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Hildenbrandt, H., Carere, C., & Hemelrijk, C. K. (2010). Self-organized aerial displays of thousands of starlings: a model. Behav. Ecol., 21(6), 1349–1359.
Abstract: Through combining theoretical models and empirical data, complexity science has increased our understanding of social behavior of animals, in particular of social insects, primates, and fish. What are missing are studies of collective behavior of huge swarms of birds. Recently detailed empirical data have been collected of the swarming maneuvers of large flocks of thousands of starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) at their communal sleeping site (roost). Their flocking maneuvers are of dazzling complexity in their changes in density and flock shape, but the processes underlying them are still a mystery. Recent models show that flocking may arise by self-organization from rules of co-ordination with nearby neighbors, but patterns in these models come nowhere near the complexity of those of the real starlings. The question of this paper, therefore, is whether such complex patterns can emerge by self-organization. In our computer model, called StarDisplay, we combine the usual rules of co-ordination based on separation, attraction, and alignment with specifics of starling behavior: 1) simplified aerodynamics of flight, especially rolling during turning, 2) movement above a “roosting area” (sleeping site), and 3) the low fixed number of interaction neighbors (i.e., the topological range). Our model generates patterns that resemble remarkably not only qualitative but also quantitative empirical data collected in Rome through video recordings and position measurements by stereo photography. Our results provide new insights into the mechanisms underlying complex flocking maneuvers of starlings and other birds.
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Krueger, K. (2010). “Erfasst” das Pferd die menschliche Psyche". In M. Dettling, C. Opgen-Rhein, & M. Kläschen (Eds.), Pferdegestützte Therapie bei psychischen Erkrankungen (pp. 40–51). Stuttgart: Schattauer Verlag.
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Rose-Meierhöfer, S., Standke, K., & Hoffmann, G. (2010). Auswirkungen verschiedener Gruppengrößen auf Bewegungsaktivität, Body Condition Score, Liege- und Sozialverhalten bei Jungpferden. Züchtungskunde, 82(4), 282–291.
Abstract: Ziel der Untersuchung war es, herauszufinden, welche Auswirkungen eine Erhöhung der
Gruppengröße bei Jungpferden auf die Bewegungsaktivität, das Liege- und Sozialverhalten und die Körperkondition hat. Hierfür wurden insgesamt 42 Pferde im Alter von ein bis zwei Jahren in Laufstallhaltung in die Untersuchung einbezogen. Die Jungpferde aus der Bewegungs- und Liegeverhaltensanalyse waren in zwei Kleingruppen (acht und 11 Tiere) und einer Großgruppe (23 Tiere) aufgestallt. In der Bewegungsaktivität waren deutliche Unterschiede zu erkennen. Es ließ sich ein positiver Einfluss einer höheren Tierzahl nachweisen, aber kein Einfluss des Alters. Beim Ruheverhalten konnten höhere Liegezeiten und -frequenzen mit einer Zunahme der Gruppengröße und eine Abnahme der Liegezeit mit zunehmendem Alter ermittelt werden. Eine Störung des Liegeverhaltens durch Gruppengrößen, die nicht der natürlichen Herdenstruktur des Pferdes entsprechen, wurde nicht nachgewiesen. Jedoch hatte die Haltung der Jährlinge in der großen Gruppe einen Anstieg der repulsiven Verhaltensweisen zur Konsequenz. Zudem zeigte die Bestimmung des Body Condition Scores Unterschiede in der Körperkondition bei den Jährlingen der Groß- bzw. der Kleingruppe. Einem Mangel an Bewegung, der für das Auftreten von Gliedmaßenerkrankungen und Verhaltensstörungen verantwortlich gemacht wird, kann durch die Haltung von Jungpferden in großen Gruppen entgegengewirkt werden. [It is often discussed that the inactivity of horses causes diseases of their musculoskeletal system. Due to these problems the objective of the investigation was to quantify if the size of a group has an effect on the behaviour of young horses. Data from 42 horses in the age of one to two years have been involved in the investigation. The data of two small groups were compared with data of one big group with 23 horses. The movement and lying behaviour of 28 horses were measured with ALT pedometers. The social behaviour of 33 yearlings was documented by direct observation. The results show that the median of the movement time of horses in group A is 82 minutes per day. In group B this increases to a median of 101 and group C reaches the highest median of 149. In the case of lying time an increasing group size leads to a longer duration and a higher frequency of lying, whereas an increase in the age reduces the lying duration. International research studies have shown that keeping of horses in big group husbandry systems is not very common by the owners of horses. In contrast these investigations have shown that horse keeping in big groups has no negative influence on the social behaviour and the Body Condition Score of young horses.] |
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Horváth, G., Blahó, M., Kriska, G., Hegedüs, R., Gerics, B., Farkas, R., et al. (2010). An unexpected advantage of whiteness in horses: the most horsefly-proof horse has a depolarizing white coat. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 277(1688), 1643–1650.
