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Author Shoshani, J.; Kupsky, W.J.; Marchant, G.H.
Title Elephant brain. Part I: gross morphology, functions, comparative anatomy, and evolution Type Journal Article
Year 2006 Publication Brain Research Bulletin Abbreviated Journal Brain Res Bull
Volume 70 Issue 2 Pages 124-157
Keywords Animals; Brain/*anatomy & histology/blood supply/*physiology; Cats; Chinchilla; Elephants/*anatomy & histology/*physiology; Equidae; *Evolution; Female; Guinea Pigs; Haplorhini; Humans; Hyraxes; Male; Pan troglodytes; Sheep; Wolves
Abstract We report morphological data on brains of four African, Loxodonta africana, and three Asian elephants, Elephas maximus, and compare findings to literature. Brains exhibit a gyral pattern more complex and with more numerous gyri than in primates, humans included, and in carnivores, but less complex than in cetaceans. Cerebral frontal, parietal, temporal, limbic, and insular lobes are well developed, whereas the occipital lobe is relatively small. The insula is not as opercularized as in man. The temporal lobe is disproportionately large and expands laterally. Humans and elephants have three parallel temporal gyri: superior, middle, and inferior. Hippocampal sizes in elephants and humans are comparable, but proportionally smaller in elephant. A possible carotid rete was observed at the base of the brain. Brain size appears to be related to body size, ecology, sociality, and longevity. Elephant adult brain averages 4783 g, the largest among living and extinct terrestrial mammals; elephant neonate brain averages 50% of its adult brain weight (25% in humans). Cerebellar weight averages 18.6% of brain (1.8 times larger than in humans). During evolution, encephalization quotient has increased by 10-fold (0.2 for extinct Moeritherium, approximately 2.0 for extant elephants). We present 20 figures of the elephant brain, 16 of which contain new material. Similarities between human and elephant brains could be due to convergent evolution; both display mosaic characters and are highly derived mammals. Humans and elephants use and make tools and show a range of complex learning skills and behaviors. In elephants, the large amount of cerebral cortex, especially in the temporal lobe, and the well-developed olfactory system, structures associated with complex learning and behavioral functions in humans, may provide the substrate for such complex skills and behavior.
Address (up) Department of Biology, University of Asmara, P.O. Box 1220, Asmara, Eritrea (Horn of Africa). hezy@bio.uoa.edu.er
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0361-9230 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:16782503 Approved no
Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 2623
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Author Nocera, J.J.; Forbes, G.J.; Giraldeau, L.-A.
Title Inadvertent social information in breeding site selection of natal dispersing birds Type Journal Article
Year 2006 Publication Proceedings. Biological Sciences / The Royal Society Abbreviated Journal Proc Biol Sci
Volume 273 Issue 1584 Pages 349-355
Keywords Animals; *Behavior, Animal; *Breeding; *Environment; Female; Logistic Models; Male; Songbirds/growth & development/*physiology
Abstract Several species use the number of young produced as public information (PI) to assess breeding site quality. PI is inaccessible for synchronously breeding birds because nests are empty by the time the young can collect this information. We investigate if location cues are the next best source of inadvertent social information (ISI) used by young prospectors during breeding site choice. We experimentally deployed ISI as decoys and song playbacks of breeding males in suitable and sub-optimal habitats during pre- and post-breeding periods, and monitored territory establishment during the subsequent breeding season for a social, bobolink (Dolichonyx oryzivorus), and a more solitary species, Nelson's sharp-tailed sparrow (Ammodramus nelsoni). The sparrows did not respond to treatments, but bobolinks responded strongly to post-breeding location cues, irrespective of habitat quality. The following year, 17/20 sub-optimal plots to which bobolink males were recruited were defended for at least two weeks, indicating that song heard the previous year could exert a “carry-over attraction” effect on conspecifics the following year. Sixteen recruited males were natal dispersers, as expected when animals have little opportunity to directly sample their natal habitat quality. We suggest that differences in breeding synchronicity may induce an equivalent clinal distribution of ISI use.
