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Fürst, A. (2013). Haltungsbedingte Erkrankungen und Verletzungen des Pferdes: Vor- und Nachteile der verschiedenen Haltungssystemen aus medizinischer Sicht.
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Pedersen, E. J., Kurzban, R., & McCullough, M. E. (2013). Do humans really punish altruistically? A closer look. Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B, 280(1758).
Abstract: Some researchers have proposed that natural selection has given rise in humans to one or more adaptations for altruistically punishing on behalf of other individuals who have been treated unfairly, even when the punisher has no chance of benefiting via reciprocity or benefits to kin. However, empirical support for the altruistic punishment hypothesis depends on results from experiments that are vulnerable to potentially important experimental artefacts. Here, we searched for evidence of altruistic punishment in an experiment that precluded these artefacts. In so doing, we found that victims of unfairness punished transgressors, whereas witnesses of unfairness did not. Furthermore, witnesses’ emotional reactions to unfairness were characterized by envy of the unfair individual's selfish gains rather than by moralistic anger towards the unfair behaviour. In a second experiment run independently in two separate samples, we found that previous evidence for altruistic punishment plausibly resulted from affective forecasting error—that is, limitations on humans’ abilities to accurately simulate how they would feel in hypothetical situations. Together, these findings suggest that the case for altruistic punishment in humans—a view that has gained increasing attention in the biological and social sciences—has been overstated.
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Freidin, E., Putrino, N., D’Orazio, M., & Bentosela, M. (2013). Dogs’ Eavesdropping from People’s Reactions in Third Party Interactions. PLoS ONE, 8(11), e79198 EP -.
Abstract: <p>Eavesdropping involves the acquisition of information from third-party interactions, and can serve to indirectly attribute reputation to individuals. There is evidence on eavesdropping in dogs, indicating that they can develop a preference for people based on their cooperativeness towards others. In this study, we tested dogs’ eavesdropping abilities one step further. In a first experiment, dogs could choose between cooperative demonstrators (the donors) who always gave food to an approaching third person (the beggar); here, the only difference between donors was whether they received positive or negative reactions from the beggar (through verbal and gestural means). Results showed that dogs preferentially approached the donor who had received positive reactions from the beggar. By contrast, two different conditions showed that neither the beggar’s body gestures nor the verbal component of the interaction on their own were sufficient to affect the dogs’ preferences. We also ran two further experiments to test for the possibility of dogs’ choices being driven by local enhancement. When the donors switched places before the choice, dogs chose at random. Similarly, in a nonsocial condition in which donors were replaced by platforms, subjects chose at chance levels. We conclude that dogs’ nonrandom choices in the present protocol relied on the simultaneous presence of multiple cues, such as the place where donors stood and several features of the beggar’s behavior (gestural and verbal reactions, and eating behavior). Nonetheless, we did not find conclusive evidence that dogs discriminated the donors by their physical features, which is a prerequisite of reputation attribution.</p>
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Leblanc, M. - A. (2013). The mind of the horse, An Introduction to Equine Cognition. Harvard, MA: Harvard University Press.
Abstract: Horses were first domesticated about 6,000 years ago on the vast Eurasian steppe extending from Mongolia to the Carpathian Mountains. Yet only in the last two decades have scientists begun to explore the specific mental capacities of these animals. Responding to a surge of interest in fields from ethology to comparative psychology and evolutionary biology, Michel-Antoine Leblanc presents an encyclopedic synthesis of scientific knowledge about equine behavior and cognition. The Mind of the Horse provides experts and enthusiasts alike with an up-to-date understanding of how horses perceive, think about, and adapt to their physical and social worlds.
Much of what we know—or think we know—about “the intelligence of the horse” derives from fragmentary reports and anecdotal evidence. Putting this accumulated wisdom to the test, Leblanc introduces readers to rigorous experimental investigations into how horses make sense of their world under varying conditions. He describes the anatomical and neurophysiological characteristics of the horse’s brain, and offers an evolutionary perspective by comparing these features with those of other species. A horseman himself, Leblanc also considers the opinions of renowned riding masters, as well as controversies surrounding the extraordinary powers of the horse’s mind that have stirred in equestrian and scientific circles.
Although scientists understand more today about how horses think than at any time in our species’ long acquaintance with these animals, much remains in the dark. The Mind of the Horse brings together the current state of equine research and will likely stimulate surprising new discoveries.
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Siniscalchi, M., Cirone, F., Guaricci, A. C., & Quaranta, A. (2013). Catecholamine plasma levels, IFN-γ serum levels and antibodies production induced by rabies vaccine in dogs selected for their paw preference. Laterality: Asymmetries of Body, Brain and Cognition, 19(5), 522–532.
Abstract: To explore the possible role of the sympathetic nervous activity in the asymmetrical crosstalk between the brain and immune system, catecholamine (E, NE) plasma levels, Interferon-? (IFN-?) serum levels and production of antibodies induced by rabies vaccine in dogs selected for their paw preference were measured. The results showed that the direction of behavioural lateralization influenced both epinephrine levels and immune response in dogs. A different kinetic of epinephrine levels after immunization was observed in left-pawed dogs compared to both right-pawed and ambidextrous dogs. The titers of antirabies antibodies were lower in left-pawed dogs than in right-pawed and ambidextrous dogs. Similarly, the IFN-? serum levels were lower in left-pawed dogs than in the other two groups. Taken together, these findings showed that the left-pawed group appeared to be consistently the different group stressing the fundamental role played by the sympathetic nervous system as a mechanistic basis for the crosstalk between the brain and the immune system.
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Yorke, J., Nugent, W., Strand, E., Bolen, R., New, J., & Davis, C. (2013). Equine-assisted therapy and its impact on cortisol levels of children and horses: a pilot study and meta-analysis. Early Child Development and Care, 183(7), 874–894.
