Animal Sciences Commons^™

Factors Influencing Pre-Fledging Mass Recession Of Nestling Tree Swallows, Katrina Deann Reeda Moeller

Online Theses and Dissertations

Fledglings of some aerial insectivores experience pre-fledgling mass recession, possibly to achieve an optimum wing loading by the time of fledging. However, studies of aerial insectivores to date have been limited to two species of swifts (Apodidae), and additional studies of species of aerial insectivores are needed to determine if factors contributing to pre-fledging mass recession vary among species. Thus, my objective was to examine factors contributing to pre-fledging mass recession by nestling Tree Swallows (Tachycineta bicolor). My study was conducted during the 2015 breeding season at the Blue Grass Army Depot in Madison County, Kentucky. Nestling Tree Swallows (n …

American Kestrels (Falco Sparverius) May Use Tail-Pumping To Maintain Balance, Joshua Suich

Online Theses and Dissertations

When perched, several species of small falcons, including American Kestrels (Falco sparverius), often pump their tails, but the possible function of this behavior is unknown. My objective was to use observations and experiments to examine the possible function(s) of tail-pumping by American Kestrels. Fieldwork was conducted from March 2015 to December 2015 at the Blue Grass Army Depot in Madison County, Kentucky. During observations of focal kestrels, I noted their behavior (e.g., landing on a perch, hunting, or consuming prey), including when and how often they pumped their tails (i.e., rapid movement of the tail down, then back up to …

Territoriality And Inter-Pack Aggression In Gray Wolves: Shaping A Social Carnivore's Life History Rudyard Kipling's Law Of The Jungle Meets Yellowstone's Law Of The Mountains, Kira A. Cassidy, Douglas W. Smith, L. David Mech, Daniel R. Macnulty, Daniel R. Stahler, Matthew C. Metz

United States Geological Survey, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center: Publications

When Rudyard Kipling wrote The Jungle Book in 1894 and included the famous line "For the strength of the Wolf is the Pack, and the strength of the Pack is the Wolf," he would have had no idea that over a century later, scientific research would back up his poetic phrase. Recent studies in Yellowstone have found that both the individual wolf and the collective pack rely on each other and play important roles in territoriality. At a time when most fairy tales and fables were portraying wolves as demonic killers or, at best, slapstick gluttons, Kipling seemed to have …

Wolf (Canis Lupus) Generation Time And Proportion Of Current Breeding Females By Age, L. David Mech, Shannon M. Barber-Meyer, John Erb

United States Geological Survey, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center: Publications

Information is sparse about aspects of female wolf (Canis lupus) breeding in the wild, including age of first reproduction, mean age of primiparity, generation time, and proportion of each age that breeds in any given year. We studied these subjects in 86 wolves (113 captures) in the Superior National Forest (SNF), Minnesota (MN), during 1972–2013 where wolves were legally protected for most of the period, and in 159 harvested wolves from throughout MN wolf range during 2012–2014. Breeding status of SNF wolves were assessed via nipple measurements, and wolves from throughout MN wolf range, by placental scars. In …

Amblypygids: Model Organisms For The Study Of Arthropod Navigation Mechanisms In Complex Environments?, Daniel D. Wiegmann, Eileen A. Hebets, Wulfila Gronenberg, Jacob M. Graving, Verner P. Bingman

Eileen Hebets Publications

Navigation is an ideal behavioral model for the study of sensory system integration and the neural substrates associated with complex behavior. For this broader purpose, however, it may be profitable to develop new model systems that are both tractable and sufficiently complex to ensure that information derived from a single sensory modality and path integration are inadequate to locate a goal. Here, we discuss some recent discoveries related to navigation by amblypygids, nocturnal arachnids that inhabit the tropics and sub-tropics. Nocturnal displacement experiments under the cover of a tropical rainforest reveal that these animals possess navigational abilities that are reminiscent, …

Stopover Ecology Of Neotropical Migratory Songbirds In The Northern Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico, Lauren E. Solomon

Masters Theses

Chapter I. Full-service hotels, convenience stores or fire escapes? Evaluating function of stopover sites for Neotropical migrants in the northern Yucatan Peninsula

