Behavior and Ethology Commons^™

Review Of Evolution And Cognition, Edited By Cecilia Heyes And Ludwig Huber., Alan Kamil

Papers in Behavior in Biological Sciences

Heyes and Huber have edited a volume that surveys much of the current research into cognition in animals, reflecting the strengths and weaknesses of this field. The book is divided into five sections. In the first part, titled “Orientations,” four authors lay out their basic general views of the field. The first two chapters in this section are by the editors. First, Heyes makes the case for an approach to evolutionary psychology that she labels “in the round,” an approach that would encompass studies of human and nonhuman animals alike and include a broad range of contemporary evolutionary approaches. This …

Managing Minnesota's Recovered Wolves, L. David Mech

United States Geological Survey, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center: Publications

The Minnesota wolf (Canis lupus) population was estimated by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources at 2,450 during winter 1997-1998 and had increased at an average annual rate of 4.5°% since winter 1988-1989. The population may be removed from the federal endangered species list by 2002, and management would then return to the state. A federal recovery team recommended a population goal of 1,250-1,400 wolves for Minnesota, with none in the agricultural region. A plan approved by the Minnesota legislature, however, continues the protection of wolves, except for pet and livestock depredation control, for at least 5 years …

Electrophysiological Studies Of Olfaction In The Whip Spider Phrynus Parvulus (Arachnida, Amblypygi), Eileen Hebets, Reginald F. Chapman

Eileen Hebets Publications

The olfactory response of the whip spider Phrynus parvulus from Costa Rica was examined using a technique analogous to that used for insect electroantennograms on the tarsi of the antenniform legs which bear multiporous sensilla. Responses to 42 chemicals representing different chain lengths of alkanes, carboxylic acids, alcohols, aldehydes, and ketones, as well as some esters, monoterpenes, and phenolics were examined. Fifty-four percent of the chemicals tested elicited responses. Concentration–response curves were generated for guaiacol, hexanal, methyl salicylate, benzaldehyde, octanoic acid, and linalool. Guaiacol, benzaldehyde, and hexanol elicited the greatest responses and no differences were detected between the sexes. Compounds …

Leadership In Wolf, Canis Lupus, Packs, L. David Mech

United States Geological Survey, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center: Publications

I examine leadership in Wolf (Callis lupus) packs based on published observations and data gathered during summers from 1986 to 1998 studying a free-ranging pack of Wolves on Ellesmere Island that were habituated to my presence. The breeding male tended to initiate activities associated with foraging and travel, and the breeding female to initiate, and predominate in, pup care and protection. However, there was considerable overlap and interaction during these activities such that leadership could be considered a joint function. In packs with multiple breeders, quantitative information about leadership is needed.

Do Wolves Affect White-Tailed Buck Harvest In Northeastern Minnesota?, L. David Mech, Michael E. Nelson

United States Geological Survey, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center: Publications

We used simple linear regression to analyze 8-23 years of data on a wolf (Canis lupus) population and human harvest of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) bucks in northeastern Minnesota to determine any effects of wolves on buck harvesting. Over the long term, wolves accounted for at least 14-22% inter-year variation in buck harvest in the region, but an unknown amount of variation in hunter effort have obscured any more precise estimate. For part of the area with poorest habitat, we found strong relationships (r² = 0.66-0.84) between annual wolf numbers and buck harvests from 1988 …

Assessing Factors That May Predispose Minnesota Farms To Wolf Depredations On Cattle, L. David Mech, Elizabeth K. Harper, Thomas J. Meier, William J. Paul

United States Geological Survey, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center: Publications

Wolf (Canis lupus) depredations on livestock cause considerable conflict and expense in Minnesota. Furthermore, claims are made that such depredations are fostered by the type of animal husbandry practiced. Thus, we tried to detect factors that might predispose farms in Minnesota to wolf depredations. We compared results of interviews with 41 cattle farmers experiencing chronic cattle losses to wolves (chronic farms) with results from 41 nearby "matched" farms with no wolf losses to determine farm characteristics or husbandry practices that differed and that therefore might have affected wolf depredations. We also used a Geographic Information System (GIS) to …

