Behavior and Ethology Commons^™

Series Activity: Watching Wildlife [Iowa Academy Of Science National Wildlife Audio Series], Iowa Academy Of Science

Open Educational Resources

Observing wildlife can be fun whether you are at one of Iowa’s National Wildlife Refuges, a local park or your own back yard. Make watching wildlife a hobby and you will begin to recognize habits and patterns in the actions of the wildlife around you. You might be able to predict when certain wildlife will come to an area to feed, the sounds a bird makes when attempting to protect its young or what will trigger a rabbit to freeze in place. You’ll also be practicing the skills scientists use to make their observations: comparing and contrasting, measuring, counting and …

The Effect Of Male Competition On Female Choice In Brandt’S Vole, Lasiopodomys Brandti, Jianjun Zhang, Dazhao Shi, Lixing Sun

All Faculty Scholarship for the College of the Sciences

The effect of male competition on female choice in the Brandt’s vole (Lasiopodomys brandti) was studied in the laboratory. Using a two-way choice test, we showed that when males did not compete, estrous females preferred and mated with the dominant males, but non-estrous females preferred subordinate males. However, when males competed, all dominant males gained the priority to mate, and the amicable behaviour between males, regardless of their dominant status, and between non-estrous females increased, compared with the behaviour between males and the estrous females. These results showed that interactions among Brandt’s voles were not only influenced by …

Differential Habituation Of Male Betta Splendens To Qualitatively Different Stimuli, Lauren Baard

Undergraduate Research Symposium (UGRS)

Habituation is a learning mechanism that functions to decrease the amount of energy and attention focused on a certain stimuli. Male Siamese Fighting Fish, Betta splendens, are territorial animals that defend their territories using a number of aggressive displays. Male Bettas have previously shown the ability to habituate to the presence of a conspecific male when visually exposed to each other. Due to the costly nature of many of the male Betta’s displays, I hypothesized that male Bettas should differentially habituate to qualitatively different stimuli. I presented each of three groups of male Betta splendens with a different stimulus, each …

Leptodactylus Fragilis, Mirriiam Muedeking Heyer, W. Ronald Heyer, Rafael O. De Sá

Biology Faculty Publications

Leptodactylus fragilis (Brocchi) White-lipped thin-toed frogs are characteristically defined according to their habitation and age. There is a diagnosis of different species group within Leptodactylus. It is furthermore described from different perspectives and discoveries such as its eggs and karyotype. The distribution of the frog is considered to be prominent occurring form Southernmost Teaxs throughout Mexico and Middle America expanding to Venezuela. The fossil fuel records and literature on Leptodactylus are slighly viewed before studying its nomenclatural history and rarity.

Species Composition And Visitation Frequency Of Birds And Mammals At A Bait Station In Northern Minnesota, Adam Roiko

Honors Capstones

Capstone submitted as a graduation requirement for the BSU Honors program.

Law, Evolution, And The Brain: Applications And Open Questions, Owen D. Jones

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

This essay discusses several issues at the intersection of law and brain science. If focuses principally on ways in which an improved understanding of how evolutionary processes affect brain function and human behavior may improve law's ability to regulate behavior. It explores sample uses of such "evolutionary analysis in law" and also raises questions about how that analysis might be improved in the future. Among the discussed uses are: 1) clarifying cost-benefit analyses; 2) providing theoretical foundation and potential predictive power; 3) assessing comparative effectiveness of legal strategies; and 4) revealing deep patterns in legal architecture. Throughout, the essay emphasizes …

Nest-Building And Spawning Behaviors In Nocomis Effusus (Actinopterygii: Cyprindae), Eugene G. Maurakis, George E. Maurakis

Virginia Journal of Science

Spawning behavior in Nocomis effusus is described from direct observations and review of videotapes made in Yellow Creek (Cumberland River drainage), Tennessee in 2003. Nest construction (i.e., excavating a concavity, forming a platform, and building a mound), and spawning behavior in N. effusus where a single breeding male excavates a pit and spawns with females on the upstream slope of his nest is like that described for Nocomis asper and Nocomis biguttatus. In digging a spawning pit, a male N. effusus reshapes and reorganizes substrate materials that results in spawning areas on the upstream slope of the nest composed …

