Behavior and Ethology Commons^™

American Kestrels (Falco Sparverius) May Use Tail-Pumping To Maintain Balance, Joshua Suich

Online Theses and Dissertations

When perched, several species of small falcons, including American Kestrels (Falco sparverius), often pump their tails, but the possible function of this behavior is unknown. My objective was to use observations and experiments to examine the possible function(s) of tail-pumping by American Kestrels. Fieldwork was conducted from March 2015 to December 2015 at the Blue Grass Army Depot in Madison County, Kentucky. During observations of focal kestrels, I noted their behavior (e.g., landing on a perch, hunting, or consuming prey), including when and how often they pumped their tails (i.e., rapid movement of the tail down, then back up to …

Territoriality And Inter-Pack Aggression In Gray Wolves: Shaping A Social Carnivore's Life History Rudyard Kipling's Law Of The Jungle Meets Yellowstone's Law Of The Mountains, Kira A. Cassidy, Douglas W. Smith, L. David Mech, Daniel R. Macnulty, Daniel R. Stahler, Matthew C. Metz

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

When Rudyard Kipling wrote The Jungle Book in 1894 and included the famous line "For the strength of the Wolf is the Pack, and the strength of the Pack is the Wolf," he would have had no idea that over a century later, scientific research would back up his poetic phrase. Recent studies in Yellowstone have found that both the individual wolf and the collective pack rely on each other and play important roles in territoriality. At a time when most fairy tales and fables were portraying wolves as demonic killers or, at best, slapstick gluttons, Kipling seemed to have …

Wolf (Canis Lupus) Generation Time And Proportion Of Current Breeding Females By Age, L. David Mech, Shannon M. Barber-Meyer, John Erb

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

Information is sparse about aspects of female wolf (Canis lupus) breeding in the wild, including age of first reproduction, mean age of primiparity, generation time, and proportion of each age that breeds in any given year. We studied these subjects in 86 wolves (113 captures) in the Superior National Forest (SNF), Minnesota (MN), during 1972–2013 where wolves were legally protected for most of the period, and in 159 harvested wolves from throughout MN wolf range during 2012–2014. Breeding status of SNF wolves were assessed via nipple measurements, and wolves from throughout MN wolf range, by placental scars. In …

Amblypygids: Model Organisms For The Study Of Arthropod Navigation Mechanisms In Complex Environments?, Daniel D. Wiegmann, Eileen A. Hebets, Wulfila Gronenberg, Jacob M. Graving, Verner P. Bingman

Eileen Hebets Publications

Navigation is an ideal behavioral model for the study of sensory system integration and the neural substrates associated with complex behavior. For this broader purpose, however, it may be profitable to develop new model systems that are both tractable and sufficiently complex to ensure that information derived from a single sensory modality and path integration are inadequate to locate a goal. Here, we discuss some recent discoveries related to navigation by amblypygids, nocturnal arachnids that inhabit the tropics and sub-tropics. Nocturnal displacement experiments under the cover of a tropical rainforest reveal that these animals possess navigational abilities that are reminiscent, …

Mate Choice And Consequences For Consanguineous Mating In Drosophila Melanogaster, Emily S. Martin

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The ability to discriminate between prospective mates is potentially important not only for the avoidance of unsuccessful or incompatible matings, but also for the selection of higher “quality” mates. Inbreeding, reproduction between closely related individuals, has long enjoyed the attention of biologists, and has classically been associated with fitness consequences that are primarily negative, termed “inbreeding depression”. Indeed, the costs of mating with a relative are well documented across a wide variety of species. If individuals are capable of kin recognition, it is expected that species should evolve to avoid consanguineous matings. However, a number of recent models suggest circumstances …

Causes And Consequences Of Variation In Female Mate Choice And Its Relation To Sexual Conflict In Drosophila Melanogaster, David Cs Filice

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Female mate choice is a significant driving force of evolutionary change and can explain the evolution of exaggerated male traits and/or displays, and dimorphism between the sexes. Females are thought to choose mates based on the greatest provision of direct or indirect benefits. Despite this, we often still see substantial individual variation in female mate choice behaviours both within and across populations. Recent studies suggest that female mate choice is a complex decision-making process that involves many context-dependent factors. However, the precise sources of this variation, such as previous mating experience, are not completely understood. In Drosophila melanogaster, mating …