Geometric Rule Learning By Clark’S Nutcrackers (Nucifraga Columbiana), Alan Kamil, Juli E. Jones

Papers in Behavior in Biological Sciences

Clark’s nutcrackers (Nucifraga columbiana) were trained to search in a location defined by its geometric relationship to 2 landmarks. Two groups were trained to search at different points along the line connecting the landmarks, and 2 groups were trained to find the 3rd point of a triangle, on the basis of either direction or distance from the landmarks. All groups learned and transferred to new interlandmark distances. However, the constant-distance group learned more slowly, searched less accurately, and showed less transfer than the other 3 groups. When tested with new orientations of the landmarks, the birds tended to …

The Cost Of Limited Attention In Blue Jays, Reuven Dukas, Alan Kamil

Papers in Behavior in Biological Sciences

Experiments with fish and birds suggest that animals are unable to simultaneously allocate sufficient attention to tasks such as the detection of an approaching predator while searching for cryptic prey. We quantified the effects of limited attention on performance in controlled laboratory settings and report here the first direct evidence that attending to a difficult central task simulating foraging deters a bird’s ability to detect a peripheral target, which could be a predator. Our results fill a gap between ecological and neurobiological studies by illustrating that, although attention is an efficient filtering mechanism, limited attention may be a major cause …

Surviving The Flood: Plastron Respiration In The Non-Tracheate Arthropod Phrynus Marginemaculatus (Amblypygi: Arachnida), Eileen Hebets, Reginald F. Chapman

Eileen Hebets Publications

Specimens of Phrynus marginemaculatus can remain responsive when submerged in water for more than 24 hours. Behavioral data indicate that P. marginemaculatus utilizes dissolved oxygen from the surrounding water. Scanning electron miscroscopy and light microscope sections show cuticular modifications for plastron respiration. All previous examples of plastron respiration have involved animals with tracheal systems, but amblypygids respire through the use of two pairs of book lungs. This study provides the first example of plastron respiration not only in the order Amblypygi, but also, in any non-tracheate arthropod.

Leg Ornamentation And The Efficacy Of Courtship Display In Four Species Of Wolf Spider (Araneae: Lycosidae), Eileen Hebets, George W. Uetz

Eileen Hebets Publications

This study used both correlative and experimental video playback methods to test the hypothesis that the secondary sexual traits of male wolf spiders act to increase the efficacy of visual courtship displays. Direct observations of courtship of several lycosid genera and a review of the literature revealed a significant association between ornamentation and visual courtship displays. This suggests that the ornamentation may be playing the role of amplifier for a visual display. To test this hypothesis, male courtship behaviors of four Schizocosa species were experimentally manipulated using video-imaging techniques. Females of species with non-visually displaying, non-ornamented males (Schizocosa duplex …

Prolonged Winter Undernutrition And The Interpretation Of Urinary Allantoin:Creatinine Ratios In White-Tailed Deer, Glenn D. Delgiudice, Ken D. Kerr, L. David Mech, Ulysses S. Seal

United States Geological Survey, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center: Publications

The urinary allantoin:creatinine (A:C) ratio (expressed in micromoles of allantoin to micromoles of creatinine) has shown potential as an index of recent winter energy intake in preliminary controlled studies of elk (Cervus elaphus) involving mild condition deterioration (up to 11% loss of body mass). To ensure reliable nutritional assessments of free-ranging cervids by measuring A:C ratios of urine in snow, it is essential to extend this work. We assessed the effect of moderate and severe winter nutritional restriction on urinary A:C ratios of captive white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) that lost up to 32% body mass and …

Proximity Of White-Tailed Deer, Odocoileus Virginianus, Ranges To Wolf, Canis Lupus, Pack Homesites, Michael E. Nelson, L. David Mech

United States Geological Survey, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center: Publications

Seven adult female White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus) in northeastern Minnesota lived within 1.8 km of Wolf pack (Canis lupus) homesites without vacating their home ranges. Six of these deer and at least three of their fawns survived through the Wolf homesite period.