Nearctic-Neotropical migratory songbirds incur the highest mortality rates during their annual migrations. Migratory songbirds use a network of stopover sites to rest, refuel, or seek refuge during times of poor weather conditions; and the time and energy expended at these sites exceeds that of migratory flight. In order to conserve stopover sites with the highest value to Neotropical migrants, a conceptual framework was developed to classify stop over sites into three functional categories based on their function for …

The Nutritional Value Of Fecal Sacs: Testing The Parental Nutrition Hypothesis, Amanda W. Burns

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Nest sanitation is an important aspect of parental investment in birds with altricial nestlings. Passerine nestlings produce fecal matter that is encased in a mucous membrane for easy disposal. These fecal sacs are either removed from the nest and transported a distance away or they are ingested by the adult. A decline in fecal sac ingestion rates as nestlings age has been observed in several species. The parental nutrition hypothesis posits that this pattern can be attributed to increasing digestive efficiency as nestlings age. The parental nutrition hypothesis makes three predictions: fecal sac consumption rates should decrease as nestlings age, …

Comparative Evolutionary Approach To Pain Perception In Fishes, Culum Brown

Animal Sentience

Arguments against the fact that fish feel pain repeatedly appear even in the face of growing evidence that they do. The standards used to judge pain perception keep moving as the hurdles are repeatedly cleared by novel research findings. There is undoubtedly a vested commercial interest in proving that fish do not feel pain, so the topic has a half-life well past its due date. Key (2016) reiterates previous perspectives on this topic characterised by a black-or-white view that is based on the proposed role of the human cortex in pain perception. I argue that this is incongruent with our …

What Would The Babel Fish Say?, Monica Gagliano

Animal Sentience

Starting with its title, Key’s (2016) target article advocates the view that fish do not feel pain. The author describes the neuroanatomical, physiological and behavioural conditions involved in the experience of pain in humans and rodents and confidently applies analogical arguments as though they were established facts in support of the negative conclusion about the inability of fish to feel pain. The logical reasoning, unfortunately, becomes somewhat incoherent, with the arbitrary application of the designated human criteria for an analogical argument to one animal species (e.g., rodents) but not another (fish). Research findings are reported selectively, and questionable interpretations are …

Marine Ecoregion And Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Affect Recruitment And Population Structure Of A Salt Marsh Snail, Steven C. Pennings, Scott Zengel, Jacob Oehrig, Merryl Alber, T. Dale Bishop, Donald R. Deis, Donna Devlin, A. Randall Hughes, John J. Hutchens, Jr., Whitney M. Kiehn, Caroline R. Mcfarlin, Clay L. Montague, Sean P. Powers, C. Edward Proffitt, Nicholle Rutherford, Camille L. Stagg, Keith Walters

University Faculty and Staff Publications

Marine species with planktonic larvae often have high spatial and temporal variation in recruitment that leads to subsequent variation in the ecology of benthic adults. Using a combination of published and unpublished data, we compared the population structure of the salt marsh snail, Littoraria irrorata, between the South Atlantic Bight and the Gulf Coast of the United States to infer geographic differences in recruitment and to test the hypothesis that the Deepwater Horizon oil spill led to widespread recruitment failure of L. irrorata in Louisiana in 2010. Size-frequency distributions in both ecoregions were bimodal, with troughs in the distributions consistent …

Intertemporal Similarity: Discounting As A Last Resort, Jeffrey R. Stevens

Jeffrey Stevens Publications

Standard models of intertemporal choice assume that individuals discount future payoffs by integrating reward amounts and time delays to generate a discounted value. Alternative models propose that, rather than integrate across them, individuals compare within attributes (amounts and delays) to determine if differences in one attribute outweigh differences in another attribute. For instance, Leland (2002) and Rubinstein (2003) propose models that 1) compare the two reward amounts to determine whether they are similar, 2) compare the similarity of the two time delays, and then 3) make a decision based on these similarity judgments. Here, I tested discounting models against attribute-based …

Cognitive Phenotypes And The Evolution Of Animal Decisions, Tamra C. Mendelson, Courtney L. Fitzpatrick, Mark E. Hauber, Charles H. Pence, Rafael L. Rodriguez, Rebecca J. Safran, Caitlin A. Stern, Jeffrey R. Stevens

