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2017

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Articles 1081 - 1104 of 1104

Full-Text Articles in Animal Sciences

Animal Models, Agendas And Sentience, Thomas Creson Jan 2017

Animal Models, Agendas And Sentience, Thomas Creson

Animal Sentience

Woodruff’s target article on teleost consciousness is a well-organized logical argument for considering the fish as a sentient being. This becomes more important for animal ethical discussion as the fish becomes a more important and legitimate animal model for investigating animal states and traits associated with higher levels of behavior such as learning and memory.

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The Emotional Brain Of Fish, Sonia Rey Planellas Jan 2017

The Emotional Brain Of Fish, Sonia Rey Planellas

Animal Sentience

Woodruff (2017) analyzes structural homologies and functional equivalences between the brains of mammals and fish to understand where sentience and social cognition might reside in teleosts. He compares neuroanatomical, neurophysiological and behavioural correlates. I discuss current advances in the study of fish cognitive abilities and emotions, and advocate an evolutionary approach to the underlying basis of sentience in teleosts.

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Fish Sentience: A Hypothesis Worth Pursuing, José E. Burgos Jan 2017

Fish Sentience: A Hypothesis Worth Pursuing, José E. Burgos

Animal Sentience

Woodruff’s case for fish sentience is intriguing. Though far from ready for final acceptance, it is worth pursuing. The case is philosophically uncontroversial under functionalism and reductive materialism. It is also highly heuristic, as it raises interesting issues for further investigation, such as the neural causation of behavior, the role of Mauthner cells in conditioned avoidance, and whether operant conditioning is constitutive of fish sentience.

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We Still Need A Theory, Paula Droege Jan 2017

We Still Need A Theory, Paula Droege

Animal Sentience

Woodruff (2017) has compiled a convincing array of data to support his contention that teleost fish feel pain. However, in the absence of an explanatory theory about the nature and function of consciousness, a checklist of criteria is insufficient to allay skeptical concerns. I offer a theory that can explain why features like selective attention and behavioral flexibility indicate consciousness. Consciousness represents the present moment in order to allow dynamic changes in actions or goals in response to situational demands.

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Similar Anatomy Does Not Imply Comparable Function, Jay R. Stauffer Jr. Jan 2017

Similar Anatomy Does Not Imply Comparable Function, Jay R. Stauffer Jr.

Animal Sentience

Woodruff concludes that ray-finned fishes (Actinopterygii) are sentient and that the pallium contributes to sentience in these fishes. He gives a detailed description of the pallium; however, he assumes that similar structures in fishes and tetrapods support similar behaviors, capabilities, and functions. I reject the premise that similarities in structure imply similarities in function. The fact that a selected species of fish may exhibit behaviors, reactions, and/or anatomy suggestive of sentience does not necessarily generalize to all teleosts.

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Can Unconscious Brain Processes Indicate Sentience?, Vincent Taschereau-Dumouchel, Piercesare Grimaldi, Hakwan Lau Jan 2017

Can Unconscious Brain Processes Indicate Sentience?, Vincent Taschereau-Dumouchel, Piercesare Grimaldi, Hakwan Lau

Animal Sentience

We disagree with Woodruff that we have good neurobiological reasons to think fishes are sentient, because mechanisms for consciousness are controversial even in humans. To the extent that there are consensuses in that literature, they do not support Woodruff's claims.

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Fish Are Flexible Learners Who Can Discriminate Human Faces, Ulrike E. Siebeck Jan 2017

Fish Are Flexible Learners Who Can Discriminate Human Faces, Ulrike E. Siebeck

Animal Sentience

In his book “What a fish knows” Jonathan Balcombe (2016a, b) has created a comprehensive profile of a group of animals still often thought to have a 3-second memory, no ability to feel pain, and a generally limited ability to learn. Chapter by chapter, Balcombe dismantles these and other such assumptions and makes a convincing case that fish have many abilities that are not that different from our own. Here, I focus on one example which supports the notion that fish are flexible learners and able to perform tasks which are generally thought to require the advanced processing power of …

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Sensitizing Humans To Fish Sentience, Kelly Levenda Jan 2017

Sensitizing Humans To Fish Sentience, Kelly Levenda

Animal Sentience

Although fish can feel pain and suffer, they are not often protected legally. Jonathan Balcombe’s What a Fish Knows provides a timely and important contribution to the literature on animal cognition and sentience. By explaining their personalities and capabilities, Balcombe brings much needed public attention to fish and advances the principle that they need and deserve protection.

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To Identify All The Relevant Factors Is To Explain Feeling, Arthur S. Reber Jan 2017

To Identify All The Relevant Factors Is To Explain Feeling, Arthur S. Reber

Animal Sentience

Several additional comments on Reber (2016a) have appeared. Like those addressed in Reber (2016b), they reflect points of agreement and disagreement on various elements of my Cellular Basis of Consciousness (CBC) model. Some, however, seem to have missed key points. I'm willing to take some responsibility for this. Perhaps I was not clear about some of the more radical points of the model. Hopefully the case-by-case review here will help.

