Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
- Discipline
-
- Other Ecology and Evolutionary Biology (4)
- Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology (4)
- Animal Sciences (2)
- Biology (2)
- Evolution (2)
-
- Population Biology (2)
- Social and Behavioral Sciences (2)
- Animal Studies (1)
- Arts and Humanities (1)
- Biblical Studies (1)
- Biological Psychology (1)
- Catholic Studies (1)
- Christianity (1)
- Developmental Psychology (1)
- Entomology (1)
- Ethics and Political Philosophy (1)
- Ethics in Religion (1)
- History of Christianity (1)
- Metaphysics (1)
- Ornithology (1)
- Philosophy (1)
- Psychology (1)
- Religion (1)
- Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion (1)
- Zoology (1)
- Keyword
-
- Conservation (3)
- Aggression (2)
- Behavior (2)
- Birds (2)
- Exploration (2)
-
- Plethodon angusticlavius (2)
- Plethodon serratus (2)
- Sex differences (2)
- Territoriality (2)
- Accelerometer (1)
- Activity (1)
- Agkistrodon piscivorus (1)
- Alarm cue (1)
- Ambystoma (1)
- Animal behavior (1)
- Ant behavior (1)
- Barn owl (1)
- Bioacoustics (1)
- Birdsong (1)
- Caution (1)
- Chemical communication (1)
- Chemical cues (1)
- Compatibilism (1)
- Cultural evolution (1)
- Dermatemys (1)
- Determinism (1)
- Diel (1)
- Duetting behavior (1)
- Dulosis (1)
- Facultative parasite (1)
Articles 1 - 13 of 13
Full-Text Articles in Behavior and Ethology
Quantitative Song Variety In Relation To Genotype In A Hybridizing Chickadee Population, Shelby Madison Palmer
Quantitative Song Variety In Relation To Genotype In A Hybridizing Chickadee Population, Shelby Madison Palmer
MSU Graduate Theses
The Black-capped chickadee (Poecile atricapillus) and Carolina chickadee (P. carolinensis) are North American songbird species that hybridize in a narrow contact zone stretching latitudinally from New Jersey to Kansas, USA. The association between genetic ancestry and song type in this hybrid zone has been studied independently several times and found to be minimal or absent, likely due to the influence of cultural transmission on learned song in the oscine passerine clade to which the chickadees belong. Despite this, the song of both species remains remarkably distinct in allopatry, suggesting a genetic constraint on certain qualities of …
Between Choice And Compulsion: An Examination And Critique Of The Evolution Of 'Original Sin', Matthew James Wynn
Between Choice And Compulsion: An Examination And Critique Of The Evolution Of 'Original Sin', Matthew James Wynn
MSU Graduate Theses
“Why are we the way that we are?” is one of the hardest questions to answer because it requires grasping the origin of human beings. This has left philosophers and theologians in century-long debates on forming a “cosmogony of ontology” (i.e., how the origin of the universe informs the human condition). The concept, “original sin” was developed by a North African theologian named Augustine (354 – 430 CE). Augustine’s reading of Genesis 3, and inaccurate translation of Romans 5:12, taught that a person is born morally culpable for a fault antecedent to their existence. This way of thinking about the …
Activity Patterns Of The Critically Endangered Central American River Turtle (Dermatemys Mawii), Cora Dyslin
Activity Patterns Of The Critically Endangered Central American River Turtle (Dermatemys Mawii), Cora Dyslin
MSU Graduate Theses
The Central American River Turtle (Dermatemys mawii) is native to southern Mexico, eastern Guatemala, and Belize and is primarily restricted to watersheds that drain into the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea. Hunting, both for personal consumption and market meat, has been the primary driver of declines, and the species is now classified as critically endangered. Results from past studies that have used netting and visual surveys to detect D. mawii suggest that the species is chiefly nocturnal. However, it is unclear to what extent the perception of nocturnality has been biased by the timing of survey efforts …
Intrasexual Territoriality, Degree Of Aggression, And Duet Function In The Carolina Wren (Thryothorus Ludovicianus), Danny Zapata
Intrasexual Territoriality, Degree Of Aggression, And Duet Function In The Carolina Wren (Thryothorus Ludovicianus), Danny Zapata
MSU Graduate Theses
