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Pennisi, E. (2006). Animal cognition. Social animals prove their smarts (Vol. 312).
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Grogan, E. H., & McDonnell, S. M. (2005). Behavioral responses to two intranasal vaccine applicators in horses and ponies (Vol. 226).
Abstract: OBJECTIVE: To evaluate behavioral compliance of horses and ponies with simulated intranasal vaccination and assess development of generalized aversion to veterinary manipulations. DESIGN: Clinical trial. ANIMALS: 28 light horse mares, 3 pony geldings, 2 light horse stallions, and 3 pony stallions that had a history of compliance with veterinary procedures. PROCEDURE: Behavioral compliance with 2 intranasal vaccine applicators was assessed. Compliance with standard physical examination procedures was assessed before and after a single experience with either of the applicators or a control manipulation to evaluate development of generalized aversion to veterinary manipulation. RESULTS: In all 30 horses, simulated intranasal vaccination or the control manipulation could be performed without problematic avoidance behavior, and simulated intranasal vaccination did not have any significant effect on duration of or compliance with a standardized physical examination that included manipulation of the ears, nose, and mouth. Results were similar for the 2 intranasal vaccine applicators, and no difference in compliance was seen between horses in which warm versus cold applicators were used. For 3 of the 6 ponies, substantial avoidance behavior was observed in association with simulated intranasal vaccination, and compliance with physical examination procedures decreased after simulated intranasal vaccination. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Although some compliance problems were seen with ponies, neither problems with compliance with simulated intranasal vaccination nor adverse effects on subsequent physical examination were identified in any of the horses. Further study is needed to understand factors involved in practitioner reports of aversion developing in association with intranasal vaccination.
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Hare, B., Brown, M., Williamson, C., & Tomasello, M. (2002). The domestication of social cognition in dogs. Science, 298(5598), 1634–1636.
Abstract: Dogs are more skillful than great apes at a number of tasks in which they must read human communicative signals indicating the location of hidden food. In this study, we found that wolves who were raised by humans do not show these same skills, whereas domestic dog puppies only a few weeks old, even those that have had little human contact, do show these skills. These findings suggest that during the process of domestication, dogs have been selected for a set of social-cognitive abilities that enable them to communicate with humans in unique ways.
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McDonnell, S. M., Freeman, D. A., Cymbaluk, N. F., Schott, H. C. 2nd, Hinchcliff, K., & Kyle, B. (1999). Behavior of stabled horses provided continuous or intermittent access to drinking water. Am J Vet Res, 60(11), 1451–1456.
Abstract: OBJECTIVE: To compare quantitative measures and clinical assessments of behavior as an indication of psychologic well-being of stabled horses provided drinking water continuously or via 1 of 3 intermittent delivery systems. ANIMALS: 22 Quarter Horse (QH) or QH-crossbred mares and 17 Belgian or Belgian-crossbred mares (study 1) and 24 QH or QH-crossbred mares and 18 Belgian or Belgian-crossbred mares (study 2). PROCEDURE: Stabled horses were provided water continuously or via 1 of 3 intermittent water delivery systems in 2 study periods during a 2-year period. Continuous 24-hour videotaped samples were used to compare quantitative measures and clinical assessments of behavior among groups provided water by the various water delivery systems. RESULTS: All horses had clinically normal behavior. Significant differences in well being were not detected among groups provided water by the various delivery systems. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Various continuous and intermittent water delivery systems can provide adequately for the psychologic well-being of stabled horses.
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Mouritsen, K. N. (2001). Hitch-hiking parasite: a dark horse may be the real rider. Int J Parasitol, 31(13), 1417–1420.
