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Articles 331 - 360 of 417
Full-Text Articles in Zoology
Possible Expansion Of The Range Of Xylocopa Violacea L. (Hymenoptera, Apiformes, Apidae) In Europe, Józef Banaszak, Weronika Banaszak Cibicka, Lucyna Twerd
Possible Expansion Of The Range Of Xylocopa Violacea L. (Hymenoptera, Apiformes, Apidae) In Europe, Józef Banaszak, Weronika Banaszak Cibicka, Lucyna Twerd
Turkish Journal of Zoology
The violet carpenter bee is a species which can chiefly be found around the Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea. This bee species has rarely been found in Poland, which is the northernmost area of its occurrence. Between 1868 and 1935, the Xylocopa violacea (Linnaeus, 1758) was observed at only 8 locations in Poland. There were then no reports of the occurrence of this bee species in Poland for 70 years. The species was noted again in 2005; between 2005 and 2017, it was noted at 20 locations. This study provides detailed data on the history of the distribution of …
Hardly Habitual: Chimpanzees And Gorillas Show Flexibility In Their Motor Responses When Presented With A Causally-Clear Task, Sarah L. Jacobson, Lydia M. Hopper
Hardly Habitual: Chimpanzees And Gorillas Show Flexibility In Their Motor Responses When Presented With A Causally-Clear Task, Sarah L. Jacobson, Lydia M. Hopper
Publications and Research
In contrast to reports of wild primates, studies of captive primates' flexibility often reveal conservatism: individuals are unable to switch to new and more efficient strategies when task demands change. We propose that such conservatism might be a result of task design and hypothesize that conservatism might be linked to primates' lack of causal understanding in relation to experimental apparatuses. We investigated if chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) and western lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) would show greater flexibility when presented with a causally-clear task. We presented six chimpanzees and seven gorillas with a clear tube from which …
An Assessment Of Night Time And Seasonal Electrofishing In The Lower Wabash River, Eric Christopher Hine
An Assessment Of Night Time And Seasonal Electrofishing In The Lower Wabash River, Eric Christopher Hine
Masters Theses
Large rivers are highly important systems; being exploited both commercially and recreationally. Because of this usage by humans, close monitoring of the ecology of theses rivers is of the utmost importance. The Long-Term Electrofishing project (LTEF) monitors the fish communities of the Illinois, Mississippi, Wabash, and Ohio rivers using day time, pulsed-DC electrofishing during the late Spring through the early Fall each year. Given that previous studies have noted diel and seasonal changes in catch and composition of fish communities, the addition of night time electrofishing may be beneficial to the overarching goals of the LTEF. This study sought to …
Natural History Of The Eastern Harvest Mouse In Southeastern Virginia, Robert K. Rose
Natural History Of The Eastern Harvest Mouse In Southeastern Virginia, Robert K. Rose
Biological Sciences Faculty Publications
The Eastern Harvest Mouse, Reithrodontomys humulis, has been studied extensively in southeastern Virginia since 1979, using a combination of live and pitfall trapping methods. This smallest rodent of eastern North America also is one of most versatile, occupying a range of habitats in southeastern Virginia from old fields in different stages of succession, brushy edges, and forests of different types. As with other species of Reithrodontomys, R. humulis often is associated with the Hispid Cotton Rat, Sigmodon hispidus, with both reaching modest densities in old fields. Two capture-mark-release studies of small mammal communities in southern Chesapeake lasting …
