Animal Studies Commons^™

How To Identify Dear Enemies: The Group Signature In The Complex Song Of The Skylark Alauda Arvensis, Elodie F. Briefer, Thierry Aubin, Katia Lehongre, Fanny Rybak

Ethology Collection

Song geographic variation and Neighbour–Stranger (N–S) discrimination have been intensively but separately studied in bird species, especially in those with small- to medium-sized repertoires. Here, we establish a link between the two phenomena by showing that dialect features are used for N–S recognition in a territorial species with a large repertoire, the skylark Alauda arvensis. In this species, during the breeding season, many pairs settle in stable and adjoining territories gathered in locations spaced by a few kilometres. In a first step, songs produced by males established in different locations were recorded, analyzed and compared to identify possible microgeographic variation …

Low Frequency Groans Indicate Larger And More Dominant Fallow Deer (Dama Dama) Males, Elisabetta Vannoni, Alan G. Mcelligott

Veterinary Science and Medicine Collection

Background: Models of honest advertisement predict that sexually selected calls should signal male quality. In most vertebrates, high quality males have larger body sizes that determine higher social status and in turn higher reproductive success. Previous research has emphasised the importance of vocal tract resonances or formant frequencies of calls as cues to body size in mammals. However, the role of the acoustic features of vocalisations as cues to other quality-related phenotypic characteristics of callers has rarely been investigated.

Methodology/Principal Findings: We examined whether the acoustic structure of fallow deer groans provides reliable information on the quality of the caller, …

Lack Of Assortative Mating Between Incipient Species Of Stickleback From A Hybrid Zone, F. C. Jones, C. Brown, V. A. Braithwaite

Evolutionary Biology Collection

Both premating and postmating barriers to gene flow can contribute to reproductive isolation but the relative role of these factors, particularly in the early stages of speciation, is not well understood. Evidence suggests that factors contributing to assortative mating and, thus, the development and maintenance of divergent species, can be ecology-dependent. Here, we present results from a study of assortative mating between recently diverged anadromous and freshwater sticklebacks conducted in semi-natural conditions. Sympatric anadromous and freshwater sticklebacks were sampled from a contact zone and multiple male and female morphs were allowed to breed in replicate ponds. Mate choice was determined …

Earthworm Abundances In Endophyte-Infected Tall Fescue Pastures In Northwest Arkansas, Ashley Rashe, Mary C. Savin

Discovery, The Student Journal of Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences

The ecology of organisms that co-evolve within an ecosystem is likely to be distinct from that involving organisms recently introduced into an area. To better understand the relationship of earthworms with endophyte-infected tall fescue, earthworms in novel and toxic endophyte-infected tall fescue pastures were enumerated and identified as adults or juveniles. We hypothesized that differences in endophyte infection of the fescue would influence earthworm abundances. Earthworms in two toxic and two novel endophyte-infected tall fescue fields in Fayetteville, Ark., were sampled weekly from January through July 2007. Each type of endophyte-infected pasture was established in 1997 and 2003. Sampling was …

Impact Of Stressing A Pen Mate On Physiological Responses Of Growing Pigs, Brent Koonce, Elizabeth B. Kegley, Doug Galloway, Jason Apple

Discovery, The Student Journal of Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences

Crossbred barrows and gilts (n = 36), weighing 16.59 ± 2.1 kg, were used to test the effects of stressing a pen mate on the physiological responses of growing pigs. Pigs were randomly allotted to 6 groups after stratifying according to gender, litter origin, and body weight. Dominance order was determined within each group, and 1 to 3 d prior to the stress treatment the most- and least-dominant pigs within a group were fitted with indwelling catheters in their vena cavas. Over 3 d, groups were either: 1) isolated from audile and visual contact with stressed pigs in a separate …

Investigating Current Efficacies Of Several Nematocides For Use In Cattle According To The Fecal Egg Count Reduction Test, Tifanie Silver, Chris Tucker, Jeremy Powell, Jana Reynolds, Zelpha Johnson, Bill Lindsey, Pete Hornsby, T. A. Yazwinski

Discovery, The Student Journal of Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences

