiformes, Aplocheiloidei) And A Molecular And Morphological Phylogeny Of The Annual Fish Genus Austrolebias Costa 1998, Marcelo Loureiro, Rafael O. De Sá, Sebastián W. Serra, Felipe Alonso, Luis Esteban Krause Lanés, Matheus Vieira Volcan, Pablo Calviño, Et. Al.

Biology Faculty Publications

The family Rivulidae is the fourth most diverse clade of Neotropical fishes. Together with some genera of the related African family Nothobranchiidae, many rivulids exhibit a characteristic annual life cycle, with diapausing eggs and delayed embryonic development, which allows them to survive in the challenging seasonal ponds that they inhabit. Rivulidae also includes two species known as the only the self-fertilizing vertebrates and some species with internal fertilization. The first goal of this article is to review the systematics of the family considering phylogenetic relationships and synapomorphies of subfamilial clades, thus unifying information that is dispersed throughout the literature. From …

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Fish Consciousness, David Gamez Jan 2018

Fish Consciousness, David Gamez

Animal Sentience

Woodruff makes two arguments to support his claim that ray-finned fish are conscious: (1) Fish neuroanatomy has similarities with the structures in the human brain that support consciousness. (2) The complexity and flexibility of fish behaviour suggest that they are conscious. This commentary will argue that neither the neuroanatomical nor the behavioural argument can provide conclusive evidence for consciousness in fish. We should suspend judgement until we have discovered mathematical theories of consciousness that can reliably map between states of consciousness and states of the physical world.

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Wild Horse Demography: Implications For Sustainable Management Within Economic Constraints, Robert A. Garrott Jan 2018

Wild Horse Demography: Implications For Sustainable Management Within Economic Constraints, Robert A. Garrott

Human–Wildlife Interactions

Management of wild horse (Equus ferus caballus ) populations on western U.S. rangelands has been a challenge since horses were given legal protection through the passage of the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act (WFRHBA) in 1971. Horses have no eff ective predators, and unmanaged populations can double in 4–5 years and triple in 6–8 years. In order to meet the multiple-use paradigm for managing public rangelands, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has limited horse population growth through the periodic capture and removal of animals. While the WFRHBA mandates disposal of captured horses through placement into private ownership and …

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Spatial Ecology Observations From Feral Horses Equipped With Global Positioning System Transmitters, Jacob D. Hennig, Jeffrey L. Beck, J. Derek Scasta Jan 2018

Spatial Ecology Observations From Feral Horses Equipped With Global Positioning System Transmitters, Jacob D. Hennig, Jeffrey L. Beck, J. Derek Scasta

Human–Wildlife Interactions

Our understanding of the spatial ecology of feral horses (Equus ferus caballus ) and burros (E . asinus ) in the United States is limited. Robust location data are needed to better understand the permeability of Bureau of Land Management Herd Management Area boundaries, relative to feral horse movement patterns and home ranges. To increase our understanding of feral horse movement, in February to March 2017, we deployed global positioning system (GPS) collars on 14 females ≥5 years old that were captured in the Adobe Town Herd Management Area (ATHMA) of southcentral Wyoming, USA. Herein, we report initial results from …

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Resource Selection Of Free-Ranging Horses Influenced By Fire In Northern Canada, Sonja E. R. Leverkus, Samuel D. Fuhlendorf, Marten Geertsema, Brady W. Allred, Mark Gregory, Alexandre R. Bevington, David M. Engle, J. Derek Scasta Jan 2018

Resource Selection Of Free-Ranging Horses Influenced By Fire In Northern Canada, Sonja E. R. Leverkus, Samuel D. Fuhlendorf, Marten Geertsema, Brady W. Allred, Mark Gregory, Alexandre R. Bevington, David M. Engle, J. Derek Scasta

Human–Wildlife Interactions

Free-ranging or feral horses (Equus ferus caballus) were important to the livelihood of First Nations and indigenous communities in Canada. The early inhabitants of the boreal region of British Columbia (BC) capitalized on naturally occurring wildfires and anthropogenic burning to provide forage for free-ranging horses and manage habitat for wildlife. This form of pyric herbivory, or grazing driven by fi re via the attraction to the palatable vegetation in recently burned areas, is an evolutionary disturbance process that occurs globally. However, its application to manage forage availability for free-ranging horses has not been studied in northern Canada. Across Canada, there …

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Consequences Of Porcine Zona Pellucida Immunocontraception To Feral Horses, Cassandra M.V. Nuñez Jan 2018

