Predator Recognition In Rainbowfish, Melanotaenia Duboulayi, Embryos,
2013
Macquarie University
Predator Recognition In Rainbowfish, Melanotaenia Duboulayi, Embryos, Lois J. Oulton, Vivian Haviland, Culum Brown
Aquaculture Collection
Exposure to olfactory cues during embryonic development can have long term impacts on birds and amphibians behaviour. Despite the vast literature on predator recognition and responses in fishes, few researchers have determined how fish embryos respond to predator cues. Here we exposed four-day-old rainbowfish (Melanotaenia duboulayi) embryos to cues emanating from a novel predator, a native predator and injured conspecifics. Their response was assessed by monitoring heart rate and hatch time. Results showed that embryos have an innate capacity to differentiate between cues as illustrated by faster heart rates relative to controls. The greatest increase in heart rate occurred in …
Strength, But Not Direction, Of Handedness Is Related To Height,
2013
Montclair State University
Strength, But Not Direction, Of Handedness Is Related To Height, Ruth E. Propper, Tad T. Brunyé, Karly Frank, Sean E. Mcgraw
Department of Psychology Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works
Left-handers are reputed to be shorter than right-handers. However, previous research has confounded handedness direction (left- versus right-handedness) with handedness strength (consistency with which one hand is chosen across a variety of tasks; consistent- versus inconsistent-handedness). Here, we support a relationship between handedness strength, but not direction, and stature, with increasing inconsistent-handedness associated with increasing self-reported height.
Goats Favour Personal Over Social Information In An Experimental Foraging Task,
2013
Queen Mary University of London
Goats Favour Personal Over Social Information In An Experimental Foraging Task, Luigi Baciadonna, Alan G. Mcelligott, Elodie F. Briefer
Ethology Collection
Animals can use their environments more efficiently by selecting particular sources of information (personal or social), according to specific situations. Group-living animals may benefit from gaining information based on the behaviour of other individuals. Indeed, social information is assumed to be faster and less costly to use than personal information, thus increasing foraging efficiency. However, when food sources change seasonally or are randomly distributed, individual information may become more reliable than social information. The aim of this study was to test the use of conflicting personal versus social information in goats (Capra hircus), in a foraging task.We found that goats …
A Note On Pigs’ Knowledge Of Hidden Objects,
2013
Martin Luther University
A Note On Pigs’ Knowledge Of Hidden Objects, Christian Nawroth, Mirjam Ebersbach, Eberhard Von Borell
Memory Collection
Object permanence is the notion that objects continue to exist even when they are out of observer’s sight. This ability is adaptive for free ranging animals who have to cope with a dangerous and highly changeable environment and allows them to be aware of predators sneaking in their proximity or to keep track of conspecifics or food sources, even when out of sight. Farm animals might also benefit from object permanence because the ability to follow the trajectory of hidden food or objects may lead to a higher predictability of subjects’ environment, which in turn might affect the level of …
Examining The Link Between Personality And Laterality In A Feral Guppy Poecilia Reticulata Population,
2013
Macquarie University
Examining The Link Between Personality And Laterality In A Feral Guppy Poecilia Reticulata Population, Eleanor Irving, Culum Brown
Sentience Collection
This study examined whether variation in the strength and direction of lateralization in a detour task was linked with variation in three common personality measurements: boldness, activity and sociability, in a population of wild guppies Poecilia reticulata. Additionally, the aim was to determine whether any consistent correlations between these behavioural traits, known as behavioural syndromes, were present in the study population. The results revealed that all three personality traits were highly repeatable over time in both sexes. Evidence of a complex syndrome in the form of a correlation between boldness, sociability and activity was found; however, this relationship was only …
Rescued Goats At A Sanctuary Display Positive Mood After Former Neglect,
2013
Queen Mary University of London
Rescued Goats At A Sanctuary Display Positive Mood After Former Neglect, Elodie F. Briefer, Alan G. Mcelligott
Sentience Collection
Moods influence cognitive processes in that people in positive moods expect more positive events to occur and less negative ones (“optimistic bias”), whereas the opposite happens for people in negative moods (“pessimistic bias”). The evidence for an effect of mood on cognitive bias is also increasing in animals, suggesting that measures of optimism and pessimism could provide useful indicators of animal welfare. For obvious ethical reasons, serious poor treatments cannot be easily replicated in large mammals in order to study their long-term effects on moods. In this study, we tested the long-term effects (>2 years) of prior poor welfare …
Environmental Change Alters Personality In The Rainbow Trout, Oncorhynchus Mykiss,
2013
University of Liverpool
Environmental Change Alters Personality In The Rainbow Trout, Oncorhynchus Mykiss, Ashley J. Frost, Jack S. Thomson, Charlotte Smith, Hannah C. Burton, Ben Davis, Phillip C. Watts, Lynne U. Sneddon
Sentience Collection
Boldness is a personality trait that defines how individuals respond to risky situations and has clear fitness consequences. Since the adaptive value of boldness is context dependent, the benefit of a distinct personality is less clear when the environment is unpredictable. An ability to modulate behaviour can be beneficial, although as behavioural plasticity itself may be costly this depends on the levels of environmental stability. Both boldness and its plasticity are linked with physiological stress coping mechanisms, whereby animals with reduced glucocorticoid responses to stress are bolder and less flexible in behaviour. We investigated the behavioural changes made by bold …
Site Fidelity And Homing Behaviour In Intertidal Fishes,
2013
Macquarie University
Site Fidelity And Homing Behaviour In Intertidal Fishes, Gemma E. White, Culum Brown
Sentience Collection
The theory of ecological cognition poses that the brains and behaviour of animals are shaped by the environmental challenges they face in their everyday lives. Site fidelity and homing ability was tested for five species of intertidal rock pool fish by tagging and displacing them to new rock pools at various distances from their ‘home’ rock pools. Three of the species were rock pool specialists whilst the remaining two spend a small proportion of their life in rock pools during early ontogeny. The three specialists showed strong site fidelity with >50 % of individuals found in the same pool 42 …
Are Juvenile Domestic Pigs (Sus Scrofa Domestica) Sensitive To The Attentive States Of Humans? The Impact Of Impulsivity On Choice Behaviour,
2013
Martin Luther Universitat Halle-Wittenberg
Are Juvenile Domestic Pigs (Sus Scrofa Domestica) Sensitive To The Attentive States Of Humans? The Impact Of Impulsivity On Choice Behaviour, Christian Nawroth, Mirjam Ebersbach, Eberhard Von Borell
Attention Collection
Previous studies have shown that apes, dogs and horses seem to be able to attribute attentive states to humans. Subjects chose successfully between two persons: one who was able to see the animal and one who was not. Using a similar paradigm, we tested a species that does not rely strongly on visual cues, the domestic pig (Sus scrofa domestica). Subjects could choose between two unfamiliar persons, with only one showing attention, in three different conditions (body, head away, body turned - head front). Subjects (n = 16) only showed a tendency towards …
Conceptualising The Impact Of Arousal And Affective State On Operant Conditioning,
2013
University of Sydney
Conceptualising The Impact Of Arousal And Affective State On Operant Conditioning, Melissa J. Starling, Nicholas Branson, Denis Cody, Paul D. Mcgreevy
Animal Training and Obedience Collection
Animal training relies heavily on an understanding of species-specific behaviour as it integrates with operant conditioning principles. Following on from recent studies showing that affective states and arousal levels may correlate with behavioural outcomes, we explore the contribution of both affective state and arousal in behavioural responses to operant conditioning. This paper provides a framework for assessing how affective state and arousal may influence the efficacy of operant training methods. It provides a series of three-dimensional conceptual graphs as exemplars to describing putative influences of both affective state and arousal on the likelihood of dogs and horses performing commonly desired …
Fallow Deer Polyandry Is Related To Fertilization Insurance,
2013
Queen Mary University of London
Fallow Deer Polyandry Is Related To Fertilization Insurance, Elodie F. Briefer, Mary E. Farrell, Thomas J. Hayden, Alan G. Mcelligott
Ethology Collection
