Animal Studies Commons^™

Changing Room Cues Reduces The Effects Of Proactive Interference In Clark’S Nutcrackers, Nucifraga Columbiana, Jody L. Lewis, Alan C. Kamil, Kate E. Webbink

Avian Cognition Papers

To determine what factors are important for minimizing interference effects in spatial memory, Clark’s Nutcrackers, Nucifraga columbiana were tested for their spatial memory for two serial lists of locations per day. In this experiment two unique landmark sets were either different between List 1 and List 2 or the same. We found that Nutcrackers were most susceptible to interference when the landmark sets were the same. This study suggests that repeatedly testing animal memory in the same room, with the same cues, can hamper recall due to interference.

Differences In Relative Hippocampus Volume And Number Of Hippocampus Neurons Among Five Corvid Species, Kristy L. Gould, Karl E. Gilbertson, Andrew J. Hrvol, Joseph C. Nelson, Abigail L. Seyfer, Rose M. Brantner, Alan C. Kamil

Avian Cognition Papers

The relative size of the avian hippocampus (Hp) has been shown to be related to spatial memory and food storing in two avian families, the parids and corvids. Basil et al. [Brain Behav Evol 1996;47: 156-164] examined North American food-storing birds in the corvid family and found that Clark’s nutcrackers had a larger relative Hp than pinyon jays and Western scrub jays. These results correlated with the nutcracker’s better performance on most spatial memory tasks and their strong reliance on stored food in the wild. However, Pravosudov and de Kort [Brain Behav Evol 67 (2006), 1-9] raised questions …

Wild Justice Redux: What We Know About Social Justice In Animals And Why It Matters, Jessica Pierce, Marc Bekoff

Ethology Collection

Social justice in animals is beginning to attract interest in a broad range of academic disciplines. Justice is an important area of study because it may help explain social dynamics among individuals living in tightly- knit groups, as well as social interactions among individuals who only occasionally meet. In this paper, we provide an overview of what is currently known about social justice in animals and offer an agenda for further research. We provide working definitions of key terms, outline some central research questions, and explore some of the challenges of studying social justice in animals, as well as the …

Complex Patterns Of Male Alliance Formation In A Dolphin Social Network, Joanna Wiszniewski, Culum Brown, Luciana M. Möller

Sentience Collection

The formation and maintenance of alliances is regarded as one of the most socially complex male mating strategies in mammals. The prevalence and complexity of these cooperative relationships, however, varies considerably among species as well as within and between populations living in different ecological and social environments. We assessed patterns of alliance formation for Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins, Tursiops aduncus, in Port Stephens, New South Wales, Australia, to investigate the stability of these alliances, the structure of associations, as well as variation in schooling patterns among males. Our results showed that association patterns among males within this population showed considerable variability. …

Chimpanzee (Pan Troglodytes) Responses To Visitors Using Chimpanzee-Friendly Behaviors, Daniella Bismanovsky

All Master's Theses

Many studies suggest that zoo visitors are a cause of stress among animals; among primates, visitor presence can lead to an increase in aggressive displays, time spent non-visible to the public, and a decrease in overall activity. This study tested the effectiveness of using species-specific behaviors among a group of captive chimpanzees. There were 2 conditions: a control, and an experimental condition in which visitors were asked to adopt a stooped posture or lean on the railing, and show a chimpanzee play face. The visitors stooped their posture, sat, and leaned on the railing significantly more in the experimental condition …

Do Clark’S Nutcrackers Demonstrate What-Where-When Memory On A Cache-Recovery Task?, Kristy L. Gould, Amy J. Ort, Alan C. Kamil

Avian Cognition Papers

What-where-when (WWW) memory during cache recovery was investigated in six Clark’s nutcrackers. During caching, both red- and blue-colored pine seeds were cached by the birds in holes filled with sand. Either a short (3 day) retention interval (RI) or a long (9 day) RI was followed by a recovery session during which caches were replaced with either a single seed or wooden bead depending upon the color of the cache and length of the retention interval. Knowledge of what was in the cache (seed or bead), where it was located, and when the cache had been made (3 or 9 …

Learned Recognition And Avoidance Of Invasive Mosquitofish By The Shrimp, Paratya Australiensis, Joshua D. Bool, Kristen Whitcomb, Erin Kydd, Culum Brown