Territorial behavior is fundamental for the reproductive success of many species. In many monogamous birds, mated pairs defend year-round territories from conspecifics. Males and females often participate in such interactions in a seemingly cooperative fashion. Furthermore, many of them have developed complex vocal interactions known as duets, in which one member of a pair overlaps its partner’s song in a more or less coordinated fashion, apparently to cooperate in territory defense. However, males and females often respond differently depending on the sex of the intruder; they differ in the degree and mode of aggression displayed during these interactions, and the …
Effects Of Sex And Reproductive Condition On Behavior Of Southern Red-Backed Salamanders: Activity, Agonistic Behavior And Escape Velocity, Megan N. Mosier
Effects Of Sex And Reproductive Condition On Behavior Of Southern Red-Backed Salamanders: Activity, Agonistic Behavior And Escape Velocity, Megan N. Mosier
MSU Graduate Theses
Producing and carrying eggs is energetically costly and therefore can affect behavior. Female Southern Red-backed Salamanders (Plethodon serratus) in the Ozarks reproduce biennially, and so during the reproductive season some females are gravid and some are non-gravid. In this study, we compared the exploratory and aggressive behaviors of gravid females, non-gravid females, and males, as well as the escape velocities of each sex class. In exploratory trials, sex did not affect distance travelled, but gravid females and males showed shorter latencies to move than non-gravid females during the winter. During the aggression trials, individuals were subjected to a …
Boxed In: Hinge Closing Performance Of Ornate Box Turtles (Terrapene Ornata), Gina L. Buelow
Boxed In: Hinge Closing Performance Of Ornate Box Turtles (Terrapene Ornata), Gina L. Buelow
MSU Graduate Theses
Turtles are perhaps best known for the bony shells that encase them, a unique morphological trait that provides protection against predators. Many taxa have even evolved the ability to enclose themselves using hinges that can be used to create a seal between the carapace and plastron. I measured the hinge closing force of Ornate Box Turtles (Terrapene ornata) to assess the performance of this unusual yet ecologically important trait. I sampled head-started turtles from Thomson Sand Prairie in the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge and wild turtles collected in northern Oklahoma. To assess the effects of head-starting …
Habitat Selection And Host Detection In The Salamander Mussel, Simpsonaias Ambigua, Eric A. Stegmann
Habitat Selection And Host Detection In The Salamander Mussel, Simpsonaias Ambigua, Eric A. Stegmann
MSU Graduate Theses
The native freshwater mussels, Order Unionida, have suffered many species extinctions and loss of abundance. Two important threats to native mussels are loss of habitat and loss of access to the vertebrate hosts of the parasitic mussel larvae. The Salamander mussel, Simpsonaias ambigua, is a habitat specialist, living under flat rocks. It is often found in direct association with its only known host, the common mudpuppy, Necturus maculosus. This association could result from movement and habitat selection by the mussels themselves. Alternatively, it might result from the deposition of juveniles by a resident host. Habitat selection and host …
Behavioral Aspects Of Chemoreception In Juvenile Cottonmouths (Agkistrodon Piscivorus), Chelsea E. Martin
Behavioral Aspects Of Chemoreception In Juvenile Cottonmouths (Agkistrodon Piscivorus), Chelsea E. Martin
MSU Graduate Theses
For snakes, chemical recognition of predators, prey, and conspecifics has important ecological consequences. For example, detection of predator cues can reduce predation risk. Similarly, scent trailing of conspecifics to communal hibernacula can improve overwinter survival for neonates. I used y-maze choice trials to examine scent-trailing ability of 32 captive-born juvenile cottonmouths (Agkistrodon piscivorus) in two separate experiments. In conspecific trailing tests, subjects preferred to follow cues from their own mothers over a blank control cue, but also preferred to trail cues from unrelated adult females compared to cues from their own mothers. My results are consistent with previous …
Response To Conspecific Alarm Cues By Spotted Salamander (Ambystoma Maculatum) Larvae, Katlyn M. Gardner
Response To Conspecific Alarm Cues By Spotted Salamander (Ambystoma Maculatum) Larvae, Katlyn M. Gardner
MSU Graduate Theses