Jeffrey Stevens Publications

Despite the clear fitness consequences of animal decisions, the science of animal decision making in evolutionary biology is underdeveloped compared with decision science in human psychology. Specifically, the field lacks a conceptual framework that defines and describes the relevant components of a decision, leading to imprecise language and concepts. The ‘judgment and decision-making’ (JDM) framework in human psychology is a powerful tool for framing and understanding human decisions, and we apply it here to components of animal decisions, which we refer to as ‘cognitive phenotypes’. We distinguish multiple cognitive phenotypes in the context of a JDM framework and highlight empirical …

Differential Wolf-Pack-Size Persistence And The Role Of Risk When Hunting Dangerous Prey, Shannon M. Barber-Meyer, L. David Mech, Wesley E. Newton, Bridget L. Borg

United States Geological Survey, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center: Publications

Risk to predators hunting dangerous prey is an emerging area of research and could account for possible persistent differences in gray wolf (Canis lupus) pack sizes. We documented significant differences in long-term wolf-pack-size averages and variation in the Superior National Forest (SNF), Denali National Park and Preserve, Yellowstone National Park, and Yukon, Canada (p < 0.01). The SNF differences could be related to the wolves’ risk when hunting primary prey, for those packs (N = 3) hunting moose (Alces americanus) were significantly larger than those (N = 10) hunting white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) (F_1,8 = 16.50, p = 0.004). Our data support the hypothesis that differential pack-size persistence may be …

Animal Welfare And Animal Rights, M.E. Rolle

Animal Sentience

This overview of Broom’s book, Sentience and Animal Welfare (2014), considers the role the book could play in the animal rights debate. In a thoroughly researched and objectively presented text, Broom lays out information that could place doubt in the minds of decision-makers. By highlighting not just the ways animals resemble humans, but also the ways humans resemble animals, Broom shines a light on a solidly grey area in the animal rights debate.

What’S The Common Sense Of Just Some Improvement Of Some Welfare For Some Animals?, Liv Baker

Animal Sentience

The goal of Animal Welfare Science to reduce animal suffering is commendable but too modest: Suffering animals need and deserve far more.

Animal Mourning: Précis Of How Animals Grieve (King 2013), Barbara J. King

Animal Sentience

Abstract: When an animal dies, that individual’s mate, relatives, or friends may express grief. Changes in the survivor’s patterns of social behavior, eating, sleeping, and/or of expression of affect are the key criteria for defining grief. Based on this understanding of grief, it is not only big-brained mammals like elephants, apes, and cetaceans who can be said to mourn, but also a wide variety of other animals, including domestic companions like cats, dogs, and rabbits; horses and farm animals; and some birds. With keen attention placed on seeking where grief is found to occur and where it is absent …

Response Of Fishes To Restoration Projects In Bayou St. John Located Within The City Of New Orleans, Louisiana, Including Hydrological Characterization And Hydrodynamic Modelling, Patrick W. Smith

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Quantifying the impacts of restoration on coastal waterways is crucial to understanding their effectiveness. Here, I look at the impacts of multiple restoration projects on urban waterways within the city limits of New Orleans, LA, with an emphasis on the response of fishes. First I report the effects of two projects designed to improve exchange down estuary on the hydrologic characteristics of Bayou St. John (BSJ). Within BSJ, flow is dominated by subtidal wind driven processes. Removal of an outdated flood control structure did not appear to alter exchange in BSJ, but removal combined with sector gate openings did. I …

Longevity Of Mineral Supplements Within The Soil And Associated Use By White-Tailed Deer, Brian C. Peterson, Keith D. Koupal, Andrew K. Schissel, Cody M. Siegel

Transactions of the Nebraska Academy of Sciences and Affiliated Societies

Humans have baited wildlife such as white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) for generations with the primary purpose of increasing hunting harvest success. Baiting regulation changes are often considered by state management agencies as they pertain to hunting opportunity, fair chase, and disease risk. Cervids require a variety of minerals to supplement biological processes, especially sodium (Na), calcium (Ca), and phosphorus (P). We developed artificial mineral supplement sites set in front of trail cameras to monitor deer use. Pooled soil samples were collected at mineral sites and compared to the surrounding area to determine the longevity of elevated minerals levels …

Territorial Defense Strategies In The Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis Cardinalis): Who Is The Bigger Threat?, Kaylee M. Gentry