Sentience Collection

Little is known about the learning ability of crustaceans, especially with respect to their anti-predator responses to invasive species. In many vertebrates, anti-predator behaviour is influenced by experience during ontogeny. Here, predator-naïve glass shrimp (Paratya australiensisis) were exposed to a predatory, invasive fish species, Gambusia holbrooki, to determine whether shrimp could learn to: (1) avoid the scent of Gambusia via classical conditioning; and (2) restrict their activity patterns to the night to reduce predatory encounters. Conditioned shrimp were placed in containers in aquaria containing Gambusia for 3 days during which time they could be harassed but not consumed by Gambusia. …

Assortative Mating In Fallow Deer Reduces The Strength Of Sexual Selection, Mary E. Farrell, Elodie Briefer, Alan G. Mcelligott

Veterinary Science and Medicine Collection

Background: Assortative mating can help explain how genetic variation for male quality is maintained even in highly polygynous species. Here, we present a longitudinal study examining how female and male ages, as well as male social dominance, affect assortative mating in fallow deer (Dama dama) over 10 years. Assortative mating could help explain the substantial proportion of females that do not mate with prime-aged, high ranking males, despite very high mating skew. We investigated the temporal pattern of female and male matings, and the relationship between female age and the age and dominance of their mates.

Results: The peak of …

Qualitative Behavioural Assessment And Quantitative Physiological Measurement Of Cattle Naïve And Habituated To Road Transport, C. A. Stockman, T. Collins, A. L. Barnes, D. Miller, S. L. Wickham, D. T. Beatty, D. Blache, F. Wemelsfelder, P. A. Fleming

Veterinary Science and Medicine Collection

The present study examined whether observers could distinguish between cattle that are naïve to road transport and the same cattle after becoming more habituated to transport. The behavioural expression of cattle was assessed through the method of qualitative behavioural assessment (QBA), and these assessments were correlated with various physiological parameters. Fourteen Angus steers were assessed during their first road trip and then again on their ninth trip, 15 days later. Blood samples were collected immediately before and after transport, and heart rate and core body temperature were measured continuously throughout each trip. Video footage recorded during each trip was edited …

Signs Of Mood And Anxiety Disorders In Chimpanzees, Hope Ferdowsian, Debra Durham, Charles Kimwele, Godelieve Kranendonk, Emily Otali, Timothy Akugizibwe, J. B. Mulcahy, Lilly Ajarova, Cassie Meré Johnson

Sentience Collection

Background: In humans, traumatic experiences are sometimes followed by psychiatric disorders. In chimpanzees, studies have demonstrated an association between traumatic events and the emergence of behavioral disturbances resembling posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression. We addressed the following central question: Do chimpanzees develop posttraumatic symptoms, in the form of abnormal behaviors, which cluster into syndromes similar to those described in human mood and anxiety disorders?

Methodology/Principal Findings: In phase 1 of this study, we accessed case reports of chimpanzees who had been reportedly subjected to traumatic events, such as maternal separation, social isolation, experimentation, or similar experiences. We applied and …

Mechanisms For Decisions About The Future, Jeffrey R. Stevens

Jeffrey Stevens Publications

Evolutionary and psychological perspectives on decision making remain largely separate endeavors. The bounded rationality approach integrates these two perspectives by focusing on simple, plausible mechanisms of decision making and the cognitive capacities needed to implement these mechanisms. Decisions about the future provide a class of decisions that lend themselves to a bounded rationality approach. Though many different mechanisms may exist for making decisions about the future, only a subset of these mechanisms actually require a representation of the future. The bounded rationality approach helps focus on the cognitive capacities and decision mechanisms that are necessary for a full understanding of …

Are Unfamiliar Neighbours Considered To Be Dear-Enemies?, Elodie Briefer, Fanny Rybak, Thierry Aubin

Sentience Collection

Background: Discriminating threatening individuals from non-threatening ones allow territory owners to modulate their territorial responses according to the threat posed by each intruder. This ability reduces costs associated with territorial defence. Reduced aggression towards familiar adjacent neighbours, termed the dear-enemy effect, has been shown in numerous species. An important question that has never been investigated is whether territory owners perceive distant neighbours established in the same group as strangers because of their unfamiliarity, or as dear-enemies because of their group membership.