Sex-Obsessed Or Just Sociable? Non-Copulatory Displays In The Hamerkop, Natasha Hagemeyer

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

[First Paragraph] Non‐copulatory sexual behavior is surprisingly common among animals ranging from insects to vertebrates. Although sometimes considered unusual or aberrant within a species, in some taxa non‐copulatory sexual behavior is widespread, and may even represent the majority of sexual behavior. Such behavior can also happen in many other contexts, including accidental contact, courtship, social bonding, and social structuring (Bagemihl 1999).

Structure And Function Of Male Bottlenose Dolphin Alliances In Northeast Florida, Kristin A. Karle

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Bottlenose dolphins exhibit fission-fusion social systems in which group size and composition change fluidly throughout the day. Societies are typically sexually segregated, and the quality and patterning of individual relationships in this social species shape the social structure of a population. Female dolphins usually have a large network of associates with whom they form recurring moderate bonds, while male associations are highly variable due to their mating strategies. Males employ one of two strategies; males may be solitary, and encounter and herd females individually, while others may form strong bonds with one to two other males and cooperatively herd individual …

No Cortex, No Cry, Vladimir Dinets

Animal Sentience

In his target article, Key (2016) argues that since fish don’t have a frontal cortex (part of the brain known to be important for feeling of pain in humans and rodents), they cannot feel pain or other noxious stimuli. I comment on the logic used in this extrapolation and other arguments presented in the paper.

Stopover Ecology Of Neotropical Migratory Songbirds In The Northern Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico, Lauren E. Solomon

Masters Theses

Chapter I. Full-service hotels, convenience stores or fire escapes? Evaluating function of stopover sites for Neotropical migrants in the northern Yucatan Peninsula

Nearctic-Neotropical migratory songbirds incur the highest mortality rates during their annual migrations. Migratory songbirds use a network of stopover sites to rest, refuel, or seek refuge during times of poor weather conditions; and the time and energy expended at these sites exceeds that of migratory flight. In order to conserve stopover sites with the highest value to Neotropical migrants, a conceptual framework was developed to classify stop over sites into three functional categories based on their function for …

Responses To Familiar And Unfamiliar Humans By Belugas (Delphinapterus Leucas), Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops Truncatus), & Pacific White-Sided Dolphins (Lagenorhynchus Obliquidens): A Replication And Extension, Heather M. Hill, Deirdre Yeater, Sarah Gallup, Sara Guarino, Steve Lacy, Tricia Dees, Stan A. Kuczaj Ii

Psychology Faculty Publications

Previous research has documented that cetaceans can discriminate between humans, but the process used to categorize humans still remains unclear. The goal of the present study was to replicate and extend previous work on the discrimination between familiar and unfamiliar humans by three species of cetaceans. The current study manipulated the familiarity and activity level of humans presented to 12 belugas (Delphinapterus leucas) housed between two facilities, five bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus), and six Pacific white-sided dolphins (Lagenorhynchus obliquidens) during free-swim conditions. Two measures of discrimination were coded from video recordings of each trial: …

The Nutritional Value Of Fecal Sacs: Testing The Parental Nutrition Hypothesis, Amanda W. Burns

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Nest sanitation is an important aspect of parental investment in birds with altricial nestlings. Passerine nestlings produce fecal matter that is encased in a mucous membrane for easy disposal. These fecal sacs are either removed from the nest and transported a distance away or they are ingested by the adult. A decline in fecal sac ingestion rates as nestlings age has been observed in several species. The parental nutrition hypothesis posits that this pattern can be attributed to increasing digestive efficiency as nestlings age. The parental nutrition hypothesis makes three predictions: fecal sac consumption rates should decrease as nestlings age, …

What’S The Common Sense Of Just Some Improvement Of Some Welfare For Some Animals?, Liv Baker

Animal Sentience

The goal of Animal Welfare Science to reduce animal suffering is commendable but too modest: Suffering animals need and deserve far more.