Detection of predators early in a predation sequence may allow prey to increase their probability of survival by taking evasive action. For aquatic species in ephemeral ponds visibility is often limited, so predation risk assessment via chemical cues can be useful. Most mole salamanders of the genus Ambystoma breed in vernal ponds, and larvae suffer high mortality rates due in part to high levels of predation. I tested whether larvae can assess predation risk by detecting chemicals (alarm cues) released from the skin of damaged conspecifics, and, if so, what factors influence the response to this alarm cue. Field-caught spotted …
Territorial Behavior Of The Ozark Zigzag Salamander, Plethodon Angusticlavius, Altered By Mode Of Predator Cue And Sex Of Intruder, Sarah E. Heimbach
Territorial Behavior Of The Ozark Zigzag Salamander, Plethodon Angusticlavius, Altered By Mode Of Predator Cue And Sex Of Intruder, Sarah E. Heimbach
MSU Graduate Theses
Territorial defense in many species must be balanced with trade-offs in activities such as reproduction and predator avoidance. Adjusting behavior based on current assessments of predation risk and the cost of maintaining or gaining a territory is one way that individuals can balance trade-offs to maximize fitness. I conducted two experiments to determine how Ozark zigzag salamanders, Plethodon angusticlavius, adjust their territorial behavior-based predation risk. First, I tested whether male and female territorial intruders changed their competitive behavior according to whether predation risk is assessed via unimodal (chemical) or multimodal (chemical + physical) cues. Females and males responded differently to …
Recovery Of Domestic Behaviors By A Parasitic Ant (Formica Subintegra) In The Absence Of Its Host (Formica Subsericea), Amber Nichole Hunter
Recovery Of Domestic Behaviors By A Parasitic Ant (Formica Subintegra) In The Absence Of Its Host (Formica Subsericea), Amber Nichole Hunter
MSU Graduate Theses
Dulosis is a type of social parasitism in which a parasitic ant has become dependent on captured workers (hosts) of a closely related species. Dulosis can be either facultative or obligate depending on the degree of dependence on host workers. As parasites become more specialized over evolutionary time, their domestic abilities degenerate until they become unable to survive without the host. However, the ‘lost’ behaviors may display some degree of recovery when host workers are unavailable to do the tasks. The Formica sanguinea group consists of 12 species of parasitic ants, which are all traditionally considered to be facultative parasites. …
Territorial Behavior In Southern Red-Backed And Ozark Zigzag Salamanders: Effects Of Sex, Species, And Ownership, Colton Savage Lynn
Territorial Behavior In Southern Red-Backed And Ozark Zigzag Salamanders: Effects Of Sex, Species, And Ownership, Colton Savage Lynn
MSU Graduate Theses
Territorial disputes are common among terrestrial woodland salamanders (genus Plethodon). Males and females of both Ozark zigzag (P. angusticlavius) and southern red-backed (P. serratus) salamanders are territorial, but differing costs and benefits between sexes may influence the expression of territorial behavior. I compared the competitive and exploratory behavior of males and females of both species in laboratory experiments. Competitive behavior was assessed through staged contests between same-sex, same-sized conspecifics. There were no differences between males and females for territory owners (residents). Female intruders were more aggressive than male intruders, spending more time in and performing higher grades …
Nesting Success Of The Barn Owl (Tyto Alba) Using Nest Boxes In Southwest Missouri, Robert Grant Dickerson
Nesting Success Of The Barn Owl (Tyto Alba) Using Nest Boxes In Southwest Missouri, Robert Grant Dickerson
MSU Graduate Theses
The Barn Owl (Tyto alba) is a medium-sized owl belonging to the family Tytonidae. They raise young within natural cavities and on hard surfaces including nest boxes. The nesting success of Barn Owls, using wooden nest boxes, was studied in southwestern Missouri in 2016. Data were collected on clutch and brood sizes, the numbers of young fledged, and the species and amount of prey found in their regurgitated pellets. Interaction between Barn Owls and Great Horned Owls (Bubo virginianus) was also observed and documented. Nest box occupancy was 30% which is lower than in other studies, however this study included …