Utilizing small groups of naturally infected replacement heifers, fecal egg count reduction tests (FECRT) were conducted in the later months of 2007 at the University of Arkansas Savoy Research Station. Each test was 28 d in length, consisting of individual fecal nematode egg counts (EPG) and coprocultures. For the first test, the calves were ranked by beginning EPG, blocked, and randomly assigned treatment within each block. Nine to ten animals were in each treatment group. In this test, neither IVOMEC (® Merial) or IVERMECTIN (® Durvet), both delivered as an injectable at the rate of 0.2 mg of ivermectin kg-1 …

Heritable And Experiential Effects On Boldness In A Tropical Poeciliid, Culum Brown, Fiona Burgess, Victoria Braithwaite

Sentience Collection

Consistent differences in human behaviour are often explained with reference to personality traits. Recent evidence suggests that similar traits are widespread across the entire animal kingdom and that they may have substantial fitness consequences. One of the major components of personality is the shyness–boldness continuum. Little is known about the relative contributions of genes and the environment in the development of boldness in wild animal populations. Here, we bred wild-caught fish (Brachyraphis episcopi) collected from regions of highand low-predation pressure, reared their offspring in the laboratory under varying conditions and tested boldness utilising an open-field paradigm. First-generation laboratory-reared fish showed …

Correlation Between Boldness And Body Mass In Natural Populations Of The Poeciliid Brachyrhaphis Episcopi, C. Brown, F. Jones, V. Braithwaite

Sentience Collection

The boldness of individual Brachyrhaphis episcopi, collected from regions of high and low predation, was investigated using two independent assays: (1) the time to emerge from cover and (2) the propensity to leave shoal mates and investigate a novel object. A strong correlation between the two assays was revealed such that fish that emerged from shelter sooner were also more likely to approach a novel object. This is indicative of a boldness personality axis acting across both behavioural contexts. Fish from high-predation areas were bolder than those from low-predation areas and males were bolder than females. A significant correlation between …

Animal Mind: Science, Philosophy, And Ethics, Bernard E. Rollin

Sentience Collection

Although 20th-century empiricists were agnostic about animal mind and consciousness, this was not the case for their historical ancestors – John Locke, David Hume, Jeremy Bentham, John Stuart Mill, and, of course, Charles Darwin and George John Romanes. Given the dominance of the Darwinian paradigm of evolutionary continuity, one would not expect belief in animal mind to disappear. That it did demonstrates that standard accounts of how scientific hypotheses are overturned – i.e., by empirical disconfirmation or by exposure of logical flaws – is inadequate. In fact, it can be demonstrated that belief in animal mind disappeared as a result …

Animal Minds, Cognitive Ethology, And Ethics, Colin Allen, Marc Bekoff

Sentience Collection

Our goal in this paper is to provide enough of an account of the origins of cognitive ethology and the controversy surrounding it to help ethicists to gauge for themselves how to balance skepticism and credulity about animal minds when communicating with scientists. We believe that ethicists’ arguments would benefit from better understanding of the historical roots of ongoing controversies. It is not appropriate to treat some widely reported results in animal cognition as if their interpretations are a matter of scientific consensus. It is especially important to understand why loose references to ‘‘cognitive ethology’’ by philosophers can signal ignorance …

Nociception In Fish: Stimulus–Response Properties Of Receptors On The Head Of Trout Oncorhynchus Mykiss, Paul J. Ashley, Lynne U. Sneddon, Catherine R. Mccrohan

Veterinary Science and Medicine Collection

This study examined stimulus–response properties of somatosensory receptors on the head of rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss, using extracellular recording from single cells in the trigeminal ganglion. Of 121 receptors recorded from 39 fish, 17 were polymodal nociceptors, 22 were mechanothermal nociceptors, 18 were mechanochemical receptors, 33 were fast adapting mechanical receptors and 31 were slowly adapting mechanical receptors. Mechanical thresholds were higher in polymodal nociceptors than in either slowly adapting or fast adapting mechanical receptors, whereas thermal thresholds of mechanothermal nociceptors were higher than those of polymodal nociceptors. Polymodal nociceptors and mechanochemical receptors gave similar responses to topical applications of …

