Spontaneous Appearance And Transmission Of Polydactyly In Dexter Cattle,
2020
Tennessee State University
Spontaneous Appearance And Transmission Of Polydactyly In Dexter Cattle, Richard Browning Jr., Emily G. Hayes, Andrea S. Lear
Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Faculty Research
A 3-yr-old Dexter cow and her yearling Dexter heifer calf exhibited polydactyly. Neither animal was linebred within 5 generations. This cow-calf pair represented the first reported occurrence of polydactyly in Dexter cattle in the US or abroad. Based upon external examination, the cow was classified as having a spontaneous unilateral case of polydactyly with an extra digit along the medial digit of the right front limb and the heifer was classified as having bilateral polydactyly because both front limbs exhibited an extra digit along the medial digit. Radiographic examination confirmed bilateral status of the heifer and revealed bilateral status of …
Picture Perfect Pups: How Do Attributes Of Photographs Of Dogs In Online Rescue Profiles Affect Adoption Speed?,
2020
University of Sydney
Picture Perfect Pups: How Do Attributes Of Photographs Of Dogs In Online Rescue Profiles Affect Adoption Speed?, Mizuho Nakamura, Navneet Dhand, Bethany J. Wilson, Melissa J. Starling, Paul D. Mcgreevy
Rescue and Surrender of Companion Animals Collection
To increase the public’s awareness of and exposure to animals needing homes, PetRescue, Australia’s largest online directory of animals in need of adoption, lists all currently available animals from rescue and welfare shelters nationwide. The current study examined the photographs in the PetRescue online profiles of the three most common breeds within these data, namely, Staffordshire bull terriers (n = 3988), Labrador retrievers (n = 2246), and Jack Russell terriers (n = 2088), to identify the inferred preferences of potential adopters. By investigating the attributes of these photographs, we were able to identify visual risk factors associated with protracted lengths …
Musical Dogs: A Review Of The Influence Of Auditory Enrichment On Canine Health And Behavior,
2020
University of Sydney
Musical Dogs: A Review Of The Influence Of Auditory Enrichment On Canine Health And Behavior, Abigail Lindig, Paul Mcgreevy, Angela Crean
Stress Collection
Music therapy yields many positive health outcomes in humans, but the effects of music on the health and welfare of nonhuman animals vary greatly with the type of music played, the ethology of the species, and the personality and learning history of individual animals. One context in which music therapy may be used to enhance animal welfare is to alleviate stress in domestic environments. Here, we review studies of the effects of music exposure on dogs as a case study for the implementation of music therapy in veterinary medicine. Nine reports of experimental testing for the therapeutic effects of music …
Exploring The Use Of A Qualitative Behavioural Assessment Approach To Assess Emotional State Of Calves In Rodeos,
2020
University of Sydney
Exploring The Use Of A Qualitative Behavioural Assessment Approach To Assess Emotional State Of Calves In Rodeos, Sally Rizzuto, Di Evans, Bethany Wilson, Paul Mcgreevy
Rodeo Competitions Collection
There are longstanding disagreements between the rodeo industry stakeholders and animal welfare advocates about the wellbeing of the animals used in events. The current study aims to determine whether qualitative behavioural assessment (QBA) is effective in identifying the emotional state of calves in so-called calf-roping events. Still images of calves captured from videos of calf-roping were shown to two groups: practitioners (n = 7) and students (n = 16). For each image, they scored (on a scale of 1–10) 12 descriptive terms—e.g., stressed, energetic, confused, frightened—based on how strongly they thought the animal was experiencing that emotion. Scores were analysed …
Does Clicker Training Lead To Faster Acquisition Of Behavior For Dog Owners?,
2020
CUNY Hunter College
Does Clicker Training Lead To Faster Acquisition Of Behavior For Dog Owners?, Brian J. Burton
Theses and Dissertations
Clicker training is a method of dog training that has increased in popularity over the past 20 years (Feng et al., 2017). However, while there has been an increased use of clicker training, studies examining the claims that clicker training leads to faster acquisition of new behavior (Skinner, 1951; Pryor, 1999) has only been investigated in a handful of studies with domesticated animals. In addition, all known published studies comparing a clicker-plus-food group to a food-only group have found no significant difference in acquisition of a novel behavior (Dorey & Cox, 2018; Feng et al. 2017), which suggests that a …
