| Records |
Author  |
Zhou, W.-X.; Sornette, D.; Hill, R.A.; Dunbar, R.I.M. |
| Title |
Discrete hierarchical organization of social group sizes |
Type |
Journal Article |
| Year |
2005 |
Publication |
Proceedings. Biological sciences / The Royal Society |
Abbreviated Journal |
Proc Biol Sci |
| Volume |
272 |
Issue |
1561 |
Pages |
439-444 |
| Keywords |
Anthropology, Cultural; *Group Structure; Humans; *Models, Biological; *Social Behavior; *Social Environment |
| Abstract |
The 'social brain hypothesis' for the evolution of large brains in primates has led to evidence for the coevolution of neocortical size and social group sizes, suggesting that there is a cognitive constraint on group size that depends, in some way, on the volume of neural material available for processing and synthesizing information on social relationships. More recently, work on both human and non-human primates has suggested that social groups are often hierarchically structured. We combine data on human grouping patterns in a comprehensive and systematic study. Using fractal analysis, we identify, with high statistical confidence, a discrete hierarchy of group sizes with a preferred scaling ratio close to three: rather than a single or a continuous spectrum of group sizes, humans spontaneously form groups of preferred sizes organized in a geometrical series approximating 3-5, 9-15, 30-45, etc. Such discrete scale invariance could be related to that identified in signatures of herding behaviour in financial markets and might reflect a hierarchical processing of social nearness by human brains. |
| Address |
State Key Laboratory of Chemical Reaction Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, China |
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| Language |
English |
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Series Issue |
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Edition |
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| ISSN |
0962-8452 |
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Conference |
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| Notes |
PMID:15734699 |
Approved |
no |
| Call Number |
refbase @ user @ |
Serial |
549 |
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| Author |
Zhang, T.-Y.; Parent, C.; Weaver, I.; Meaney, M.J. |
| Title |
Maternal programming of individual differences in defensive responses in the rat |
Type |
Journal Article |
| Year |
2004 |
Publication |
Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences |
Abbreviated Journal |
Ann N Y Acad Sci |
| Volume |
1032 |
Issue |
|
Pages |
85-103 |
| Keywords |
Adaptation, Biological; Aggression/*physiology; Animals; Evolution; Female; Gene Expression/physiology; Humans; Individuality; *Maternal Behavior; Phenotype; Pregnancy; Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects; Rats; Stress, Psychological/physiopathology |
| Abstract |
This paper describes the results of a series of studies showing that variations in mother-pup interactions program the development of individual differences in behavioral and endocrine stress responses in the rat. These effects are associated with altered expression of genes in brain regions, such as the amygdala, hippocampus, and hypothalamus, that regulate the expression of stress responses. Studies from evolutionary biology suggest that such “maternal effects” are common and often associated with variations in the quality of the maternal environment. Together these findings suggest an epigenetic process whereby the experience of the mother alters the nature of the parent-offspring interactions and thus the phenotype of the offspring. |
| Address |
McGill Program for the Study of Behavior, Genes and Environment, Douglas Hospital Research Centre, Department of Psychiatry, McGill University, 6875 boul. LaSalle, Montreal (Quebec), Canada H4H 1R3 |
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English |
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Edition |
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| ISSN |
0077-8923 |
ISBN |
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Expedition |
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Conference |
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| Notes |
PMID:15677397 |
Approved |
no |
| Call Number |
Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
Serial |
4132 |
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| Author |
Zentall, T.R. |
| Title |
Imitation: definitions, evidence, and mechanisms |
Type |
Journal Article |
| Year |
2006 |
Publication |
Animal cognition |
Abbreviated Journal |
Anim. Cogn. |
| Volume |
9 |
Issue |
4 |
Pages |
335-353 |
| Keywords |
Adaptation, Psychological; Animals; *Behavior, Animal; *Imitative Behavior; *Learning; Motivation; *Social Environment; Transfer (Psychology) |
| Abstract |
