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2016

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Articles 451 - 480 of 496

Full-Text Articles in Zoology

Comparison Of The Chromosome Banding Patterns In Three Species Of Social Voles (Microtus Irani Karamani, M. Schidlovskii, M. Anatolicus) From Turkey, Ati̇lla Arslan, Kubi̇lay Toyran, Serdar Gözütok, Tarkan Yorulmaz, Jan Zima Jan 2016

Comparison Of The Chromosome Banding Patterns In Three Species Of Social Voles (Microtus Irani Karamani, M. Schidlovskii, M. Anatolicus) From Turkey, Ati̇lla Arslan, Kubi̇lay Toyran, Serdar Gözütok, Tarkan Yorulmaz, Jan Zima

Turkish Journal of Zoology

The karyotypes of three species of social voles recently discovered in Turkey (Microtus irani karamani, M. schidlovskii, and M. anatolicus) were investigated. All specimens examined revealed similar karyotypes comprising 60 chromosomes in the diploid complement. All autosomes and the X chromosome were acrocentric. The subtelocentric Y chromosome was recorded in M. anatolicus but it was acrocentric in the other species. Dark C-bands were observed in centromeric/pericentromeric areas of all the acrocentric autosomes. The X chromosome had a centromeric C-positive area and the Y chromosome was completely heterochromatic in all specimens examined. AgNORs were recorded in the pericentromeric region of seven …

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Site Selection Of European Ground Squirrels (Spermophilus Citellus) In Eastern Romania And How They Are Influenced By Climate, Relief, And Vegetation, Gheorghe Zaharia, Laurentiu Petrencu, Emanuel Ştefan Baltag Jan 2016

Site Selection Of European Ground Squirrels (Spermophilus Citellus) In Eastern Romania And How They Are Influenced By Climate, Relief, And Vegetation, Gheorghe Zaharia, Laurentiu Petrencu, Emanuel Ştefan Baltag

Turkish Journal of Zoology

Climatic and relief factors could limit the distribution of nonmigratory animals, and especially those that inhabit temperate areas. The limitations are stronger for habitat specialist species and a good understanding of these influences can contribute significantly to the development of conservation measures to protect them. The European ground squirrel (Spermophilus citellus) is a small mammal inhabiting pastures and areas of short herbaceous vegetation from Central and Southeastern Europe with limited data about their colony site selectivity. During the first wide survey of the European ground squirrel in Eastern Romania we identified a strong influence of annual precipitation, aspect, slope, vegetation …

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Distribution And Current Status Of Cricetulus Migratorius (Mammalia: Cricetidae)In Bulgaria, With Comments On Its Status In The Balkans, Nedko Nedyalkov Jan 2016

Distribution And Current Status Of Cricetulus Migratorius (Mammalia: Cricetidae)In Bulgaria, With Comments On Its Status In The Balkans, Nedko Nedyalkov

Turkish Journal of Zoology

During the last decade I collected extensive new information about the distribution of the Grey hamster (Cricetulus migratorius) in Bulgaria, mainly through the study of pellets of birds of prey and owls. New data about the dental morphology and morphometrics, distribution, and current status of the Grey hamster in Bulgaria are presented. The Grey hamster has been found in the diet of the Barn owl (Tyto alba), Little owl (Athene noctua), and Eastern imperial eagle (Aquila heliaca). It contributed a negligible part of the studied pellets: only 0.06% of individuals from 27,449 small mammals. The presence of the species was …

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Genetic Characterization Of The Raccoon Dog (Nyctereutes Procyonoides),An Alien Species In The Baltic Region, Algimantas Paulauskas, Loreta Griciuviene, Jana Radzijevskaja, Vaclovas Gedminas Jan 2016

Genetic Characterization Of The Raccoon Dog (Nyctereutes Procyonoides),An Alien Species In The Baltic Region, Algimantas Paulauskas, Loreta Griciuviene, Jana Radzijevskaja, Vaclovas Gedminas

Turkish Journal of Zoology

The raccoon dog Nyctereutes procyonoides is a newly established alien species in Europe that spread rapidly into many European countries. They were introduced into Latvia, Estonia, and Belarus. Lithuania has been colonized by immigrants from neighboring countries (Belarus and Latvia) and since 1960 the species has occupied the whole country. The data on genetic diversity of the raccoon dog are rather limited, and not all parts of the Baltic region have been covered by previous analyses. In order to compare the level of genetic diversity and describe phylogeographic patterns throughout the raccoon dog distribution in the Palearctic region, a mitochondrial …

