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Author Jennings, D.J.
Title Limited evidence that visual lateralization is associated with fitness in rutting male fallow deer Type Journal Article
Year 2014 Publication (up) Animal Behaviour Abbreviated Journal Anim. Behav.
Volume 92 Issue Pages 85-91
Keywords aggression; contest behaviour; Dama dama; fallow deer; lateral display; lateralization; mating success; third-party intervention behaviour
Abstract Under certain models of animal competition, individuals are expected to gather information about opponent quality in order to determine whether they should fight or withdraw. However, the ability to process complex information differs between individuals and across brain hemispheres: a feature of vertebrate cognition known as lateralization that is not anticipated by contest models. I investigated the relationship between aggressive behaviour and mating success during the fallow deer, Dama dama, rut and a measure of lateralization derived from eye preference during parallel walking. Results show that there was no relationship between the tendency to escalate to fighting or predictability in the tendency to engage in fighting and lateralization. Conversely, there was a quadratic relationship between third-party intervention behaviour and lateralization: the greater the tendency to intervene in ongoing fights the lower the degree of lateralization. However, individuals that showed lateralization for right-eye use were least likely to be targeted by the intervening male; thus lateralization is beneficial in this context because targeted males are highly likely to lose this subsequent encounter. The relationship between lateralization and mating success was also nonlinear: males that showed little evidence for an eye bias during lateral displays had the greatest mating success. Taken together, individuals that showed lateralization benefited from avoiding being targeted after third-party intervention; conversely, individuals that showed little evidence for lateralization actively intervened during ongoing fights and had higher mating success. These results suggest that, although lateralization does appear to confer a fitness advantage on individuals, this is not as extensive as anticipated.
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ISSN 0003-3472 ISBN Medium
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Notes Approved no
Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 5802
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Author Taillon, J.; Cote, S.D.
Title Social rank and winter forage quality affect aggressiveness in white-tailed deer fawns Type Journal Article
Year 2007 Publication (up) Animal Behaviour. Abbreviated Journal Anim. Behav.
Volume 74 Issue 2 Pages 265-275
Keywords aggressiveness; agonistic behaviour; body mass loss; dominance status; forage intake; Odocoileus virginianus; resource competition; social behaviour; white-tailed deer; winter forage quality
Abstract Achieving a high social rank may be advantageous for individuals at high population densities, because dominance status may determine the priority of access to limited resources and reduce individual loss of body mass. The establishment of dominance relationships between individuals involves variable levels of aggressiveness that can be influenced by resource availability. The relationship between social rank and aggressiveness and the impacts of resource abundance on aggressiveness are, however, poorly understood, but may be relevant to understand the mechanisms determining dominance relationships between individuals. We experimentally simulated, in seminatural enclosures, a deterioration of winter forage quality induced by a high-density deer population and examined the effects of (1) social dominance and (2) diet quality on aggressiveness, forage intake and body mass loss of white-tailed deer, Odocoileus virginianus, fawns during two winters. Within diet-quality treatments, fawns were consistently organized into linear hierarchies and showed clear dominance relationships. Dominants initiated more interactions and showed higher aggressiveness than subordinates, but subordinates had higher forage intake than dominants throughout winter. Social rank did not influence cumulative body mass loss of fawns. During both winters, fawns fed the control diet maintained their aggressiveness level, whereas fawns fed the poor-quality diet decreased it. Our experimental approach revealed that white-tailed deer responded to a reduction in winter forage quality by modifying their aggressiveness, indicating that ungulates may show plasticity not only in their foraging behaviour in response to decreased resources but also in their social behaviour.
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Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 4203
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Author Lingle, S.; Rendall, D.; Pellis, S.M.
Title Altruism and recognition in the antipredator defence of deer: 1. Species and individual variation in fawn distress calls Type Journal Article
Year 2007 Publication (up) Animal Behaviour. Abbreviated Journal Anim. Behav.