A Record Large Wolf, Canis Lupus, Pack In Minnesota, L. David Mech

United States Geological Survey, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center: Publications

This report documents a pack of 22-23 Wolves (Canis lupus) in central Minnesota. This is larger than the largest pack previously observed on the mainland in the midwestern U.s. during 650 wolf pack-years. Because this record-large pack preyed on White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus), one of the Wolfs smaller prey, it is evidence that pack size and prey size are not tightly related. It also indicates the size that Wolf packs can attain in the area if fully protected from human persecution.

Lack Of Reproduction In Muskoxen And Arctic Hares Caused By Early Winter?, L. David Mech

United States Geological Survey, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center: Publications

A lack of young muskoxen (Ovibos moschatus) and arctic hares (Lepus arcticus) in the Eureka area of Ellesmere Island, Northwest Territories (now Nunavut), Canada, was observed during summer 1998, in contrast to most other years since 1986. Evidence of malnourished muskoxen was also found. Early winter weather and a consequent 50% reduction of the 1997 summer replenishment period appeared to be the most likely cause, giving rise to a new hypothesis about conditions that might cause adverse demographic effects in arctic herbivores.

Durant l’été 1998, et ce, à la différence de la plupart des années depuis …

Accuracy And Precision Of Estimating Age Of Gray Wolves By Tooth Wear, Philip S. Gipson, Warren B. Ballard, Ronald M. Nowak, L. David Mech

United States Geological Survey, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center: Publications

We evaluated the accuracy and precision of tooth wear for aging gray wolves (Canis lupus) from Alaska, Minnesota, and Ontario based on 47 known-age or known-minimum-age skuIIs. Estimates of age using tooth wear and a commercial cementum annuli-aging service were useful for wolves up to 14 years old. The precision of estimates from cementum annuli was greater than estimates from tooth wear, but tooth wear estimates are more applicable in the field. We tended to overestimate age by 1-2 years and occasionaIIy by 3 or 4 years. The commercial service aged young wolves with cementum annuli to within …

Salinity And Shade Preferences Result In Ovipositional Differences Between Sympatric Tiger Beetle Species, W. Wyatt Hoback, Douglas A. Golick, Tina Marie Svatos, Stephen M. Spomer, Leon G. Higley

Department of Entomology: Faculty Publications

1. Adult tiger beetles of the genus Cicindela often co-occur within a habitat but larvae do not. Larvae are sedentary and form usually permanent burrows at the site of oviposition where they require 1-3 years for development.

2. To test niche partitioning based on ovipositional preference, the behavior of two sympatric salt marsh tiger beetles, Cicindela circumpicta and C. togata (Coleoptera: Cicindelidae), were examined.

3. In laboratory studies, female C. circumpicta and C. togata distinguished between experimental salinities, with the former preferring 4 parts per thousand (ppt) and the latter preferring 12 ppt. In the field, C. circumpicta larvae were …

Alpha Status, Dominance, And Division Of Labor In Wolf Packs, L. David Mech

United States Geological Survey, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center: Publications

The prevailing view of a wolf (Canis lupus) pack is that of a group of individuals ever vying for dominance but held in check by the “alpha” pair, the alpha male and alpha female. Most research on the social dynamics of wolf packs, however, has been conducted on non-natural assortments of captive wolves. Here I describe the wolf-pack social order as it occurs in nature, discuss the alpha concept and social dominance and submission, and present data on the precise relationships among members in free-living packs, based on a literature review and 13 summers of observations of wolves …

The Effect Of Proximity On Landmark Use In Clark’S Nutcrackers, Kristy L. Gould-Beierle, Alan Kamil

Avian Cognition Papers

Clark’s nutcrackers, Nucifraga columbiana, store thousands of pine seeds during the autumn and retrieve them throughout the winter. It has been shown that these birds are able to use visual cues to relocate hidden food in the laboratory. In this set of experiments, we trained three groups of Clark’s nutcrackers to find a hidden food goal that was placed in the same spatial location relative to the testing room. During training, the location of two local cues in relation to the goal differed between the three groups. Group 1 learned the task with the cues closest to the goal, group …

Searching Image In Blue Jays: Facilitation And Interference In Sequential Priming, Alan B. Bond, Alan C. Kamil

