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Huxley, J. (2006). Equine interspecies aggression (Vol. 159).
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Zhao, C. J., Qin, Y. H., Lee, X. H., & Wu, C. (2006). Molecular and cytogenetic paternity testing of a male offspring of a hinny. J Anim Breed Genet, 123(6), 403–405.
Abstract: An alleged male foal of a female mule, whose sire and grandparents were unknown, was identified for its pedigree. Parentage testing was conducted by comparing polymorphism of 12 microsatellite DNA sites and mitochondrial D-loop sequences of the male foal and the female mule. Both the sequence analysis of species-specific DNA fragments and a cytogenetic analysis were performed to identify the species of the foal and its parents. The results showed that the alleged female mule is actually a hinny, and the male foal, which possesses 62 chromosomes, qualifies as an offspring of the female hinny and a jack donkey.
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Overli, O., Sorensen, C., Pulman, K. G. T., Pottinger, T. G., Korzan, W., Summers, C. H., et al. (2007). Evolutionary background for stress-coping styles: relationships between physiological, behavioral, and cognitive traits in non-mammalian vertebrates. Neurosci Biobehav Rev, 31(3), 396–412.
Abstract: Reactions to stress vary between individuals, and physiological and behavioral responses tend to be associated in distinct suites of correlated traits, often termed stress-coping styles. In mammals, individuals exhibiting divergent stress-coping styles also appear to exhibit intrinsic differences in cognitive processing. A connection between physiology, behavior, and cognition was also recently demonstrated in strains of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) selected for consistently high or low cortisol responses to stress. The low-responsive (LR) strain display longer retention of a conditioned response, and tend to show proactive behaviors such as enhanced aggression, social dominance, and rapid resumption of feed intake after stress. Differences in brain monoamine neurochemistry have also been reported in these lines. In comparative studies, experiments with the lizard Anolis carolinensis reveal connections between monoaminergic activity in limbic structures, proactive behavior in novel environments, and the establishment of social status via agonistic behavior. Together these observations suggest that within-species diversity of physiological, behavioral and cognitive correlates of stress responsiveness is maintained by natural selection throughout the vertebrate sub-phylum.
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Scheibe, K. M., & Gromann, C. (2006). Application testing of a new three-dimensional acceleration measuring system with wireless data transfer (WAS) for behavior analysis (Vol. 38).
Abstract: A wireless acceleration measurement system was applied to free-moving cows and horses. Sensors were available as a collar and a flat box for measuring leg or trunk movements. Results were transmitted simultaneously by radio or stored in an 8-MB internal memory. As analytical procedures, frequency distributions with standard deviations, spectral analyses, and fractal analyses were applied. Bymeans of the collar sensor, basic behavior patterns (standing, grazing, walking, ruminating, drinking, and hay uptake) could be identified in cows. Lameness could be detected in cows and horses by means of the leg sensor. The portion of basic and harmonic spectral components was reduced; the fractal dimension was reduced. The system can be used for the detection and analysis of even small movements of free-moving humans or animals over several hours. It is convenient for the analysis of basic behaviors, emotional reactions, or events causing flight or fright or for comparing different housing elements, such as floors or fences.
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Kralj-Fiser, S., Scheiber, I. B. R., Blejec, A., Moestl, E., & Kotrschal, K. (2007). Individualities in a flock of free-roaming greylag geese: behavioral and physiological consistency over time and across situations. Horm Behav, 51(2), 239–248.
Abstract: The concept of personality implies individual differences in behavior and physiology that show some degree of repeatability/consistency over time and across contexts. Most studies of animal personality, particularly studies of individuals' variation in physiological mechanisms, have been conducted on selected individuals in controlled conditions. We attempted to detect consistent behaviors as well as physiological patterns in greylag ganders (Anser anser) from a free-roaming flock living in semi-natural conditions. We tested 10 individuals repeatedly, in a handling trial, resembling tests for characterization of “temperaments” in captive animals. We recorded the behavior of the same 10 individuals during four situations in the socially intact flock: (1) a “low density feeding condition”, (2) a “high density feeding condition”, (3) a “low density post-feeding situation” and (4) while the geese rested. We collected fecal samples for determination of excreted immuno-reactive corticosterone (BM) and testosterone metabolites (TM) after handling trials, as well as the “low density feeding” and the “high density feeding” conditions. BM levels were very highly consistent over the repeats of handling trials, and the “low density feeding condition” and tended to be consistent over the first two repeats of the “high density feeding condition”. Also, BM responses tended to be consistent across contexts. Despite seasonal variation, there tended to be inter-test consistency of TM, which pointed to some individual differences in TM as well. Aggressiveness turned out to be a highly repeatable trait, which was consistent across social situations, and tended to correlate with an individual's resistance during handling trials. Also, “proximity to the female partner” and “sociability” – the average number of neighboring geese in a close distance while resting – were consistent. We conclude that aggressiveness, “affiliative tendencies” and levels of excreted corticosterone and testosterone metabolites may be crucial factors of personality in geese.