Consequences Of Porcine Zona Pellucida Immunocontraception To Feral Horses, Cassandra M.V. Nuñez

Human–Wildlife Interactions

Porcine zona pellucida (PZP) immunocontraception was developed to provide a more humane, effective, and inexpensive method of population regulation for wildlife species. It has been used to regulate populations of several species including white tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), elk (Cervus elaphus ), black bear (Ursus americanus ), and the feral horse (Equus ferus caballus) with varying levels of success. Early studies on Assateague Island National Seashore, Maryland, USA, suggested PZP was as an ideal form of fertility control because it reduced the likelihood of conception to

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Strike Hazard Posed By Columbids To Military Aircraft, Melanie R. Colón, Ashley M. Long Jan 2018

Strike Hazard Posed By Columbids To Military Aircraft, Melanie R. Colón, Ashley M. Long

Human–Wildlife Interactions

Wildlife-aircraft strikes threaten both human and animal safety and result in hundreds of millions of dollars per year in aircraft damage and lost flight hours. Large-bodied birds are especially hazardous to aircraft. However, given high-speed flight at low altitudes, military aircraft may be especially vulnerable to strikes and more susceptible to damage even when encountering small birds. We summarized all wildlife-aircraft strike records from Randolph Air Force Base (San Antonio, Texas) over a 25-year period and compared the number and cost of strikes across avian species and species groups. Because columbids (i.e., pigeons and doves) are among the most frequently …

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Canid Vs. Canid: Insights Into Coyote-Dog Encounters From Social Media, Erin E. Boydston, Eric S. Abelson, Ari Kazanjian, Daniel T. Blumstein Jan 2018

Canid Vs. Canid: Insights Into Coyote-Dog Encounters From Social Media, Erin E. Boydston, Eric S. Abelson, Ari Kazanjian, Daniel T. Blumstein

Human–Wildlife Interactions

While the relationship between coyotes (Canis latrans) and house cats (Felis catus) may be characterized as one between predators and their prey, coyote interactions with domestic dogs (C. lupus familiaris) appear to be more varied and may include behaviors associated with canid sociality. While encounters between coyotes and dogs are difficult to observe, we capitalized on publically available video recordings of coyote-dog encounters to observe canid behaviors and examined 35 video clips downloaded from YouTube during fall 2014. We identified coyote-dog interactions that were playful, agonistic, or predatory; those that we could not clearly …

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The Three Creeks Allotment Consolidation: Changing Western Federal Grazing Paradigms, Taylor Payne Jan 2018

The Three Creeks Allotment Consolidation: Changing Western Federal Grazing Paradigms, Taylor Payne

Human–Wildlife Interactions

The federal government owns approximately 47% of all land in the western United States. In the state of Utah, about 64% of the land base is managed by the federal Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the U.S. Forest Service (USFS). The government has historically issued permits to owners of private lands to allow the owners to graze their livestock on public lands. The permits (allotments) are generally of 10-year duration and allow for an annual season of use. In some cases, continued and repeated historical annual grazing practices may not be ideal for permit holders and their communities nor …

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Can The Vaquita Be Saved From Extinction?, Gerardo Rodríguez-Quiroz, Wenceslao Valenzuela-Quiñonez, Héctor A. González-Ocampo, Alfredo Ortega-Rubio Jan 2018

Can The Vaquita Be Saved From Extinction?, Gerardo Rodríguez-Quiroz, Wenceslao Valenzuela-Quiñonez, Héctor A. González-Ocampo, Alfredo Ortega-Rubio

Human–Wildlife Interactions

The vaquita (Phocoena sinus) is considered the world’s most endangered marine mammal. It is the smallest member of the porpoise family endemic to the upper part of the Gulf of California. The current population is estimated at less than 30 individuals. The primary reasons for the species decline includes limited habitat and incidental mortalities associated with illegal gillnet fishing activities. Since 2008, the Mexican government has taken environmental and economic actions to protect the vaquita’s focusing in reducing by-catch deaths to zero. In 2015, a federal Agreement decreed by the Secretaría de Agricultura, Ganadería, Desarrollo Rural, Pesca y …

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Improving Human-Wildlife Interactions By Resolving Human-Wildlife Conflicts, Terry Messmer Jan 2018

Improving Human-Wildlife Interactions By Resolving Human-Wildlife Conflicts, Terry Messmer

