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Vervaecke, H., Stevens, J., Vandemoortele, H., Sigurjönsdöttir, H., & De Vries, H. (2007). Aggression and dominance in matched groups of subadult Icelandic horses (Equus caballus). J. Ethol., 25(3), 239–248.
Abstract: Abstract We studied sex differences in the nature of aggression and dominance behaviour in two newly formed groups of 1-year-old Icelandic horses. One herd contained nine geldings, the other nine mares. The groups were matched with regard to dominance-determining traits such as age, weaning age, composition of native herd, social experience, genetic origin, body condition and maternal dominance status. High-ranking individuals of both sexes were more aggressive, high-ranking males were older, and high-ranking females had a better body condition. Frequencies of aggressions were similar in both groups. The mares reacted significantly more by showing submission upon an aggression rather than by not responding or by escalating the aggression. For the geldings, this difference was not observed due to a lower tendency to submit. A linear dominance hierarchy was found in both groups. David`s scores provided additional information regarding cardinal rank distances and were used to calculate steepness of hierarchies. The female hierarchy was somewhat steeper compared to the male hierarchy, suggesting somewhat lower despotism among males. This was mainly a consequence of the lower unidirectionality in male submission. Male contests occurred predominantly between dyads at top and mid positions, suggesting a low degree of acceptance of the hierarchy.
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Adachi, I., Kuwahata, H., & Fujita, K. (2007). Dogs recall their owner's face upon hearing the owner's voice. Anim. Cogn., 10(1), 17–21.
Abstract: Abstract We tested whether dogs have a cross-modal representation of human individuals. We presented domestic dogs with a photo of either the owner's or a stranger's face on the LCD monitor after playing back a voice of one of those persons. A voice and a face matched in half of the trials (Congruent condition) and mismatched in the other half (Incongruent condition). If our subjects activate visual images of the voice, their expectation would be contradicted in Incongruent condition. It would result in the subjects` longer looking times in Incongruent condition than in Congruent condition. Our subject dogs looked longer at the visual stimulus in Incongruent condition than in Congruent condition. This suggests that dogs actively generate their internal representation of the owner's face when they hear the owner calling them. This is the first demonstration that nonhuman animals do not merely associate auditory and visual stimuli but also actively generate a visual image from auditory information. Furthermore, our subject also looked at the visual stimulus longer in Incongruent condition in which the owner's face followed an unfamiliar person's voice than in Congruent condition in which the owner's face followed the owner's voice. Generating a particular visual image in response to an unfamiliar voice should be difficult, and any expected images from the voice ought to be more obscure or less well defined than that of the owners. However, our subjects looked longer at the owner's face in Incongruent condition than in Congruent condition. This may indicate that dogs may have predicted that it should not be the owner when they heard the unfamiliar person's voice.
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Lusseau, D. (2007). Evidence for social role in a dolphin social network. Evol. Ecol., 21(3), 357–366.
Abstract: Abstract Social animals have to take into consideration the behaviour of conspecifics when making decisions to go by their daily lives. These decisions affect their fitness and there is therefore an evolutionary pressure to try making the right choices. In many instances individuals will make their own choices and the behaviour of the group will be a democratic integration of everyone’s decision. However, in some instances it can be advantageous to follow the choice of a few individuals in the group if they have more information regarding the situation that has arisen. Here I provide early evidence that decisions about shifts in activity states in a population of bottlenose dolphin follow such a decision-making process. This unshared consensus is mediated by a non-vocal signal, which can be communicated globally within the dolphin school. These signals are emitted by individuals that tend to have more information about the behaviour of potential competitors because of their position in the social network. I hypothesise that this decision-making process emerged from the social structure of the population and the need to maintain mixed-sex schools.
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Krause, J., Croft, D., & James, R. (2007). Social network theory in the behavioural sciences: potential applications. Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol., 62(1), 15–27.
Abstract: Abstract Social network theory has made major contributions to our understanding of human social organisation but has found relatively little application in the field of animal behaviour. In this review, we identify several broad research areas where the networks approach could greatly enhance our understanding of social patterns and processes in animals. The network theory provides a quantitative framework that can be used to characterise social structure both at the level of the individual and the population. These novel quantitative variables may provide a new tool in addressing key questions in behavioural ecology particularly in relation to the evolution of social organisation and the impact of social structure on evolutionary processes. For example, network measures could be used to compare social networks of different species or populations making full use of the comparative approach. However, the networks approach can in principle go beyond identifying structural patterns and also can help with the understanding of processes within animal populations such as disease transmission and information transfer. Finally, understanding the pattern of interactions in the network (i.e. who is connected to whom) can also shed some light on the evolution of behavioural strategies.
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Wittemyer, G., & Getz, W. M. (2007). Hierarchical dominance structure and social organization in African elephants, Loxodonta africana. Anim. Behav., 73(4), 671–681.