Address (up) Department of Biology, University of New Brunswick, Bag Service #45111, Fredericton, NB E3B 6E1, Canada. j.nocera@unb.ca
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0962-8452 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:16543178 Approved no
Call Number Serial 2129
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Author Cheney, D.L.; Seyfarth, R.M.; Silk, J.B.
Title The responses of female baboons (Papio cynocephalus ursinus) to anomalous social interactions: evidence for causal reasoning? Type Journal Article
Year 1995 Publication Journal of comparative psychology (Washington, D.C. : 1983) Abbreviated Journal J Comp Psychol
Volume 109 Issue 2 Pages 134-141
Keywords Animals; Attention; Auditory Perception; *Awareness; *Concept Formation; *Dominance-Subordination; Fear; Female; Hierarchy, Social; Papio/*psychology; *Social Behavior; Social Environment; Vocalization, Animal
Abstract Baboons' (Papio cynocephalus ursinus) understanding of cause-effect relations in the context of social interactions was examined through use of a playback experiment. Under natural conditions, dominant female baboons often grunt to more subordinate mothers when interacting with their infants. Mothers occasionally respond to these grunts by uttering submissive fear barks. Subjects were played causally inconsistent call sequences in which a lower ranking female apparently grunted to a higher ranking female, and the higher ranking female apparently responded with fear barks. As a control, subjects heard a sequence made causally consistent by the inclusion of grunts from a 3rd female that was dominant to both of the others. Subjects responded significantly more strongly to the causally inconsistent sequences, suggesting that they recognized the factors that cause 1 individual to give submissive vocalizations to another.
Address (up) Department of Biology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia 19104, USA
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0735-7036 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:7758289 Approved no
Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 348
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Author Bergman, T.J.; Beehner, J.C.; Cheney, D.L.; Seyfarth, R.M.
Title Hierarchical classification by rank and kinship in baboons Type Journal Article
Year 2003 Publication Science (New York, N.Y.) Abbreviated Journal Science
Volume 302 Issue 5648 Pages 1234-1236
Keywords Animals; Animals, Wild; Botswana; *Cognition; Family; Female; *Hierarchy, Social; Language; *Papio/psychology; Social Dominance; Vocalization, Animal
Abstract Humans routinely classify others according to both their individual attributes, such as social status or wealth, and membership in higher order groups, such as families or castes. They also recognize that people's individual attributes may be influenced and regulated by their group affiliations. It is not known whether such rule-governed, hierarchical classifications are specific to humans or might also occur in nonlinguistic species. Here we show that baboons recognize that a dominance hierarchy can be subdivided into family groups. In playback experiments, baboons respond more strongly to call sequences mimicking dominance rank reversals between families than within families, indicating that they classify others simultaneously according to both individual rank and kinship. The selective pressures imposed by complex societies may therefore have favored cognitive skills that constitute an evolutionary precursor to some components of human cognition.
Address (up) Department of Biology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA. thore@sas.upenn.edu
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 1095-9203 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:14615544 Approved no
Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 689
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Author Bugnyar, T.; Heinrich, B.
Title Pilfering ravens, Corvus corax, adjust their behaviour to social context and identity of competitors Type Journal Article
Year 2006 Publication Animal Cognition Abbreviated Journal Anim. Cogn.