Imitation can be defined as the copying of behavior. To a biologist, interest in imitation is focused on its adaptive value for the survival of the organism, but to a psychologist, the mechanisms responsible for imitation are the most interesting. For psychologists, the most important cases of imitation are those that involve demonstrated behavior that the imitator cannot see when it performs the behavior (e.g., scratching one's head). Such examples of imitation are sometimes referred to as opaque imitation because they are difficult to account for without positing cognitive mechanisms, such as perspective taking, that most animals have not been acknowledged to have. The present review first identifies various forms of social influence and social learning that do not qualify as opaque imitation, including species-typical mechanisms (e.g., mimicry and contagion), motivational mechanisms (e.g., social facilitation, incentive motivation, transfer of fear), attentional mechanisms (e.g., local enhancement, stimulus enhancement), imprinting, following, observational conditioning, and learning how the environment works (affordance learning). It then presents evidence for different forms of opaque imitation in animals, and identifies characteristics of human imitation that have been proposed to distinguish it from animal imitation. Finally, it examines the role played in opaque imitation by demonstrator reinforcement and observer motivation. Although accounts of imitation have been proposed that vary in their level of analysis from neural to cognitive, at present no theory of imitation appears to be adequate to account for the varied results that have been found. |
| Address |
Department of Psychology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40506-0044, USA. Zentall@uky.edu |
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English |
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Series Issue |
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Edition |
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| ISSN |
1435-9448 |
ISBN |
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Medium |
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Expedition |
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Conference |
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| Notes |
PMID:17024510 |
Approved |
no |
| Call Number |
refbase @ user @ |
Serial |
217 |
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| Author |
Zentall, T.R. |
| Title |
Selective and divided attention in animals |
Type |
Journal Article |
| Year |
2005 |
Publication |
Behavioural processes |
Abbreviated Journal |
Behav. Process. |
| Volume |
69 |
Issue |
1 |
Pages |
1-15 |
| Keywords |
Animals; *Attention; *Behavior, Animal; *Discrimination (Psychology); *Field Dependence-Independence; *Psychological Theory |
| Abstract |
This article reviews some of the research on attentional processes in animals. In the traditional approach to selective attention, it is proposed that in addition to specific response attachments, animals also learn something about the dimension along which the stimuli fall (e.g., hue, brightness, or line orientation). More recently, there has been an attempt to find animal analogs to methodologies originally applied to research with humans. One line of research has been directed to the question of whether animals can locate a target among distracters faster if they are prepared for the presentation of the target (search image and priming). In the study of search image, the target is typically a food item and the cue consists of previous trials on which the same target is presented. In research on priming effects, the cue is typically different from the target but is a good predictor of its occurrence. The study of preattentive processes shows that perceptually, certain stimuli stand out from distracters better than others, depending not only on characteristics of the target relative to the distracters, but also on relations among the distracters. Research on divided attention is examined with the goal of determining whether an animal can process two elements of a compound sample with the same efficiency as one. Taken together, the reviewed research indicates that animals are capable of centrally (not just peripherally) attending to selective aspects of a stimulus display. |
| Address |
Department of Psychology, University of Kentucky, 202B Kastle Hall, Lexington, KY 40506-0044, USA. Zentall@uky.edu |
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English |
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Series Issue |
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Edition |
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| ISSN |
0376-6357 |
ISBN |
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Medium |
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Expedition |
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Conference |
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| Notes |
PMID:15795066 |
Approved |
no |
| Call Number |
refbase @ user @ |
Serial |
224 |
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| Author |
Zentall, T.R. |
| Title |
Action imitation in birds |
Type |
Journal Article |
| Year |
2004 |
Publication |
Learning & behavior : a Psychonomic Society publication |
Abbreviated Journal |
Learn Behav |
| Volume |
32 |
Issue |
1 |
