|
da Cruz, A. B., Hirata, S., dos Santos, M. E., & Mendonça, R. S. (2023). Show me your best side: Lateralization of social and resting behaviors in feral horses. Behav. Process., 206, 104839.
Abstract: Growing evidence shows a variety of sensorial and motor asymmetries in social and non-social interactions in various species, indicating a lateralized processing of information by the brain. Using digital video cameras on tripods and drones, this study investigated lateralization in frequency and duration of social behavior patterns, in affiliative, agonistic, and resting contexts, in a feral population of horses (Equus ferus caballus) in Northern Portugal, consisting of 37 individuals organized in eight harem groups. Affiliative interactions (including grooming) were more often performed, and lasted longer, when recipients were positioned to the right side. In recumbent resting (animals lying down) episodes on the left side lasted longer. Our results of an affiliative behavior having a right side tendency, provide partial support to the valence-specific hypothesis of Ahern and Schwartz (1979) – left hemisphere dominance for positive affect, affiliative behaviors. Longer recumbent resting episodes on the left side may be due to synchronization. However, in both instances it is discussed how lateralization may be context dependent. Investigating the position asymmetries of social behaviors in feral equids will contribute to a better understanding of differential lateralization and hemispheric specialization from the ecological and evolutionary perspectives.
|
|
|
da Cruz, A. B., Hirata, S., dos Santos, M. E., & Mendonça, R. S. (2023). Show me your best side: Lateralization of social and resting behaviors in feral horses. Behav. Process., 206, 104839.
Abstract: Growing evidence shows a variety of sensorial and motor asymmetries in social and non-social interactions in various species, indicating a lateralized processing of information by the brain. Using digital video cameras on tripods and drones, this study investigated lateralization in frequency and duration of social behavior patterns, in affiliative, agonistic, and resting contexts, in a feral population of horses (Equus ferus caballus) in Northern Portugal, consisting of 37 individuals organized in eight harem groups. Affiliative interactions (including grooming) were more often performed, and lasted longer, when recipients were positioned to the right side. In recumbent resting (animals lying down) episodes on the left side lasted longer. Our results of an affiliative behavior having a right side tendency, provide partial support to the valence-specific hypothesis of Ahern and Schwartz (1979) – left hemisphere dominance for positive affect, affiliative behaviors. Longer recumbent resting episodes on the left side may be due to synchronization. However, in both instances it is discussed how lateralization may be context dependent. Investigating the position asymmetries of social behaviors in feral equids will contribute to a better understanding of differential lateralization and hemispheric specialization from the ecological and evolutionary perspectives.
|
|
|
Flauger, B. (2011). The introduction of horses into new social groups with special regard to their stress level. Ph.D. thesis, , .
Abstract: Horses are a highly social species living in complex social systems which should require them to memorise and generalise social experiences and distinguish between familiar and unfamiliar conspecifics. In the main part of my thesis I concentrated on the specific conflict situation of a horse being introduced into a new social group, and investigated its behaviour and stress level. Horses were either introduced (1) immediately, (2) after an observation period, or (3) together with an integration horse after an observation period. Additionally, in the second part of my thesis I arranged several experiments to elaborate additional aspects which could affect the behaviour of horses during introductions. In this study I could describe a simplified method for measuring stress through the analysis of faecal GCMs in horses. An enzyme immunoassay (EIA) for 11-oxoaetiocholanolone using 11-oxoaetiocholanolone-17-CMO: BSA (3?,11-oxo-A EIA) as antigen showed high amounts of immunoreactive substances. The new assay increases the accuracy of the test and lowers the expenses per sample; also storing of samples at room temperature after collection is less critical. This is a big advantage both in the field of wildlife management of equids and in the field of equestrian sports (chapter 1). Comparing the different introduction techniques, the introduction with an integration horse led to significantly less total interactions and lower levels of aggression than the introduction of single horses, both immediately and after several days of observing the new group. Additionally, by observing the behaviour of the horses during everyday sociality I could develop a formula describing the interrelationship between expected aggression level and enclosure size per horse. The curve takes an exponential shape. Starting from a space allowance of 300 m2 and