Naturalness And The Legitimacy Of Thoroughbred Racing: A Photo-Elicitation Study With Industry And Animal Advocacy Informants,
2020
WellBeing International
Naturalness And The Legitimacy Of Thoroughbred Racing: A Photo-Elicitation Study With Industry And Animal Advocacy Informants, Iris Bergmann
Horse racing and competitions
The idea of what is natural has particular relevance in the thoroughbred racing and breeding discourse. It guides breeding regulations; influences how the thoroughbreds’ behaviour is perceived and has implications for husbandry, handling, training and racing practices. This study investigates how key industry and animal advocacy informants based in the US, Australia and the UK conceptualise naturalness within the context of common racing practices that potentially impact the horses’ welfare. The informants were interviewed using semi-structured interviewing and photo-elicitation. Four common images of thoroughbreds on race day were presented to elicit the informants’ responses. Differences emerged between how the two …
Social Learning In Solitary Juvenile Sharks,
2020
Macquarie University
Social Learning In Solitary Juvenile Sharks, Catarina Vila Pouca, Dennis Heinrich, Charlie Huveneers, Culum Brown
Social Behavior Collection
Social learning can be a shortcut for acquiring locally adaptive information. Animals that live in social groups have better access to social information, but gregarious and nonsocial species are also frequently exposed to social cues. Thus, social learning might simply reflect an animal's general ability to learn rather than an adaptation to social living. Here, we investigated social learning and the effect of frequency of social exposure in nonsocial, juvenile Port Jackson sharks, Heterodontus portusjacksoni. We compared (1) Individual Learners, (2) Sham-Observers, paired with a naïve shark, and (3) Observers, paired with a trained demonstrator, in a novel foraging task. …
Novel Mechanism For Turning Performance In Bluefin Tuna,
2020
West Chester University
Novel Mechanism For Turning Performance In Bluefin Tuna, Abigail Downs
West Chester University Master’s Theses
Scombrid fishes can attain exceptional swimming speeds due to their thunniform, lift-based propulsion, large muscle mass, and fusiform body shape. A rigid body restricts maneuverability for aquatic organisms. To test if turning maneuvers by the rigid-bodied Pacific bluefin tuna (Thunnus orientalis) are constrained, captive animals were video recorded from above as the animals routinely swam around a large circular tank or during feeding bouts. The turning performance was classified into three different types of turns: 1) glide turn, where the tuna uses the caudal fin as a rudder to passively move through the turn, 2) powered turn, where …
Intraspecific Aggression Towards Common Bottlenose Dolphin Calves, Northern Gulf Of Mexico,
2020
Independent Researcher
Intraspecific Aggression Towards Common Bottlenose Dolphin Calves, Northern Gulf Of Mexico, Errol Ronje, Sarah Piwetz, Heidi Whitehead, Keith D. Mullin
Gulf and Caribbean Research
Infanticide has been widely documented throughout the animal kingdom, and has generally been viewed as an evolved, or adaptive behavior for the perpetrators. Infanticide motivated by increased sexual access to females with calves, or the elimination of potential genetic competition in the form of calf-directed aggression or infanticide, has been proposed for delphinids including killer whales, Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins, Guiana dolphins, and bottlenose dolphins. However, reports of intraspecific aggression towards bottlenose dolphin calves are relatively infrequent, and accounts of confirmed infanticide are rarer still. Reporting instances of intraspecific calf-directed aggression aids researchers to better understand the socio-behavioral context of these …
Sympathy For Cecil: Gender, Trophy Hunting, And The Western Environmental Imaginary,
2020
Illinois State University
Sympathy For Cecil: Gender, Trophy Hunting, And The Western Environmental Imaginary, Eric S. Godoy
Faculty Publications - Philosophy
This article draws from political ecology and ecofeminism to examine sympathy, expressed by record-breaking donations from North Americans, for the death of Cecil the Lion. The overlapping normative critique offered by these two perspectives together demonstrates how sympathy is disclosive of power relations. Sympathy reveals, relies upon, and reinforces different forms of gender, racial, and neocolonial domination; especially when western sympathy remains ignorant of the power relations, including their politics and histories, that shape attitudes toward non-human animals and grant them status as members of the (western) moral community.