Pages |
15-23 |
| Keywords |
Adaptation, Psychological; Animals; *Birds; *Imitative Behavior; Imprinting (Psychology); *Learning; Motivation; Psychological Theory; *Social Environment; *Social Facilitation; Vocalization, Animal |
| Abstract |
Action imitation, once thought to be a behavior almost exclusively limited to humans and the great apes, surprisingly also has been found in a number of bird species. Because imitation has been viewed by some psychologists as a form of intelligent behavior, there has been interest in how it is distributed among animal species. Although the mechanisms responsible for action imitation are not clear, we are now at least beginning to understand the conditions under which it occurs. In this article, I try to identify and differentiate the various forms of socially influenced behavior (species-typical social reactions, social effects on motivation, social effects on perception, socially influenced learning, and action imitation) and explain why it is important to differentiate imitation from other forms of social influence. I also examine some of the variables that appear to be involved in the occurrence of imitation. Finally, I speculate about why a number of bird species, but few mammal species, appear to imitate. |
| Address |
Department of Psychology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky 40506, USA. zentall@uky.edu |
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English |
Summary Language |
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Edition |
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| ISSN |
1543-4494 |
ISBN |
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Conference |
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| Notes |
PMID:15161137 |
Approved |
no |
| Call Number |
refbase @ user @ |
Serial |
230 |
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| Author |
Zentall, T.R. |
| Title |
Support for a theory of memory for event duration must distinguish between test-trial ambiguity and actual memory loss |
Type |
Journal Article |
| Year |
1999 |
Publication |
Journal of the experimental analysis of behavior |
Abbreviated Journal |
J Exp Anal Behav |
| Volume |
72 |
Issue |
3 |
Pages |
467-472 |
| Keywords |
Animals; Behavior, Animal/physiology; Columbidae; Conditioning, Operant/physiology; Discrimination Learning/physiology; Memory/*physiology; *Psychological Theory; Time Factors; Time Perception/physiology |
| Abstract |
Staddon and Higa's (1999) trace-strength theory of timing and memory for event duration can account for pigeons' bias to “choose short” when retention intervals are introduced and to “choose long” when, following training with a fixed retention interval, retention intervals are shortened. However, it does not account for the failure of pigeons to choose short when the intertrial interval is distinct from the retention interval. That finding suggests that stimulus generalization (or ambiguity) between the intertrial interval and the retention interval may result in an effect that has been attributed to memory loss. Such artifacts must be eliminated before a theory of memory for event duration can be adequately tested. |
| Address |
Department of Psychology, University of Kentucky, Lexington 40506, USA. zentall@pop.uky.edu |
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English |
Summary Language |
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Edition |
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| ISSN |
0022-5002 |
ISBN |
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| Notes |
PMID:10605105 |
Approved |
no |
| Call Number |
refbase @ user @ |
Serial |
251 |
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| Author |
Young, L.E.; Rogers, K.; Wood, J.L.N. |
| Title |
Left ventricular size and systolic function in Thoroughbred racehorses and their relationships to race performance |
Type |
Journal Article |
| Year |
2005 |
Publication |
Journal of Applied Physiology (Bethesda, Md. : 1985) |
Abbreviated Journal |
J Appl Physiol |
| Volume |
99 |
Issue |
4 |
Pages |
1278-1285 |
| Keywords |
*Adaptation, Physiological; Aging/physiology; Animal Husbandry; Animals; *Echocardiography; Female; Heart/*physiology; Heart Ventricles; Horses/*physiology; Male; *Physical Conditioning, Animal; Running/*physiology; Stroke Volume; Systole; Task Performance and Analysis |
| Abstract |