more per horse, the amount of aggressions per hour approaches zero. For the reduction of aggression levels and injury risks in socially kept horses I recommend an enclosure size of at least 300 m2 per horse (chapter 2). I further investigated the stress level of the introduced animals. Horses which were immediately introduced did not show elevated faecal GCMs. In contrast, horses which were introduced after an observation period had slightly elevated values 2 and 3 days after the introduction. For horses introduced together with an integration horse faecal GCMs were significantly above the baseline value on the day of introduction and 1 day after it. These differences between introduction techniques indicate that the introduction event itself is not as stressful as previously assumed. Rather standing together with an integration horse and not being able to integrate immediately into the complete group elicits stress in horses (chapter 3). In the commentary of chapter 4 several studies are discussed which failed to demonstrate social learning in horses. It is argued that they did not consider important aspects which could have an influence, such as the dominance status or the social background of the horses (chapter 4). In chapter 5 a social feeding situation was investigated. The social rank as well as the position of conspecifics affected the feeding strategy of horses. Domestic horses used social cognition and strategic decision making in order to decide where to feed. When possible they tended to return to the same, continuously supplied feeding site and switched to an ?avoidance tendency? in the presence of dominant horses or when another horse was already feeding there (chapter 5). One possibility to recognize group members is through olfactory recognition. In chapter 6 it is shown that horses are able to distinguish their own from their conspecifics? faeces. In addition, they paid most attention to the faeces of those group members from which they received the highest amount of aggressive behaviour (chapter 6). Horses show cognitive abilities because they are able to use humans as local enhancement cues when searching for food, independently of their body posture or gaze consistency when the persons face them. Moreover, they seem to orientate on the attention of familiar persons more than of unfamiliar persons (chapter 7). Altogether, the results of this thesis provide further support for the view that horses show good conflict resolution strategies. They are perfectly able to deal with the conflict situation of being introduced to new group members, and the introduction event itself is not as stressful as previously assumed. It is rather suggested that standing together with an integration horse and not being able to integrate immediately into the complete group elicits stress in horses. All additional experimental set-ups could demonstrate that horses are well capable of social cognition.
|
|
|
Krueger, K., & Farmer, K. (2011). Laterality in the Horse [Lateralität beim Pferd ]. mup, 4, 160–167.
Abstract: Horses are one-sided, not only on a motor level, but they also prefer to use one eye, ear or nostril over the other under particular circumstances. Horses usually prefer using the left eye to observe novel objects and humans. This preference is more marked in emotional situations and when confronted with unknown persons. Thus the horse’s visual laterality provides a good option for assessing its mental state during training or in human-horse interactions. A strong preference for the left eye may signal that a horse cannot deal with certain training situations or is emotionally affected by a particular person.
Pferde benutzen für die Begutachtung von Objekten und Menschen bevorzugt eine bestimmte Nüster, ein Ohr oder ein Auge. So betrachten die meisten Pferde Objekte und Menschen mit dem linken Auge. Die Lateralitätsforschung erklärt diese sensorische Lateralität mit der Verarbeitung von Informationen unterschiedlicher Qualität in verschiedenen Gehirnhälften und zeigt auf, dass positive und negative emotionale Informationen sowie soziale Sachverhalte mit dem linken Auge aufgenommen und vorwiegend an die rechte Gehirnhälfte weitergegeben werden. In diesem Zusammenhang ermöglicht die visuelle Lateralität, den Gemütszustand des Pferdes im Training und im therapeutischen Fördereinsatz zu erkennen und zu berücksichtigen.
|
|
|
Proops, L., McComb, K., & Reby, D. (2008). Cross-modal individual vocal recognition in the domestic horse. In IESM 2008.
Abstract: Horses fulfill many of the criteria for a species in which it would be adaptive to be capable of individual recognition: they are highly social, form strong and long lasting bonds, their affiliations are rarely kin based, they have a fission-fusion social structure and they possess inter and intra-group dominance hierarchies.
We used a novel cross-modal, expectancy violation paradigm to provide the first systematic evidence that a non-human animal – the domestic horse- is capable of cross modal recognition. We believe this paradigm could provide an ideal way to study individual recognition across a wide range of species.