Safety Concepts For Every Ride: A Statistical Ensemble Simulation To Mitigate Rotational Falls In Eventing Cross Country,
2020
University of Kentucky
Safety Concepts For Every Ride: A Statistical Ensemble Simulation To Mitigate Rotational Falls In Eventing Cross Country, Shannon Wood
Theses and Dissertations--Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Rotational falls are the leading cause of death and serious injury in the equestrian sport of eventing. Previous studies to develop safety devices used physical models representing one or at most several physical situations leading to different designs and no common understanding. In this thesis, a statistical ensemble model is developed and applied to generate and evaluate 10,000 different situations that might potentially lead to rotational falls. For accurate statistical representation of the horse and rider inertia distributions, measurements of over 400 training or competing horses and riders were recorded and incorporated. Video was recorded of 218 total competitors approaching …
Diet Of A Recently Reintroduced River Otter (Lontra Canadensis) Population In Taos County, New Mexico,
2020
University of Kentucky
Diet Of A Recently Reintroduced River Otter (Lontra Canadensis) Population In Taos County, New Mexico, Gabriela Alexandra Wolf-Gonzalez
Theses and Dissertations--Forestry and Natural Resources
North American river otters (Lontra canadensis), native to every U.S. state and Canada, experienced extensive population decreases and range reduction until the mid-20th century as a result of overexploitation and habitat loss during European colonization. The last known river otter in New Mexico was killed on the Gila River in 1953, although unverified reports continued thru 2008. After a nearly 60-year absence from New Mexico, 33 adult river otters were reintroduced to the Rio Pueblo de Taos in the northern part of the state between 2008-2010; however, they were not subsequently monitored or studied. I characterized diet of …
Animal Welfare Science And “A Life Worth Living” For Wild And Captive Elephants,
2020
Monmouth University
Animal Welfare Science And “A Life Worth Living” For Wild And Captive Elephants, Lindsay R. Mehrkam, Otto Fad
Animal Sentience
Baker & Winkler (2020) propose restoring elephants to a state of “wildness” and a “life worth living” by reintroducing captive elephants to the hands of indigenous mahout cultures and practices. To evaluate this proposal, we must define operationally a number of critical concepts in a species-centric, individualistic way, avoiding human-centric opinions and romanticized notions of the wild. Animal welfare science can help create greater synergy between ex-situ zoological institutions and in-situ elephant conservation, and welfare efforts that respect and value the cultures of both species.
Mommy Issues: Do Differential Rearing Histories Affect The Social Behavior Of Captive Chacma Baboons (Papio Ursinus),
2020
Central Washington University
Mommy Issues: Do Differential Rearing Histories Affect The Social Behavior Of Captive Chacma Baboons (Papio Ursinus), Madeleine Spencer
All Master's Theses
I observed the behavior of 17 chacma baboons (Papio ursinus) in order to understand the relationship between rearing history, dominance hierarchy, and social behavior. The Centre for Animal Rehabilitation and Education (C.A.R.E.) has utilized hand-rearing in the past and is currently using a surrogate-rearing method. Hand-rearing involves one or more primary caregivers attending to an infant for 6 – 12 months. Surrogate-rearing involves one individual being the primary surrogate for the first 3 months of the infant’s life prior to bonding her or him to an adult female baboon before integrating both back into the surrogate’s troop. Mother-reared …
Of Elephants And Men,
2020
The Hague University of Applied Sciences
Of Elephants And Men, Helen Kopnina
Animal Sentience
Baker & Winkler’s target article is well-researched and thought-provoking, but I do have four points of contention: (1) The proposal to entrust elephants to traditional mahout culture has restricted elephants’ freedom of movement and reproduction and (ab)used them. (2) The concept of “indigenous” simultaneously reifies and denigrates the “noble savages”, privileging only human indigenous groups, ignoring nonhuman indigenes. (3) Most lifestyles have been globalized under consumer-economic and anthropocentric worldviews. (4) The fact that people (including mahouts) are part of nature does not mean they are benevolent, any more than cities, monocultures, or roads are.