Volume 9 Issue 4 Pages 369-376
Keywords Adaptation, Psychological; Animals; *Behavior, Animal; *Competitive Behavior; Crows/*physiology; *Deception; Feeding Behavior; Female; Male; Social Behavior; *Social Environment
Abstract Like other corvids, food-storing ravens protect their caches from being pilfered by conspecifics by means of aggression and by re-caching. In the wild and in captivity, potential pilferers rarely approach caches until the storers have left the cache vicinity. When storers are experimentally prevented from leaving, pilferers first search at places other than the cache sites. These behaviours raise the possibility that ravens are capable of withholding intentions and providing false information to avoid provoking the storers' aggression for cache protection. Alternatively, birds may refrain from pilfering to avoid conflicts with dominants. Here we examined whether ravens adjust their pilfer tactics according to social context and type of competitors. We allowed birds that had witnessed a conspecific making caches to pilfer those caches either in private, together with the storer, or together with a conspecific bystander that had not created the caches (non-storer) but had seen them being made. Compared to in-private trials, ravens delayed approaching the caches only in the presence of storers. Furthermore, they quickly engaged in searching away from the caches when together with dominant storers but directly approached the caches when together with dominant non-storers. These findings demonstrate that ravens selectively alter their pilfer behaviour with those individuals that are likely to defend the caches (storers) and support the interpretation that they are deceptively manipulating the others' behaviour.
Address (up) Department of Biology, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT 05405, USA. thomas.bugnyar@univie.ac.at
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 1435-9448 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:16909235 Approved no
Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 2449
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Author Traversa, D.; Giangaspero, A.; Iorio, R.; Otranto, D.; Paoletti, B.; Gasser, R.B.
Title Semi-nested PCR for the specific detection of Habronema microstoma or Habronema muscae DNA in horse faeces Type Journal Article
Year 2004 Publication Parasitology Abbreviated Journal Parasitology
Volume 129 Issue Pt 6 Pages 733-739
Keywords Animals; DNA, Helminth/*analysis; DNA, Ribosomal Spacer/*chemistry; Feces/*chemistry; Female; Horse Diseases/*diagnosis/parasitology; Horses; Male; Polymerase Chain Reaction/*methods; Species Specificity; Spirurida Infections/diagnosis/*veterinary; Spiruroidea/*genetics
Abstract Habronema microstoma and Habronema muscae (Spirurida: Habronematidae) are parasitic nematodes which infect the stomach and/or skin of equids. The accurate diagnosis of gastric habronemosis is central to studying its epidemiology, but data on its distribution and prevalence are lacking, mainly due to the limitations of clinical and coprological diagnosis in live horses. To overcome this constraint, a two-step, semi-nested PCR-based assay was validated (utilizing genetic markers in the nuclear ribosomal DNA) for the specific amplification of H. microstoma or H. muscae DNA from the faeces from horses (n = 46) whose gastrointestinal parasite status had been determined at autopsy and whose faeces were examined previously using a conventional parasitological approach. Of these horses examined at autopsy, some harboured adults of either H. microstoma (n= 19) or H. muscae (n =4), and others (n = 7) harboured both species. Most of them were also infected with other parasites, including strongylid nematodes (subfamilies Cyathostominae and Strongylinae), bots and/or cestodes; there was no evidence of metazoan parasites in 2 horses. Larvated spirurid eggs were detected in the faeces of 1 of the 30 horses (3.3 %) shown to be infected with Habronema at autopsy. For this set of 46 samples, the PCR assay achieved a diagnostic specificity of 100 % and a sensitivity of approximately 97 % (being able to specifically detect as little as approximately 0.02 fg of Habronema DNA). The specificity of the assay was also tested using a panel of control DNA samples representing horse, the gastric spirurid Draschia megastoma and 26 other species of parasites from the alimentary tract of the horse. H. microstoma, H. muscae and D. megastoma could be readily differentiated from one another based on the sizes of their specific amplicons in the PCR. The results of this study showed that the performance of the PCR for the diagnosis of gastric habronemosis was similar to that of autopsy but substantially better than the traditional coprological examination procedure used. The ability to specifically diagnose gastric habronemosis in equids should have important implications for investigating the epidemiology and ecology of H. microstoma and H. muscae.
Address (up) Department of Biomedical Comparative Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Teramo, Teramo, Italy. traversa@unite.it
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0031-1820 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:15648696 Approved no
Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 2631
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Author Dirikolu, L.; Lehner, A.F.; Karpiesiuk, W.; Hughes, C.; Woods, W.E.; Boyles, J.; Harkins, J.D.; Troppmann, A.; Tobin, T.