Methodology/Principal Findings: To investigate this question, we played back to male skylarks (Alauda arvensis) songs of adjacent neighbours, distant …

Vigilance And Antipredator Responses Of Caribbean Reef Squid, Jennifer A. Mather

Sentience Collection

Antipredator responses, especially those of open-ocean squid, have been seldom studied in the natural environment. Sepioteuthis sepioidea, observed by snorkellers near the shore in early morning/late afternoon, produced an average of eight moves of over 1m per hour, apparently mostly antipredator behaviours. Close approaches by herbivorous parrotfish elicited no response in 74% of encounters; otherwise, squid produced agonistic zebra stripes or startle-mantle-dots skin patterns. Predatory bar jack fish caused flight but not zebra displays, and squid usually paled and fled quickly (66%) from snapper. The speed of approach was the best predictor for flight and display responses to snapper, …

Male Territoriality In A Social Sciurid, Cynomys Gunnisoni: What Do Patterns Of Paternity Tell Us?, J. L. Verdolin, C. N. Slobodchikoff

Veterinary Science and Medicine Collection

In many social sciurids, male territoriality confers significant mating advantages. We evaluated resident male paternity in Gunnison’s prairie dogs (Cynomys gunnisoni), a colonial ground-dwelling sciurid, where males and females cooperatively defend territories. Contrary to findings reported for other social sciurids, our results show that territorial resident males do not gain significant reproductive advantages. Resident males sired the majority of offspring from their respective territories only 10.5% of the time. A single non-resident male sired equal or greater number of offspring than any single resident male 71.2% of the time. While adult males were more likely to sire a greater number …

Behavior Of A Solitary Sociable Female Bottlenose Dolphin (Tursiops Truncatus) Off The Coast Of Kent, Southeast England, Sonja Eisfeld, Mark P. Simmonds, Laura R. Stansfield

Ethology Collection

This article provides a report of the behavior of a solitary sociable dolphin studied on the southeast coast of England in 2007. This is the first study of its kind in which behavior of such a nonhuman animal was systematically studied. By the time of this study, this young female was highly interactive with people in the water. People accompanied the dolphin for 18.4% of the 100 hr of observation, and their presence changed her behavior. The study recorded 39 different behaviors; feeding and resting behaviors declined in frequency in the presence of people. In addition, the dolphin exhibited behavior …

Octopus Insularis (Octopodidae), Evidences Of A Specialized Predator And A Time-Minimizing Hunter, Tatiana S. Leite, Manuel Haimovici, Jennifer A. Mather

Sentience Collection

Shallow-water octopuses have been reported as major predators of motile species in benthonic marine communities, capturing their prey by different foraging techniques. This study assessed for the first time the feeding ecology, foraging behavior, and defensive strategy during foraging, including the use of body patterns, to construct a general octopus foraging strategy in a shallow water-reef system. Octopus insularis was studied in situ using visual observations and video recordings. The diet included at least 55 species of crustaceans (70%), bivalves (17.5%), and gastropods (12.5%); however, only four species accounted for half of the occurrences: the small crabs Pitho sp. (26.8%) …

Effects Of Selection For Cooperation And Attention In Dogs, Márta Gácsi, Paul Mcgreevy, Edina Kara, Ádám Miklósi

Cooperative Behavior Collection

Background: It has been suggested that the functional similarities in the socio-cognitive behaviour of dogs and humans emerged as a consequence of comparable environmental selection pressures. Here we use a novel approach to account for the facilitating effect of domestication in dogs and reveal that selection for two factors under genetic influence (visual cooperation and focused attention) may have led independently to increased comprehension of human communicational cues.

Method: In Study 1, we observed the performance of three groups of dogs in utilizing the human pointing gesture in a two-way object choice test. We compared breeds selected to work while …

Loss Of Shoaling Preference For Familiar Individuals In Captive-Reared Crimson Spotted Rainbowfish Melanotaenia Duboulayi, Erin Kydd, Culum Brown

Sentience Collection

Captive-reared rainbowfish Melanotonia duboulayi showed no preference for familiar individuals in an experiment examining shoaling preferences. Fortnightly re-examination of the shoaling preferences of the captive-reared population showed that the lack of preference for familiar individuals did not alter over an 8 week period. The same experiment performed on laboratory-reared offspring raised in isolated groups for 8 months since hatching also showed no preference for shoals consisting of familiar individuals. In contrast, trials performed on a wild population of M. duboulayi found a strong preference for familiar shoalmates, a result that is consistent with previous studies. The lack of shoaling preferences …

Adult-Young Ratio, A Major Factor Regulating Social Behaviour Of Young: A Horse Study, Alice De Boyer Des Roches, Martine Hausberger

Social Behavior Collection

Background: Adults play an important role in regulating the social behaviour of young individuals. However, a few pioneer studies suggest that, more than the mere presence of adults, their proportions in social groups affect the social development of young. Here, we hypothesized that aggression rates and social cohesion were correlated to adult-young ratios. Our biological model was naturally-formed groups of Przewalski horses, Equus f. przewalskii, varying in composition.