Minds Without Spines: Evolutionarily Inclusive Animal Ethics,
2020
Rochester Institute of Technology
Minds Without Spines: Evolutionarily Inclusive Animal Ethics, Irina Mikhalevich, Russell Powell
Animal Sentience
Invertebrate animals are frequently lumped into a single category and denied welfare protections despite their considerable cognitive, behavioral, and evolutionary diversity. Some ethical and policy inroads have been made for cephalopod molluscs and crustaceans, but the vast majority of arthropods, including the insects, remain excluded from moral consideration. We argue that this exclusion is unwarranted given the existing evidence. Anachronistic readings of evolution, which view invertebrates as lower in the scala naturae, continue to influence public policy and common morality. The assumption that small brains are unlikely to support cognition or sentience likewise persists, despite growing evidence that arthropods …
Neuroanatomy Of The Blackspotted Rockskipper, Entomacrodus Striatus,
2020
The University of Akron
Neuroanatomy Of The Blackspotted Rockskipper, Entomacrodus Striatus, Pooja Dayal
Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects
Here I characterized the central neuroanatomy of the Blackspotted Rockskipper, Entomacrodus striatus, native to French Polynesia. The neuroanatomy of E. striatus has not been studied prior to this paper. I used several histology and antibody staining techniques to accomplish this, including Crystal Violet, immunohistochemistry, immunofluorescence, and Bielschowsky’s Silver Nitrate staining. This paper describes the most successful techniques used, identifies major structures in the species’ neuroanatomy, and also explains why studying E. striatus is important in the future of vertebrate research.
The Presence Of Food Likely Has No Influence On Substrate Use Of Tokay Geckos (Gekkonidae: Gekko Gecko),
2020
The University of Akron
The Presence Of Food Likely Has No Influence On Substrate Use Of Tokay Geckos (Gekkonidae: Gekko Gecko), Timothy Zatkos
Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects
Geckos and their adhesive capabilities have been thoroughly examined for the past two decades, especially in terms of adhesion and its mechanics. However, few studies have focused on how the adhesive performance of geckos influences ecologically relevant behaviors (e.g., habitat/substrate use). The limited work on the topic in the laboratory suggests that geckos spend more time on substrates in which their adhesive capabilities are superior, such as glass. In their natural habitat, however, multiple factors besides adhesive performance alone is likely to collectively impact the substrate use of geckos. The presence of food is one such factor. Here I examined …
Developing A Computer-Controlled Treat Dispenser For Canine Operant Conditioning,
2020
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Developing A Computer-Controlled Treat Dispenser For Canine Operant Conditioning, Walker Arce, Jeffrey R. Stevens
Jeffrey Stevens Publications
When performing canine operant conditioning studies, the delivery of the reward can be a limiting factor of the study. While there are a few commercially available options for automatically delivering rewards, they generally require manual input, such as using a remote control, in accordance with the experiment script. This means that human reaction times and transmission distances can cause interruptions to the flow of the experiment. The potential for development of non-supervised conditioning studies is limited by this same factor. To remedy this, we retrofitted an off-the-shelf treat dispenser with new electronics that allow it to be remotely controllable as …
The Midsession Reversal Task With Pigeons: Effects Of A Brief Delay Between Choice And Reinforcement,
2020
University of Kentucky
The Midsession Reversal Task With Pigeons: Effects Of A Brief Delay Between Choice And Reinforcement, Megan Ashley Halloran
Theses and Dissertations--Psychology
During a midsession reversal task, the session begins with a simple simultaneous discrimination in which one stimulus (S1) is correct and the alternate stimulus (S2) is incorrect (S1+/S2-). At the halfway point, the discrimination reverses and S2 becomes the correct choice (S2+/S1-). When choosing optimally, a pigeon should choose S1 until the first trial in which it is not reinforced and then shift to S2 (win-stay/lose-shift). With this task pigeons have been shown to respond suboptimally by anticipating the reversal (anticipatory errors) and continuing to choose S1 after the reversal (perseverative errors). This suboptimal behavior may result from a pigeon’s …
