Abstract: Summary A wonderfully lucid framework for the ways to understand animal behaviour is that represented by the four [`]whys' proposed by Tinbergen (1963). For much of the past three decades, however, these four avenues have been pursued more or less in parallel. Functional questions, for example, have been addressed by behavioural ecologists, mechanistic questions by psychologists and ethologists, ontogenetic questions by developmental biologists and neuroscientists and phylogenetic questions by evolutionary biologists. More recently, the value of integration between these differing views has become apparent. In this brief review, we concentrate especially on current attempts to integrate mechanistic and functional approaches. Most of our understanding of learning and memory in animals comes from the psychological literature, which tends to use only rats or pigeons, and more occasionally primates, as subjects. The underlying psychological assumption is of general processes that are similar across species and contexts rather than a range of specific abilities. However, this does not seem to be entirely true as several learned behaviours have been described that are specific to particular species or contexts. The first conspicuous exception to the generalist assumption was the demonstration of long delay taste aversion learning in rats (Garcia et al., 1955), in which it was shown that a stimulus need not be temporally contiguous with a response for the animal to make an association between food and illness. Subsequently, a number of other examples, such as imprinting and song learning in birds (e.g., Bolhuis and Honey, 1998; Catchpole and Slater, 1995; Horn, 1998), have been thoroughly researched. Even in these cases, however, it has been typical for only a few species to be studied (domestic chicks provide the [`]model' imprinting species and canaries and zebra finches the song learning [`]models'). As a result, a great deal is understood about the neural underpinnings and development of the behaviour, but substantially less is understood about interspecific variation and whether variation in behaviour is correlated with variation in neural processing (see review by Tramontin and Brenowitz, 2000 but see ten Cate and Vos, 1999).

Abstract: Once considered a uniquely human attribute, brain asymmetry has been proved to be ubiquitous among non-human animals. A synthetic review of evidence of animal lateralization in the motor, sensory, cognitive, and affective domains is provided, together with a discussion of its development and possible biological functions. It is argued that investigation of brain asymmetry in a comparative perspective may favor the link between classical neuropsychological studies and modern developmental and evolutionary biology approaches. WIREs Cogni Sci 2011 2 146–157 DOI: 10.1002/wcs.100 For further resources related to this article, please visit the WIREs website

Abstract: Context. Livestock producers worldwide are negatively affected by livestock losses because of predators and wildlife-transmitted diseases. In the western Great Lakes Region of the United States, this conflict has increased as grey wolf (Canis lupus) populations have recovered and white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) have served as a wildlife reservoir for bovine tuberculosis (Myobacterium bovis).Aims. We conducted field experiments on cattle farms to evaluate the effectiveness of livestock-protection dogs (LPDs) for excluding wolves, coyotes (C. latrans), white-tailed deer and mesopredators from livestock pastures.Methods. We integrated LPDs on six cattle farms (treatment) and monitored wildlife use with tracking swaths on these farms, concurrent with three control cattle farms during 2005-2008. The amount of time deer spent in livestock pastures was recorded using direct observation.Key results. Livestock pastures protected by LPDs had reduced use by these wildlife compared with control pastures not protected by LPDs. White-tailed deer spent less time in livestock pastures protected by LPDs compared with control pastures not protected by LPDs.Conclusions. Our research supports the theory that LPDs can be an effective management tool for reducing predation and disease transmission. We also demonstrate that LPDs are not limited to being used only with sheep and goats; they can also be used to protect cattle.Implications. On the basis of our findings, we support the use of LPDs as a proactive management tool that producers can implement to minimise the threat of livestock depredations and transmission of disease from wildlife to livestock. LPDs should be investigated further as a more general conservation tool for protecting valuable wildlife, such as ground-nesting birds, that use livestock pastures and are affected by predators that use these pastures.

Abstract: We studied molecular evolution of the mosquito-borne alphavirus Highlands J (HJ) virus by sequencing PCR products generated from 19 strains isolated between 1952 and 1994. Sequences of 1200 nucleotides including portions of the E1 gene and the 3' untranslated region revealed a relatively slow evolutionary rate estimated at 0.9-1.6 x 10(-4) substitutions per nucleotide per year. Phylogenetic trees indicated that all HJ viruses descended from a common ancestor and suggested the presence of one dominant lineage in North America. However, two or more minor lineages probably circulated simultaneously for periods of years to a few decades. Strains isolated from a horse suffering encephalitis, and implicated in a recent turkey outbreak, were not phylogenetically distinct from strains isolated in other locations during the same time periods. Our findings are remarkably similar to those we obtained previously for another North American alphavirus, eastern equine encephalomyelitis virus, with which Highlands J shares primary mosquito and avian hosts, geographical distribution, and ecology. These results support the hypotheses that the duration of the transmission season affects arboviral evolutionary rates and vertebrate host mobility influences genetic diversity.

Abstract: Selegiline ([R]-[-]N,alpha-dimethyl-N-2- propynylphenethylamine or l-deprenyl), an irreversible inhibitor of monoamine oxidase, is a classic antidyskinetic and antiparkinsonian agent widely used in human medicine both as monotherapy and as an adjunct to levodopa therapy. Selegiline is classified by the Association of Racing Commissioners International (ARCI) as a class 2 agent, and is considered to have high abuse potential in racing horses. A highly sensitive LC/MS/MS quantitative analytical method has been developed for selegiline and its potential metabolites amphetamine and methamphetamine using commercially available deuterated analogs of these compounds as internal standards. After administering 40 mg of selegiline orally to two horses, relatively low (<60 ng/ml) concentrations of parent selegiline, amphetamine, and methamphetamine were recovered in urine samples. However, relatively high urinary concentrations of another selegiline metabolite were found, tentatively identified as N- desmethylselegiline. This metabolite was synthesized and found to be indistinguishable from the new metabolite recovered from horse urine, thereby confirming the chemical identity of the equine metabolite. Additionally, analysis of urine samples from four horses dosed with 50 mg of selegiline confirmed that N-desmethylselegiline is the major urinary metabolite of selegiline in horses. In related behavior studies, p.o. and i.v. administration of 30 mg of selegiline produced no significant changes in either locomotor activities or heart rates.