Abstract: White horses frequently suffer from malign skin cancer and visual deficiencies owing to their high sensitivity to the ultraviolet solar radiation. Furthermore, in the wild, white horses suffer a larger predation risk than dark individuals because they can more easily be detected. In spite of their greater vulnerability, white horses have been highly appreciated for centuries owing to their natural rarity. Here, we show that blood-sucking tabanid flies, known to transmit disease agents to mammals, are less attracted to white than dark horses. We also demonstrate that tabanids use reflected polarized light from the coat as a signal to find a host. The attraction of tabanids to mainly black and brown fur coats is explained by positive polarotaxis. As the host's colour determines its attractiveness to tabanids, this parameter has a strong influence on the parasite load of the host. Although we have studied only the tabanid–horse interaction, our results can probably be extrapolated to other host animals of polarotactic tabanids, as the reflection–polarization characteristics of the host's body surface are physically the same, and thus not species-dependent.
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Maros, K., Boross, B., & Kubinyi, E. (2010). Approach and follow behaviour – possible indicators of the human-horse relationship. In Interaction Studies (Vol. 11, pp. 410–427).
Abstract: The aim of our study was to analyze the behavioural responses of horses (N = 51) to familiar humans and to find factors that may affect these responses in three tests: (1) approach to, (2) standing beside, and (3) following the familiar person. We investigated the impacts of horse-related factors (gender and age) and human-related factors (type of work, housing management, amount of handling, number of handlers and training to follow).<br xmlns=“http://pub2web.metastore.ingenta.com/ns/”></br> Horses with one handler needed less time to approach the human than horses with more handlers. Standing beside the human correlated positively with following. Following was mainly affected by training.<br xmlns=“http://pub2web.metastore.ingenta.com/ns/”></br> According to our results, the number of handlers has an important effect on horses' responses to familiar humans, especially regarding approach and follow behaviour. However, following behaviour is fundamentally determined by training.
Keywords: Approach; Follow; Human– Horse Interaction
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Zeitler-Feicht, M. H., Streit, S., & Dempfle, L. (2010). Automatic feeding systems for horses in group housing systems with regard to animal welfare. Part 1: Feeding stalls versus automatic feeding systems. Tierärztl Prax, 38(G), 363–370.
Abstract: Gegenstand und Ziel: Überprüfung der Tiergerechtheit von Abrufstationen
für Kraftfutter und Heu in der Gruppenhaltung von Pferden anhand ethologischer und physiologischer Parameter im Vergleich zu konventionellen Fressständen. Material und Methoden: Die Verhaltensbeobachtungen fanden in 11 bzw. 10 Offenlaufställen mit Abrufstationen bzw. Fressständen statt. 270 Pferde wurden individuell unterschieden. Untersuchungsparameter waren: Drohverhalten mit und ohne Verletzungsrisiko, Meideverhalten, Verdrängung aus dem Fressstand sowie Herzfrequenz und Integumentverletzungen. In jedem Betrieb erfolgten kontinuierliche Direktbeobachtungen für je einen 24-Stunden-Tag (Tortenstückverfahren). Ergebnisse: Im Wartebereich der Abrufautomaten traten signifikant mehr Drohgesten ohne bzw. mit Verletzungsgefahr je Pferd und Tag (8,6 bzw. 3,0) auf als im Wartebereich der Fressstände (3,4 bzw. 0,9). Demgegenüber konnten die Pferde in Abrufstationen (1,4 Drohgesten je Pferd und Tag) ungestörter fressen als in Fressständen (3,2 Drohgesten je Pferd und Tag). Insgesamt betrachtet ergab sich jedoch bei beiden Fütterungssystemen eine geringe Anzahl an sozionegativen Interaktionen im Bereich der Futtereinrichtungen. Die Herzfrequenz lag im Warteareal im Durchschnitt im physiologischen Bereich (44,59 ± 11,73 Schläge/min). Integumentverletzungen im Zusammenhang mit dem Fütterungssystem traten nicht auf. Der wichtigste Einflussfaktor auf die Untersuchungskriterien war der Betrieb (Fläche, Konzeption, Management). Schlussfolgerung: Unter dem Aspekt der Tiergerechtheit hinsichtlich des Stress- und Verletzungsrisikos durch soziale Interaktionen eignen sich bei ordnungsgemäßer Gruppenhaltung mit fachgerechtem Management sowohl Fressstände als auch Abrufstationen für Pferde im Offenlaufstall. [Objective: A comparison with regard to animal welfare of feeding stalls and automatic feeding systems for hay and concentrates in group housing systems for horses using parameters of ethology and physiology. Material and method: The observations of animal behaviour took place in 10 stables with feeding stalls and in 11 stables with automatic feeding systems. The field around the feeding systems was divided into three areas with comparable dimensions (waiting area, exit area and inside of the feeding system). 270 horses were individually observed. Parameters of research comprised: threatening behaviour with and without risk of injury, avoiding behaviour, ”chasing away from the feeding place”, as well as heart rate and injuries of the integument. Every group of horses was continuously observed for 24 hours. This observation took place on four different days and comprised six sessions, each of 4 hours. Results: In the waiting area of the automatic systems there were significantly more threatening gestures with and without risk of injuries for each horse and day (8.6 and 3.0, respectively) than in the waiting area of the feeding stalls. In contrast, the horses could eat more relaxed in the automatic systems (1.4 threatening gestures for each horse and day) than in the feeding stalls (3.2 threatening gestures for each horse and day). All together the number of negative interactions in the feeding area of both feeding systems was relatively low. The heart rate was within the physiological range (44,59 ± 11,73 beats/min) in the waiting area. There were no injuries of the integument in correlation with the feeding systems. The most important factor of the observation criteria was the individual group housing system with its different dimension, conception and management. Conclusion: Under the aspect of animal welfare both feeding systems are suitable for horses with respect to the risk of stress and injuries by social interactions and under the condition of proper group housing with professional management.] |
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Massen, J., Sterck, E., & de Vos, H. (2010). Close social associations in animals and humans: functions and mechanisms of friendship (Vol. 147).