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Current Status, Distribution, And Conservation Of Brown Bear (Ursidae) Andwild Canids (Gray Wolf, Golden Jackal, And Red Fox; Canidae) In Turkey, Hüseyi̇n Ambarli, Alper Ertürk, Anil Soyumert Jan 2016

Current Status, Distribution, And Conservation Of Brown Bear (Ursidae) Andwild Canids (Gray Wolf, Golden Jackal, And Red Fox; Canidae) In Turkey, Hüseyi̇n Ambarli, Alper Ertürk, Anil Soyumert

Turkish Journal of Zoology

Turkey has viable populations of many carnivore species of the Western Palearctic. Among those, ursids and canids are represented by brown bear (Ursus arctos) and 3 canid species, gray wolf (Canis lupus), golden jackal (Canis aureus), and red fox (Vulpes vulpes), respectively. Those species occur in major ecosystems of Turkey and experience a wide range of threats, and they are at the center of human-wildlife conflicts. However, due to a limited number of studies about their ecology and taxonomy, their current distributions, population sizes, and statuses are vague. In this study, we document the 4 species' known data in terms …

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Mitochondrial Dna Control Region Variability Of Wild Boar Sus Scrofa With Various External Phenotypes In Turkey, Yasi̇n Demi̇rbaş, Ayça Özkan Koca, Nahi̇t Pamukoğlu, Hakan Sert, Franz Suchentrunk Jan 2016

Mitochondrial Dna Control Region Variability Of Wild Boar Sus Scrofa With Various External Phenotypes In Turkey, Yasi̇n Demi̇rbaş, Ayça Özkan Koca, Nahi̇t Pamukoğlu, Hakan Sert, Franz Suchentrunk

Turkish Journal of Zoology

The wild boar (Sus scrofa L.) is distributed across most parts of Turkey, a major biogeographic crossroads connecting Southwest Asia and Southeast Europe. However, no information on genetic diversity and population structure of this species in Turkey is available. In this study, we report on mtDNA sequence variability and phylogenetic relationships among wild boars with variable external phenotypes from both its European (Turkish Thrace) and Asian (Anatolia) distributions in Turkey. Phylogenetic analyses of mtDNA D-loop sequences (413 bp) of 53 newly sequenced wild boars from different localities in Turkey and 432 wild boar sequences from various geographic origins downloaded from …

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Human-Wildlife Conflict As A Barrier To Large Carnivore Managementand Conservation In Turkey, Mark Chynoweth, Emrah Çoban, Çağatay Altin, Çağan Şekerci̇oğlu Jan 2016

Human-Wildlife Conflict As A Barrier To Large Carnivore Managementand Conservation In Turkey, Mark Chynoweth, Emrah Çoban, Çağatay Altin, Çağan Şekerci̇oğlu

Turkish Journal of Zoology

Large carnivorous mammals are wide-ranging animals and thus frequently come into contact with human settlements in agrarian landscapes. This often generates human-wildlife conflict; carnivores potentially damage livestock, agricultural products, or human well-being. In Turkey, the cooccurrence of eight medium-large carnivore species combined with a burgeoning human population and unsustainable consumption of natural resources increasingly threatens carnivore populations. To better understand human-wildlife conflict in Turkey and provide potential solutions, we conducted 959 human opinion surveys in 2006, 2010, and 2014 in 58 distinct settlements surrounding the Sarıkamış-Allahuekber Mountains National Park in Kars, Ardahan, and Erzurum provinces. Results show that respondents regularly …

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The First Record Of Alpine Long-Eared Bat Plecotus Macrobullaris In Serbia, Ivana Budinski, Branko Karapandza, Vukasin Josipovic, Jelena Jovanovic, Milan Paunovic Jan 2016

The First Record Of Alpine Long-Eared Bat Plecotus Macrobullaris In Serbia, Ivana Budinski, Branko Karapandza, Vukasin Josipovic, Jelena Jovanovic, Milan Paunovic

Turkish Journal of Zoology

An inventory of bat species in the Milesevka river gorge (southwestern Serbia) was conducted in July 2013. There were six bat species recorded in the cave at the Cetanica plateau using a mist-netting technique. In this paper we report the first finding of Plecotus macrobullaris in Serbia, contributing to the knowledge of its distribution area. The bat fauna of Serbia now contains 30 species.