The Influence Of Early Experience On, And Inheritance Of, Cerebral Lateralization, Culum Brown, Jac Western, Victoria A. Braithwaite

Veterinary Science and Medicine Collection

Cerebral lateralization refers to the lateralized partitioning of cognitive function in either hemisphere of the brain. Using a standard detour test, we investigated lateralized behaviour in wild-caught, female poeciliid fish, Brachyraphis (=Brachyrhaphis) episcopi, from high- and low-predation areas. Wild fish were bred and their offspring reared under controlled laboratory conditions. These laboratory-reared fish were screened in the same laterality assays as their parents. We observed differences between wild-caught females and their laboratory-reared female offspring in the pattern of lateralization (tendency to use one hemisphere over the other to process information). Conversely, the strength of lateralization (consistency of hemispherical bias) was …

Influence Of Free-Stall Base On Tarsal Joint Lesions And Hygiene In Dairy Cows, W. K. Fulwider, T. Grandin, D. J. Garrick, T. E. Engle, W. D. Lamm, N. L. Dalsted, B. E. Rollin

Housing and Confinement of Farm Animals Collection

The objective was to quantify the incidence of tarsal lesions and level of hygiene by stall bed type. Cows were scored on 100 dairies from Wisconsin, Minnesota, Indiana, Iowa, and New York in the fall and winter. Thirty-eight dairies used rubber-filled mattresses (RFM), 27 had sand beds, 29 had waterbeds, and 6 used compost packs (CPk). Stocking density, stall dimensions, bedding amount, bedding frequency, and type of bedding were recorded. One pen of early-lactation multiparous cows on each dairy was scored based on injury of the tarsal joints at the lateral and medial surfaces and tuber calcis at the dorsal, …

The Public Perception Of Enrichment For Captive Animals, Elizabeth Marie Webb

All Master's Theses

The effects of providing participants with educational information on enrichment as measured by the looking time at and ratings of zoo photographs were examined. One hundred and seventeen participants viewed photographs of zoo exhibits, 10 from each of the following categories: artificial exhibit with artificial enrichment, artificial exhibit with naturalistic enrichment, naturalistic exhibit with naturalistic enrichment, and naturalistic exhibit with artificial enrichment. Participants rated the photographs on exhibit aesthetic appeal, perceived animal happiness, and effectiveness of the enrichment. Pre- and posttest ratings of the importance of zoo roles were also collected. Results showed support for the hypothesis that participants provided …

Individual Acoustic Variation In Fallow Deer (Dama Dama) Common And Harsh Groans: A Source-Filter Theory Perspective, Elisabetta Vannoni, Alan G. Mcelligott

Veterinary Science and Medicine Collection

Mammals are able to distinguish conspecifics based on vocal cues, and the acoustic structure of mammal vocalizations is directly affected by the anatomy and action of the vocal apparatus. However, most studies investigating individual patterns in acoustic signals do not consider a vocal production-based perspective. In this study, we used the source-filter model of vocal production as a basis for investigating the acoustic variability of fallow deer groans. Using this approach, we quantified the potential of each acoustic component to carry information about individual identity. We also investigated if cues to individual identity carry over among the two groan types …

Plasticity In Animal Personality Traits: Does Prior Experience Alter The Degree Of Boldness?, Ashley J. Frost, Alexandra Winrow-Giffen, Paul J. Ashley, Lynne U. Sneddon

Ethology Collection

Theoreticians predict that animal ‘personality’ traits may be maladaptive if fixed throughout different contexts, so the present study aimed to test whether these traits are fixed or plastic. Rainbow trout (Onchorhyncus mykiss) were given emboldening or negative experiences in the forms of watching bold or shy individuals responding to novelty or winning or losing fights to examine whether prior experience affected boldness. Bold individuals that lost fights or watched shy demonstrators became more shy by increasing their latency to approach a novel object, whereas shy observers that watched bold demonstrators remained cautious and did not modify their responses to novelty. …

Impact Of The Agricultural Sector On The Arkansas Economy In 2003, Jennie Popp, Nathan Kemper, Wayne Miller

AAES Research Reports and Research Bulletins

Agriculture and associated agricultural activities are major contributors to the Arkansas economy. Agriculture is defined as the sum of agricultural production and processing activities, unless otherwise specified, and includes crop and animal production and processing, agricultural support industries, forestry and forest products, and textile goods. Agriculture contributes to the economy through direct agricultural production and value-added processing, and also leads to economic activity in other parts of the economy.