Taxonomy Of Nocturnal Parasitic Wasps Family Braconidae (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonoidea) In Doi Phu Kha National Park, Thailand, Marisa Raweearamwong
Taxonomy Of Nocturnal Parasitic Wasps Family Braconidae (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonoidea) In Doi Phu Kha National Park, Thailand, Marisa Raweearamwong
Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)
Parasitoid wasps of the family Braconidae are classified in the order Hymenoptera, same as bees, ants and other wasps. The Braconidae is one of the most species-rich families in the Insecta. Doi Phu Kha National Park (DPKNP) has highly diverse organisms, both flora and fauna reflecting the great varieties of habitat types, however, there is very little information on the taxonomy of Braconidae in this national park. Therefore, the aim of this research is to establish the taxonomy of nocturnal parasitic wasps in the family Braconidae within the DPKNP using light trapping technique. A total of 846 specimens, 177 morphospecies …
พฤติกรรมการเรียนรู้และการตอบสนองต่อ 2,4-ไดไนโตรโทลูอีนในผึ้งพันธุ์ Apis Mellifera Linnaeus, 1758 และผึ้งโพรง Apis Cerana Fabricius, 1793, ศิรัช เลิศจินตนากิจ
พฤติกรรมการเรียนรู้และการตอบสนองต่อ 2,4-ไดไนโตรโทลูอีนในผึ้งพันธุ์ Apis Mellifera Linnaeus, 1758 และผึ้งโพรง Apis Cerana Fabricius, 1793, ศิรัช เลิศจินตนากิจ
Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)
ผึ้งให้น้ำหวานเป็นสิ่งมีชีวิตต้นแบบสําหรับการศึกษาการตอบสนองต่อกลิ่นโดยใช้วิธีการเรียนรู้แบบมี เงื่อนไข (classical conditioning) ผ่านทางพฤติกรรมการแลบลิ้นหรือ Proboscis Extension Response (PER) ซึ่งมีรายงานอย่างกว้างขวางในผึ้งพันธุ์หรือผึ้งให้น้ำหวานสายพันธุ์ยุโรป (A. mellifera) ในขณะที่การศึกษาในผึ้งโพรงหรือผึ้งให้น้ำหวานสายพันธุ์เอเชีย (A. cerana) กลับยังมีการศึกษาอยู่น้อยมาก ทั้งที่มีความสําคัญในการเป็นแมลงผสมเกสรในภูมิภาคเอเชียและในประเทศไทย ในการศึกษาครั้งนี้ วิธีการ PER ถูกนํามาใช้เพื่อเป็นตัวประเมินความสามารถในการเรียนรู้และตอบสนองต่อสาร 2,4–ไดไนโตรโทลูอีน (DNT, สารตั้งต้นวัตถุระเบิด) โดยทําการเปรียบเทียบความสามารถของการเรียนรู้และตอบสนองระหว่างผึ้งทั้งสองชนิด การศึกษานี้ทดลองในช่วงระหว่างเดือนพฤษภาคม 2561 ถึงเดือนมีนาคม 2563 ผึ้งที่มีหน้าที่หาอาหารจะถูกจับและนําไปฝึกให้เกิดการเรียนรู้แบบมีเงื่อนไขระหว่างสารละลายน้ำตาลซูโครสความเข้มข้น 50% w/v (ใช้เป็นรางวัล) และ DNT ความเข้มข้น 25 มิลลิกรัมต่อลิตร (ใช้เป็นสิ่งเร้าเงื่อนไข) การฝึกให้ผึ้งเกิดการเรียนรู้แบบมีเงื่อนไขนั้นจะทําการฝึกผึ้งทั้งหมด 6 ครั้ง ในช่วงเวลา 13:00–15:00 น. เพื่อที่จะสามารถประเมินได้ว่าผึ้งมีความสามารถในการเรียนรู้และจดจํากลิ่น DNT ได้หรือไม่ ผลการศึกษาแสดงให้เห็นว่า ผึ้งพันธุ์ (N=61) สามารถเกิดการเรียนรู้แบบมีเงื่อนไขระหว่างกลิ่นและน้ำตาลซูโครสได้ โดยมีการแสดงพฤติกรรม PER เพิ่มขึ้นจาก 9.84±3.84% (การฝึกครั้งที่ 1) เป็น 47.54±6.44% (การฝึกครั้งที่ 6) ในขณะที่ผึ้งโพรง (N=36) สามารถเกิดการเรียนรู้แบบมีเงื่อนไขระหว่างกลิ่นและน้ำตาลซูโครสได้เช่นกัน เกิดการแสดงพฤติกรรม PER เพิ่มขึ้นจาก 2.78±2.78% (การฝึกครั้งที่ 1) เป็น 47.22±8.44% (การฝึกครั้งที่ 6) จากผลการศึกษายังระบุอีกว่า ผึ้งพันธุ์มีความสามารถในการเรียนรู้และตอบสนองต่อ DNT (49.18±6.45%) ได้ดีกว่าผึ้งโพรง (16.67±6.30%) ในช่วงที่สองของการฝึก (P<0.01) สําหรับการทดสอบความสามารถในการจดจํา (memory retention test) พบว่า ผึ้งพันธุ์ยังคงสามารถตอบสนองต่อ DNT และแสดงพฤติกรรม PER ได้ 46.00±3.68%, 67.34±4.83% และ 52.03±3.77% ในขณะที่ผึ้งโพรงก็สามารถแสดงพฤติกรรม PER ได้ 55.50±6.10%, 50.50±7.09% และ 44.50±6.37% หลังจากที่เวลาผ่านไป 10 นาที 24 ชั่วโมงและ 48 ชั่วโมงหลังการฝึกตามลําดับ อย่างไรก็ตามความสามารถในการจดจําต่อกลิ่น DNT ของผึ้งทั้งสองชนิดนี้ไม่ได้แตกต่างกันอย่างมีนัยสําคัญทางสถิติ (P>0.05) จากผลการศึกษานี้ ผู้วิจัยพบว่าผึ้งทั้งสองชนิดมีความจําระยะยาว (long-term memory) ที่ยังคงสามารถแสดงพฤติกรรม PER และตอบสนองต่อกลิ่น DNT ได้แม้ว่าเวลาจะผ่านไปแล้ว 48 ชั่วโมงก็ตาม ความสามารถในการเรียนรู้และจดจําที่แตกต่างกันระหว่างผึ้งให้หวานทั้งสองชนิดนี้อาจจะเป็นผลมาจากคัดเลือกทางธรรมชาติเนื่องจากผึ้งทั้งสองชนิดมีถิ่นที่อยู่อาศัยที่มีสภาพภูมิอากาศแตกต่างกัน การศึกษาเพิ่มเติมเพื่อประเมินความสามารถในการเรียนรู้และการจดจําของผึ้งให้น้ําหวานสายพันธุ์เอเชียชนิดอื่น ๆ จะช่วยให้ข้อมูลที่เป็นประโยชน์เพิ่มขึ้นในการศึกษาเชิงเปรียบเทียบระหว่างผึ้งที่อาศัยในเขตอบอุ่นกับในเขตร้อนชื้น
Testing For Cryptic Diversity And Inference Of Population Structure In The Cosmopolitan Hoplonemertean Emplectonema Gracile (Nemertea), Paul L. Delaney Iv
Testing For Cryptic Diversity And Inference Of Population Structure In The Cosmopolitan Hoplonemertean Emplectonema Gracile (Nemertea), Paul L. Delaney Iv
Theses and Dissertations
Emplectonema gracile (Johnston 1837) is a hoplonemertean of marine intertidal hard-bottom communities and is distributed throughout the Northern Hemisphere. Although possessing a planktonic larval stage in its life history, the range of such cosmopolitan marine invertebrate species is often explained by cryptic speciation and anthropogenic transport. The purpose of this study is to test for possible cryptic species using mtDNA markers (COI and 16S rDNA) and to investigate population structure in E. gracile over a portion of its geographic range using mtDNA markers and ddRADseq nuclear SNP data. The results of both phylogenetic- and tree-based species delimitation revealed that E. …
Did Predator Control Go To The Dogs? A 40-Year Retrospective, John M. Tomeček
Did Predator Control Go To The Dogs? A 40-Year Retrospective, John M. Tomeček
Human–Wildlife Interactions
In 1980, Green and Woodruff published an article entitled, “Is Predator Control Going to the Dogs?” At that time, the use of Livestock Guardian Dogs (hereafter LGDs) was a relatively new wildlife damage management tool in North America. Although this tool passed the test of time in its point of origin, early North American adopters stepped into a brave new world with little to guide them. In the modern world, knowledge of methods and means of wildlife damage management exists in written texts, films, and other guides. For LGDs, however, such materials did not exist 40 years ago. Over the …
Factors Influencing The Movement Of Livestock Guardian Dogs In The Edwards Plateau Of Texas: Implications For Efficacy, Behavior, And Territoriality, John M. Tomeček, Justin T. French, John W. Walker, Nova J. Silvy, Nicholas A. Bromen
Factors Influencing The Movement Of Livestock Guardian Dogs In The Edwards Plateau Of Texas: Implications For Efficacy, Behavior, And Territoriality, John M. Tomeček, Justin T. French, John W. Walker, Nova J. Silvy, Nicholas A. Bromen
Human–Wildlife Interactions
Livestock guardian dog (Canis lupus familiaris; LGD) breeds of domestic dog worldwide provide a degree of control over predation losses. The application of LGDs as a wildlife damage management tool evolved as a cultural practice in the Old World. In the 1970s, this tool emerged in North America. Despite several decades of science and application, gaps still exist in our knowledge regarding applications for LGDs. From February 2016 to November 2017, we deployed global positioning system transmitters on 4 LGDs on a 20-km2 ranch in Menard County, Texas, USA operated by Texas A&M AgriLife Research to investigate …