Polyandry is widespread, but its adaptive significance is not fully understood. The hypotheses used to explain its persistence have rarely been tested in the wild and particularly for large, long-lived mammals. We investigated polyandry in fallow deer, using female mating and reproduction data gathered over 10 years. Females of this species produce a single offspring (monotocous) and can live to 23 years old. Overall, polyandry was evident in 12 % of females and the long-term, consistent proportion of polyandrous females observed, suggests that monandry and polyandry represent alternative mating strategies. Females were more likely to be polyandrous when their first …
Lateralized Difference In Tympanic Membrane Temperature: Emotion And Hemispheric Activity,
2013
Montclair State University
Lateralized Difference In Tympanic Membrane Temperature: Emotion And Hemispheric Activity, Ruth E. Propper, Tad T. Brunyé
Department of Psychology Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works
We review literature examining relationships between tympanic membrane temperature (TMT), affective/motivational orientation, and hemispheric activity. Lateralized differences in TMT might enable real-time monitoring of hemispheric activity in real-world conditions, and could serve as a corroborating marker of mental illnesses associated with specific affective dysregulation. We support the proposal that TMT holds potential for broadly indexing lateralized brain physiology during tasks demanding the processing and representation of emotional and/or motivational states, and for predicting trait-related affective/motivational orientations. The precise nature of the relationship between TMT and brain physiology, however, remains elusive. Indeed the limited extant research has sampled different participant populations …
A Study Of Sharing And Reciprocity In Grey Parrots (Psittacus Erithacus),
2013
Paris West University Nanterre La Défense
A Study Of Sharing And Reciprocity In Grey Parrots (Psittacus Erithacus), Franck Péron, Maria John, Stephanie Sapowicz, Dalila Bovet, Irene M. Pepperberg
Sentience Collection
Demonstrations of nonhuman ability to share resources and reciprocate such sharing seem contingent upon the experimental paradigm used (note Horner et al. in PNAS 108:13847–13851, 2011). Here, such behaviour in Grey parrots (Psittacus erithacus) was tested in two experiments, both designed to avoid possible issues involving apparatus complexity, visible reward options, and physical competition and/or limited communication between subjects. In both studies, two birds, working in dyads, took turns in choosing one of four different coloured cups with differing outcomes: empty (null, nonrewarding), selfish (keeping reward for oneself), share (sharing a divisible reward), or giving (donating reward to other). In …
Application Of Qualitative Behavioural Assessment To Horses During An Endurance Ride,
2013
Murdoch University
Application Of Qualitative Behavioural Assessment To Horses During An Endurance Ride, Patricia A. Fleming, Cheree L. Paisley, Anne L. Barnes, Françoise Wemelsfelder
Sentience Collection
Endurance horses are considered subject to a unique set of training and competing pressures due to the long distances travelled. The health and welfare of these horses could be compromised if they have not been adequately trained or are pushed beyond their limits, and there are increasing concerns regarding the capacity of horses to cope with the exercise demands placed on them, with high elimination rates for lameness and metabolic reasons. Veterinary inspections during these rides are important for assessing physiological measures, but the inclusion of behavioural assessments is also warranted. We investigated the application of Qualitative Behavioural Assessment (QBA) …
Inter-Observer Reliability Of Qualitative Behavioural Assessments Of Sheep,
2013
University of Liverpool
Inter-Observer Reliability Of Qualitative Behavioural Assessments Of Sheep, Clare Phythian, Eleni Michalopoulou, Jennifer Duncan, Françoise Wemelsfelder
Sentience Collection
Qualitative Behaviour Assessment (QBA) is whole-animal methodology that assesses the expressive qualities of animal demeanour using descriptors such as ‘relaxed’, ‘anxious’ or ‘content’. This study aimed to examine the inter-observer reliability of 12 fixed-list QBA descriptors for sheep that had been generated in a previous Free-Choice Profiling study by experienced animal welfare inspectors, based on the same video footage used in the current study. The 12 QBA terms were scored by two different assessor groups consisting of two veterinary science students and four veterinary surgeons (Group 1), and seven farm assurance inspectors (Group 2). The two assessor groups met and …