Comparative Evolutionary Approach To Pain Perception In Fishes, Culum Brown

Animal Sentience

Arguments against the fact that fish feel pain repeatedly appear even in the face of growing evidence that they do. The standards used to judge pain perception keep moving as the hurdles are repeatedly cleared by novel research findings. There is undoubtedly a vested commercial interest in proving that fish do not feel pain, so the topic has a half-life well past its due date. Key (2016) reiterates previous perspectives on this topic characterised by a black-or-white view that is based on the proposed role of the human cortex in pain perception. I argue that this is incongruent with our …

Animal Welfare And Animal Rights, M.E. Rolle

Animal Sentience

This overview of Broom’s book, Sentience and Animal Welfare (2014), considers the role the book could play in the animal rights debate. In a thoroughly researched and objectively presented text, Broom lays out information that could place doubt in the minds of decision-makers. By highlighting not just the ways animals resemble humans, but also the ways humans resemble animals, Broom shines a light on a solidly grey area in the animal rights debate.

Animal Mourning: Précis Of How Animals Grieve (King 2013), Barbara J. King

Animal Sentience

Abstract: When an animal dies, that individual’s mate, relatives, or friends may express grief. Changes in the survivor’s patterns of social behavior, eating, sleeping, and/or of expression of affect are the key criteria for defining grief. Based on this understanding of grief, it is not only big-brained mammals like elephants, apes, and cetaceans who can be said to mourn, but also a wide variety of other animals, including domestic companions like cats, dogs, and rabbits; horses and farm animals; and some birds. With keen attention placed on seeking where grief is found to occur and where it is absent …

Evidence For Animal Grief?, Carolyn Ristau

Animal Sentience

The nature of evidence appropriate to the study of animal emotion (and cognition) is discussed in this review with reference to Barbara King’s book. How Animals Grieve is beautifully written, but it intermixes examples meeting King’s criteria for evidence of grief with other poignant but far less convincing examples. Yet, as noted earlier by Griffin (1958/1974), “Excessive caution can sometimes lead one as far astray as rash enthusiasm.” King cites strong evidence from long-term scientific field studies, often involving known individuals; from videotapes; from convergent evidence in neurophysiological studies; and, notwithstanding possible emotional bias, from animals living closely with humans. …

Coastal Connectivity And Spatial Subsidy From A Microbial Perspective, Christin Säwström, Glenn A. Hyndes, Bradley D. Eyre, Megan J. Huggett, Matthew W. Fraser, Paul S. Lavery, Paul G. Thomson, Flavia Tarquinio, P. D. Steinberg, Bonnie Laverock

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

The transfer of organic material from one coastal environment to another can increase production in recipient habitats in a process known as spatial subsidy. Microorganisms drive the generation, transformation, and uptake of organic material in shallow coastal environments, but their significance in connecting coastal habitats through spatial subsidies has received limited attention. We address this by presenting a conceptual model of coastal connectivity that focuses on the flow of microbially mediated organic material in key coastal habitats. Our model suggests that it is not the difference in generation rates of organic material between coastal habitats but the amount of organic …

What Would The Babel Fish Say?, Monica Gagliano

Animal Sentience

Starting with its title, Key’s (2016) target article advocates the view that fish do not feel pain. The author describes the neuroanatomical, physiological and behavioural conditions involved in the experience of pain in humans and rodents and confidently applies analogical arguments as though they were established facts in support of the negative conclusion about the inability of fish to feel pain. The logical reasoning, unfortunately, becomes somewhat incoherent, with the arbitrary application of the designated human criteria for an analogical argument to one animal species (e.g., rodents) but not another (fish). Research findings are reported selectively, and questionable interpretations are …

Marine Ecoregion And Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Affect Recruitment And Population Structure Of A Salt Marsh Snail, Steven C. Pennings, Scott Zengel, Jacob Oehrig, Merryl Alber, T. Dale Bishop, Donald R. Deis, Donna Devlin, A. Randall Hughes, John J. Hutchens, Jr., Whitney M. Kiehn, Caroline R. Mcfarlin, Clay L. Montague, Sean P. Powers, C. Edward Proffitt, Nicholle Rutherford, Camille L. Stagg, Keith Walters