Papers in Behavior in Biological Sciences

Repeated exposure to a single target type (sequential priming) during visual search for multiple cryptic targets commonly improves performance on subsequent presentations of that target. It appears to be an attentional phenomenon, a component of the searching image effect. It has been argued, however, that if searching image is an attentional process, sequential priming should also interfere with performance on subsequent nonprimed targets, and such interference has never been unequivocally demonstrated. In blue jays (Cyanocitta cristata) searching in an operant apparatus for targets derived from images of cryptic moths, detection performance was strongly facilitated in the course of …

Patterns Of Movement And Orientation During Caching And Recovery By Clark’S Nutcrackers, Nucifraga Columbiana, Alan Kamil, Russell P. Balda, Sally Good

Avian Cognition Papers

Clark’s nutcrackers regularly store large numbers of pine seeds and remember the locations of the cached seeds. Although they are very accurate, they do make some errors during recovery. In an attempt to determine whether any behaviours during caching predicted the occurrence of errors during recovery, we videotaped Clark’s nutcrackers while they cached and recovered seeds under laboratory conditions. We used the videotapes to develop complete, quantitative descriptions of caching and recovery behaviour, with an emphasis on body orientation and directions of movement. During caching, the birds showed the greatest change in their orientation and direction following cache creation. During …

How Do They, Indeed? A Reply To Biegler Et Al., Alan Kamil, Juli E. Jones

Avian Cognition Papers

We trained Clark’s nutcrackers, Nucifraga columbiana, to search halfway between two landmarks while varying the distance between the landmarks (Kamil & Jones 1997). We found that the birds learned the problem readily and generalized to novel interlandmark distances within the range of distances used during training. Unlike some other studies in which responses to proportional distance were obtained (e.g. O’Keefe & Burgess 1996; Tommasi et al. 1997), the nutcrackers showed very precise search and maintained this precision during the transfer test. The distributions of digging locations around the central position were concentrated within ±1–2 cm of the central location …

Sociality And Social Learning In Two Species Of Corvids: The Pinyon Jay (Gymnorhinus Cyanocephalus) And The Clark’S Nutcracker (Nucifraga Columbiana), Jennifer J. Templeton, Alan Kamil, Russell P. Balda

Papers in Behavior in Biological Sciences

The hypothesis that social learning is an adaptive specialization for social living predicts that social species should learn better socially than they do individually, but that nonsocial species should not exhibit a similar enhancement of performance under social learning conditions. The authors compared individual and social learning abilities in 2 corvid species: the highly social pinyon jay (Gymnorhinus cyanocephalus) and the less social Clark’s nutcracker (Nucifraga columbiana). The birds were tested on 2 different tasks under individual and social learning conditions. Half learned a motor task individually and a discrimination task socially; the other half learned …

Female Responses To Isolated Signals From Multimodal Male Courtship Displays In The Wolf Spider Genus Schizocosa (Araneae: Lycosidae), Eileen Hebets, George W. Uetz

Eileen Hebets Publications

Male wolf spiders within the genus Schizocosa display considerable variation in foreleg ornamentation as well as in courtship communication. Multiple modes of male signaling have evolved in a number of species. Divergence in courtship signals among species within this genus may be directly associated with variation in the sensory sensitivities of conspecific females. We isolated the visual and vibratory courtship cues of four species of Schizocosa and recorded conspecific female receptivity to each isolated cue. We also examined female receptivity to complete multimodal courtship signals. We found that the sensory sensitivities of conspecific females were associated with the predominant modes …

Alpha Status, Dominance, And Division Of Labor In Wolf Packs, L. David Mech

United States Geological Survey, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center: Publications

The prevailing view of a wolf (Canis lupus) pack is that of a group of individuals ever vying for dominance but held in check by the “alpha” pair, the alpha male and alpha female. Most research on the social dynamics of wolf packs, however, has been conducted on non-natural assortments of captive wolves. Here I describe the wolf-pack social order as it occurs in nature, discuss the alpha concept and social dominance and submission, and present data on the precise relationships among members in free-living packs, based on a literature review and 13 summers of observations of wolves …