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Parasites From The Red Lionfish, Pterois Volitans From The Gulf Of Mexico, Alexander Q. Fogg, Carlos F. Ruiz, Stephen S. Curran, Stephen A. Bullard Jan 2016

Parasites From The Red Lionfish, Pterois Volitans From The Gulf Of Mexico, Alexander Q. Fogg, Carlos F. Ruiz, Stephen S. Curran, Stephen A. Bullard

Gulf and Caribbean Research

No abstract provided.

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Understanding Emotional Suffering, Barbara J. King Jan 2016

Understanding Emotional Suffering, Barbara J. King

Animal Sentience

In responding to insightful commentaries from 7 scholars, for which I am grateful, I offer new thoughts on whether animals can conceptualize and express signs of grief. I also discuss why I included both weak and strong examples of animal mourning, and how this work may help us think about enhanced welfare for animals, including freedom from emotional suffering.

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Pain In Parallel, Peter Godfrey-Smith Jan 2016

Pain In Parallel, Peter Godfrey-Smith

Animal Sentience

Key's (2016) arguments against the view that fish feel pain can be shown to be fallacious by considering some damage-related behaviors in invertebrates. Pain may have different neural bases in different organisms, so the absence in fish of the cortical structures that might underlie pain in mammals does not settle the question of fish pain.

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Cortex Necessary For Pain — But Not In Sense That Matters, Adam J. Shriver Jan 2016

Cortex Necessary For Pain — But Not In Sense That Matters, Adam J. Shriver

Animal Sentience

Certain cortical regions are necessary for pain in humans in the sense that, at particular times, they play a direct role in pain. However, it is not true that they are necessary in the more important sense that pain is never possible in humans without them. There are additional details from human lesion studies concerning functional plasticity that undermine Key’s (2016) interpretation. Moreover, no one has yet identified any specific behaviors that mammalian cortical pain regions make possible that are absent in fish.

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Falsifying The Null Hypothesis That “Fish Do Not Feel Pain", Brian Key Jan 2016

Falsifying The Null Hypothesis That “Fish Do Not Feel Pain", Brian Key

Animal Sentience

The reader of Animal Sentience may surmise that because the weight of the commentaries on my target article, “Why fish do not feel pain,” is leaning towards not supporting my argument, it follows that the premise "fish do not feel pain" is incorrect. However, science does not prevail by popular opinion. History is plagued with numerous (and often widely accepted) examples of biological phenomena being explained by mysterious forces. In the absence of a mechanistic understanding, the many different guises of vitalism (the principle that life involves a vital energy) are often invoked to explain the unknown. Spurious …

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Diet And Foraging Behaviors Of Timber Rattlesnakes, Crotalus Horridus, In Eastern Virginia, Scott M. Goetz, Christopher E. Petersen, Robert K. Rose, John D. Kleopfer, Alan H. Savitzky Jan 2016

Diet And Foraging Behaviors Of Timber Rattlesnakes, Crotalus Horridus, In Eastern Virginia, Scott M. Goetz, Christopher E. Petersen, Robert K. Rose, John D. Kleopfer, Alan H. Savitzky

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

During a 17-yr telemetry study, we examined the diet and ambush behavior of a population of Crotalus horridus in southeastern Virginia. Forty dietary items were identified from 37 fecal samples. We documented 722 instances of snakes in an ambush posture, 61 of which were in a vertical-tree posture, as if hunting arboreal prey at the base of a tree. The most common prey items were Eastern Gray Squirrels (Sciurus carolinensis), which accounted for 45 of all dietary items and represented an estimated 78 of total biomass consumed by C. horridus. Prey was not consumed in proportion to availability, …

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Death In The Family, Maria Botero Jan 2016

Death In The Family, Maria Botero

Animal Sentience

Barbara King presents grief as the result of the capacity of human and non-human animals for social and affectionate bonds. This is a novel approach that provides a context for interpreting behavioral evidence of grief. The book also offers thought-provoking insights into the relationship between emotion and the expression of emotion. The most surprising element of King’s approach is that, throughout the book, her account of non-human animal grief forces us to reassess the way we treat them.