An Hsus Report: Human Health Implications Of U.S. Live Bird Markets In The Spread Of Avian Influenza, The Humane Society Of The United States

Impact of Animal Agriculture

After millions of years of existing as a harmless infection of aquatic birds, some strains of avian flu have developed the ability to mutate into highly pathogenic forms that may not only be deadly for birds, but potentially more dangerous for humans as well. Experts from the World Health Organization, the World Organization for Animal Health, and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations have joined leading scientists in implicating industrialized poultry production for providing fertile ground for the transformation of benign bird flu into highly pathogenic strains.

Live bird markets can be the conduit by which waterfowl …

Their Bugs Are Worse Than Their Bite: Emerging Infectious Disease And The Human-Animal Interface, Michael Greger

State of the Animals 2007

In the twenty-five years since that announcement, what we now know as AIDS has killed 20 million people (National AIDS Trust 2005). Where did the AIDS virus— and other emerging diseases, such as severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), Ebola, mad cow— come from?

The Human/Animal Interface: Emergence And Resurgence Of Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, Michael Greger

Transgenesis Collection

Emerging infectious diseases, most of which are considered zoonotic in origin, continue to exact a significant toll on society. The origins of major human infectious diseases are reviewed and the factors underlying disease emergence explored. Anthropogenic changes, largely in land use and agriculture, are implicated in the apparent increased frequency of emergence and reemergence of zoonoses in recent decades. Special emphasis is placed on the pathogen with likely the greatest zoonotic potential, influenzavirus A.

Grey Parrots Do Not Always ‘Parrot’: The Roles Of Imitation And Phonological Awareness In The Creation Of New Labels From Existing Vocalizations, Irene M. Pepperberg

Sentience Collection

Evidence exists for a form of imitation, vocal segmentation, by a Grey parrot. Data show that the bird understands that his labels are comprised of individual units that can be recombined in novel ways to create a novel referential vocalization; that is, a novel act. Previous data suggested, but could not substantiate, this behaviour. Such evidence implies that a parrot not only has phonological awareness but also demonstrates true imitation rather than mimicry, and has implications for the studies of both the evolution of communicative competence and the development of robotic speech.

Aquatic Animals, Cognitive Ethology, And Ethics: Questions About Sentience And Other Troubling Issues That Lurk In Turbid Water, Marc Bekoff

Sentience Collection

In this general, strongly pro-animal, and somewhat utopian and personal essay, I argue that we owe aquatic animals respect and moral consideration just as we owe respect and moral consideration to all other animal beings, regardless of the taxonomic group to which they belong. In many ways it is more difficult to convince some people of our ethical obligations to numerous aquatic animals because we do not identify or empathize with them as we do with animals with whom we are more familiar or to whom we are more closely related, including those species (usually terrestrial) to whom we refer …

The State Of The Animals Iv: 2007, Deborah J. Salem, Andrew N. Rowan

In the fourth volume of the State of the Animals series, a stellar array of researchers, scholars, and leaders in the field explores current and emerging issues in animal protection.