Master's Theses

This thesis examines the use of defensive strategies in relation to territories year round in the northern cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis). Responses to recorded neighbor song and stranger song playback from the middle of a focal male’s territory were measured. This allowed for an estimation of aggression in both the winter and spring seasons. Each focal male was subjected to both treatments (stranger song and neighbor song). Males were more responsive over-all to neighbor song playback, however in the winter months, persistence of response to neighbor song playback increased. It was also shown that southeastern United States cardinals show …

Impact Of Urban Factors And Invasive Species On White-Footed Mouse (Peromyscus Leucopus) Habitat Use And Foraging Behavior In An Urban Forest Park., William Persons

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

White-footed mice (Peromyscus leucopus) select for areas of greater canopy cover at the macro scale, and for areas with more CWD at the micro-scale. White-footed mice potentially avoid habitats with higher invasive species richness. White-footed mice preferentially foraged under the honeysuckle canopy in response to changes in temperature and humidity. This study suggests that the interaction between P. leucopus and ground layer invasive species is complex, and that the effect of moonlight may be diminished in this urban park. Urban ecosystems demonstrate high levels of anthropogenic land-use change, modification of abiotic inputs, and altered disturbance regimes. These changes result …

Displaying To Females May Lower Male Foraging Time And Vigilance In A Lekking Bird, Sarah A. Cowles, Robert M. Gibson

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Males of many species use courtship behavior to attract mates. However, by doing so males may face the associated costs of increased energetic expenditure, reduced foraging time, and elevated predation risk. We investigated the costs of display in lekking male Sharp-tailed Grouse (Tympanuchus phasianellus). We used lek-wide scan sampling to study how males allocated time among courtship display (‘‘dancing’’), agonism, foraging, and inactivity in relation to female numbers both within and across days. We also addressed the limited attention hypothesis and estimated visual attentiveness by videotaping 13 males and scoring head turns during these different activities. We found that the …

Predicting Toucan Locations In Panama Using Arcgis, Daniel J. Herrera

Geography: Student Scholarship & Creative Works

Toucans are omnivorous birds native to southern Latin America and South America. They are non-migratory, and their range is disputed among experts. In an attempt to develop a better understanding of the range and behavior of toucans, correlations between toucan presence and geographic features of the area were analyzed to create a location probability map.

Métodos Cuantitativos Para La Conservación De Los Vertebrados, Michael J. Conroy, John P. Carroll, Juan Carlos Senar, Jeffrey J. Thompson

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Este libro es destinado para el uso por biólogos del campo y otras personas, incluso biólogos de campo en el futuro que podrían estar en un curso de la universidad y trabajando en estudios y conservación de animales. Nuestro objetivo es que los biólogos usen este libro como (haciendo apología a nuestro colega Evan Cooch) una “introducción suave” al campo de la ecología cuantitativa. Esperamos convencer a los lectores que los métodos y aproximaciones del libro no son solo para los matemáticos, estadísticos y programadores de computadoras, sino que de hecho son herramientas esenciales para practicar la conservación en el …

A Dual Function Of White Coloration In A Nocturnal Spider Dolomedes Raptor (Araneae: Pisauridae), Tai-Shen Lin, Shichang Zhang, Chen-Pan Liao, Eileen A. Hebets, I-Min Tso

Eileen Hebets Publications

Nocturnal animals frequently possess seemingly conspicuous color patterns that can function in a variety of ways (e.g. prey attraction, camouflage, predator avoidance, etc.). The use of color patterns in intraspecific signaling, especially reproductive activities, in nocturnal animals has received relatively little attention. This study tested for a dual function of color in the nocturnal fishing spider, Dolomedes raptor (Araneae: Pisauridae), whose males develop dimorphic white stripes at sexual maturation. We tested for a role in foraging as well as mate assessment. First, quantifications of the natural variation of male stripes indicated a correlation between stripe area and male body size …

Collective Movement In The Tibetan Macaques (Macaca Thibetana): Early Joiners Write The Rule Of The Game, Xi Wang, Lixing Sun, Jinhua Li, Dongpo Xia, Binghua Sun, Dao Zhang

All Faculty Scholarship for the College of the Sciences

Collective behavior has recently attracted a great deal of interest in both natural and social sciences. While the role of leadership has been closely scrutinized, the rules used by joiners in collective decision making have received far less attention. Two main hypotheses have been proposed concerning these rules: mimetism and quorum. Mimetism predicts that individuals are increasingly likely to join collective behavior as the number of participants increases. It can be further divided into selective mimetism, where relationships among the participants affect the process, and anonymous mimetism, where no such effect exists. Quorum predicts that a collective behavior occurs when …