Methodology/Principal Findings: We investigated the social interactions and spatial relationships of 12 one- and two-yearold Przewalski horses belonging to five families with adult-young ratios (AYR) ranging from 0.67 to 1.33. We found …

Quantitative And Qualitative Assessment Of The Response Of Foals To The Presence Of An Unfamiliar Human, Michela Minero, Maria Vittoria Tosi, Elisabetta Canali, Françoise Wemelsfelder

Sentience Collection

This work aimed to apply a combined qualitative and quantitative approach to the interpretation of an on-farm behaviour test for horses, and to examine whether 1 month of handling would affect the response of yearlings to an unfamiliar stationary human in their home environment. Throughout a 1-month period, 14 Thoroughbred Yearlings (16 ± 0.22 months old) that had formerly experienced minimal contact with humans, were handled daily for about 45 min. The yearlings were tested twice, just before and just after the handling period. The behaviour of the horses during the tests was both video-recorded and directly recorded by the …

Distress Or Suffering: What Should Be Measured To Determine Animal Well-Being?, Ian J. H. Duncan

Sentience Collection

It is generally accepted that all the vertebrates and some of the invertebrates (those with large neural ganglia such as the cephalopods) are capable of subjective experiences. Amongst those experiences are the subjective, affective states, sometimes called 'feelings' or 'emotions'. The strong negative feelings are often lumped together as 'suffering' and the positive feelings as 'pleasure'. I have argued for many years that animal welfare/well-being is completely dependent on what the animal feels (Duncan, 1993, 1996, 2002). An animal's well-being is decreased by experiencing suffering and increased by experiencing pleasure. It's as simple as that.

Distress In Animals: Its Recognition And A Hypothesis For Its Assessment, David B. Morton

Sentience Collection

This essay deals with the recognition of non-painful emotional experiences in animals, how they relate to animal wellbeing and animal welfare, and how they can be assessed, monitored and mitigated. While it is written often from a mammalian perspective, the general principles will apply to all animals that are sentient.

Welfare Assessment: Correlations And Integration Between A Qualitative Behavioural Assessment And A Clinical/Health Protocol Applied In Veal Calves Farms, Marta Brscic, Françoise Wemelsfelder, Elena Tessitore, Flaviana Gottardo, Giulio Cozzi, Cornelis G. Van Reenen

Agribusiness Collection

This study is aimed at finding correlations and possible integration among Qualitative Behavioural assessment (QBA) and a specific protocol of clinical/health evaluation. Both welfare assessment methods were based on direct animal observation and were applied in 24 Italian veal calves farms at 3 weeks (wks) of rearing. Principal component analysis (PCA) summarized 20 QBA descriptors on two main components (PC1 and PC2) with eigenvalues above 4 and explaining 29.6 and 20.3% of the variation respectively. PCA on residuals obtained after correcting for housing condition yielded highly similar results, indicating that the rearing environment of the calves was not an important …

Resources, Not Kinship, Determine Social Patterning In The Territorial Gunnison’S Prairie Dog (Cynomys Gunnisoni), J. L. Verdolin, C. N. Slobodchikoff

Sentience Collection

In this study, we describe patterns of relatedness in Gunnison’s prairie dog (Cynomys gunnisoni) social groups. Kin selection is often cited as a mechanism for the evolution and maintenance of social groups, and Gunnison’s prairie dog females are occasionally described as being strongly philopatric. Overall, randomization tests revealed that females within territorial groups were not more closely related to each other than expected at random. A similar pattern was found among males and between males and females, indicating that there was no sex-biased dispersal occurring in these populations. Ecological variables measured in this study, such as food abundance and food …

When To Be A Dear Enemy: Flexible Acoustic Relationships Of Neighbouring Skylarks, Alauda Arvensis, Elodie Briefer, Fanny Rybak, Thierry Aubin