Volume 73 Issue 5 Pages 897-905
Keywords acoustic signals; aggressive defence; altruism; cooperation; mule deer; Odocoileus hemionus; Odocoileus virginianus; olfactory cues; recognition error; white-tailed deer
Abstract Mule deer, Odocoileus hemionus, females actively defend fawns against predators, including nonoffspring conspecific fawns and heterospecific white-tailed deer, O. virginianus, fawns. We hypothesized that the defence of nonoffspring fawns was due to a recognition error. During a predator attack, females may have to decide whether to defend a fawn with imperfect information on its identity obtained from hearing only a few distress calls. We examined fawn distress calls to determine whether calls made by the two species and by different individuals within each species were acoustically distinctive. The mean and maximum fundamental frequencies of mule deer fawns were nearly double those of white-tailed deer fawns, with no overlap, enabling us to classify 100% of calls to the correct species using a single trait. A large proportion of calls was also assigned to the correct individual using a multivariate analysis (66% and 70% of mule deer and white-tailed deer fawns, respectively, chance = 6% and 10%); however, there was considerable statistical uncertainty in the probability of correct classification. We observed fawns approach conspecific females in an attempt to nurse; females probed most offspring fawns with their noses before accepting them, and always probed nonoffspring fawns before rejecting them, suggesting that close contact and olfactory information were needed to unequivocally distinguish nonoffspring from offspring fawns. Taken together, these results suggest that acoustic variation alone would probably be sufficient to permit rapid and reliable species discrimination, but it may not be sufficient for mothers to unequivocally distinguish their own fawn from conspecific fawns.
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Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 4210
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Author Lingle, S.; Rendall, D.; Wilson, W.F.; DeYoung, R.W.; Pellis, S.M.
Title Altruism and recognition in the antipredator defence of deer: 2. Why mule deer help nonoffspring fawns Type Journal Article
Year 2007 Publication (up) Animal Behaviour. Abbreviated Journal Anim. Behav.
Volume 73 Issue 5 Pages 907-916
Keywords aggressive defence; altruism; behavioural discrimination; cooperation; motivational constraint; mule deer; Odocoileus hemionus; Odocoileus virginianus; recognition error; white-tailed deer
Abstract Both white-tailed deer, Odocoileus virginianus, and mule deer, O. hemionus, females defend fawns against coyotes, Canis latrans, but only mule deer defend nonoffspring conspecific and heterospecific fawns. During a predator attack, females may have to decide whether to defend a fawn while having imperfect information on its identity obtained from hearing a few distress calls. Although imperfect recognition can influence altruistic behaviour, few empirical studies have considered this point when testing functional explanations for altruism. We designed a series of playback experiments with fawn distress calls to test alternative hypotheses (by-product of parental care, kin selection, reciprocal altruism) for the mule deer's defence of nonoffspring, specifically allowing for the possibility that females mistake these fawns for their own. White-tailed deer females approached the speaker only when distress calls of white-tailed deer fawns were played and when their own fawn was hidden, suggesting that fawn defence was strictly a matter of parental care in this species. In contrast, mule deer females responded similarly and strongly, regardless of the caller's identity, the female's reproductive state (mother or nonmother) or the presence of their own offspring. The failure of mule deer females to adjust their responses to these conditions suggests that they do not defend nonoffspring because they mistake them for their own fawns. The lack of behavioural discrimination also suggests that kin selection, reciprocal altruism and defence of the offspring's area are unlikely to explain the mule deer's defence of nonoffspring. We identify causal and functional questions that still need to be addressed to understand why mule deer defend fawns so indiscriminately.
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Notes Approved no
Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 4211
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Author Jennings, D.J.; Carlin, C.M.; Gammell, M.P.
Title A winner effect supports third-party intervention behaviour during fallow deer, Dama dama, fights Type Journal Article
Year 2009 Publication (up) Animal Behaviour. Abbreviated Journal Anim. Behav.
Volume 77 Issue 2 Pages 343-348
Keywords Dama dama; dominance; fallow deer fight; third-party intervention; winner effect
Abstract Male ungulates engage in intense competition for access to females during the breeding season. Although fights are generally dyadic level encounters, they are on occasion disrupted by the intervention of third-party males. We investigated these third-party interventions using predictions derived from Dugatkin's model (Dugatkin 1998, Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, Series B, 265, 433-437) of intervention behaviour. The model argues that when an individual successfully defeats an opponent there is an increase in the probability of winning a subsequent contest: a winner effect. Third-party intervention behaviour is predicted to occur as it serves to prevent either member of a competing dyad from successfully defeating his opponent, achieving a winner effect and subsequently becoming a threat to the intervener. Consistent with model predictions, our results show that intervening males held significantly higher rank than males that did not intervene and were also more likely to be dominant to both of the competing males. Intervening males did not selectively target competitors based on rank, nor did they target males based on overall dyadic rates of aggression between the intervener and competing males. Furthermore, interveners were more likely to have won their interaction immediately prior to intervention and were also likely to win their interaction subsequent to intervention when compared with contest success of the two competing males. Our results are consistent with predictions that support a winner effect for intervention behaviour in fallow deer fights.
