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Dellert, B., & Ganslosser, U. (1997). Experimental alterations of food distribution in two species of captive equids (Equus burchelli and E. hemionus kulan). Ethol Ecol Evol, 9(1), 1–17.
Abstract: n one group each of Plains zebra (six mares, one foal, one subadult) and Asiatic wild asses (seven mares, two foals) at Nuremberg Zoo, food distribution was experimentally changed from clumped (all food in one standard hay rack) to dispersed (one heap per animal). Both groups were characterized by different social structures, which basically remained during the experiment. Plains zebras had an individually structured system of social relationships in a dominance order, wild asses a more egalitarian system without clear-cut rank differences and low frequencies of agonistic interactions. Access to food accordingly was individually (but consistently) different for zebra mares, almost equal for wild ass mares. During the dispersed feeding situation frequencies of agonistic interactions in both species decreased (however non-significantly), individual distances increased but mares also frequently ''visited'' each others' heaps. Feeding time increased for all wild ass mares. Some individuals (in both groups) behaved ''against the trend'' in agonistic behaviour. The results are discussed with regard to food distribution for ungulates in general, and equid social systems.
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Podos, J. (1964). Early perspectives on the evolution of behavior: Charles Otis Whitman and Oskar Heinroth. Ethol Ecol Evol, 6(4), 467–480.
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Baragli, P., Paoletti, E., Vitale, V., & Sighieri, C. (2011). Looking in the correct location for a hidden object: brief note about the memory of donkeys (Equus asinus). Ethology Ecology & Evolution, 23(2), 187–192.
Abstract: In recent years, considerable literature has been published on cognition in horses; however, much less is known about the cognitive abilities of domestic donkey (Equus asinus). This study aimed to expand our knowledge of donkey cognition by assessing their short-term memory capacity. We employed a detour problem combined with the classic delayed-response task, which has been extensively used to compare working memory duration in a variety of different species. A two-point choice apparatus was used to investigate location recall and search behaviour for a food target, after a short delay following its disappearance. Four donkeys completed the task with a 10 sec delay, while four others were tested with a 30 sec delay. Overall, each group performed above chance level on the test, showing that subjects had successfully encoded, maintained, and retrieved the existence and location of the target despite the loss of visual contact.
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Meriggi, A., Dagradi, V., Dondina, O., Perversi, M., Milanesi, P., Lombardini, M., et al. (2014). Short-term responses of wolf feeding habits to changes of wild and domestic ungulate abundance in Northern Italy. Ethology Ecology & Evolution, 27(4), 389–411.
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Ellis, L. (1995). Dominance and reproductive success among nonhuman animals: A cross-species comparison. Ethol. a. Sociob., 16(4), 257–333.
Abstract: This paper updates and extends Dewsbury's (1982) review of the literature on dominance and reproductive success (RS). The findings from approximately 700 studies are included, over two thirds of which were unavailable to Dewsbury. In order to give a highly condensed and yet meaningful overview, the main findings are represented in four tables, one for male nonprimates, one for female nonprimates, one for male primates, and one for female primates. In the tables for males, findings are analyzed in terms of six different indicators of RS, and in the tables for females, in terms of eight RS indicators. Outside the primate order, evidence largely supported the hypothesis that high-ranking males enjoy greater RS than do subordinate males. For females, studies are more evenly divided between those supporting the hypothesis that high rank and RS are positively correlated and those indicating no significant rank-RS relationship. This may reflect both the lower saliency of hierarchical relationships among females, as well as the lower variability in RS among females, relative to males. Among primates, a complex picture has emerged, especially in the case of males. Much of the complexity appears due to the importance of age and seniority in affecting dominance rank. Also, in some primate species, female preferences for sex partners seem to have little to do with the male's dominance rank, at least at the time mating takes place. Nevertheless, the majority of studies suggest that high- to middle-ranking males have at least a slight lifetime reproductive advantage over the lowest ranking males.
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Boyd, R., & Richerson, P. J. (1995). Why does culture increase human adaptability? Ethol. a. Sociob., 16(2), 125–143.
Abstract: It is often argued that culture is adaptive because it allows people to acquire useful information without costly learning. In a recent paper Rogers (1989) analyzed a simple mathematical model that showed that this argument is wrong. Here we show that Rogers' result is robust. As long as the only benefit of social learning is that imitators avoid learning costs, social learning does not increase average fitness. However, we also show that social learning can be adaptive if it makes individual learning more accurate or less costly.
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de Waal, F. B. M., & Luttrell, L. M. (1988). Mechanisms of social reciprocity in three primate species: Symmetrical relationship characteristics or cognition? Ethology and Sociobiology, 9(2–4), 101–118.
Abstract: Agonistic intervention behavior was observed in captive groups of chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes), rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta), and stumptail monkeys (M. arctoides). Reciprocity correlations of interventions were determined while removing from the data the effects of several symmetrical relationship characteristics, that is, matrillineal kinship, proximity relations, and same-sex combination. It was considered likely that if significant reciprocity persisted after controlling for these characteristics, the reciprocity was based on cognitive mechanisms. Statistical significance was tested by means of recently developed matrix permutation procedures. All three species exhibited significant reciprocity with regard to beneficial interventions, even after controlling for symmetrical traits. Harmful interventions were, however, reciprocal among chimpanzees only. This species showed a “revenge system”, that is, if A often intervened against B, B did the same to A. In contrast, both macaque species showed significantly inversed reciprocity in their harmful interventions: if A often intervened against B, B rarely intervened against A. Further analysis indicates that the strict hierarchy of macaques prevents them from achieving complete reciprocity. Compared to chimpanzees, macaques rarely intervene against higher ranking group members. The observed contrast can be partially explained on the basis of differences in available space, as indicated by a comparison of indoor and outdoor living conditions for the chimpanzee colony. Yet, even when such spatial factors are taken into account, substantial behavior differences between chimpanzees and macaques remain.
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Seferta, A., Guay, P. - J., Marzinotto, E., & Lefebvre, L. (2001). Learning Differences between Feral Pigeons and Zenaida Doves: The Role of Neophobia and Human Proximity. Ethology, 107, 281–293.
Abstract: Learning differences predicted from ecological variables can be confounded with differences in wariness of novel stimuli (neophobia). Previous work on feral pigeons (Columba livia), as well as on group-feeding and territorial zenaida doves (Zenaida aurita), reported individual and social learning differences predicted from social foraging mode. In the present study, we show that speed of learning a foraging task covaries with neophobia and latency to feed from a familiar dish in the three types of columbids. Pigeons were much faster than either territorial or group-feeding zenaida doves on all tests conducted in captivity, but showed unexpectedly strong neophobia in some urban flocks during field tests. Human proximity strongly affected performance in group-feeding doves both in the field and in captivity. They were slightly faster at learning than their territorial conspecifics in cage tests. In multiple regressions, species identity, but not social foraging mode, significantly predicted individual variation in learning, as did individual variation in neophobia. Wariness of novel stimuli and species differences associated with artificial selection appear to be more important than foraging mode and wariness of humans in accounting for learning differences between these columbids.
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Sakura O, & Matsuzawa T. (1991). Flexibility of wild chimpanzees nut-cracking behavior using stone hammers and anvils: an experimental analysis. Ethology, 87, 237.
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Hampton, R. R. (2001). Animal Minds: Beyond Cognition to Consciousness. Ethology, 107, 1055–1056.
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