Left-Sided Directional Bias Of Cloacal Contacts During House Sparrow Copulations, Karen B. Nyland, Michael P. Lombardo, Patrick A. Thorpe

Peer Reviewed Publications

Most female birds have only a left ovary and associated oviduct. The entry to the oviduct is on the left side of the urodeum of the cloaca. This arrangement may favor males that mount females from the left during copulation if it results in sperm being placed closer to the opening of the oviduct. Therefore, we predicted a left-sided directional bias of cloacal contacts during House Sparrow (Passer domesticus) copulations. Cloacal contacts from the left outnumbered those from the right 74 to 25 (3:1) during 25 bouts of copulation at 11 House Sparrow nests. While this pattern suggests …

The Effect Of Aposematic Coloration On The Food Preference Of Aphelocoma Coerulescens, The Florida Scrub Jay, Mary Elizabeth Hill

Theses and Dissertations

Aposematic coloration, commonly observed in noxious organisms, serves as a warning to predators to avoid attacking specific prey. This coloration is conspicuous in nature, with one of the most common examples being a red and black pattern. The plant Abrus precatorius exhibits this warning signal in its seeds, which resemble lady beetles and contain the concentrated toxin abrin. Aphelocoma coerulescens, an endemic and federally threatened bird in the state of Florida, shares a similar distribution with Abrus precatorius, making interaction between the two species possible. Using an edible model of the Abrus seed, this potential interaction was tested in Martin …

Osteological Analysis Of The Killifish Genus Cynolebias (Cyprinodontiformes: Rivulidae), Marcelo Loureiro, Rafael O. De Sá

Biology Faculty Publications

Relationships among the species of the annual fish Cynolebias are unclear. An analysis of the variation and utility of osteological characters for phylogenetic analysis was done using cleared and double-stained specimens representing 21 species of Cynolebias. This analysis showed that some of the characters previously used to diagnose this genus and some of the species are polymorphic. Osteologically, Cynolebias can be diagnosed by the following synapomorphies: (1) triangular-shaped parietal, (2) vomer positioned ventral to the parasphenoid, (3) long ventral process of the dentary, (4) teeth on fourth ceratobranchial, and (5) teeth on first epibranchial. In addition, characters that help …

The Consequences Of Changing The Top Predator In A Food Web: A Comparative Experimental Approach, Mark A. Mcpeek

Dartmouth Scholarship

Changing the top predator in a food web often results in dramatic changes in species composition at lower trophic levels; many species are extirpated and replaced by new species in the presence of the new top predator. These shifts in species composition also often result in substantial alterations in the strengths of species interactions. However, some species appear to be little affected by these changes that cause species turnover at other positions in the food web. An example of such a difference in species responses is apparent in the distributions of coenagrionid damselflies (Odonata: Zygoptera) among permanent water bodies with …

Within-Pair Copulations: Are Female Tree Swallows Feathering Their Own Nests?, Michael P. Lombardo

Peer Reviewed Publications

A variety of hypotheses has been proposed to explain why socially monogamous birds copulate repeatedly with their mates when only a single copulation is necessary to fertilize an entire clutch (Birkhead and Møller 1992, Petrie 1992, Hunter et al. 1993). Petrie (1992) hypothesized that a female should copulate frequently with her mate so as to reduce her mate’s involvement in extrapair copulations. By reducing her mate’s involvement in extrapair copulations, a female may: (1) avoid the transmission of parasites and sexually transmitted diseases (Hamilton 1990); (2) may avoid sperm depletion by her mate; and (3) may monopolize her mate’s paternal …

Homosexual Copulations By Male Tree Swallows, Michael P. Lombardo, Ruth M. Bosman, Christine A. Faro, Stephen G. Houtteman, Timothy S. Kluisza