Title Detection, quantification, metabolism, and behavioral effects of selegiline in horses Type Journal Article
Year 2003 Publication Veterinary Therapeutics : Research in Applied Veterinary Medicine Abbreviated Journal Vet Ther
Volume 4 Issue 3 Pages 257-268
Keywords Administration, Oral; Animals; Behavior, Animal/drug effects; Female; Horses/*metabolism; Mass Spectrometry/veterinary; Monoamine Oxidase Inhibitors/administration & dosage/blood/*pharmacokinetics/pharmacology/urine; Selegiline/administration & dosage/blood/*pharmacokinetics/pharmacology/urine; Substance Abuse Detection/veterinary
Abstract Selegiline ([R]-[-]N,alpha-dimethyl-N-2- propynylphenethylamine or l-deprenyl), an irreversible inhibitor of monoamine oxidase, is a classic antidyskinetic and antiparkinsonian agent widely used in human medicine both as monotherapy and as an adjunct to levodopa therapy. Selegiline is classified by the Association of Racing Commissioners International (ARCI) as a class 2 agent, and is considered to have high abuse potential in racing horses. A highly sensitive LC/MS/MS quantitative analytical method has been developed for selegiline and its potential metabolites amphetamine and methamphetamine using commercially available deuterated analogs of these compounds as internal standards. After administering 40 mg of selegiline orally to two horses, relatively low (<60 ng/ml) concentrations of parent selegiline, amphetamine, and methamphetamine were recovered in urine samples. However, relatively high urinary concentrations of another selegiline metabolite were found, tentatively identified as N- desmethylselegiline. This metabolite was synthesized and found to be indistinguishable from the new metabolite recovered from horse urine, thereby confirming the chemical identity of the equine metabolite. Additionally, analysis of urine samples from four horses dosed with 50 mg of selegiline confirmed that N-desmethylselegiline is the major urinary metabolite of selegiline in horses. In related behavior studies, p.o. and i.v. administration of 30 mg of selegiline produced no significant changes in either locomotor activities or heart rates.
Address (up) Department of Biomedical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, Nursing and Allied Health, Tuskegee University, Tuskegee, AL 36088, USA
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 1528-3593 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:15136987 Approved no
Call Number Serial 1901
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Author Lucas, Z.; Raeside, J.I.; Betteridge, K.J.
Title Non-invasive assessment of the incidences of pregnancy and pregnancy loss in the feral horses of Sable Island Type Journal Article
Year 1991 Publication Journal of Reproduction and Fertility. Supplement Abbreviated Journal J Reprod Fertil Suppl
Volume 44 Issue Pages 479-488
Keywords Abortion, Veterinary/*epidemiology; Animals; Animals, Wild/*physiology; Atlantic Islands; Estrogens/analysis; Feces/chemistry; Female; Fertilization; Gestational Age; Horse Diseases/*epidemiology; Horses; Incidence; Pregnancy; *Pregnancy, Animal
Abstract Field observations of 400 totally unmanaged feral horses on Sable Island, Nova Scotia, were complemented by oestrogen determinations in faecal samples from 154 identified females over a 4-year period (454 mare-years). Of mares that were sampled throughout the year and subsequently produced foals, 92.1% exhibited elevated faecal oestrogens between 15 October and 30 March. The results confirm that faecal oestrogens are a useful indicator of pregnancy after approximately 120 days gestation. Distribution of foaling resembled that seen in other feral populations, with 95% of births occurring from April through July. The foaling rate for mares aged 3 years or older was 62.0%, with 50.7% of mares foaling in 3 or 4 years. Foaling rates were low (4.1%) in mares bred as yearlings and rose with age to 70.8% in those bred as 4-year-olds. Fetal loss after Day 120 was deduced from faecal oestrogens to be 26.0% overall, with marked variation from year to year (9.6-37.3%) and with age (70.0% in those bred as yearlings, decreasing to 5.6% in those bred as 4-year-olds). Of 58 mares aged 2 years or older that were sampled every year, about half (49.6%) the barren years were attributable to fetal loss after 120 days gestation. All mares conceived in at least 2 of the 4 years, suggesting that pregnancy loss, even after Day 120, is as important as failure to conceive in causing barren years.