Human–Wildlife Interactions

This is the editors commentary

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Portable Electric Fencing For Bear Deterrence And Conservation, Tom S. Smith, Bryan Hopkins, John Gookin, Samantha Thompson Jan 2018

Portable Electric Fencing For Bear Deterrence And Conservation, Tom S. Smith, Bryan Hopkins, John Gookin, Samantha Thompson

Human–Wildlife Interactions

Although bear-inflicted (Ursus spp.) human fatalities are rare in North America, human injuries, property damage, and bear mortalities occur wherever bears and humans commingle. We investigated the efficacy of portable electric fencing systems for bear deterrence under a variety of environmental conditions in the lab and field. Our results showed that the bear deterrent systems we evaluated were effective in protecting humans, their food, and property from bears >99% of the time. Herein, we discuss the benefits of using electric fencing, reasons why fences sometimes fail, and provide guidance regarding the most effective implementation of the systems we evaluated. …

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Post-Release Activity And Habitat Selection Of Rehabilitated Black Bears, Patrick J. Myers, Julie K. Young Jan 2018

Post-Release Activity And Habitat Selection Of Rehabilitated Black Bears, Patrick J. Myers, Julie K. Young

Human–Wildlife Interactions

Despite the long history of wildlife rehabilitation and the abundance of empirical knowledge of the behavior and resource selection of wildlife species, rarely does research bridge these disciplines. Such investigations could be of value to wildlife managers and rehabilitators by revealing the suitability of the habitat at selected release sites, the wild activities, behavior, and fitness of the captive-reared individuals, and ultimately the efficacy of the rehabilitation process. Rehabilitated carnivores warrant specific attention, given that they are wide-ranging and may behave in ways that threaten human safety or interests. We investigated the behavior of orphan, rehabilitated black bear cubs ( …

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Sloth Bear Attacks On Humans In Central India: Implications For Species Conservation, Nisha Singh, Swapnil Sonone, Nishith Dharaiya Jan 2018

Sloth Bear Attacks On Humans In Central India: Implications For Species Conservation, Nisha Singh, Swapnil Sonone, Nishith Dharaiya

Human–Wildlife Interactions

Conflicts with wild animals are increasing as human populations grow and related anthropogenic activities encroach into wildlife habitats. A good example of this situation is the increase in conflicts between humans and sloth bears (Melursus ursinus) in India. Sloth bears are known for their aggressive and unpredictable behavior. More human fatalities and injuries have been attributed to sloth bear attacks than all recorded incidences of wildlife attacks in Buldhana Forest Division of Maharashtra, India. We interviewed 51 victims that were attacked by sloth bears between 2009-2017 to better understand the reasons for the attacks. Thirty-four of the attacks …

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Motivations And Satisfaction Of North Dakota Deer Hunters During A Temporal Decline In Deer Populations, Kristen E. Black, William F. Jensen, Robert Newman, Jason R. Boulanger Jan 2018

Motivations And Satisfaction Of North Dakota Deer Hunters During A Temporal Decline In Deer Populations, Kristen E. Black, William F. Jensen, Robert Newman, Jason R. Boulanger

Human–Wildlife Interactions

Achieving state wildlife agency biological goals for deer (Odocoileus spp.) management may often conflict with hunter desires. Concomitantly, better information is needed to optimize agency deer herd management goals with hunters’ social goals. In 2016, we surveyed 3,000 North Dakota, USA, resident deer hunters using a self-administered mail survey to gain a better understanding of motivations, satisfaction, and hunter demographics that may be used to inform hunter recruitment and retention (HRR) efforts during a period of reduced statewide deer populations. With deer-gun license availability strictly limited, we explored the possibility that some gun hunters may have been engaging …

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A Call For Proactive Human–Bear Conflict Mitigation, Annabella R. Helman Jan 2018

A Call For Proactive Human–Bear Conflict Mitigation, Annabella R. Helman

Human–Wildlife Interactions

This commentary serves as a call to action for the creation of proactive mitigation efforts to lessen human–bear conflict based on comprehensive predictive data models.

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What Can The Social Emotions Of Dogs Teach Us About Human Emotions?, Dean Mobbs Jan 2018

What Can The Social Emotions Of Dogs Teach Us About Human Emotions?, Dean Mobbs

Animal Sentience

It has long been believed that social emotions such as guilt and jealousy are only expressed in humans. In the case of jealousy, its adaptive value has been linked to the prevention of sexual infidelity or fairness. So why would dogs feel jealousy? I suggest that understanding how social emotions have been bred into dogs can help us understand our own emotions, including their functionality — and potentially their mechanisms.