Peer Reviewed Publications

Homosexual courtship behavior in non-human animals is well known (Ford and Beach 1980) and occurs in a wide variety of taxa. However, homosexual copulations, especially between males, are less well known. In birds, males mounting other males have been observed in the colonially breeding Cattle Egret (Bubulcus ibis) (Fujioka and Yamagishi 1981) and Common Murre (Uria aalge) (Birkhead et al. 1985, Hatchwell 1988). Neither Fujioka and Yamagishi (1981) nor Birkhead et al. (1985) and Hatchwell (1988) reported whether cloacal contact occurred during their observations of male-male mountings. Here we describe homosexual copulations by male Tree Swallows …

Elaphe Bairdi (Baird’S Rat Snake): Drinking Behavior., Louis A. Somma

Papers in Herpetology

On 13 February 1988. at 1600 h. a captive-bred (hatched July 1985) male Elaphe bairdi (TL.136.9 cm, SVL .. 89.54 cm). maintained in a 50.5 x 25 x 30 cm terrerium was accidently splashed with water. As beads of water on the snake's head rolled down to the upper labial sceles. swallowing was observed. The water on the labial scales was drawn Into the mouth while It was closed. This behavior lasted 42 sec. This behavior was repeated 23 out of 24 trials conducted during the next 24 days. The duration of swallowing wes 9-62 sec (avg 35.8, N = …

The Role Of Colonization Predation And Season In Determining Macroinvertebrate Community Structure In A Temperate Lake, Cheryl Lynn Frew

Biological Sciences Theses & Dissertations

Field experiments were conducted to examine the effects of distance from shore, vertebrate predation, and season on macroinvertebrate colonization dynamics in a temperate lake in Suffolk, VA. In a year-long colonization study, artificial plants, half of which were caged to exclude vertebrate predators, were deployed in patches at three distances from shore (2m, 15m, 50m). Artificial plant subsamples were removed at weekly intervals over 28 days during four seasons to monitor colonization by macroinvertebrates. Colonization of artificial plants occurred more quickly in the summer and spring than in fall and winter. The interactive effect of distance from shore and cage …

The Ecology Of The Mottled Sculpin, Cottus Bairdii, In The Clearwater River, Beltrami County, Minnesota, Mark A. Hanson

Biology Graduate Theses

No abstract provided.

Remembrance Of Places Lasts: Proactive Inhibition And Patterns Of Choice In Rat Spatial Memory, William A. Roberts, Robert H.I. Dale

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

A series of experiments was carried out to evaluate the notion that rats given a sequence of massed daily trials on the radial maze reset working memory at the end of each trial by deleting its contents. Although curves presented by D. S. Olton [Scientific American, 1977, 236, 82-98: In S. H. Hulse, H. Fowler, & W. K. Honig (Eds.), Cognitive processes in animal behavior, 1978, Hillsdale, N.J.: Erlbaum] show that rats return to errorless performance at the beginning of each trial after the first, the fact that accuracy falls less rapidly over choices on Trial 1 …

Food Habits Of Largemouth Bass, Micropterus Salmoides (Lacepede) And Spotted Bass, Micropterus Punctulatus (Rafinesque), From Beech Fork Reservoir, A New Impoundment In Wayne And Cabell Counties, West Virginia, Michael A. Arcuri

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

A study was undertaken to determine the food habits of two game fishes, the largemouth bass Micropterus salmoides (Lacepede) and the spotted bass M. punctulatus (Rafinesque) in Beech Fork Reservoir shortly after its impoundment. A total of 171 largemouth bass and 95 spotted bass were collected from July 1978, through June 1979, and their stomach contents analyzed.

Largemouth bass fed primarily on fishes, particularly young-of-the-year bluegill. Aquatic and terrestrial invertebrates were also important food items, especially during the spring and fall . The dominant aquatic forms were chironomid larvae and pupae while the dominant terrestrial forms were adult dipterans.

Spotted …

An Investigation Of The Behavior Of Citellus Townsendii Townsendii (Bachman) In Central Washington, Mark Roy Fuller

All Master's Theses

This study of the behavior of Citellus townsendii townsendii was based on field observations of animals at their northern most distribution. The squirrels' seasonal activity and behavioral repertoire, when considered with environmental parameters, suggest important adaptations for survival. The animals were in torpor from about July to February. Activity generally occurred during the midmorning hours, allowing them to avoid temperature extremes. Quantitative analysis of behavioral observations indicated that most activities occurred in a non-random order.