Address (up) Department of Biomedical Sciences, Ontario Veterinary College, University of Guelph, Canada
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0449-3087 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:1795292 Approved no
Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 2247
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Author Summerley, H.L.; Thomason, J.J.; Bignell, W.W.
Title Effect of rider and riding style on deformation of the front hoof wall in warmblood horses Type Journal Article
Year 1998 Publication Equine Veterinary Journal. Supplement Abbreviated Journal Equine Vet J Suppl
Volume Issue 26 Pages 81-85
Keywords Animals; Female; Gait/*physiology; Hoof and Claw/*physiology; Horses/*physiology; Male; Videotape Recording; Weight-Bearing
Abstract A rider modifies the weight distribution and dynamic balance of the horse. But what effect does a rider have on the mechanical behaviour of the hoof during each stance phase? Does riding style have any effect on this behaviour? We attempted to answer these questions using strains recorded from 5 rosette strain gauges glued to the surface of the front hooves of 4 Warmblood horses. Comparisons were made between strains with and without a rider, and when the rider was sitting, rising at a trot, or in a forward seated position. The change in strains from trot to lead or nonlead at a canter, and the effect of turning were also studied. Changing lead at a canter had as least as much effect on strain magnitudes as did turning; strains were up to 43% higher for the nonlead foot, but with little redistribution. Perhaps surprisingly, strains were significantly lower on the quarters by up to 30% with a rider than without, with a 10% increase or decrease at the toe, depending on the individual. Riding style changed strain magnitudes by up to 20% and also caused strain redistribution: strains were higher medially for sitting, and laterally for forward seat, with strains for a rising trot being more evenly distributed and intermediate in magnitude. Studying the range of, and causes of variation in hoof wall strain gives baseline data aimed, in the long term, at providing a biomechanical definition of hoof balance.
Address (up) Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:9932097 Approved no
Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 1934
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Author Tanaka, M.
Title Recognition of pictorial representations by chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) Type Journal Article
Year 2007 Publication Animal Cognition Abbreviated Journal Anim. Cogn.
Volume 10 Issue 2 Pages 169-179
Keywords Animals; Discrimination Learning; Female; Male; Pan troglodytes/*physiology; *Pattern Recognition, Visual; Photography
Abstract In this study, I investigated chimpanzees' ability to recognize pictorial representations. Four adults and three juvenile chimpanzees were trained to choose images of photographs of flowers among 12 items belonging to four categories on a touch-sensitive monitor. As a generalization test, the following five types of images were presented: (1) novel photographs, (2) colored sketches (more realistic), (3) a colored clip art (cartoon-like images), (4) black-and-white line drawings, and (5) Kanji characters (as the control images). One adult and all three juvenile chimpanzees were able to choose any style of the nonphotographic images of flowers significantly above the chance level, whereas none could choose the correct Kanji characters corresponding to a flower significantly above the chance level. The other three adult chimpanzees' performance level did not exceed the chance level in terms of choosing nonphotographic images although they showed good transfer skills to novel photographs. The results revealed that not all chimpanzees could recognize pictures used by humans without training. The results also suggest “critical period” in acquisition of skill in recognizing pictures in chimpanzees. Only one adult chimpanzee, who had acquired skill in recognizing visual symbols, also recognized pictures aside from the juvenile chimpanzees. Her learning history might have aided her in acquiring this skill. The results of this study suggest a relationship between pictorial competence and symbolic one.
Address (up) Department of Brain and Behavioral Sciences, Primate Research Institute, Kyoto University, 41-2 Kanrin, Inuyama, Aichi, 484-8506, Japan. mtanaka@pri.kyoto-u.ac.jp
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 1435-9448 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:17171361 Approved no
Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 2428
Permanent link to this record