University Faculty and Staff Publications

Marine species with planktonic larvae often have high spatial and temporal variation in recruitment that leads to subsequent variation in the ecology of benthic adults. Using a combination of published and unpublished data, we compared the population structure of the salt marsh snail, Littoraria irrorata, between the South Atlantic Bight and the Gulf Coast of the United States to infer geographic differences in recruitment and to test the hypothesis that the Deepwater Horizon oil spill led to widespread recruitment failure of L. irrorata in Louisiana in 2010. Size-frequency distributions in both ecoregions were bimodal, with troughs in the distributions consistent …

Intertemporal Similarity: Discounting As A Last Resort, Jeffrey R. Stevens

Jeffrey Stevens Publications

Standard models of intertemporal choice assume that individuals discount future payoffs by integrating reward amounts and time delays to generate a discounted value. Alternative models propose that, rather than integrate across them, individuals compare within attributes (amounts and delays) to determine if differences in one attribute outweigh differences in another attribute. For instance, Leland (2002) and Rubinstein (2003) propose models that 1) compare the two reward amounts to determine whether they are similar, 2) compare the similarity of the two time delays, and then 3) make a decision based on these similarity judgments. Here, I tested discounting models against attribute-based …

Reflections Of The Social Environment In Chimpanzee Memory: Applying Rational Analysis Beyond Humans, Jeffrey R. Stevens, Julian N. Marewski, Lael J. Schooler, Ian C. Gilby

Jeffrey Stevens Publications

In cognitive science, the rational analysis framework allows modelling of how physical and social environments impose information-processing demands onto cognitive systems. In humans, for example, past social contact among individuals predicts their future contact with linear and power functions. These features of the human environment constrain the optimal way to remember information and probably shape how memory records are retained and retrieved. We offer a primer on how biologists can apply rational analysis to study animal behaviour. Using chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) as a case study, we modelled 19 years of observational data on their social contact patterns. Much …

Cognitive Phenotypes And The Evolution Of Animal Decisions, Tamra C. Mendelson, Courtney L. Fitzpatrick, Mark E. Hauber, Charles H. Pence, Rafael L. Rodriguez, Rebecca J. Safran, Caitlin A. Stern, Jeffrey R. Stevens

Jeffrey Stevens Publications

Despite the clear fitness consequences of animal decisions, the science of animal decision making in evolutionary biology is underdeveloped compared with decision science in human psychology. Specifically, the field lacks a conceptual framework that defines and describes the relevant components of a decision, leading to imprecise language and concepts. The ‘judgment and decision-making’ (JDM) framework in human psychology is a powerful tool for framing and understanding human decisions, and we apply it here to components of animal decisions, which we refer to as ‘cognitive phenotypes’. We distinguish multiple cognitive phenotypes in the context of a JDM framework and highlight empirical …

Differential Wolf-Pack-Size Persistence And The Role Of Risk When Hunting Dangerous Prey, Shannon M. Barber-Meyer, L. David Mech, Wesley E. Newton, Bridget L. Borg

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

Risk to predators hunting dangerous prey is an emerging area of research and could account for possible persistent differences in gray wolf (Canis lupus) pack sizes. We documented significant differences in long-term wolf-pack-size averages and variation in the Superior National Forest (SNF), Denali National Park and Preserve, Yellowstone National Park, and Yukon, Canada (p < 0.01). The SNF differences could be related to the wolves’ risk when hunting primary prey, for those packs (N = 3) hunting moose (Alces americanus) were significantly larger than those (N = 10) hunting white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) (F_1,8 = 16.50, p = 0.004). Our data support the hypothesis that differential pack-size persistence may be …

Evidence Of Rock Kangaroo Seed Dispersal Via Faecal Seed Storage In A Tropical Monsoon Community, Chris Martine, Ally Boni, Elizabeth Capaldi, Gemma Lionheart, Ingrid E. Jordon-Thaden

