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| Author |
Meagher, R.K.; Mason, G.J. |
| Title |
Environmental Enrichment Reduces Signs of Boredom in Caged Mink |
Type |
Journal Article |
| Year |
2012 |
Publication |
PLoS ONE |
Abbreviated Journal |
PLoS ONE |
| Volume |
7 |
Issue |
11 |
Pages |
e49180 |
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| Abstract |
<p>Animals housed in impoverished cages are often labelled ‘bored’. They have also been called ‘apathetic’ or ‘depressed’, particularly when profoundly inactive. However, these terms are rarely operationally defined and validated. As a negative state caused by under-stimulation, boredom should increase interest in stimuli of all kinds. Apathy (lack of interest), by contrast, should manifest as decreased interest in all stimuli, while anhedonia (loss of pleasure, a depressive symptom) should specifically decrease interest in normally rewarding stimuli. We tested the hypotheses that mink, a model carnivore, experience more boredom, depression-like apathy, or anhedonia in non-enriched (NE) cages than in complex, enriched (E) cages. We exposed 29 subjects (13 E, 16 NE) to ten stimuli categorized <italic>a priori</italic> as aversive (e.g. air puffs), rewarding (e.g. evoking chasing) or ambiguous/neutral (e.g. candles). Interest in stimuli was assessed via latencies to contact, contact durations, and durations oriented to stimuli. NE mink contacted all stimuli faster (P = 0.003) than E mink, and spent longer oriented to/in contact with them, albeit only significantly so for ambiguous ones (treatment*type P<0.013). With stimulus category removed from statistical models, interest in all stimuli was consistently higher among NE mink (P<0.0001 for all measures). NE mink also consumed more food rewards (P = 0.037). Finally, we investigated whether lying down while awake and stereotypic behaviour (both increased by NE housing) predicted these responses. Lying awake positively co-varied with certain measures of increased exploration. In contrast, stereotypic ‘scrabbling’ or locomotion (e.g. pacing) did not. Overall, NE mink showed no evidence of apathy or depression, but instead a heightened investigation of diverse stimuli consistent with boredom. This state was potentially indicated by spending much time lying still but awake (although this result requires replication). Boredom can thus be operationalized and assessed empirically in non-human animals. It can also be reduced by environmental enrichment.</p> |
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Public Library of Science |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
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5635 |
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| Author |
Ben-Shlomo, G.; Plummer, C.; Barrie, K.; Brooks, D. |
| Title |
Characterization of the normal dark adaptation curve of the horse |
Type |
Journal Article |
| Year |
2012 |
Publication |
Veterinary Ophthalmology |
Abbreviated Journal |
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| Volume |
15 |
Issue |
1 |
Pages |
42-45 |
| Keywords |
adaptation; curve; dark; electroretinography; equine; scotopic |
| Abstract |
Objective The goal of this work is to study the dark adaptation curve of the normal horse electroretinogram (ERG). Procedures The electroretinographic responses were recorded from six healthy female ponies using a contact lens electrode and a mini-Ganzfeld electroretinographic unit. The horses were sedated intravenously with detomidine, an auriculopalpebral nerve block was then performed, and the pupil was fully dilated. The ERG was recorded in response to a low intensity light stimulus (30 mcd.s/m2) that was given at times (T) T = 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 40, 50, and 60 min of dark adaptation. Off-line analysis of the ERG was then performed. Results Mean b-wave amplitude of the full-field ERG increased continuously from 5 to 25 min of dark adaptation. The b-wave amplitude peaked at T = 25, however, there was no statistical significance between T = 20 and T = 25. The b-wave amplitude then remained elevated with no significant changes until the end of the study at T = 60 (P > 0.49). The b-wave implicit time increased continuously between T = 5 and T = 20, then gradually decreased until T = 60. No distinct a-wave was observed during the testing time. Conclusions Evaluation of horse rod function or combined rod/cone function by means of full-field ERG should be performed after a minimum 20 min of dark adaptation. |
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Blackwell Publishing Ltd |
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| ISSN |
1463-5224 |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
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5626 |
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| Author |
Granquist, S.M.; Thorhallsdottir, A.G.; Sigurjonsdottir, H. |
| Title |
The effect of stallions on social interactions in domestic and semi feral harems |
Type |
Journal Article |
| Year |
2012 |
Publication |
Applied Animal Behaviour Science |
Abbreviated Journal |
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| Volume |
141 |
Issue |
1–2 |
Pages |
49-56 |
| Keywords |
Horses; Hierarchy; Icelandic horse; Social behaviour; Social bonds |
| Abstract |
Earlier research indicates that stallions may supress interactions of their harem members, leading to less stable hierarchies and friendship bonds in harems compared to non-stallion groups. In this paper, the effect of the presense of a stallion on the social behaviour of mares was studied by comparing six harems containing stallions to four mixed sex groups not containing stallions. Both temporary and permanent harems were studied, giving the possibility to investigate the effect of group stability on social interactions. A significant linear hierarchy was found in all non-stallion groups that were used for comparison, while the hierarchies were only found to be linear in three of the six harems containing stallions (Landaus h', p < 0.05). Aggression rate was lower (t-test, p < 0.05) and fewer friendship bonds (G-test, p < 0.0001) were found within the harems, compared to the groups without stallions. Stallions seldom intervene directly in interactions between harem members. Thus, our results give support to the hypothesis that stallions may suppress interactions of harem members, but in a more indirect way than with direct interference. In addition, our results give support for earlier findings that aggression rate may be affected by group stability. We found a higher aggression rate in the temporary harems compared to the permanent harems (Kruskal–Wallis, p < 0.05) and in the temporary non-stallion group compared to the permanent non-stallion group. The results have significance for further research on social structure of mammals, and may be applied in management of domestic animals. |
