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Articles 2491 - 2520 of 10513

Full-Text Articles in Zoology

Validation Of Reference Genes For Quantitative Expression Analysis By Qpcr In Various Tissues Of Date Mussel (Lithophaga Lithophaga), Urska Sivka Jan 2019

Validation Of Reference Genes For Quantitative Expression Analysis By Qpcr In Various Tissues Of Date Mussel (Lithophaga Lithophaga), Urska Sivka

Turkish Journal of Zoology

qPCR is a very popular method for identifying nucleotide sequences as a result of its sensitivity and relatively low cost and technical simplicity. Normalization is one of the most important steps in analyzing qPCR data and the use of reference genes is the most common normalization strategy. In the present study five commonly used reference genes (18S, 28S, ef1a, ß-act, and ?-tub) were evaluated for their stability in the mantle, gill, foot, and pallial gland of date mussel (L. lithophaga) in different seasons. Four different software packages were used for evaluation: geNorm, NormFinder, BestKeeper, and RefFinder. Although these programs contain …

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Acute And Chronic Effects Of Thifluzamide On Daphnia Magna, Feyza İçoğlu Aksakal Jan 2019

Acute And Chronic Effects Of Thifluzamide On Daphnia Magna, Feyza İçoğlu Aksakal

Turkish Journal of Zoology

Thifluzamide is a thiazole carboxanilide fungicide used to control a wide range of basidiomycete diseases on maize, potatoes, rice, and other crops. Although this fungicide is found in aquatic environments, there is no information about its acute and chronic toxicity on aquatic invertebrates. In the present study, to investigate acute and chronic toxicity of thifluzamide, daphnids were exposed to 1.25, 1.5, 2, and 2.5 mg/L thifluzamide for 48 h and 21 days, respectively. The expression of four oxidative stress-related genes (CAT, GCLC, GST, and GPX) and life-history parameters such as days to the first brood, days to the first egg …

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Investigation Of Gh And Ghr Alu I Gene Polymorphisms On Meat Yields In Anatolian Water Buffalo Breed Using Pcr-Rflp Method, Yusuf Özşensoy, Haki̇ Kara Jan 2019

Investigation Of Gh And Ghr Alu I Gene Polymorphisms On Meat Yields In Anatolian Water Buffalo Breed Using Pcr-Rflp Method, Yusuf Özşensoy, Haki̇ Kara

Turkish Journal of Zoology

The Anatolian water buffalo is a native water buffalo breed only being reared in Turkey. The objective of this study was to investigate gene polymorphisms on exons 4 and 5 of the growth hormone (GH) and on exon 10 of the growth hormone receptor (GHR), which are thought to be related to meat yields of Anatolian water buffalo. Blood samples of 192 water buffaloes from Sivas Province were used in DNA extractions by phenol-chloroform method. DNA samples were amplified by using specific primers in PCR. PCR products were digested by Alu I (GH, n: 167) and Alu I (GHR, n: …

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Pelvic And Sacral Size Dimorphism And Allometry In Two Predatory Carnivores With Different Life Histories And Locomotory Adaptations, Alexander Csanady, Peter Krisovsky, Ladislav Hloska Jan 2019

Pelvic And Sacral Size Dimorphism And Allometry In Two Predatory Carnivores With Different Life Histories And Locomotory Adaptations, Alexander Csanady, Peter Krisovsky, Ladislav Hloska

Turkish Journal of Zoology

Sexual size dimorphism (SSD) of the wolf and the lynx was evaluated for 15 pelvic and sacral variables in 48 specimens from the Western Carpathians. Our data confirmed small male-biased SSD in the pelvic and sacral bones for both species. We suggest that this can be explained by the need for a compromise between requirements for locomotion and giving birth. We also confirmed that significant differences exist between the species in the size of the pelvic and sacral bones. We discuss our findings in light of the species? different life histories.

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All Aspects Of The Toxic Effects Of Lipopolysaccharide On Rat Liver And The Protective Effect Of Vitamin E And Sodium Selenite, Di̇lek Pandir, Sedat Per, Züleyha Doğanyi̇ği̇t, Fati̇h Oğuz Bekdemi̇r, Gülşi̇fe Gök, Ali̇ Demi̇rbağ Jan 2019

All Aspects Of The Toxic Effects Of Lipopolysaccharide On Rat Liver And The Protective Effect Of Vitamin E And Sodium Selenite, Di̇lek Pandir, Sedat Per, Züleyha Doğanyi̇ği̇t, Fati̇h Oğuz Bekdemi̇r, Gülşi̇fe Gök, Ali̇ Demi̇rbağ