Stable Isotopic Niche Predicts Fitness Of Prey In A Wolf–Deer System, C. T. Darimont, P. C. Paquet, T. E. Reimchen

Evolutionary Biology Collection

Interindividual variation in niche presents a potentially central object on which natural selection can act. This may have important evolutionary implications because habitat use governs a suite of selective forces encountered by foragers. In a free‐living native black‐tailed deer, Odocoileus hemionus, population from coastal British Columbia, we used stable isotope analysis to identify individual variation in foraging niche and investigated its relationship to fitness. Using an intragenerational comparison of surviving and nonsurviving O. hemionus over 2 years of predation by wolves, Canis lupus, we detected resource‐specific fitness. Individuals with isotopic signatures that suggested they foraged primarily in cedar ( …

Emerging Near-Real Time Forage Monitoring Technology With Application To Large Herbivore Management In Mongolia, Dennis P. Sheehy, Jerry W. Stuth, Douglas E. Johnson, Jay Angerer, Douglas Tolleson

Erforschung biologischer Ressourcen der Mongolei / Exploration into the Biological Resources of Mongolia, ISSN 0440-1298

Large herbivore livestock and wildlife in Mongolia depend almost entirely for substance on forage standing crop produced each year on natural pastureland. Consequently, both livestock and wildlife are continuously subject to environmental risk, especially drought and severe winter storms, while livestock are also subject to financial risk. As consumption-based livestock production changes to commercialized livestock production, steps taken by the livestock herder to avert both environmental and financial risk to livestock can increase environmental risk to large wild herbivores. A realistic and workable pastureland and risk management system will be critical for conservation of large herbivore habitat. New technologies are …

Properties Of Corneal Receptors In A Teleost Fish, Paul J. Ashley, Lynne U. Sneddon, Catherine R. Mccrohan

Veterinary Science and Medicine Collection

Corneal receptors have not previously been identified in lower vertebrates. The present study describes the properties of trigeminal ganglion corneal receptors in a teleost fish, the rainbow trout (Oncoryhnchus mykiss). Out of 27 receptors, 7 were polymodal nociceptors, 6 were mechanothermal nociceptors, 2 were mechanochemical receptors and the largest group, 12, were only responsive to mechanical stimulation. No cold responsive receptors were found on the trout cornea. Mechanical and thermal thresholds were lower and receptive field diameters smaller than those of cutaneous trigeminal receptors in the trout, demonstrating greater sensitivity in the cornea. The lack of cold sensitive neurons may …

Arkansas Animal Science Department Report 2006, Zelpha B. Johnson, D. Wayne Kellogg

Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station Research Series

No abstract provided.

Identifying And Preventing Pain In Animals, Daniel M. Weary, Lee Niel, Frances C. Flower, David Fraser

Assessment of Animal Welfare Collection

Animals are routinely subjected to painful procedures, such as tail docking for puppies, castration for piglets, dehorning for dairy calves, and surgery for laboratory rats. Disease and injury, such as tumours in mice and sole ulcers on the feet of dairy cows, may also cause pain. In this paper we describe some of the ways in which the pain that animals experience can be recognized and quantified. We also describe ways in which pain can be avoided or reduced, by reconsidering how procedures are performed and whether they are actually required. Ultimately, reducing the pain that animals experience will require …

The Changing Concept Of Animal Sentience, Ian J. H. Duncan

Sentience Collection

A brief history of the concept of sentience is given. It is pointed out that the idea of sentience, at least in the mammals and birds, was accepted by lay people by the time of the Renaissance and before it was acknowledged by philosophers. It was not until the Enlightenment of the 18th century that philosophers started to accept the notion that animals have feelings. Towards the end of the 19th century, scientists and philosophers had developed a fairly sophisticated concept of sentience. Little consideration was given to sentience by scientists through much of the 20th century due to the …

Mother-Young Recognition In An Ungulate Hider Species: A Unidirectional Proce, Marco V.G. Torriani, Elisabetta Vannoni, Alan G. Mcelligott

Veterinary Science and Medicine Collection

Parent‐offspring recognition is usually crucial for survival of young. In mammals, olfaction often only permits identification at short range, and vocalizations are important at longer distances. Following and hiding antipredator strategies found in newborn mammals may also affect parental recognition mechanisms. We investigated mother‐offspring recognition in fallow deer, an ungulate hider species. We analyzed the structure of adult female and fawn contact calls to determine whether they are individually distinctive and tested for mother‐offspring recognition. Only females (and not fawns) have individualized vocalizations, with the fundamental frequency as the most distinctive parameter. Playback experiments showed that fawns can distinguish the …