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Bouchard, J., Goodyer, W., & Lefebvre, L. (2007). Social learning and innovation are positively correlated in pigeons (Columba livia). Anim. Cogn., 10(2), 259–266.
Abstract: When animals show both frequent innovation and fast social learning, new behaviours can spread more rapidly through populations and potentially increase rates of natural selection and speciation, as proposed by A.C. Wilson in his behavioural drive hypothesis. Comparative work on primates suggests that more innovative species also show more social learning. In this study, we look at intra-specific variation in innovation and social learning in captive wild-caught pigeons. Performances on an innovative problem-solving task and a social learning task are positively correlated in 42 individuals. The correlation remains significant when the effects of neophobia on the two abilities are removed. Neither sex nor dominance rank are associated with performance on the two tasks. Free-flying flocks of urban pigeons are able to solve the innovative food-finding problem used on captive birds, demonstrating it is within the range of their natural capacities. Taken together with the comparative literature, the positive correlation between innovation and social learning suggests that the two abilities are not traded-off.
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Mills, D. S. (2007). Comments about the importance of behaviour to equine clinicians. Equine Vet J, 39(1), 95.
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Anderson, J. R., Kuwahata, H., & Fujita, K. (2007). Gaze alternation during “pointing” by squirrel monkeys (Saimiri sciureus)? Anim. Cogn., 10(2), 267–271.
Abstract: Gaze alternation (GA) is considered a hallmark of pointing in human infants, a sign of intentionality underlying the gesture. GA has occasionally been observed in great apes, and reported only anecdotally in a few monkeys. Three squirrel monkeys that had previously learned to reach toward out-of-reach food in the presence of a human partner were videotaped while the latter visually attended to the food, a distractor object, or the ceiling. Frame-by-frame video analysis revealed that, especially when reaching toward the food, the monkeys rapidly and repeatedly switched between looking at the partner's face and the food. This type of GA suggests that the monkeys were communicating with the partner. However, the monkeys' behavior was not influenced by changes in the partner's focus of attention.
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Zucca, P., Milos, N., & Vallortigara, G. (2007). Piagetian object permanence and its development in Eurasian jays (Garrulus glandarius). Anim. Cogn., 10(2), 243–258.
Abstract: Object permanence in Eurasian jays (Garrulus glandarius) was investigated using a complete version of the Uzgiris and Hunt scale 1. Nine hand-raised jays were studied, divided into two groups according to their different developmental stages (experiment 1, older jays: 2-3 months old, n = 4; experiment 2, younger jays: 15 days old, n = 5). In the first experiment, we investigated whether older jays could achieve piagetian stage 6 of object permanence. Tasks were administered in a fixed sequence (1-15) according to the protocols used in other avian species. The aim of the second experiment was to check whether testing very young jays before their development of “neophobia” could influence the achievement times of piagetian stages. Furthermore, in this experiment tasks were administered randomly to investigate whether the jays' achievement of stage 6 follows a fixed sequence related to the development of specific cognitive abilities. All jays tested in experiments 1 and 2 fully achieved piagetian stage 6 and no “A not B” errors were observed. Performance on visible displacement tasks was better than performance on invisible ones. The results of experiment 2 show that “neophobia” affected the response of jays in terms of achievement times; the older jays in experiment 1 took longer to pass all the tasks when compared with the younger, less neophobic, jays in experiment 2. With regard to the achieving order, jays followed a fixed sequence of acquisition in experiment 2, even if tasks were administered randomly, with the exception of one subject. The results of these experiments support the idea that piagetian stages of cognitive development exist in avian species and that they progress through relatively fixed sequences.
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Meral, Y., Cakiroglu, D., Sancak, A. A., Cyftcy, G., & Karabacak, A. (2007). Relationships between serum serotonin and serum lipid levels, and aggression in horses. Dtsch Tierarztl Wochenschr, 114(1), 30–32.
Abstract: Levels of serum serotonin and serum lipids--triglyceride, total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein, high-density lipoprotein and very low-density lipoprotein, were determined in normal horses and horses diagnosed with aggression on the basis of a questionnaire survey. Blood serotonin levels in aggressive horses were found to be significantly lower than in non-aggressive horses (P < 0.01), but no association was found with respect to blood lipids.
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