Pattern Of Social Interactions After Group Integration: A Possibility To Keep Stallions In Group,
2013
Agroscope - Swiss National Stud Farm
Pattern Of Social Interactions After Group Integration: A Possibility To Keep Stallions In Group, Sabrina Briefer Freymond, Elodie F. Briefer, Rudolf Von Niederhäusern, Iris Bachmann
Ethology Collection
Horses are often kept in individual stables, rather than in outdoor groups, despite such housing system fulfilling many of their welfare needs, such as the access to social partners. Keeping domestic stallions in outdoor groups would mimic bachelor bands that are found in the wild. Unfortunately, the high level of aggression that unfamiliar stallions display when they first encounter each other discourages owners from keeping them in groups. However, this level of aggression is likely to be particularly important only during group integration, when the dominance hierarchy is being established, whereas relatively low aggression rates have been observed among stable …
Evolutionary Responses To Invasion: Cane Toad Sympatric Fish Show Enhanced Avoidance Learning,
2013
Macquarie University
Evolutionary Responses To Invasion: Cane Toad Sympatric Fish Show Enhanced Avoidance Learning, Georgina Caller, Culum Brown
Aquaculture Collection
The introduced cane toad (Bufo marinus) poses a major threat to biodiversity due to its lifelong toxicity. Several terrestrial native Australian vertebrates are adapting to the cane toad’s presence and lab trials have demonstrated that repeated exposure to B. marinus can result in learnt avoidance behaviour. Here we investigated whether aversion learning is occurring in aquatic ecosystems by comparing cane toad naı¨ve and sympatric populations of crimson spotted rainbow fish (Melanotaenia duboulayi). The first experiment indicated that fish from the sympatric population had pre-existing aversion to attacking cane toad tadpoles but also showed reduced attacks on native tadpoles. The second …
The Applicability Of The Self-Fulfillment Account Of Welfare To Nonhuman Animals, Babies, And Mentally Disabled Humans,
2013
University of the Saarland
The Applicability Of The Self-Fulfillment Account Of Welfare To Nonhuman Animals, Babies, And Mentally Disabled Humans, Tatjana Visak, Jonathan Balcombe
Sentience Collection
In this paper we will argue that generality is a virtue of Haybron’s account of welfare. Indeed, reflecting on the applicability of his theory to nonhuman animals will give us a better understanding of its applicability to humans. We will first focus on self-fulfillment and suggest an interpretation of Haybron’s account according to which the self-fulfillment of an individual consists in the fulfillment of the aspects of the self that are applicable to that particular individual. This makes Haybron’s account of welfare applicable to all sentient beings. Then we will focus on sub-personal nature-fulfillment and argue that the same interpretation …
Great Ape Mindreading: What’S At Stake?,
2013
York University
Great Ape Mindreading: What’S At Stake?, Kristin Andrews
Ethology Collection
Humans and other great apes are similar in so many ways. We share an extended immaturity and intense infant-caregiver relationships, group living situations, cultural transmission of technology, and many emotions and cognitive capacities. Yet the communities of nonhuman apes are also very different from human communities. Humans build lasting tools, and store them to use later. We build permanent sleeping and living structures. We cook our food. We have courts of law and prisons and ethics books. There are vast technological differences between humans and nonhuman great apes. What is it that accounts for such a difference? On one account, …
Social Learning In Juvenile Lemon Sharks, Negaprion Brevirostris,
2013
University of Leeds
Social Learning In Juvenile Lemon Sharks, Negaprion Brevirostris, Tristan L. Guttridge, Sander Van Dijk, Eize Stamhuis, Jens Krause, Samuel Gruber, Culum Brown
Sentience Collection
Social learning is taxonomically widespread and can provide distinct behavioural advantages, such as in finding food or avoiding predators more efficiently. Although extensively studied in bony fishes, no such empirical evidence exists for cartilaginous fishes. Our aim in this study was to experimentally investigate the social learning capabilities of juvenile lemon sharks, Negaprion brevirostris. We designed a novel food task, where sharks were required to enter a start zone and subsequently make physical contact with a target in order to receive a food reward. Naive sharks were then able to interact with and observe (a) pre-trained sharks, that is, ‘demonstrators’, …