For full published details see: Proops L, McComb K, Reby D (2009) Cross-modal individual recognition in domestic horses (Equus caballus). Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 106: 947-951.
|
|
|
Robitaille, J., Brouillette, C., Lemieux, S., Perusse, L., Gaudet, D., & Vohl, M. C. (2004). Plasma concentrations of apolipoprotein B are modulated by a gene-diet interaction effect between the LFABP T94A polymorphism and dietary fat intake in French-Canadian men. Mol Genet Metabol, 82(4), 296–303.
Abstract: Hyperapobetalipoproteinemia is a common feature of the metabolic syndrome and could result from the interaction between genetic and dietary factors. The objective of this study was to verify whether dietary fat intake interacts with the T94A polymorphism of the liver fatty acid-binding protein (LFABP) gene to modulate plasma apolipoprotein (apo) B levels. Dietary fat and saturated fat intakes were obtained by a dietitian-administered food frequency questionnaire and the LFABP T94A genotype was determined by a PCR-RFLP based method in 623 French-Canadian men recruited through the Chicoutimi Lipid Clinic (279 T94/T94, 285 T94/A94, and 59 A94/A94). The LFABP T94A polymorphism was not associated with plasma apo B levels when fat intake was not taken into consideration. However, in a model including the polymorphism, fat intake expressed as a percentage of total energy intake, the interaction term and covariates, the variance in apo B concentrations was partly explained by the LFABP T94A polymorphism (5.24%, p=0.01) and by the LFABP T94A * fat interaction (6.25%, p=0.005). Results were similar when saturated fat replaced fat intake in the model (4.49%, p=0.02 for LFABP T94A and 6.43%, p=0.004 for the interaction). Moreover, in men consuming more than 30% of energy from fat, the odds ratio for having plasma apo B levels above 1.04 g/L for A94 carriers was of 0.40 (p=0.02) compared to T94/T94 homozygotes. Results were similar for carriers of the A94 allele consuming more than 10% of energy from saturated fat (OR: 0.32, p=0.005). In conclusion, T94/T94 exhibit higher apo B levels whereas carriers of the A94 allele seem to be protected against high apo B levels when consuming a high fat and saturated fat diet. These findings reinforce the importance to take into account gene-diet interactions in the prevention and management of the metabolic syndrome.
|
|
|
Leliveld, L. M. C. (2019). From Science to Practice: A Review of Laterality Research on Ungulate Livestock. Symmetry, 11(9), 1157.
Abstract: In functional laterality research, most ungulate livestock species have until recently been mainly overlooked. However, there are many scientific and practical benefits of studying laterality in ungulate livestock. As social, precocial and domestic species, they may offer insight into the mechanisms involved in the ontogeny and phylogeny of functional laterality and help to better understand the role of laterality in animal welfare. Until now, most studies on ungulate livestock have focused on motor laterality, but interest in other lateralized functions, e.g., cognition and emotions, is growing. Increasingly more studies are also focused on associations with age, sex, personality, health, stress, production and performance. Although the full potential of research on laterality in ungulate livestock is not yet exploited, findings have already shed new light on central issues in cognitive and emotional processing and laid the basis for potentially useful applications in future practice, e.g., stress reduction during human-animal interactions and improved assessments of health, production and welfare. Future research would benefit from further integration of basic laterality methodology (e.g., testing for individual preferences) and applied ethological approaches (e.g., established emotionality tests), which would not only improve our understanding of functional laterality but also benefit the assessment of animal welfare.
|
|
|
Wyss, C. (2015). Does housing in a „social box“ change faecal cortisol metabolites concentration in stallions? In Proceedings of the 3. International Equine Science Meeting.
Abstract: In order to improve the housing conditions of stallions in individual boxes by offering a possibility to have more social contact, the Swiss national stud farm tested a new box system for horses, allowing increased physical contact with the neighbouring stallion. The aim of this part of the study was to investigate whether this type of housing system (named “social box”) potentially induces a change in stress reactions in stallions compared to conventional boxes. Therefore faecal cortisol metabolite (FCM) concentration was measured as a non-invasive parameter to assess endocrine responses related to this new environment.