Ethology Collection

Numerous territorial species are less aggressive towards neighbours than strangers. This tolerance towards neighbouring conspecifics, termed the ‘dear enemy’ effect, seems to be a flexible feature of the relationship between neighbours, and has been shown to disappear in some species after experimental or natural modifications of the context. However, the maintenance over time of this singular relationship has been poorly studied. In this study, we followed the change of dear enemy relationships during the breeding season in a territorial songbird with a complex song, the skylark. We examined in the field the response of territory owners to playbacks of neighbour …

A Note On The Effectiveness Of Behavioural Rehabilitation For Reducing Inter-Dog Aggression In Shelter Dogs, Jane S. Orihel, David Fraser

Interactive Behavior Collection

The effectiveness of a rehabilitation program for reducing inter-dog aggression was evaluated at the municipal animal shelter. Sixteen dogs (of 60 examined) met the study criteria of medium inter-dog aggression as determined by an inter-dog aggression test. These dogs received a 10-day treatment of daily rehabilitation for 30 min (rehabilitation group, n = 9) or daily release into an outdoor enclosure for 30 min (control group, n = 7). Rehabilitation consisted of desensitising and counter-conditioning dogs to the approach of other ‘‘stimulus’’ dogs. Most dogs in the rehabilitation group showed a decline in aggression scores when re-tested after the last …

Effects Of Gregariousness, Conspicuousness, And Novelty On Blue Jay (Cyanocitta Cristata) Learned Avoidance And Stimulus Generalization Of Unpalatable Prey, Joyce M. Dykema

Avian Cognition Papers

I examined a variety of factors hypothesized to be important in the evolution and maintenance of aposematism. Aposematism occurs when prey individuals advertise their toxic or otherwise aversive nature to potential predators via evolved conspicuous signals. I conducted three experiments in which blue jays (Cyanocitta cristata) were allowed to search a printed grayscale pixilated background for grayscale pixilated moths in an open room. I manipulated moth appearance and food reward, and recorded jay predation on the varying moth stimuli. In my first experiment, I repeated Alatalo & Mappes’ (1996) study examining the effects of prey gregariousness, or grouping, …

The Qualitative Assessment Of Responsiveness To Environmental Challenge In Horses And Ponies, Fabio Napolitano, Giuseppe De Rosa, Ada Braghieri, Fernando Grasso, Aldo Bordi, Françoise Wemelsfelder

Sentience Collection

The responsiveness of 10 horses and 10 ponies to environmental challenge (represented by an open field test) was assessed using a qualitative approach based on free choice profiling methodology (FCP), which gives observers complete freedom to choose their own descriptive terms. Data were analysed with generalised Procrustes analysis (GPA), a multivariate statistical technique associated with FCP. A cross-validation of the outcomes of this approach to data recorded through quantitative behaviour analysis, and through a questionnaire given to the animals’ owner/riding instructor, was also performed using principal component analysis (PCA). Twelve undergraduate students generated their own descriptive vocabularies, by watching 20 …

Parent-Offspring Resource Allocation In Domestic Pigs, Anna Drake, David Fraser, Daniel M. Weary

Feeding Behavior Collection

Behavioural research on domestic pigs has included parent-offspring conflict, sibling competition, and the use of signals which influence resource allocation. In this paper, we review key sow-piglet behavioural studies and discuss their relevance to resource allocation theory. Sibling competition begins in the uterus and continues after birth, as piglets compete directly for access to the sow's teats. This competition is made more severe by a unique dentition, which newborn piglets use to lacerate the faces of siblings during teat disputes. Competition often leads to the death of some littermates, especially those of low birth weight. Piglets also compete indirectly for …

Physiological Constraints On Contest Behaviour, Mark Briffa, Lynne U. Sneddon

Sentience Collection

1. Contests may involve injurious fighting, other types of direct physical aggression and communication. They occur over ownership access to mates and other resources that may increase an individual’s attractiveness and its chance of survival. Traits that enhance resource holding potential may be the result of sexual selection, natural selection or a combination of both.
2. Agonistic behaviours are expected to be demanding to perform and costly in terms of changes in physiological state. The ability to meet the physiological costs may determine contest outcomes and constrain the intensity of agonistic activities.
3. The energetic costs have been investigated in a broad range …