A Method For Estimating Marine Habitat Values Based On Fish Guilds, With Comparisons Between Sites In The Southern California Bight, Alan B. Bond, John S. Stephens, Jr., Daniel J. Pondella, Ii, M. James Allen, Mark Helvey

Papers in Behavior in Biological Sciences

Habitat valuation is an essential tool for tracking changes in habitat quality and in adjudicating environmental mitigation. All current methods for estimating habitat values of coastal marine sites rely heavily on the opinion of experts or on data variables that can readily be manipulated to influence the outcome. As a result, unbiased, quantitative comparisons between the values of different marine habitats are generally unavailable. We report here on a robust, objective technique for the valuation of marine habitats that makes use of data that are commonly gathered in surveys of marine fish populations: density, fidelity, and mean size. To insure …

Regurgitative Food Transfer Among Wild Wolves, L. David Mech, Paul C. Wolf, Jane M. Packard

United States Geological Survey, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center: Publications

Few studies of monogamous canids have addressed regurgitation in the context of extended parental care and alloparental care within family groups. We studied food transfer by regurgitation in a pack of wolves on Ellesmere Island, North West Territories, Canada, during 6 summers from 1988 through 1996. All adult wolves, including yearlings and a post-reproductive female, regurgitated food. Although individuals regurgitated up to five times per bout, the overall ratio of regurgitations per bout was 1.5. Pups were more likely to receive regurgitations (81%) than the breeding female (14%) or auxiliaries (6%). The breeding male regurgitated mostly to the breeding female …

Twenty-Year Home-Range Dynamics Of A White-Tailed Deer Matriline, Michael E. Nelson, L. D. Mech

United States Geological Survey, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center: Publications

We examined the seasonal migration and home-range dynamics of a multigeneration white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) matriline comprising six females from four generations spanning a 20-year period in northeastern Minnesota. All, from the matriarch to her great-granddaughter, migrated to the same summer and winter ranges, the longest individual record being 14.5 years. Three maternal females concurrently occupied exclusive fawning sites within their ancestral matriarch’s summer range, while two nonmaternal females explored new areas and ranged near their mothers. One great-granddaughter expanded her summer range 1 km beyond the matriarch’s summer range while essentially vacating half of her ancestors’ range …

Apostatic Selection By Blue Jays Produces Balanced Polymorphism In Virtual Prey, Alan B. Bond, Alan Kamil

Papers in Behavior in Biological Sciences

Apostatic selection, in which predators overlook rare prey types while consuming an excess of abundant ones, has been assumed to contribute to the maintenance of prey polymorphisms. Such an effect requires predators to respond to changes in the relative abundance of prey, switching to alternatives when a focal prey type becomes less common. Apostatic selection has often been investigated using fixed relative proportions of prey, but its effects on predator–prey dynamics have been difficult to demonstrate. Here we report results from a new technique that incorporates computer-generated displays into an established experimental system, that of blue jays (Cyanocitta cristata …

The Ecology And Evolution Of Spatial Memory In Corvids Of The Southwestern Usa: The Perplexing Pinyon Jay, Russell P. Balda, Alan Kamil

Papers in Behavior in Biological Sciences

The corvids of the southwest possess many adaptations for the harvest, transport, caching and recovery of pine seeds. However, there is a large degree of between-species variation in the distribution of these traits. These corvids have a well-accepted phylogeny (Hope, 1989), live within close proximity to one another and have relatively well-known natural histories. They therefore present an excellent opportunity to apply the comparative method (Kamil, 1988) to the study of these species differences (Balda et al., 1997). The comparative method for the study of adaptation and evolution of behavioral traits begins with a careful study of the natural histories …

On The Proper Definition Of Cognitive Ethology, Alan Kamil

Papers in Behavior in Biological Sciences

The last 20-30 years have seen two “scientific revolutions” in the study of animal behavior: the cognitive revolution that originated in psychology, and the Darwinian, behavioral ecology revolution that originated in biology. Among psychologists, the cognitive revolution has had enormous impact. Similarly, among biologists, the Darwinian revolution has had enormous impact. The major theme of this chapter is that these two scientific research programs need to be combined into a single approach, simultaneously cognitive and Darwinian, and that this single approach is most appropriately called cognitive ethology.