Abstract: Childhood trauma, abuse or neglect impacts the function and structure of the brain of affected children. Attunement with other beings as well as an enriched environment can contribute to normal brain development. The enriched environment of a barn and attunement with an animal may contribute to reductions in stress for traumatised children. A pilot study, using a multiple base line, single case design included four children with post-traumatic stress syndrome (aged eight to ten years) and four therapy riding horses. This study hypothesised that cortisol would correlate between each child?horse pair, using a 12-day intervention that included six consecutive days of riding and grooming. A meta-analysis was completed of correlation levels of four child?horse pairs The weighted mean cross-correlation, controlling for autocorrelation, was 0.23, Z?=?3.03, approximate 95% confidence interval 0.23?±?(1.96???0.076) or 0.08 to 0.38. The data suggest a need for further research.
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Figueroa, J., Solà-Oriol, D., Manteca, X., & Pérez, J. F. (2013). Social learning of feeding behaviour in pigs: Effects of neophobia and familiarity with the demonstrator conspecific. Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci., 148(1), 120–127.
Abstract: Social interactions facilitate animals learning of new features of their environment minimizing a trial and error process. It has been observed in some species that food cues can be acquired by one individual (the observer) from an animal model (demonstrator) due to social learning. Three experiments were performed to evaluate whether weaned piglets may show a preference for a flavoured feed following brief social interactions (30min) with an experienced demonstrator. After the social interaction between demonstrator and observer pigs, a 30-min choice test between the flavoured feed previously eaten by demonstrators (DEM-feed) and other flavoured feed (OTH-feed; Exp. 1 and 2) or a known unflavoured starter diet (Exp. 3) was performed with observer animals. Greater intake of DEM-feed occurred when demonstrators and observers were from the same pen (Exp. 1) or from the same litter (Exp. 2), but not when observers and demonstrators were unfamiliar with each other (Exp. 1). Observers also preferred flavours previously eaten by the demonstrator over their unflavoured diet already known. Social interactions with a conspecific pig that had a recent experience with a flavoured feed enhanced the preference for that feed and could even override neophobia to a new feed. The familiarity of conspecific demonstrators plays a key role in social learning of new feed cues probably due to selective exploration involving closer snout-to-snout contacts with kin conspecifics.
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GONÇALVES DA SILVA, A., CAMPOS-ARCEIZ, A., & ZAVADA, M. S. (2013). On tapir ecology, evolution and conservation: what we know and future perspectives–part II. Integrative Zoology, 8(1), 1–3.
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Murray, L. M. A., Byrne, K., & D’Eath, R. B. (2013). Pair-bonding and companion recognition in domestic donkeys, <em>Equus asinus</em>. Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci., 143(1), 67–74.
Abstract: Pair and social bonding has been documented in various taxa, where pair formations are often described as being driven by kinship or sexual motivation. However, pair-bonding between unrelated individuals where sexual motivation is not a factor is not well documented. Many social relationships and pair-bonds between members of a dyad are facilitated by each individual's ability to recognise their partner using cues which are characteristic of that particular individual. The aims of this study were i) to investigate the existence of pair-bonding in domestic donkeys and ii) to determine whether members of a dyad could recognise their companion during a Y-maze recognition test. Subjects were 55 unrelated donkeys (38 gelded males, 15 females) in seven groups of mixed or same sex, comprising 4?14 individuals. Spatial proximity (nearest-neighbour) was observed three times a day over a 22-day period. Using a simulation approach based on observed data to generate randomised nearest-neighbour matrices, the statistical significance of social relationships was estimated. Of these, 42 (79.2%) were involved in significantly (p<0.05) non-random nearest-neighbour relationships, most of which were reciprocal pair relationships. Based on the spatial data, 24 of the donkeys which had shown significant reciprocal nearest-neighbour preferences for one individual (companion) were then used in a Y-maze recognition test in which they were presented with a choice of their companion and either a familiar donkey from the same group or an unfamiliar donkey from a different group. Donkeys? spatial location in the Y-maze demonstrated a preference for their companion versus familiar (one sample Wilcoxon signed rank test, W=239, p=0.002) or unfamiliar donkeys (W=222, p=0.041). These results verify anecdotal evidence from donkey handlers that donkeys often form pair-bonds, and show that reciprocal social preference and recognition are the basis of these. Pair-bond formation and companionship among donkeys have potential implications for their management, husbandry and welfare.
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Petersen, J. L., Mickelson, J. R., Cothran, E. G., Andersson, L. S., Axelsson, J., Bailey, E., et al. (2013). Genetic Diversity in the Modern Horse Illustrated from Genome-Wide SNP Data. Plos One, 8(1), e54997.
Abstract: Horses were domesticated from the Eurasian steppes 5,000-6,000 years ago. Since then, the use of horses for transportation, warfare, and agriculture, as well as selection for desired traits and fitness, has resulted in diverse populations distributed across the world, many of which have become or are in the process of becoming formally organized into closed, breeding populations (breeds). This report describes the use of a genome-wide set of autosomal SNPs and 814 horses from 36 breeds to provide the first detailed description of equine breed diversity. FST calculations, parsimony, and distance analysis demonstrated relationships among the breeds that largely reflect geographic origins and known breed histories. Low levels of population divergence were observed between breeds that are relatively early on in the process of breed development, and between those with high levels of within-breed diversity, whether due to large population size, ongoing outcrossing, or large within-breed phenotypic diversity. Populations with low within-breed diversity included those which have experienced population bottlenecks, have been under intense selective pressure, or are closed populations with long breed histories. These results provide new insights into the relationships among and the diversity within breeds of horses. In addition these results will facilitate future genome-wide association studies and investigations into genomic targets of selection.
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