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Considering Animals’ Feelings: Précis Of Sentience And Animal Welfare (Broom 2014), Donald M. Broom Jan 2016

Considering Animals’ Feelings: Précis Of Sentience And Animal Welfare (Broom 2014), Donald M. Broom

Animal Sentience

The concept of sentience concerns the capacity to have feelings. There is evidence for sophisticated cognitive concepts and for both positive and negative feelings in a wide range of nonhuman animals. All vertebrates, including fish, as well as some molluscs and decapod crustaceans have pain systems. Most people today consider that their moral obligations extend to many animal species. Moral decisions about abortion, euthanasia, and the various ways we protect animals should take into account the research findings about sentience. In addition, all animal life should be respected and studies of the welfare of even the simplest invertebrate animals should …

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Is Sentience Only A Nonessential Component Of Animal Welfare?, Ian J.H. Duncan Jan 2016

Is Sentience Only A Nonessential Component Of Animal Welfare?, Ian J.H. Duncan

Animal Sentience

According to Broom (2014), animal welfare is a concept that can be applied to all animals, including single-celled organisms that are obviously not sentient. Such a stance makes it difficult to draw a connection between welfare and sentience, and that is the book’s downfall. Some excellent points are made about sentience and there are very good discussions on animal welfare. However, unless sentience is considered the essential component of welfare, any attempt to link the two phenomena will be unsuccessful — and that, indeed, is the case with this book.

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Sentience And Animal Welfare: New Thoughts And Controversies, Donald M. Broom Jan 2016

Sentience And Animal Welfare: New Thoughts And Controversies, Donald M. Broom

Animal Sentience

Sentience involves having some degree of awareness but awareness of self is not as complex as some people believe. Fully functioning vertebrate animals, and some invertebrates, are sentient but neither humans nor non-humans are sentient early in development or if brain-damaged. Feelings are valuable adaptive mechanisms and an important part of welfare but are not all of welfare so the term welfare refers to all animals, not just to sentient animals. We have much to learn about what non-human animals want from us, the functioning of the more complex aspects of their brains and of our brains and how we …

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Why Fish Do Not Feel Pain, Brian Key Jan 2016

Why Fish Do Not Feel Pain, Brian Key

Animal Sentience

Only humans can report feeling pain. In contrast, pain in animals is typically inferred on the basis of nonverbal behaviour. Unfortunately, these behavioural data can be problematic when the reliability and validity of the behavioural tests are questionable. The thesis proposed here is based on the bioengineering principle that structure determines function. Basic functional homologies can be mapped to structural homologies across a broad spectrum of vertebrate species. For example, olfaction depends on olfactory glomeruli in the olfactory bulbs of the forebrain, visual orientation responses depend on the laminated optic tectum in the midbrain, and locomotion depends on pattern generators …

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Why Human Pain Can’T Tell Us Whether Fish Feel Pain, Victoria A. Braithwaite, Paula Droege Jan 2016

Why Human Pain Can’T Tell Us Whether Fish Feel Pain, Victoria A. Braithwaite, Paula Droege

Animal Sentience

In his target article, Key (2016) reviews the neuroanatomy of human pain and uses what is known about human pain to argue that fish cannot experience pain. We provide three reasons why the conclusions reached by Key are unsupported. They consider (i) why it is not sufficient to conclude that only human neural structures can process conscious pain, (ii) why an understanding of pain in humans and non-human animals needs to be based within a framework of consciousness, and (iii) evidence already exists that fish treated with noxious stimuli lose the ability to perform normal behaviours: This was a behavioral …

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Comparative Evolutionary Approach To Pain Perception In Fishes, Culum Brown Jan 2016

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 …

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An Invertebrate Perspective On Pain, Jennifer A. Mather Jan 2016

An Invertebrate Perspective On Pain, Jennifer A. Mather

Animal Sentience

Although Key (2016) argues that mammals feel pain and fish do not, from an invertebrate perspective, it is obvious that the pain experience is shared by animals from a number of different animal groups.