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Can Neuroimaging In Dogs Have Practical Implications?, Tiffani J. Howell Jan 2018

Can Neuroimaging In Dogs Have Practical Implications?, Tiffani J. Howell

Animal Sentience

Jealousy, or at least aggression, can be observed in dogs using neuroimaging techniques, but this response attenuates quickly following repeated exposure to the aggression-inducing stimulus. This may have a practical application. Early socialisation as a puppy, and habituation as an adult dog, could help prevent undesirable behaviours such as predatory behaviour. It is unclear whether these processes are the same, and affected only by the dog’s age. Neuroimaging could help us understand whether the same neurological processes underlie socialisation and habituation, and whether self-rewarding behaviours such as predatory behaviour could be stopped using socialisation/habituation techniques.

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Lessons From Behaviour For Brain Imaging, Carolyn J. Walsh Jan 2018

Lessons From Behaviour For Brain Imaging, Carolyn J. Walsh

Animal Sentience

Integrating physiological and behavioural arousal with social context is fundamental to understanding affect in dogs. Cook et al. (2018) have made a worthy start towards illuminating the neural basis of dog affect underlying resource loss. However, their study depends on retrospective behaviour reports versus direct testing, and an interpretation of differential neural activation that is based on too few dogs. Research groups conducting canine brain-imaging work might: (1) consider collaborative approaches to augment sample sizes and replicability, and (2) take a recent lesson from dog behavioural research regarding a more cautious approach to applying functional labels to physiological and/or behavioural …

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Inferring Emotion From Amygdala Activation Alone Is Problematic, Thomas F. Denson Jan 2018

Inferring Emotion From Amygdala Activation Alone Is Problematic, Thomas F. Denson

Animal Sentience

Cook et al. investigated neural responses in domestic dogs in an experiment designed to elicit jealousy. Relative to a control condition, watching the dogs’ caregivers feed a fake dog activated the amygdala bilaterally. Dogs rated higher in dog-directed aggressiveness showed larger initial amygdala activation. Amygdala activity in this context is insufficient evidence to infer that the dogs experienced jealousy or even negative affect. The experimental design does not provide an adequate level of control to infer the presence of jealousy.

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Limits Of Neuroscience, Paul Morris Jan 2018

Limits Of Neuroscience, Paul Morris

Animal Sentience

Examining the relationship between jealous behaviour and the amygdala may be quite informative about the function of the amygdala, but the amygdala may be less helpful in informing us about jealous behaviour. Claims about the potential practical relevance of the results also require that the magnitude of the effects inform the relevant discussion. The dogs used in the study probably share some very important personality characteristics; this too limits the practical implications of Cook et al.’s findings for dogs in general. It is nevertheless a testament to the skill of the experimenters, and the amazing bond between dogs and humans, …

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What Would We Like To Know By Imaging The Brains Of Dogs?, Ralph Adolphs Jan 2018

What Would We Like To Know By Imaging The Brains Of Dogs?, Ralph Adolphs

Animal Sentience

Using fMRI to study emotions in animals is important, fascinating, and fraught with methodological and conceptual problems. Cook et al. are doing it, and there is no question that they and others will be doing it better and better as time goes on. Where will this lead us? What could fMRI in principle tell us about the minds of nonhuman animals?

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Jealousy? Or Just Hostility Toward Other Dogs? The Risks Of Jumping To Conclusions, James A. Serpell Jan 2018

Jealousy? Or Just Hostility Toward Other Dogs? The Risks Of Jumping To Conclusions, James A. Serpell

Animal Sentience

Cook et al. (2018) provide a fascinating demonstration of amygdala activation in dogs when they witnessed their owners giving food to another (fake) dog, but not when they placed food in a bucket. Dogs’ neurological responses were positively correlated with their reported levels of ‘dog-directed aggression’ as measured by the C-BARQ, and dogs with initially strong amygdala responses habituated on subsequent trials. The authors interpret their findings as possible evidence for an emotion akin to jealousy in dogs. However, alternate interpretations involving either dog aggression/fear or emotional responses to food seem more plausible and avoid the welfare risks associated with …

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Only The Human Brain Has The Cognitive Capacity For Jealousy, Donatella Marazziti Jan 2018

Only The Human Brain Has The Cognitive Capacity For Jealousy, Donatella Marazziti

Animal Sentience

Jealousy is exclusively a human phenomenon because nonhuman animals lack the brain structures regulating the higher processes underlying jealousy.

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