Spatial Relationships Between Livestock Guardian Dogs And Mesocarnivores In Central Texas, Nicholas A. Bromen, Justin T. French, John Walker, Nova J. Silvy, John M. Tomeček
Spatial Relationships Between Livestock Guardian Dogs And Mesocarnivores In Central Texas, Nicholas A. Bromen, Justin T. French, John Walker, Nova J. Silvy, John M. Tomeček
Human–Wildlife Interactions
The use of livestock guardian dogs (Canis lupus familiaris; LGDs) to deter predators from preying on domestic sheep (Ovis aries) and goat (Capra spp.) herds continues to increase across the United States. Most research regarding the efficacy of LGDs has been based on queries of rancher satisfaction with LGD performance, yet little is known regarding LGD influence on mesocarnivores, including those species against which they protect livestock. Here, we provide some preliminary observations regarding the effect of LGDs deployed with sheep and goat herds from May 2016 to April 2017 on the detected activity of …
Assessing Individual And Population-Level Effects Of Anticoagulant Rodenticides On Wildlife, Niamh Quinn
Assessing Individual And Population-Level Effects Of Anticoagulant Rodenticides On Wildlife, Niamh Quinn
Human–Wildlife Interactions
Anticoagulant rodenticides have been detected in many species of wildlife worldwide. However, the origins, exposure pathways, and effects of this exposure are not well understood. To accurately characterize the risks to wildlife from rodenticide use, better information is needed regarding the proportion of populations being exposed, what proportion of individuals in populations are affected, and in what ways. The relationship between anticoagulant rodenticide concentrations found in wildlife and the rate of mortality or illness have been the subjects of much research. Residue levels observed in liver and whole-body analyses vary and overlap extensively among apparently healthy asymptomatic individuals and sublethal …
Intelligence, Complexity, And Individuality In Sheep, Lori Marino, Debra Merskin
Intelligence, Complexity, And Individuality In Sheep, Lori Marino, Debra Merskin
Animal Sentience
Domestic sheep (Ovis aries) are among the earliest animals domesticated for human use. They are consumed worldwide as mutton, hogget, and lamb, kept as wool and milk producers, and used extensively in scientific research. The popular stereotype is that sheep are docile, passive, unintelligent, and timid, but a review of the research on their behavior, affect, cognition, and personality reveals that they are complex, individualistic, and social.
Sacrificial Lambs, Clive Phillips
Sacrificial Lambs, Clive Phillips
Animal Sentience
Sheep evolved from the mouflon as mountain animals, able to escape predation by leaping between rock ledges. Their defense was their agility. Humans brought them to the plains, where the agility was less useful, but their lack of aggression, speed or weaponry against predators made them a prime target to become one of man’s meat providers. A perfect animal in many ways, with extraordinary perceptive powers and some remarkable cognitive skills, they are often treated with complete disregard for their welfare. Yet sheep themselves won’t tell us this, for a sheep that alerted others to its weakness really would be …
Pulling The Wool From Our Eyes, Jennifer Vonk
Pulling The Wool From Our Eyes, Jennifer Vonk
Animal Sentience
Marino & Merskin review evidence of the complexity of sheep cognition, concluding that researchers ought to feel sheepish about misrepresenting ovine cognitive capacities. However, the failure to situate the data in critical context risks pulling the wool over readers’ eyes.