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Consciousness Is Not Inherent In But Emergent From Life, Jon Mallatt, Todd E. Feinberg Jan 2017

Consciousness Is Not Inherent In But Emergent From Life, Jon Mallatt, Todd E. Feinberg

Animal Sentience

Reber’s theory of the cellular basis of consciousness (CBC) is right to emphasize that we should study consciousness (sentience) in its simplest form, taking its evolution into account. However, not enough evidence is presented to support CBC’s unorthodox claim that even simple, one-celled organisms are conscious. As pointed out by other commentators, the CBC seems to be based on outdated ideas about evolution and does not acknowledge that consciousness could be an evolutionary novel feature. Such emergent features are abundant in living organisms. We review our own emergentist solution, in which consciousness evolved in the elaborating nervous systems of the …

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What Can Research On Nonhumans Tell Us About Human Dissonance?, Jennifer Vonk Jan 2017

What Can Research On Nonhumans Tell Us About Human Dissonance?, Jennifer Vonk

Animal Sentience

Zentall’s thoughtful review of the literature on cognitive dissonance in nonhumans helps to highlight the common finding that similar outcomes in humans and nonhumans can be attributed to different underlying mechanisms. I advocate a more fully comparative approach to the underlying mechanisms, avoiding the assumption of shared processes in humans and nonhumans.

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Establishing That Contrast Is Cognitive Dissonance, Travis R. Smith Jan 2017

Establishing That Contrast Is Cognitive Dissonance, Travis R. Smith

Animal Sentience

Zentall suggests that the same mechanism underlies cognitive dissonance in humans and the within-trial contrast effect in pigeons (and humans). The contrast effect has face validity in explaining cognitive dissonance, but more research is needed to establish construct validity. To determine whether both phenomena share the same mechanism, future research should test (1) whether both share physiological processes, (2) whether individuals who show sensitivity to one are also sensitive to the other, and (3) whether both phenomena are affected by the same changes in an independent variable.

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Raising The Moral Consciousness Of Science, Bernard Rollin Jan 2017

Raising The Moral Consciousness Of Science, Bernard Rollin

Animal Sentience

Precaution on behalf of sentient animals should not be tempered by the questionable principle of the amorality of science.

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Support For The Precautionary Principle, Jennifer Mather Jan 2017

Support For The Precautionary Principle, Jennifer Mather

Animal Sentience

The precautionary principle gives the animal the benefit of the doubt when its sentient status is not known. This is necessary for advanced invertebrates such as cephalopods because research and evidence concerning the criteria for sentience are scattered and often insufficient to give us the background for the decision.

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The Precautionary Principle: A Cautionary Note, Robert C. Jones Jan 2017

The Precautionary Principle: A Cautionary Note, Robert C. Jones

Animal Sentience

The precautionary principle regarding animal sentience is often used in decision-making about human actions that may cause harm to nonhuman animals. Birch (2017) develops an account of the precautionary principle requiring two pragmatic rules for its implementation. I support Birch's proposal but offer a cautionary note about relying on precautionary principles if one's ultimate goal is to emancipate animals from human domination.

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Will The Precautionary Principle Broaden Acceptance Of Animal Sentience?, Simon Leadbeater Jan 2017

Will The Precautionary Principle Broaden Acceptance Of Animal Sentience?, Simon Leadbeater

Animal Sentience

Birch uses existing practice to develop a formal Animal Sentience Precautionary Principle (ASPP), which he hopes will become more widely adopted and improve animal welfare outcomes. Birch considers the assumption that all animals are sentient to be extreme. Despite its merits, Birch’s ASPP remains human-centred.

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Assessing Negative And Positive Evidence For Animal Pain, Robert W. Elwood Jan 2017

Assessing Negative And Positive Evidence For Animal Pain, Robert W. Elwood

Animal Sentience

Jonathan Birch suggests that we should take one well-conducted study that produces results consistent with the idea of pain as being sufficient to invoke the animal sentience precautionary principle. Here, I consider how to balance negative and positive results from such studies using examples from my own work. I also consider which criteria of pain might provide strong inference about pain and which may prove to be weaker.

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Operationalizing Fear Through Understanding Vigilance, Ralph Adolphs Jan 2017

Operationalizing Fear Through Understanding Vigilance, Ralph Adolphs

Animal Sentience

Beauchamp’s target article raises important questions about the features that often accompany fear. How reliable an indicator of fear is vigilance? Is it constitutive, cause, or consequence of fear? These questions force us towards a clearer definition of “fear.”