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ISSN 0003-3472 ISBN Medium
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Notes Approved no
Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 4946
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Author Bergvall, U.A.; Schäpers, A.; Kjellander, P.; Weiss, A.
Title Personality and foraging decisions in fallow deer, Dama dama Type Journal Article
Year Publication (up) Animal Behaviour. Abbreviated Journal Anim. Behav.
Volume In Press, Corrected Proof Issue Pages
Keywords antipredator behaviour; boldness; Dama dama; dominance; fallow deer; foraging; novelty; personality
Abstract Recent studies have examined the ecological and evolutionary bases for variation in animal personality. However, only a few such studies have examined how foraging parameters are influenced by different personality domains. In wild ungulates, the trade-off between the time spent on food intake and antipredator behaviour differs between individuals, but the underlying reason for this is not yet well understood. One possibility is that this trade-off reflects personality dimensions such as boldness. To relate foraging decisions to personality we measured personality and performed feeding experiments with familiar and novel food in familiar and novel situations. We measured personality traits in 15 tame fallow deer, using novel object tests (NO), behavioural observations (BO) and personality ratings (PR). Boldness dimensions were found using PR and NO, dominance dimensions were found using BO and PR, and a flexibility dimension was found using BO. Multitrait-multimethod analysis showed that similar dimensions were significantly correlated across different methods and that different dimensions were not significantly correlated, even if measured using the same method. We also found that novel food eaten in familiar situations and familiar food eaten in novel situations were strongly related to boldness but not dominance, flexibility or age. Thus the trade-off between the benefits of gaining more food and the costs of reduced vigilance or increased toxin ingestion reflect boldness. These findings highlight the nature of personality dimensions in ungulates and how boldness impacts foraging behaviour.
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ISSN 0003-3472 ISBN Medium
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Notes Approved no
Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 5278
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Author Goddard, P.J.; Summers, R.W.; Macdonald, A.J.; Murray, C.; Fawcett, A.R.
Title Behavioural responses of red deer to fences of five different designs Type Journal Article
Year 2001 Publication (up) Applied Animal Behaviour Science Abbreviated Journal Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci.
Volume 73 Issue 4 Pages 289-298
Keywords Red deer; Fence efficiency; Grazing behaviour
Abstract Capercaillie, a large species of grouse, are sometimes killed when they fly into high-tensile deer fences. A fence design which is lower or has a less rigid top section than conventional designs would reduce bird deaths, but such fences would still have to be deer-proof. The short-term behavioural responses of farmed red deer (Cervus elaphus) to fences of five designs, including four that were designed to be less damaging to capercaillie, were measured. Five deer were located on one side of a fence with a larger group (20 animals), from which they had been recently separated, on the other. The efficacy of fences in preventing deer from the small group from rejoining the larger group was also recorded. In addition to a conventional deer fence (C) the four new designs were, an inverted “L” shape (L), a fence with offset electric wire (E), a double fence (D) and a fence with four webbing tapes above (W). Four replicate groups of deer were each tested for 3 days with each fence design. Deer paced the test fence line relatively frequently (a proportion of 0.09 scan observations overall) but significantly less when deer were separated by fences E or C compared to L, W or D (overall difference between fence types, P<0.001). Deer separated by fence E spent significantly more time pacing perimeter fences than deer separated by fences of other types (overall difference between fence types, P<0.01) but deer separated by fence C maintained a low level of fence pacing overall. Analysis of behaviour patterns across the first day and the 3 days of exposure suggested that the novelty of the test fences, rather than the designs per se, influenced the behaviour of the deer. Over the course of the study, no deer crossed either C or L. Three deer crossed E and two deer crossed both W and D. On this basis, field testing, particularly of fence L, would be a useful next step.