Turkish Journal of Zoology

This work was planned to research the effects of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and/or vitamin E (VE) and sodium selenite (SS), which have antioxidant properties, administered to the liver tissue of male rats. For this purpose, histopathology, immunohistochemistry, antioxidant capacity, terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase (TdT) dUTP nick-end labeling assay, liver function, and DNA structure tests were performed. The lipid profile was also evaluated in this study. Rats that were administered LPS were treated with VE and/or SS. The liver function tests and lipid profile parameters showed statistically significant changes and histological alterations in the LPS treated groups. The number of cells entering apoptosis …

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On Tooth Anomalies And The Loss Of Canis Lupus (Mammalia: Carnivora) In Turkey, Eli̇f Yildiz Ay, İrfan Albayrak Jan 2019

On Tooth Anomalies And The Loss Of Canis Lupus (Mammalia: Carnivora) In Turkey, Eli̇f Yildiz Ay, İrfan Albayrak

Turkish Journal of Zoology

Because of their feeding habits, which are affected by their ranking in the last steps of the food chain, the teeth of carnivores are subjected to great forces during the breaking up and chewing of food when they are hunting. In this sense, missing teeth and tooth anomalies are common in carnivores. This research was based on an examination of the properties of the tooth structures of 25 wolf specimens collected in Turkey between 2014 and 2018. In this study, the excess and missing teeth, tooth fracture, and root anomalies in the lower and upper jaw of the head skeletons …

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Two New Species Of Dipoena Thorell, 1869 (Araneae, Theridiidae) From Wuling Mountains, China, Su Fang Yang, Muhammad Irfan, Ping Liu, Xianjin Peng Jan 2019

Two New Species Of Dipoena Thorell, 1869 (Araneae, Theridiidae) From Wuling Mountains, China, Su Fang Yang, Muhammad Irfan, Ping Liu, Xianjin Peng

Turkish Journal of Zoology

Dipoena crescenta sp. nov. and D. lirata sp. nov., both represented by males and females, are described and illustrated from the Wuling Mountains of China. Detailed morphological descriptions of both new species are given. The body and the copulatory organs are photographed and illustrated. A distribution map is provided.

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Phylogenetic Relationship Among Slender Loris Species (Primates, Lorisidae: Loris) In Sri Lanka Based On Mtdna Co1 Barcoding, Saman Gamage, Faiz Marikar, Colin Groves, Craig Turner, Kalinga Padmalal, Sarath Kotagame Jan 2019

Phylogenetic Relationship Among Slender Loris Species (Primates, Lorisidae: Loris) In Sri Lanka Based On Mtdna Co1 Barcoding, Saman Gamage, Faiz Marikar, Colin Groves, Craig Turner, Kalinga Padmalal, Sarath Kotagame

Turkish Journal of Zoology

There are 2 species of slender lorises found in Sri Lanka: the red slender loris, Loris tardigradus (Linnaeus, 1758), endemic to the wet zone and montane areas, and the grey slender loris, Loris lydekkerianus (Cabrera, 1908), which is widespread. In addition, currently there are 2 subspecies recognized for each of these 2 slender loris species of Sri Lanka. Yet their taxonomy, evolutionary history, and biogeography are still poorly understood, and there are some preliminary data suggesting the presence of other subspecies. In this study, we have analysed the partial mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I gene sequence of 21 Loris specimens collected …

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Heavy Metal Accumulation As A Threat To The Endangered Egyptian Vulture(Neophron Percnopterus L.) In Turkey, Eli̇f Yamaç, Menekşe Özden, Sunay Balaban, Semra Malkoç Jan 2019

Heavy Metal Accumulation As A Threat To The Endangered Egyptian Vulture(Neophron Percnopterus L.) In Turkey, Eli̇f Yamaç, Menekşe Özden, Sunay Balaban, Semra Malkoç

Turkish Journal of Zoology

Due to anthropogenic activity, most vulture species are threatened. Neophron percnopterus, the Egyptian vulture, is a vulture species with a declining population. One of the most important factors threatening the species is exposure to chemicals. The second largest population of this bird species is found in Turkey. Accumulation of heavy metals for this species has not been investigated. The aim of this study was to detect and measure As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Hg, Ni, Pb, and Zn values in the feathers of Neophron percnopterus. Calamis and vane, which are different part of the feathers, were analyzed separately with ICP-OES. According …

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Investigation Of Blood Cells Of Miniopterus Schreibersii (Mammalia: Chiroptera) In Turkey, İrfan Albayrak, Tuğba Sariçam Jan 2019