Is Knowing Enough To Change Human Attitudes And Actions?, Liv Baker
Is Knowing Enough To Change Human Attitudes And Actions?, Liv Baker
Animal Sentience
Marino & Merskin present evidence on key aspects of cognition, such as theory of mind, learning, emotional valence, and sociality, to make a convincing argument that sheep are due consideration as individual sentient beings. With this information, what will it take to produce a real, meaningful shift in our attitudes and actions towards other animals, including a species as disadvantaged as sheep? What else do we need to know?
Reflections On Sheep Rearing, Joyce D'Silva
Reflections On Sheep Rearing, Joyce D'Silva
Animal Sentience
Sheep rearing has an incredibly long history. Sometimes this alone can give credibility and status to a human practice. In the twenty-first century, it may be time to reassess our treatment of sheep and their place in nature. “Just because we’ve always done it” no longer has validity by itself. There are many other human practices which used to be accepted widely in certain societies and which we now may find abhorrent. With sheep intelligence now rightly regarded as an acceptable area of research within the academic community, it is a good time to reflect on our treatment of these …
Casting A Sheep’S Eye On Science, David M. Peña-Guzmán
Casting A Sheep’S Eye On Science, David M. Peña-Guzmán
Animal Sentience
Marino & Merskin review evidence that sheep are not just passive and reactive creatures. They have personalities that vary from individual to individual and endure over time. It follows that we must rethink what it means to study them scientifically.
Far More To Sheep Than Meets The Casual Eye, Bernard Rollin
Far More To Sheep Than Meets The Casual Eye, Bernard Rollin
Animal Sentience
Marino & Merskin’s survey of the cognitive and social capacities of sheep is an eye-opener about the individuality and emotionality of this most maligned of all farm animals. My own eyes had already been opened by an adopted orphaned lamb, so much more like a dog as a companion animal than the mindless robot I had been conditioned to expect. I am morally certain that Marino & Merskin’s survey will have a similar effect on readers open to changing their minds.
Sentient Animals Do Not Just Live In The Present, John Webster
Sentient Animals Do Not Just Live In The Present, John Webster
Animal Sentience
Sheep are particularly well-equipped with the cognitive and emotional skills appropriate to their phenotype and natural environment. These include spatial memory, the benefits of safety in numbers, and the ability to recognise special individuals in large flocks by sight and by sound. Marino & Merskin’s target article reviews convincing evidence on whether sheep are more or less clever than other mammalian species. Sheep are very good at being sheep. But sentient animals do not just live in the present. Their emotional state is not simply dictated by events of the moment. If they learn, they can cope; if not, they …
Positive Sentience Is Underrated, Teya Brooks Pribac
Positive Sentience Is Underrated, Teya Brooks Pribac
Animal Sentience
My commentary focuses on two aspects of ovine (well-)being considered in the review: the developmental context and (un)fulfilled potentialities.
Sheep In Aesop’S And Phaedrus’S Fables, Matteo Colombo, Chiara Raucea
Sheep In Aesop’S And Phaedrus’S Fables, Matteo Colombo, Chiara Raucea
Animal Sentience
Sheep feature in various animal fables. Marino & Merskin suggest that “we” view sheep as “docile, passive, unintelligent, and timid,” but animal fables do not support this view. In Aesop’s and Phaedrus’s fables, sheep are a primary target of injustice; but they are not passive targets. Sheep endure injustice actively and honestly. They are intelligent, aware and outspoken about their own condition.
Using Sheep Psychology To Guide Sheep Policy, Ralph Adolphs
Using Sheep Psychology To Guide Sheep Policy, Ralph Adolphs
Animal Sentience
Marino & Merskin’s valuable review of the literature on sheep cognition shows how entrenched common views of these animals’ mental lives are disputed by the research literature. Yet the evidence they muster faces three challenges that their target article does not discuss: (1) the behavioral tasks are strongly anthropocentric; (2) neuroscientific data are absent; and (3) applications are not discussed. I touch on all three of these here.
Why Are Sheep Sheepish? How Perception Affects Animal Stereotyping, Robert G. Franklin Jr.