Four groups each consisting of eight adult Freiberger breeding stallions were included in the test design. Every stallion spent three weeks in a conventional box and in a social box respectively (cross-over design). The conventional box consisted of a separation wall with a lower opaque part and an upper part with vertical barriers (5 cm between barriers), allowing visual and olfactory contact but strongly limiting tactile contact. The separating wall of the social box consisted of two lateral sections, one part being opaque to the ceiling and the second part consisting of vertical barriers (30 cm between barriers), allowing the horse to have physical contact with its neighbour or to avoid it.
In horses, FCM concentration reflects an average level of circulating cortisol over a period of approximatively 24h. Faecal samples were collected the day following integration in social / conventional boxes, reflecting the potential stress induced by increased social interactions during the integration. In order to asses potential chronical stress, faeces samples were also collected in week one, two and three after the integration into the social / conventional box (in total: 4 samples per horse and housing system). The samples were immediately stored at -20°C until they were analysed. The samples were not analysed in the laboratory until the end of the experiment, therefore the duration of conservation in the freezer varied from 40 to 429 days.
A considerable percentage of data from groups 1 and 2 was below the detection limit (<0.8 ng/g) (Tab. 1). Thus the statistical analysis was conducted with the FCM concentration from groups 3 and 4 (n horses = 16) which contained no values below the detection limit.
Tab. 1: Details about FCM values and storage time for the 4 groups of stallions
Group Storage duration [d] Proportion of data below the detection limit (<0.8 ng/g) Mean [ng/g] Median [ng/g]
Group 1 384-429 55.6 % 2.2 0
Group 2 315-360 25.5 % 5.8 6.3
Group 3 41-79 0.0 % 8.7 8.0
Group 4 40-85 0.0 % 5.8 5.4
Despite the impressive social interactions observed between the stallions directly after being introduced into the social boxes, we did not find any differences in FCM concentration between the stallions being introduced into the conventional box and the social box on the day of integration (social box: n samples = 16, mean±SD: 6.9±4.7 ng/g; conventional box: n samples = 16, mean±SD: 9.0±11.2 ng/g; Wilcoxon signed rank test V = 70, p = 0.94).
Overall the samples taken during integration and in week one, two and three did not show evidence of changes in FCM concentration in either housing system over a longer period of time (social box: n samples = 64, mean±SD: 7.9±6.2 ng/g; conventional box: n samples = 64, mean±SD: 6.6±3.4 ng/g; Linear mixed model (LMM), p = 0.56).
Our results suggest that the possibility of having physical contact with a conspecific does not induce changes in FCM concentration in breeding stallions. The considerable percentage of values below the detection limit in groups 1 and 2 seemed to correlate with the increasing duration of storage before analysis. During the IESM Network Meeting 2015, we would like to discuss possible methodological issues and the possibilities to correctly integrate these low values in the statistical analysis.
|
|
|
Kotrschal, K., Schöberl, I., Bauer, B., Thibeaut, A. - M., & Wedl, M. (2009). Dyadic relationships and operational performance of male and female owners and their male dogs. Behav. Process., 81(3), 383–391.
Abstract: In the paper we investigate how owner personality, attitude and gender influence dog behavior, dyadic practical functionality and the level of dog salivary cortisol. In three meetings, 12 female and 10 male owners of male dogs answered questionnaires including the Neo-FFI human personality inventory. Their dyadic behavior was video-taped in a number of test situations, and saliva samples were collected. Owners who scored highly in neuroticism (Neo-FFI dimension one) viewed their dogs as social supporters and spent much time with them. Their dogs had low baseline cortisol levels, but such dyads were less successful in the operational task. Owners who scored highly in extroversion (Neo-FFI dimension two) appreciated shared activities with their dogs which had relatively high baseline cortisol values. Dogs that had female owners were less sociable-active (dog personality axis 1) than dogs that had male owners. Therefore, it appears that owner gender and personality influences dyadic interaction style, dog behavior and dyadic practical functionality.
|
|
|
Wolff, A., & Hausberger, M. (1994). Behaviour of foals before weaning may have some genetic basis. Ethology, 96(1), 1–10.
Abstract: In this preliminary study on foal behaviour, 13 French saddlebred foals (2-3 mo old) and their dams were observed on pasture. The most important findings are the interindividual quantitative differences in foal behaviour patterns as well as in the amount of mainly foal-initiated time spent at given distances from their mares. Interindividual differences seem in part due to a sire effect
|
|