Abstract: According to the socioecological framework, transitivity (or linearity) in dominance relationships is related to competition over critical resources. When a population is structured into groups, the intensity of between- versus within-group competition influences the form and function of its social organization. Few studies have compared the type and relative intensity of competition at these two levels. African elephants have well-structured social relations, providing an exemplary system for such a study. We report on dominance hierarchies among free-ranging elephants and evaluate the factors that drive their socioecological structure to lie in a region of the three-dimensional nepotism/despotism/tolerance space rarely observed among social species; namely, where non-nepotistic, transitive dominance hierarchies within groups emerge despite kin-based philopatry and infrequent agonistic interactions over widely distributed resources. We found significant transitivity in dominance hierarchies between groups. Dominance relations among the matriarchs of different social groups were primarily age based, rather than driven by physical or group size, and group matriarch rank influenced the dominance relationships among nonmatriarchal females in the population. Our results suggest that between-group dominance relationships induce tolerance among group members, which in combination with high group relatedness, reduces the benefits of nepotism. We postulate that cognitive abilities and high risk of injury in contests enhance winner and loser effects, facilitating the formation of transitive dominance relationships, despite widely distributed resources over which infrequent competition occurs. The interplay of cognitive abilities, winner and loser effects, resource distribution, and within- and between-group dominance relationships may produce behaviour in other strongly social mammals that differs from that predicted by a superficial application of current socioecological models.
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Taillon, J., & Cote, S. D. (2007). Social rank and winter forage quality affect aggressiveness in white-tailed deer fawns. Anim. Behav., 74(2), 265–275.
Abstract: Achieving a high social rank may be advantageous for individuals at high population densities, because dominance status may determine the priority of access to limited resources and reduce individual loss of body mass. The establishment of dominance relationships between individuals involves variable levels of aggressiveness that can be influenced by resource availability. The relationship between social rank and aggressiveness and the impacts of resource abundance on aggressiveness are, however, poorly understood, but may be relevant to understand the mechanisms determining dominance relationships between individuals. We experimentally simulated, in seminatural enclosures, a deterioration of winter forage quality induced by a high-density deer population and examined the effects of (1) social dominance and (2) diet quality on aggressiveness, forage intake and body mass loss of white-tailed deer, Odocoileus virginianus, fawns during two winters. Within diet-quality treatments, fawns were consistently organized into linear hierarchies and showed clear dominance relationships. Dominants initiated more interactions and showed higher aggressiveness than subordinates, but subordinates had higher forage intake than dominants throughout winter. Social rank did not influence cumulative body mass loss of fawns. During both winters, fawns fed the control diet maintained their aggressiveness level, whereas fawns fed the poor-quality diet decreased it. Our experimental approach revealed that white-tailed deer responded to a reduction in winter forage quality by modifying their aggressiveness, indicating that ungulates may show plasticity not only in their foraging behaviour in response to decreased resources but also in their social behaviour.
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Murray, R. C., Branch, M. V., Dyson, S. J., Parkin, T. D. H., & Goodship, A. E. (2007). How does exercise intensity and type affect equine distal tarsal subchondral bone thickness? J Appl Physiol, 102(6), 2194–2200.
Abstract: Adaptation of osteochondral tissues is based on the strains experienced during exercise at each location within the joint. Different exercise intensities and types may induce particular site-specific strains, influencing osteochondral adaptation and potentially predisposing to injury. Our hypotheses were that patterns of equine distal tarsal subchondral bone (SCB) thickness relate to the type and intensity of exercise, and that high-intensity exercise leads to site-specific increases in thickness. SCB thickness was measured at defined dorsal and plantar locations on magnetic resonance images of cadaver tarsi collected from horses with a history of low [general purpose (n=20) and horse walker (n=6)] or high [elite competition (n=12), race training (n=15), and treadmill training (n=4)] exercise intensity. SCB thickness was compared between sites within each exercise group and between exercise groups. SCB thickness in elite competition and race training, but not treadmill training, was greater than low-intensity exercise. For general purpose horses, lateral SCB thickness was greater than medial throughout. Horse walker exercise led to relatively thicker lateral and medial SCB compared with the midline. Elite competition was associated with increased SCB thickness of the proximal small tarsal bones medially and the distal bones laterally. For race training and treadmill training, there were minimal differences between sites overall, although the lateral aspect was greater than medial, and medial greater than midline at a few sites for race training. In conclusion, different types of high-intensity exercise were associated with different patterns of SCB thickness across the joints from medial to lateral and proximal to distal, indicating that both exercise intensity and type of exercise affect the SCB response at any particular site within the equine distal tarsal joints.
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Rutherford, D. J., Bladon, B., & Rogers, C. W. (2007). Outcome of lag-screw treatment of incomplete fractures of the frontal plane of the radial facet of the third carpal bone in horses. N Z Vet J, 55(2), 94–99.