Cardiac morphology in human athletes is known to differ, depending on the sports-specific endurance component of their events, whereas anecdotes abound about superlative athletes with large hearts. As the heart determines stroke volume and maximum O(2) uptake in mammals, we undertook a study to test the hypothesis that the morphology of the equine heart would differ between trained horses, depending on race type, and that left ventricular size would be greatest in elite performers. Echocardiography was performed in 482 race-fit Thoroughbreds engaged in either flat (1,000-2,500 m) or jump racing (3,200-6,400 m). Body weight and sex-adjusted measures of left ventricular size were largest in horses engaged in jump racing over fixed fences, compared with horses running shorter distances on the flat (range 8-16%). The observed differences in cardiac morphologies suggest that subtle differences in training and competition result in cardiac adaptations that are appropriate to the endurance component of the horses' event. Derived left ventricular mass was strongly associated with published rating (quality) in horses racing over longer distances in jump races (P < or = 0.001), but less so for horses in flat races. Rather, left ventricular ejection fraction and left ventricular mass combined were positively associated with race rating in older flat racehorses running over sprint (<1,408 m) and longer distances (>1,408 m), explaining 25-35% of overall variation in performance, as well as being closely associated with performance in longer races over jumps (23%). These data provide the first direct evidence that cardiac size influences athletic performance in a group of mammalian running athletes. |
| Address |
Centre for Equine Studies, Animal Health Trust, Newmarket, Suffolk, UK. lesley.young@aht.org.uk |
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English |
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Series Issue |
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Edition |
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| ISSN |
8750-7587 |
ISBN |
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Medium |
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Conference |
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| Notes |
PMID:15920096 |
Approved |
no |
| Call Number |
Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
Serial |
3768 |
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| Author |
Yang, S. |
| Title |
Melioidosis research in China |
Type |
Journal Article |
| Year |
2000 |
Publication |
Acta Tropica |
Abbreviated Journal |
Acta Trop |
| Volume |
77 |
Issue |
2 |
Pages |
157-165 |
| Keywords |
Animals; Anti-Bacterial Agents/pharmacology; Burkholderia pseudomallei/drug effects/immunology/*pathogenicity; China/epidemiology; Cross Reactions; Glanders/immunology/microbiology; Horses; Humans; *Melioidosis/epidemiology/immunology/microbiology/veterinary; Seroepidemiologic Studies; Virulence |
| Abstract |
Research on melioidosis and its pathogen has been ongoing in China for more than two decades. It has been demonstrated that the natural foci are located predominantly in Hainan, Guangdong and Guangxi province, where there is a good correlation between soil isolation and the serum prevalence of antibodies to Burkholderia pseudomallei. The cases of melioidosis reported up to now are concentrated in the Hainan and Zhanjiang peninsula. Investigations on serotype, virulence, ecology, antibiotic susceptibility, whole cell analysis by gas chromatography, and genetics have led to a new understanding of the pathology of the disease. Immunological cross reactions between Burkholderia mallei and B. pseudomallei and the difference between melioidosis and glanders in horses is discussed. |
| Address |
Medical Research Institute, Yan-Ling (510507), Dongguanzhuang Road 91, Guangzhou, People's Republic of China. songyangch@hotmail.com |
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English |
Summary Language |
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Original Title |
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Abbreviated Series Title |
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Series Issue |
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Edition |
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| ISSN |
0001-706X |
ISBN |
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Medium |
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Conference |
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| Notes |
PMID:11080506 |
Approved |
no |
| Call Number |
Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
Serial |
2649 |
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| Author |
Wolf, M.; van Doorn, G.S.; Leimar, O.; Weissing, F.J. |
| Title |
Life-history trade-offs favour the evolution of animal personalities |
Type |
Journal Article |
| Year |
2007 |
Publication |
Nature |
Abbreviated Journal |
Nature |
| Volume |
447 |
Issue |
7144 |
Pages |
581-584 |
| Keywords |
Aggression/physiology/psychology; Animals; Behavior, Animal/*physiology; *Evolution; Exploratory Behavior/physiology; Models, Biological; Personality/*physiology; Predatory Behavior/physiology; Reproduction/physiology; Risk-Taking; Selection (Genetics) |
| Abstract |