Interspecific Egg Rejection As Ecological Collateral Damage From Selection Driven By Conspecific Brood Parasitism, Bruce E. Lyon, Daizaburo Shizuka, John M. Eadie

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Distinguishing between interspecific and intraspecific coevolution as the selective driver of traits can be difficult in some taxa. A previous study of an avian obligate brood parasite, the black-headed duck, Heteronetta atricapilla, suggested that egg rejection by its two main hosts (two species of coot) is an incidental by-product of selection from conspecific brood parasitism within the hosts, not selection imposed by the interspecific parasite. However, although both species of coot can recognize and reject eggs of conspecific brood parasites, which closely resemble their own, they paradoxically also accept a moderate fraction of duck eggs (40–60%), which differ strikingly …

Developing A Catalog Of Socio-Sexual Behaviors Of Beluga Whales ( Delphinapterus Leucas ) In The Care Of Humans, Heather M. Hill, Sarah Dietrich, Deirdre Yeater, Mariyah Mckinnon, Malin Miller, Steve Aibel, Al Dove

Psychology Faculty Publications

The repertoire of socio-sexual and sexual behaviors of cetaceans is relatively unknown. The purpose of the current study was to advance the existing knowledge of socio-sexual behavior of beluga whales through the development of a behavioral catalog that lists the full repertoire of sexual and socio-sexual behaviors. A behavioral catalog was developed initially from 800 hours of observations, collected across a 7-year period from 11 belugas ranging in age (birth to 30+ years), sex, and social groupings. Using this behavioral catalog, observations of eight additional belugas housed between two other facilities were coded for socio-sexual and sexual behaviors. Socio-sexual and …

Distribution Of The Egyptian Goose (Alopochen Aegyptiacus) In Northwestern Arkansas And In The United States Of America, Cameron Chesbro

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Egyptian Goose (Alopochen aegyptiacus) is an exotic member of the Anatidae that has been residing in northwestern Arkansas since the 1980s (Smith and James 2012). Following the discovery of Egyptian Geese in the area, not much attention has been given to the consequences of population increase. The Egyptian Goose has shown many diverse population growth patterns in areas where it has been introduced and started feral populations. The purpose of this study was to assess the current population size of the Egyptian Goose in northwestern Arkansas,and confirm successful breeding. The methods used in this study included conducting road surveys …

Improving Production Efficiency Of Beef Cow-Calf Operations, Amanda Jo Davis

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Three studies were conducted to improve and incorporate reproductive management practices into beef cow-calf production. First study evaluated serial use of Estrotect estrous detection patches as a simple, cost-effective reproductive management tool to identify cyclic animals before breeding, distinguish between females conceiving to AI versus natural service, and determine seasonal pregnancy rate after bull removal. Also determined, was effectiveness of altered timing of GnRH treatment (1 d ± CIDR removal) in a modified 14-d CIDR-Select Synch protocol. When evaluated over a 4-wk period, estrous detection patches correctly (P < 0.01) identified 79% of cyclic and 86% of non-cyclic heifers. Patches were 96 and 98% accurate in identifying heifers and cows pregnant by AI, respectively, and were 76 and 87% accurate in identifying pregnant heifers and cows at the end of the breeding season (P < 0.01). Treatment with GnRH at CIDR removal reduced labor costs and animal handling without compromising estrous response (both ~63.0%) and AI pregnancy rates (~76 and 77%; P > 0.1). Second study determined if addition of PGF2alpha treatment on d 7 …

Manipulation Of Same Sex Social Pair Bonds In Budgerigars, Melopsittacus Undulatus, Amanda M. Stilwell

Undergraduate Distinction Papers

Same sex pair bonding can be found throughout various animal species. These relationships can be common in monogamous species, especially when there is a lack of members of the opposite sex. Budgerigars, Melopsittacus undulatus, are a socially monogamous species, which create strong pair bonds but are also known to engage in extra pair copulations. When looking at an all-male flock of budgerigars, the question arises, are these bonds easily broken or disrupted by a third party individual. After determining seven pair bonds in a flock of 32 males, these pairs were removed from an aviary and placed in separate …