Abstract: Both humans and group-living animals associate and behave affiliatively more with some individuals than others. Human friendship has long been acknowledged, and recently scientists studying animal behaviour have started using the term friendship for close social associates in animals. Yet, while biologists describe friends as social tools to enhance fitness, social scientists describe human friendship as unconditional. We investigate whether these different descriptions reflect true differences in human friendship and animal close social associations or are a by-product of different research approaches: namely social scientists focussing on proximate and biologists on ultimate explanations. We first stress the importance of similar measures to determine close social associations, thereafter examine their ultimate benefits and proximate motivations, and discuss the latest findings on the central-neural regulation of social bonds. We conclude that both human friendship and animal close social associations are ultimately beneficial. On the proximate level, motivations for friendship in humans and for close social associations in animals are not necessarily based on benefits and are often unconditional. Moreover, humans share with many animals a similar physiological basis of sociality. Therefore, biologists and social scientist describe the same phenomenon, and the use of the term friendship for animals seems justified.
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Bentley-Condit, V., & Smith, E. O. (2010). Animal tool use: current definitions and an updated comprehensive catalog. Behaviour, 147(2), 185–32.
Abstract: Despite numerous attempts to define animal tool use over the past four decades, the definition remains elusive and the behaviour classification somewhat subjective. Here, we provide a brief review of the definitions of animal tool use and show how those definitions have been modified over time. While some aspects have remained constant (i.e., the distinction between 'true' and 'borderline' tool use), others have been added (i.e., the distinction between 'dynamic' and 'static' behaviours). We present an updated, comprehensive catalog of documented animal tool use that indicates whether the behaviours observed included any 'true' tool use, whether the observations were limited to captive animals, whether tool manufacture has been observed, and whether the observed tool use was limited to only one individual and, thus, 'anecdotal' (i.e., N = 1). Such a catalog has not been attempted since Beck (1980). In addition to being a useful reference for behaviourists, this catalog demonstrates broad tool use and manufacture trends that may be of interest to phylogenists, evolutionary ecologists, and cognitive evolutionists. Tool use and tool manufacture are shown to be widespread across three phyla and seven classes of the animal kingdom. Moreover, there is complete overlap between the Aves and Mammalia orders in terms of the tool use categories (e.g., food extraction, food capture, agonism) arguing against any special abilities of mammals. The majority of tool users, almost 85% of the entries, use tools in only one of the tool use categories. Only members of the Passeriformes and Primates orders have been observed to use tools in four or more of the ten categories. Thus, observed tool use by some members of these two orders (e.g., Corvus, Papio) is qualitatively different from that of all other animal taxa. Finally, although there are similarities between Aves and Mammalia, and Primates and Passeriformes, primate tool use is qualitatively different. Approximately 35% of the entries for this order demonstrate a breadth of tool use (i.e., three or more categories by any one species) compared to other mammals (0%), Aves (2.4%), and the Passeriformes (3.1%). This greater breadth in tool use by some organisms may involve phylogenetic or cognitive differences � or may simply reflect differences in length and intensity of observations. The impact that tool usage may have had on groups' respective ecological niches and, through niche-construction, on their respective evolutionary trajectories remains a subject for future study.
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Krueger, K. (2010). Das Pferd im Blickpunkt der Wissenschaft. Wald: Xenophon Verlag.
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Krueger, K., & Krueger, K. (2010). Trainingslehre für Dressurpferde [Training the Dressage Horse]. Wald: Xenophon Verlag.
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