In recent years evidence has been accumulating that personalities are not only found in humans but also in a wide range of other animal species. Individuals differ consistently in their behavioural tendencies and the behaviour in one context is correlated with the behaviour in multiple other contexts. From an adaptive perspective, the evolution of animal personalities is still a mystery, because a more flexible structure of behaviour should provide a selective advantage. Accordingly, many researchers view personalities as resulting from constraints imposed by the architecture of behaviour (but see ref. 12). In contrast, we show here that animal personalities can be given an adaptive explanation. Our argument is based on the insight that the trade-off between current and future reproduction often results in polymorphic populations in which some individuals put more emphasis on future fitness returns than others. Life-history theory predicts that such differences in fitness expectations should result in systematic differences in risk-taking behaviour. Individuals with high future expectations (who have much to lose) should be more risk-averse than individuals with low expectations. This applies to all kinds of risky situations, so individuals should consistently differ in their behaviour. By means of an evolutionary model we demonstrate that this basic principle results in the evolution of animal personalities. It simultaneously explains the coexistence of behavioural types, the consistency of behaviour through time and the structure of behavioural correlations across contexts. Moreover, it explains the common finding that explorative behaviour and risk-related traits like boldness and aggressiveness are common characteristics of animal personalities. |
| Address |
Theoretical Biology Group, Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Studies, University of Groningen, Kerklaan 30, 9751 NN Haren, The Netherlands |
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English |
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Series Issue |
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Edition |
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| ISSN |
1476-4687 |
ISBN |
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Conference |
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| Notes |
PMID:17538618 |
Approved |
no |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
Serial |
4098 |
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| Author |
Wilson, R.T. |
| Title |
Biodiversity of Domestic Livestock in the Republic of Yemen |
Type |
Journal Article |
| Year |
2003 |
Publication |
Tropical Animal Health and Production |
Abbreviated Journal |
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| Volume |
35 |
Issue |
1 |
Pages |
27-46 |
| Keywords |
Abstract This paper describes the domestic livestock of the Republic of Yemen and aspires to complement earlier sources listing or partially describing `breeds'. It attempts to cover all species and provide indications of production parameters through a literature review and via field observations made by the author in 1999. Information is provided on livestock numbers and the economic importance of animal production. Most animals are kept in sedentary mixed crop-livestock production systems; transhumant systems have the next greatest number of stock; with nomadic systems being of least and declining importance. Yemen's livestock appear to comprise at least 11 breeds of sheep, 5 breeds of goat, 2 breeds of cattle, 4 breeds of camel, 2 breeds of donkey and 1 breed of horse. There are no data on breeds of poultry but domestic fowl (where clearly considerable diversity exists) and pigeons are kept. There is little formal information on the history and relationships of most breeds. Some appear to be of ancient local origin, whereas others show affinities with those of neighbouring and other countries. None of the identified types is considered endangered, so conservation would be premature. A more formal and detailed genetic characterization, to add to the largely morphological and traditional classification, may, however, reveal such a need. |
| Abstract |
Abstract This paper describes the domestic livestock of the Republic of Yemen and aspires to complement earlier sources listing or partially describing `breeds'. It attempts to cover all species and provide indications of production parameters through a literature review and via field observations made by the author in 1999. Information is provided on livestock numbers and the economic importance of animal production. Most animals are kept in sedentary mixed crop-livestock production systems; transhumant systems have the next greatest number of stock; with nomadic systems being of least and declining importance. Yemen's livestock appear to comprise at least 11 breeds of sheep, 5 breeds of goat, 2 breeds of cattle, 4 breeds of camel, 2 breeds of donkey and 1 breed of horse. There are no data on breeds of poultry but domestic fowl (where clearly considerable diversity exists) and pigeons are kept. There is little formal information on the history and relationships of most breeds. Some appear to be of ancient local origin, whereas others show affinities with those of neighbouring and other countries. None of the identified types is considered endangered, so conservation would be premature. A more formal and detailed genetic characterization, to add to the largely morphological and traditional classification, may, however, reveal such a need. |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
Serial |
4389 |
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