Abstract: AIM: To describe outcomes for horses diagnosed with incomplete, non-displaced fractures of the frontal plane of the radial facet (INFR) of the third carpal bone (C3) treated by placement of a lag screw across the fracture under arthroscopic guidance. METHODS: Horses (n=13) diagnosed with INFR and treated between December 1999 and January 2005 using a lag screw placed over the fracture were studied. For each case, five horses matched for sire, age and sex which were not known to have INFR were sought for comparison. Racing performance data were collected from a commercial online database. The racing performance of cases pre- and post-operatively, and of cases and matched horses in the post-operative period was compared. RESULTS: Sixteen INFR were found in the 13 horses. Radiographic evidence of healed fracture lines 2-4 months after surgery was seen in 11/16 (69%) fractures; 11/13 (85%) cases raced again after a median recovery period of 292 (range 149-681) days. Treatment was considered successful in 9/13 (69%) cases, which were still in training or had been retired for reasons other than lameness localised to the middle carpal joint at the end of the study period. Just 6/13 (46%) cases had raced prior to injury. The racing ability pre- and post-operatively of five cases was compared, three (60%) of which performed better post-operatively than they had before. There was no significant difference in racing longevity or ability post-operatively between patients and matched (control) horses. CONCLUSIONS: Post-operatively, there was little difference in the racing performance between horses diagnosed with INFR which had a lag screw placed across the fracture line and horses matched for sire, age and sex which were not known to have INFR. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Horses which were diagnosed with INFR of C3 and had a lag screw placed across the fracture had a good prognosis for future racing performance.
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Bell, R. J. W., Kingston, J. K., Mogg, T. D., & Perkins, N. R. (2007). The prevalence of gastric ulceration in racehorses in New Zealand. N Z Vet J, 55(1), 13–18.
Abstract: AIM: To establish the prevalence and factors influencing the prevalence and severity of gastric ulceration in racehorses in New Zealand. METHODS: Horses (n=171) in active training for racing by trainers (n=24) located throughout New Zealand were examined using gastroscopy during 2003 and 2004. Images of the examination were recorded and reviewed, and an ordinal grade based on the severity of gastric ulceration present was assigned, using the grading system proposed by the Equine Gastric Ulcer Council (EGUC). Information about the horses such as age, breed, sex, stabling, time at pasture, pasture quality, and presence of clinical signs consistent with equine gastric ulcer syndrome (EGUS) was recorded. RESULTS: Of the 171 horses in the study, 133 (78%) were Thoroughbreds and 38 (22%) were Standardbreds. Evidence of gastric ulceration was present in 151 (88.3%) of these. Prevalence of ulceration was higher at the lesser curvature (LC) and greater curvature (GC) of the stomach than at the saccus caecus (SC; p<0.01), and ulceration was more severe at the LC than at either the GC (p=0.02) or the SC (p<0.001). The prevalence of ulceration did not differ between the two breeds (p=0.51) or between horses of differing ages (p=0.56). Gastric ulceration was evident in 125/141 (89%) horses kept at pasture for at least 4 h/day, in all 13 (100%) horses kept at pasture full time, and in 16/17 (94%) horses stabled full time. Prevalence and severity of ulceration did not differ between horses stabled full time, kept at pasture for part of the day or kept at pasture full time (p=0.33 and 0.13, respectively), and for horses grazed on pasture severity of ulceration did not vary significantly with the quality of the pasture (p=0.12). Neither prevalence (p=0.26) nor severity (p=0.49) of gastric ulceration varied significantly with duration of training. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of gastric ulceration in racehorses in New Zealand is similar to that reported elsewhere for horses in active training for racing. Access to pasture for some or all of the day did not appear to be protective.
Keywords: Age Factors; *Animal Feed; Animal Husbandry/methods; Animals; Female; Horse Diseases/*epidemiology/pathology/prevention & control; Horses; Male; New Zealand/epidemiology; Physical Conditioning, Animal/*adverse effects/physiology; Poaceae; Prevalence; Risk Factors; Severity of Illness Index; Sex Factors; Stomach Ulcer/epidemiology/pathology/prevention & control/*veterinary; Time Factors
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Carlsson, H. - E., Lyberg, K., Royo, F., & Hau, J. (2007). Quantification of stress sensitive markers in single fecal samples do not accurately predict excretion of these in the pig. Research in Veterinary Science, 82(3), 423–428.
Abstract: All feces produced during 24 h were collected from five pigs and cortisol and immunoreactive cortisol metabolites (CICM), and IgA were quantified. Within pigs, the concentrations of CICM and IgA varied extensively between random samples obtained from a single fecal dropping, and deviated in most cases significantly from the true concentration measured in total fecal output (CV 6.7–130%). The CICM and IgA contents varied considerably (CV 8.1–114%) within and between individual fecal droppings from the same pig compared to the total fecal excretion. In conclusion, single random samples could not be used to reliably quantify the total fecal concentration or excretion of CICM or IgA in pigs. Analyses of all feces collected during shorter periods than 24 h did not provide an accurate estimate of the daily excretion of CICM. Thus, the concentration of stress sensitive molecules in random single fecal samples as an indicator of animal welfare should be interpreted with prudence.
Keywords: Cortisol; Immunoglobulin A; Stress; Pigs; Feces; Animal welfare
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