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Could Fish Feel Pain? A Wider Perspective, Yew-Kwang Ng Jan 2016

Could Fish Feel Pain? A Wider Perspective, Yew-Kwang Ng

Animal Sentience

Key’s (2016) target article provides some strong arguments but also makes some logical mistakes. The arguments are not sufficient to support a definite conclusion that fish cannot feel pain. A multi-faceted perspective taking into account brain structure, chemical secretion in brain, animal behavior, and evolutionary biology may be useful and appears, at least in some aspects, to suggest the opposite conclusion from that of the target article.


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Should Fish Feel Pain? A Plant Perspective, František Baluška Jan 2016

Should Fish Feel Pain? A Plant Perspective, František Baluška

Animal Sentience

Key (2016) claims fish that fish do not feel pain because they lack the necessary neuronal architecture: their responses to noxious stimuli, according to Key, are executed automatically without any feelings. However, as pointed out by many of his commentators, this conclusion is not convincing. Plants might provide some clues. Plants are not usually thought to be very active behaviorally, but the evidence suggests otherwise. Moreover, in stressful situations, plants produce numerous chemicals that have painkilling and anesthetic properties. Finally, plants, when treated with anesthetics, cannot execute active behaviors such as touch-induced leaf movements or rapid trap closures after localizing …

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A Single Strand Of Argument With Unfounded Conclusion, Robert W. Elwood Jan 2016

A Single Strand Of Argument With Unfounded Conclusion, Robert W. Elwood

Animal Sentience

Key (2016) describes the neural system involved in human pain experience in an excellent fashion but then suggests that only that complete system can generate the experience of pain. Thus animals without all components will not feel pain. This argument has been refuted in the past by analogy to vision where it is clear that a broad range of taxa, vertebrate and invertebrate, have good visual abilities albeit with completely different central nervous systems and receptors. This known counterargument to Key’s main idea is not mentioned in the target article. Further criteria that might indicate pain and studies examining these …

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What Would The Babel Fish Say?, Monica Gagliano Jan 2016

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 …

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Pain And Fish Welfare, Eliane Gonçalves-De-Freitas Jan 2016

Pain And Fish Welfare, Eliane Gonçalves-De-Freitas

Animal Sentience

The evolutionary approach of Key’s (2016) target article, generically comparing humans with fish of all kinds, is simplistic. The author ignores published research on structural and molecular aspects of pain in fish. The target article reads more like a selective polemic against fish welfare than an even-handed analysis.

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Brain Processes For “Good” And “Bad” Feelings: How Far Back In Evolution?, Jaak Panksepp Jan 2016

Brain Processes For “Good” And “Bad” Feelings: How Far Back In Evolution?, Jaak Panksepp

Animal Sentience

The question of whether fish can experience pain or any other feelings can only be resolved by neurobiologically targeted experiments. This commentary summarizes why this is essential for resolving scientific debates about consciousness in other animals, and offers specific experiments that need to be done: (i) those that evaluate the rewarding and punishing effects of specific brain regions and systems (for instance, with deep-brain stimulation); (ii) those that evaluate the capacity of animals to regulate their affective states; and (iii) those that have direct implications for human affective feelings, with specific predictions — for instance, the development of new treatments …

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Pain In Fish: Weighing The Evidence, James D. Rose Jan 2016

Pain In Fish: Weighing The Evidence, James D. Rose

Animal Sentience

The target article by Key (2016) examines whether fish have brain structures capable of mediating pain perception and consciousness, functions known to depend on the neocortex in humans. He concludes, as others have concluded (Rose 2002, 2007; Rose et al. 2014), that such functions are impossible for fish brains. This conclusion has been met with hypothetical assertions by others to the effect that functions of pain and consciousness may well be possible through unknown alternate neural processes. Key's argument would be bolstered by consideration of other neurological as well as behavioral evidence, which shows that sharks and ray are fishes …

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Why Is Fish “Feeling” Pain Controversial?, E. Don Stevens Jan 2016

Why Is Fish “Feeling” Pain Controversial?, E. Don Stevens

Animal Sentience

In his excellent target article, Key (2016) develops a mechanistic argument in an attempt to show why it is unlikely that fish can “feel” pain or for that matter, “feel” anything. The topic is controversial and likely to achieve the goal of getting many hits for the inaugural issue of the new journal, Animal Sentience. In my view, the question is unlikely to be answered, for two reasons. First, because the proponents of the “fish feel pain” controversy are untrained and unskilled in the details and jargon of neurophysiology and/or neuroanatomy, and the opponents of the controversy, like Key, …

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