Why Are Sheep Sheepish? How Perception Affects Animal Stereotyping, Robert G. Franklin Jr.
Animal Sentience
Marino & Merskin present compelling evidence that many stereotypes of sheep are incorrect. One factor that may play an important role in animal stereotyping is the physical appearance of animals, which can directly lead to stereotyping through automatic mental processes. Sheep have a round and babyish appearance that directly evokes judgments of warmth and docility. Depictions of sheep in art, and especially cartoons, reinforce this stereotype.
Sheep Complexity Outside The Laboratory, Cheryl Abbate
Sheep Complexity Outside The Laboratory, Cheryl Abbate
Animal Sentience
Marino & Merskin’s review shows that sheep are intelligent and highly social but their methodology has some shortcomings. I describe five problems with reviewing only the academic and scientific literature and suggest how one might provide an even more compelling case for the complexity of sheep minds.
Cognition, Emotion, Personality And The Conservation And Management Of Wild Ungulates, Rob Found
Cognition, Emotion, Personality And The Conservation And Management Of Wild Ungulates, Rob Found
Animal Sentience
Increasing public understanding of the complexity of wild ungulates can improve animal welfare and advance global conservation efforts of these keystone species. Unfortunately, shaping public opinion on wild species is challenging because personal experience with wildlife is declining, popular education is still biased towards the predator instead of the prey, and scientific research is more difficult to conduct on wild ungulates compared to those on farms, in zoos, or otherwise in captivity. Nevertheless, studies of cognition, individuality, and intelligence of wild ungulates are increasing. I briefly highlight some major results from my own work on complexity in wild elk, illustrating …
What Should We Do About Sheep? The Role Of Intelligence In Welfare Considerations, Heather Browning
What Should We Do About Sheep? The Role Of Intelligence In Welfare Considerations, Heather Browning
Animal Sentience
Marino & Merskin (2019) demonstrate that sheep are more cognitively complex than typically thought. We should be cautious in interpreting the implications of these results for welfare considerations to avoid perpetuating mistaken beliefs about the moral value of intelligence as opposed to sentience. There are, however, still important ways in which this work can help improve sheeps’ lives.
Time To Vary The Formula, Jon Mallatt
Time To Vary The Formula, Jon Mallatt
Animal Sentience
In the past few years, Marino and her colleagues have written a series of comprehensive and helpful review articles on the cognitive, emotional, and social complexity of pigs, chickens, cows, and most recently, sheep. These articles are similarly structured, even formulaic, which has benefits but also limitations. Here, I point out the limitations in order to suggest new directions and contributions for the authors in the future.
Adding Sheep To The Spectrum Of Comparative Psychology, James King
Adding Sheep To The Spectrum Of Comparative Psychology, James King
Animal Sentience
Marino & Merskin’s comprehensive review of cognitive complexity in sheep is a laudable and important contribution to comparative psychology. It is also valuable because it shows promising directions for future research on this neglected species. The relatively small number of neurons in the bovid cerebral cortex indicates that sheep cognitive performance on traditional measures of complex learning is limited. Nevertheless, the social and emotional complexity of sheep underscores the importance of further research into domains including personality and psychological well-being.
Can A Mirror Capture The Self?, Cynthia Willett
Can A Mirror Capture The Self?, Cynthia Willett
Animal Sentience
Is the mirror a reliable indicator of self-awareness for any species, whether sheep or human? Taking a cue from feminist, phenomenological, and cross-cultural philosophy, a relational self rather than a reflective one might better capture what is at stake for the lives of social animals and for science.
A Behaviorist Approach To Sheep Cognition, Intelligence, And Welfare, Lindsay R. Mehrkam
A Behaviorist Approach To Sheep Cognition, Intelligence, And Welfare, Lindsay R. Mehrkam
Animal Sentience
Marino & Merskin’s review sheds light on the complexity of the mind, learning, and cognition of sheep. Readily observable behavior has value in its own right for promoting the well-being of animals. A behavior-analytic approach can add substantially to the understanding of sheep as individuals as well as their learning capacities. The findings can also be applied to arranging their environments to promote their well-being as well as behavioral change in those responsible for their care and management.