Abstract: Many parasites engaged in complex life cycles manipulate their hosts in a way that facilitates transmission between hosts. Recently, a new category of parasites (hitch-hikers) has been identified that seem to exploit the manipulating effort of other parasites with similar life cycle by preferentially infecting hosts already manipulated. Thomas et al. (Evolution 51 (1997) 1316) showed that the digenean trematodes Microphallus papillorobustus (the manipulator) and Maritrema subdolum (the hitch-hiker) were positively associated in field samples of gammarid amphipods (the intermediate host), and that the behaviour of Maritrema subdolum rendered it more likely to infect manipulated amphipods than those uninfected by M. papillorobustus. Here I provide experimental evidence demonstrating that M. subdolum is unlikely to be a hitch-hiker in the mentioned system, whereas the lucky candidate rather is the closely related but little known species, Microphallidae sp. no. 15 (Parassitologia 22 (1980) 1). As opposed to the latter species, Maritrema subdolum does not express the appropriate cercarial behaviour for hitch-hiking.
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Houpt, K. A. (1991). Animal behavior and animal welfare. J Am Vet Med Assoc, 198(8), 1355–1360.
Abstract: The value of behavioral techniques in assessing animal welfare, and in particular assessing the psychological well being of animals, is reviewed. Using cats and horses as examples, 3 behavioral methods are presented: (1) comparison of behavior patterns and time budgets; (2) choice tests; and (3) operant conditioning. The behaviors of intact and declawed cats were compared in order to determine if declawing led to behavioral problems or to a change in personality. Apparently it did not. The behavior of free ranging horses was compared with that of stabled horses. Using two-choice preference tests, the preference of horses for visual contact with other horses and the preference for bedding were determined. Horses show no significant preference for locations from which they can make visual contact with other horses, but they do prefer bedding, especially when lying down. Horses will perform an operant response in order to obtain light in a darkened barn or heat in an outside shed. These same techniques can be used to answer a variety of questions about an animal's motivation for a particular attribute of its environment.
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Houpt, K. A., & Feldman, J. (1993). Animal behavior case of the month. Aggression toward a neonatal foal by its dam. J Am Vet Med Assoc, 203(9), 1279–1280.
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Miller, R. M. (2000). The revolution in horsemanship. J Am Vet Med Assoc, 216(8), 1232–1233.
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Stahlbaum, C. C., & Houpt, K. A. (1989). The role of the Flehmen response in the behavioral repertoire of the stallion. Physiol. Behav., 45(6), 1207–1214.
Abstract: The role of the Flehmen response in equine behavior was investigated under field and laboratory conditions. In Experiment 1, a field study made of five stallions on pasture with between three and eighteen mares each during the season indicated the following: 1) The Flehmen response was most frequently preceded by nasal, rather than oral, investigation of substances; 2) The stallions' rate of Flehmen varied with the estrous cycles of the mares; 3) The rate of Flehmen response did not show a variation with time of day; and 4) The Flehmen response was most frequently followed by marking behaviors rather than courtship behaviors. The results suggest that the Flehmen response is not an immediate component of sexual behavior, e.g., courtship of the stallion but may be involved in the overall monitoring of the mare's estrous cycle. Therefore the Flehmen response may contribute to the chemosensory priming of the stallion for reproduction. In Experiment 2 stallions were presented with urine or feces of mares in various stages of the reproductive cycle as well as with their own or other males' urine or feces. The occurrence of sniffing and Flehmen was used to determine the discriminatory ability of the stallions. Stallions can differentiate the sex of a horse on the basis of its feces alone, but cannot differentiate on the basis of urine. This ability may explain the function of fecal marking behavior of stallions.
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Doligez, B., Danchin, E., & Clobert, J. (2002). Public information and breeding habitat selection in a wild bird population. Science, 297(5584), 1168–1170.
Abstract: According to the “public information” hypothesis, some animal species may monitor the current reproductive success of conspecifics to assess local habitat quality and to choose their own subsequent breeding site. To test this hypothesis experimentally, we manipulated two components of public information, the mean number of offspring raised locally (“quantity”) and their condition (“quality”), in the collared flycatcher Ficedula albicollis. Immigration rate decreased with local offspring quantity but did not depend on local offspring quality, suggesting that immigrants are deprived of information regarding local quality. Conversely, emigration rate increased both when local offspring quantity or quality decreased, suggesting that residents can use both components of public information.
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