Investigation Of Blood Cells Of Miniopterus Schreibersii (Mammalia: Chiroptera) In Turkey, İrfan Albayrak, Tuğba Sariçam

Turkish Journal of Zoology

This research was based on some characteristics of the erythrocyte and leukocyte cells of 9 Miniopterus schreibersii (♀♀) samples collected from Balıkesir Province in Turkey between July 2015 and September 2016. Bats were caught from an artificial cave using special nets. Blood was taken in heparinized hematocrit tubes from the forearm or tail membrane in the laboratory and the blood smears were prepared. The erythrocyte and leukocyte counts, hemoglobin concentration, and hematocrit values in the blood were determined. In M. schreibersii, the number of erythrocytes in 1 mm3 of blood was between 7.5 and 10 million, and the mean value …

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Range Extension Of Kyphosus Vaigiensis (Quoy & Gaimard, 1825) In The Northeastern Mediterranean, İskenderun Bay, Turkey, Volkan Bariş Ki̇yağa, Si̇nan Mavruk, Caner Enver Özyurt, Erhan Akamca, Çağil Coşkun Jan 2019

Range Extension Of Kyphosus Vaigiensis (Quoy & Gaimard, 1825) In The Northeastern Mediterranean, İskenderun Bay, Turkey, Volkan Bariş Ki̇yağa, Si̇nan Mavruk, Caner Enver Özyurt, Erhan Akamca, Çağil Coşkun

Turkish Journal of Zoology

This paper reports the range extension of Kyphosus vaigiensis in the northeastern (NE) Mediterranean. On 18 November, 2018, a single specimen of K. vaigiensis was caught in İskenderun Bay (36°45.6' N, 35°40.8' E) by a recreational fisherman and reported through a social media application. The specimen was identified using morphological and molecular methods. Its occurrence and distribution in the NE Mediterranean were investigated based on interviews with fishers

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Possible Expansion Of The Range Of Xylocopa Violacea L. (Hymenoptera, Apiformes, Apidae) In Europe, Józef Banaszak, Weronika Banaszak Cibicka, Lucyna Twerd Jan 2019

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 …

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Hardly Habitual: Chimpanzees And Gorillas Show Flexibility In Their Motor Responses When Presented With A Causally-Clear Task, Sarah L. Jacobson, Lydia M. Hopper Jan 2019

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 …

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An Assessment Of Night Time And Seasonal Electrofishing In The Lower Wabash River, Eric Christopher Hine Jan 2019

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 …

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Natural History Of The Eastern Harvest Mouse In Southeastern Virginia, Robert K. Rose Jan 2019

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 …

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Taxonomy Of Nocturnal Parasitic Wasps Family Braconidae (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonoidea) In Doi Phu Kha National Park, Thailand, Marisa Raweearamwong Jan 2019

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 …

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พฤติกรรมการเรียนรู้และการตอบสนองต่อ 2,4-ไดไนโตรโทลูอีนในผึ้งพันธุ์ Apis Mellifera Linnaeus, 1758 และผึ้งโพรง Apis Cerana Fabricius, 1793, ศิรัช เลิศจินตนากิจ Jan 2019

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

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Testing For Cryptic Diversity And Inference Of Population Structure In The Cosmopolitan Hoplonemertean Emplectonema Gracile (Nemertea), Paul L. Delaney Iv Jan 2019

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. …

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Did Predator Control Go To The Dogs? A 40-Year Retrospective, John M. Tomeček Jan 2019

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 …

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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 Jan 2019

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 …

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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 Jan 2019

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 …

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Assessing Individual And Population-Level Effects Of Anticoagulant Rodenticides On Wildlife, Niamh Quinn Jan 2019

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 …

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Intelligence, Complexity, And Individuality In Sheep, Lori Marino, Debra Merskin Jan 2019

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.

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Sacrificial Lambs, Clive Phillips Jan 2019

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 …

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Pulling The Wool From Our Eyes, Jennifer Vonk Jan 2019

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.

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Is Knowing Enough To Change Human Attitudes And Actions?, Liv Baker Jan 2019

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?

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Reflections On Sheep Rearing, Joyce D'Silva Jan 2019

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 …

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Casting A Sheep’S Eye On Science, David M. Peña-Guzmán Jan 2019

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.

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Far More To Sheep Than Meets The Casual Eye, Bernard Rollin Jan 2019

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.

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Sentient Animals Do Not Just Live In The Present, John Webster Jan 2019

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 …

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