Faculty Journal Articles

While some of the plant species of the ‘Sandstone Country’ along the escarpment of western Arnhem Land produce fleshy fruits and appear to rely on biotic methods of seed dispersal, little is known about the methods by which this is achieved – and few potential dispersers co-occur in the sandstone outcrop communities. For the present study, scat collections were made on outcrops in the northeastern area of Kakadu National Park with the hope of uncovering relationships between local frugivores and fruit-producers, and providing evidence for seasonal storage of mammal-dispersed seeds in scat prior to germination. The goals of the present …

Analyzing Winter Migration Fidelity And Movement Of The Wild Taimyr Reindeer Herd, Rangifer T. Tarandus, Emily T. Francis

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The Taimyr Reindeer Herd (TRH) is the largest wild reindeer population in the world, and is located in the northern central region of Arctic Russia. Previous detailed research on the spatiotemporal dynamics of this herd have been conducted involving aerial population censuses for two of the three seasons for reindeer: calving (Meerdink, 2012) and summer (Cooney, 2014). The first part of this study continues with the methods of the previous studies, analyzing the spatiotemporal fidelity of the TRH in the winter season. This was completed using geospatial analysis of digitized historical aerial census data of reindeer locations, and analyzing areas …

Response Of Fishes To Restoration Projects In Bayou St. John Located Within The City Of New Orleans, Louisiana, Including Hydrological Characterization And Hydrodynamic Modelling, Patrick W. Smith

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Quantifying the impacts of restoration on coastal waterways is crucial to understanding their effectiveness. Here, I look at the impacts of multiple restoration projects on urban waterways within the city limits of New Orleans, LA, with an emphasis on the response of fishes. First I report the effects of two projects designed to improve exchange down estuary on the hydrologic characteristics of Bayou St. John (BSJ). Within BSJ, flow is dominated by subtidal wind driven processes. Removal of an outdated flood control structure did not appear to alter exchange in BSJ, but removal combined with sector gate openings did. I …

Longevity Of Mineral Supplements Within The Soil And Associated Use By White-Tailed Deer, Brian C. Peterson, Keith D. Koupal, Andrew K. Schissel, Cody M. Siegel

Transactions of the Nebraska Academy of Sciences and Affiliated Societies

Humans have baited wildlife such as white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) for generations with the primary purpose of increasing hunting harvest success. Baiting regulation changes are often considered by state management agencies as they pertain to hunting opportunity, fair chase, and disease risk. Cervids require a variety of minerals to supplement biological processes, especially sodium (Na), calcium (Ca), and phosphorus (P). We developed artificial mineral supplement sites set in front of trail cameras to monitor deer use. Pooled soil samples were collected at mineral sites and compared to the surrounding area to determine the longevity of elevated minerals levels …

Feeding Ecology Of The Invasive Lionfish (Pterois Spp.) And Comparison With Two Native Species: Schoolmaster Lutjanus Apodus (Walbaum, 1792) And Graysby Cephalopholis Cruentata (Lacepède, 1802), Jesse J. Secord

HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations

Predator satiation and prey-size preference were determined for locally caught lionfish, schoolmaster, and graysby, all co-occurring predatory fishes in the Florida coral reef ecosystem. Individuals were evaluated by exposing them to wild-caught killifish over a gradient of four size classes (20 mm to 60 mm, in 10 mm increments). Preference trials extended over a 2 hr time period and were filmed to determine the order in which each prey item was consumed. Satiation was evaluated by exposing the predators to an equal number of excess prey items for 24 hrs and evaluating consumed prey weight. Lionfish and schoolmaster showed a …

Same-Sex Socio-Sexual Interactions Among A Group Of Captive Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops Truncatus), Natalia Botero Acosta

Master's Theses

Bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) frequently engage in non-reproductive sexual behavior, including homosexual encounters. In order to better understand the nature and function of these interactions, a longitudinal study of the patterns of association and the dynamics of initiator/recipient role exchange was conducted. Underwater video footage of a colony of bottlenose dolphins housed at the Roatan Institute for Marine Sciences (RIMS), collected between March of 2010 and May of 2013, was analyzed. Associations occurring during homosexual interactions were transitory for most individuals. Nonetheless, subsequent analyses allowed the rejection of the null hypothesis of random association, suggesting the existence of …