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Call Number Serial 2101
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Author Pollard, J.C.; Littlejohn, R.P.
Title The effects of pen size on the behaviour of farmed red deer stags confined in yards Type Journal Article
Year 1996 Publication (up) Applied Animal Behaviour Science Abbreviated Journal Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci.
Volume 47 Issue 3-4 Pages 247-253
Keywords Red deer; Handling; Density; Aggression; Farming
Abstract To determine whether pen size affected the behaviour and welfare of farmed red deer confined temporarily in yards, four groups of ten 2-year-old stags were confined for 40 min or 2 days in each of spring and summer, in either large (5 m × 4 m ) or small (2.5 m × 4) pens. In the small pens, wall pacing and vertical/horizontal head movements at the walls were more frequently observed (P < 0.05) and were carried out by a greater percentage of the deer (P < 0.001), and distances between individuals were smaller (P < 0.01), than observations in the large pens. Aggressive activities varied seasonally, with head-butting and chasing being seen most frequently in the spring (P < 0.05) and biting and kicking being seen most frequently in the summer (P < 0.05), and the overall frequency of aggressive activities was low in summer. In spring, in small pens there were fewer threats to head-butt, head butts by moving animals, and less stepping activity than in large pens (P < 0.05). In summer, in small pens there were more threats to butt and more stepping activity than in the large pens (P < 0.05). In both seasons, aggressive activities were correlated with wall pacing (r = 0.58 and 0.55, respectively). It was concluded that the effect of pen size on the frequency and nature of aggressive and other activities varied seasonally. In order minimise aggression and stepping activity, small pens were favoured in spring and large pens were favoured in summer. However, in both seasons there were greater inter-individual distances and reduced pacing and head movements at the walls in large pens. This latter finding may indicate that the large pens were less aversive to the deer, regardless of season.
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ISSN 0168-1591 ISBN Medium
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Notes Approved no
Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 5472
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Author Taillon, J.; Côté, S.
Title Are faecal hormone levels linked to winter progression, diet quality and social rank in young ungulates ? An experiment with white-tailed deer ( Odocoileus virginianus ) fawns Type Journal Article
Year 2008 Publication (up) Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology Abbreviated Journal Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol.
Volume 62 Issue 10 Pages 675-677
Keywords Diet quality – Glucocorticoids – Social rank – Testosterone – White-tailed deer
Abstract Abstract Hormones play a central role in the physiology and behaviour of animals. The recent development of noninvasive techniques has increased information on physical and social states of individuals through hormone measurements. The relationships among hormones, life history traits and behaviours are, however, still poorly known. For the first time, we evaluated natural winter glucocorticoid and testosterone levels in young ungulates in relation to winter progression, diet quality and social rank. Overwinter, levels of glucocorticoid and testosterone decreased, possibly due to the decline of fawns" body mass. The relationships between hormone levels and diet quality were surprising: Fawns fed the control diet presented higher glucocorticoid and lower testosterone levels then fawns fed the poor diet, suggesting that control fawns faced a higher nutritional stress than those on the poor diet. Similarly to other studies on social mammals, we found no relationship between faecal glucocorticoid levels and social rank, suggesting that social stress was similar for dominant and subordinate fawns during winter. Testosterone levels were not correlated to social rank as found previously in groups of individuals forming stable social hierarchies and maintaining stable dominance relationships. The simultaneous suppression of glucocorticoid and testosterone levels suggests for the first time that young ungulates present a hormonal strategy to prevent fast depletion of limited proteins and fat resources during winter.
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Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 4423
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Author Nosek, J.
Title The ecology and public health importance of Dermacentor marginatus and D. reticulatus ticks in Central Europe Type Journal Article
Year 1972 Publication (up) Folia Parasitologica Abbreviated Journal Folia Parasitol (Praha)
Volume 19 Issue 1 Pages 93-102
Keywords Animals; Arthropod Vectors; Birds; Cattle; Czechoslovakia; Deer; Dermacentor/physiology; Dogs; Ecology; Encephalitis, Tick-Borne; Europe; Female; Goats; Horses; Insectivora; Male; Mice; Rodentia; Sheep; Swine; *Ticks
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Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 2720
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