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Fear And Loathing On The Landscape: What Can Foraging Theory Tell Us About Vigilance And Fear?, Burt P. Kotler, Joel S. Brown Jan 2017

Fear And Loathing On The Landscape: What Can Foraging Theory Tell Us About Vigilance And Fear?, Burt P. Kotler, Joel S. Brown

Animal Sentience

We discuss fear and vigilance from the perspective of foraging theory. Rather than focusing on proximate indicators of fear, we suggest that fear is an adaptation for assigning a cost to activities that incur a risk of injury or death. We use theory to provide definitions for fear and vigilance and then use that theory to compare them. We agree that there are limits to the reliability of vigilance as an indicator of fear, but we arrive at this conclusion differently.

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Methodological Suggestions For Inferring Fear From Vigilance, Julie A. Teichroeb Jan 2017

Methodological Suggestions For Inferring Fear From Vigilance, Julie A. Teichroeb

Animal Sentience

I suggest some methods for data-collection and analysis that may help researchers infer fear from vigilance.

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Skeletal Stiffening In An Amphibious Fish Out Of Water Is A Response To Increased Body Weight, Andy J. Turko, Dietmar KüLtz, Douglas S. Fudge, Roger P. Croll, Frank M. Smith, Matthew R. Stoyek, Patricia A. Wright Jan 2017

Skeletal Stiffening In An Amphibious Fish Out Of Water Is A Response To Increased Body Weight, Andy J. Turko, Dietmar KüLtz, Douglas S. Fudge, Roger P. Croll, Frank M. Smith, Matthew R. Stoyek, Patricia A. Wright

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

Terrestrial animals must support their bodies against gravity, while aquatic animals are effectively weightless because of buoyant support from water. Given this evolutionary history of minimal gravitational loading of fishes in water, it has been hypothesized that weight-responsive musculoskeletal systems evolved during the tetrapod invasion of land and are thus absent in fishes. Amphibious fishes, however, experience increased effective weight when out of water – are these fishes responsive to gravitational loading? Contrary to the tetrapod-origin hypothesis, we found that terrestrial acclimation reversibly increased gill arch stiffness (∼60% increase) in the amphibious fish Kryptolebias marmoratus when loaded normally by gravity, …

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Using Pentosidine And Hydroxyproline To Predict Age And Sex In An Avian Species, Brian S. Dorr, Randal S. Stahl, Katie C. Hanson-Dorr, Carol A. Furcolow Jan 2017

Using Pentosidine And Hydroxyproline To Predict Age And Sex In An Avian Species, Brian S. Dorr, Randal S. Stahl, Katie C. Hanson-Dorr, Carol A. Furcolow

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

All living organisms are subject to senescence accompanied by progressive and irreversible physiological changes. The error damage and cross-linking theories suggest that cells and tissues are damaged by an accumulation of cross-linked proteins, slowing down bodily processes and resulting in aging. A major category of these cross-linked proteins are compounds called advanced glycation end products (AGEs). We investigated the relationship between accumulation of the AGE, pentosidine (Ps), and hydroxyproline (HYP) a post-translationally modified amino acid, with age, sex, and breeding status (breeder/ nonbreeder) from skin samples of known age (i.e., banded as fledglings), free-ranging Double-crested Cormorants (Phalacrocorax auritus, …

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The Future Of Blackbird Management Research, Page E. Klug Jan 2017

The Future Of Blackbird Management Research, Page E. Klug

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Human society values birds for their intrinsic and aesthetic value as well as the ecosystem services they provide as pollinators, consumers of pests, and distributors of nutrients and seeds (Wenny et al. 2011). At the same time, conflict between birds and humans is an age-old phenomenon that has persisted as society has transformed and the scale of agriculture has expanded (Conover 2002). Managing conflict between birds and agriculture is challenging for many reasons. Foremost, the need to consider both human welfare and conservation of protected bird species is paramount, with nonlethal management methods preferred to lethal measures from societal, economical, …

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Effects Of Nonaerated Circulation Water Velocity On Nutrient Release From Aquaculture Pond Sediments, Xiangju Cheng, Dantong Zhu, Xixi Wang, Deguang Yu, Jun Xie Jan 2017

Effects Of Nonaerated Circulation Water Velocity On Nutrient Release From Aquaculture Pond Sediments, Xiangju Cheng, Dantong Zhu, Xixi Wang, Deguang Yu, Jun Xie

Civil & Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Sustaining good water quality in aquaculture ponds is vital. Without an aerator, the dissolved oxygen in ponds comes primarily from mass transfer at the water-ambient atmosphere interface. As sediment can seriously affect water quality, this study used indoor experiments to examine the nutrient (nitrogen and phosphorus) release mechanisms and fluxes from sediment in aquaculture ponds with moving water but no aeration. The results showed that the ammonia nitrogen (NH3-N) concentration in the overlying water was inversely proportional to flow velocity and that a higher flow velocity tended to result in a lower concentration in the overlying water, a …

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