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0168-1591 |
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no |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
Serial |
5619 |
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| Author |
Meyer, S.; Nürnberg, G.; Puppe, B.; Langbein, J. |
| Title |
The cognitive capabilities of farm animals: categorisation learning in dwarf goats (Capra hircus) |
Type |
Journal Article |
| Year |
2012 |
Publication |
Animal Cognition |
Abbreviated Journal |
Anim. Cogn. |
| Volume |
15 |
Issue |
4 |
Pages |
567-576 |
| Keywords |
Biomedizin & Life Sciences |
| Abstract |
The ability to establish categories enables organisms to classify stimuli, objects and events by assessing perceptual, associative or rational similarities and provides the basis for higher cognitive processing. The cognitive capabilities of farm animals are receiving increasing attention in applied ethology, a development driven primarily by scientifically based efforts to improve animal welfare. The present study investigated the learning of perceptual categories in Nigerian dwarf goats ( Capra hircus ) by using an automated learning device installed in the animals’ pen. Thirteen group-housed goats were trained in a closed-economy approach to discriminate artificial two-dimensional symbols presented in a four-choice design. The symbols belonged to two categories: category I, black symbols with an open centre (rewarded) and category II, the same symbols but filled black (unrewarded). One symbol from category I and three different symbols from category II were used to define a discrimination problem. After the training of eight problems, the animals were presented with a transfer series containing the training problems interspersed with completely new problems made from new symbols belonging to the same categories. The results clearly demonstrate that dwarf goats are able to form categories based on similarities in the visual appearance of artificial symbols and to generalise across new symbols. However, the goats had difficulties in discriminating specific symbols. It is probable that perceptual problems caused these difficulties. Nevertheless, the present study suggests that goats housed under farming conditions have well-developed cognitive abilities, including learning of open-ended categories. This result could prove beneficial by facilitating animals’ adaptation to housing environments that favour their cognitive capabilities. |
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Springer Berlin / Heidelberg |
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1435-9448 |
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no |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
Serial |
5615 |
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Warmuth, V.; Eriksson, A.; Bower, M.A.; Barker, G.; Barrett, E.; Hanks, B.K.; Li, S.; Lomitashvili, D.; Ochir-Goryaeva, M.; Sizonov, G.V.; Soyonov, V.; Manica, A. |
| Title |
Reconstructing the origin and spread of horse domestication in the Eurasian steppe |
Type |
Journal Article |
| Year |
2012 |
Publication |
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |
Abbreviated Journal |
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A |
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Despite decades of research across multiple disciplines, the early history of horse domestication remains poorly understood. On the basis of current evidence from archaeology, mitochondrial DNA, and Y-chromosomal sequencing, a number of different domestication scenarios have been proposed, ranging from the spread of domestic horses out of a restricted primary area of domestication to the domestication of numerous distinct wild horse populations. In this paper, we reconstruct both the population genetic structure of the extinct wild progenitor of domestic horses, Equus ferus, and the origin and spread of horse domestication in the Eurasian steppes by fitting a spatially explicit stepping-stone model to genotype data from >300 horses sampled across northern Eurasia. We find strong evidence for an expansion of E. ferus out of eastern Eurasia about 160 kya, likely reflecting the colonization of Eurasia by this species. Our best-fitting scenario further suggests that horse domestication originated in the western part of the Eurasian steppe and that domestic herds were repeatedly restocked with local wild horses as they spread out of this area. By showing that horse domestication was initiated in the western Eurasian steppe and that the spread of domestic herds across Eurasia involved extensive introgression from the wild, the scenario of horse domestication proposed here unites evidence from archaeology, mitochondrial DNA, and Y-chromosomal DNA. |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
Serial |
5612 |
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Sherry, D.F.; Galef Jr, B.G. |
| Title |
Cultural transmission without imitation: Milk bottle opening by birds |
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Journal Article |
| Year |
1984 |
Publication |
Animal Behaviour |
Abbreviated Journal |
Anim. Behav. |
| Volume |
32 |
Issue |
3 |
Pages |
937-938 |
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0003-3472 |
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no |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
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5611 |
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Galef, J., Bennett G.; Whiskin, E.E. |
| Title |
Effects of environmental stability and demonstrator age on social learning of food preferences by young Norway rats |
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Journal Article |
| Year |
2004 |
Publication |
Animal Behaviour |
Abbreviated Journal |
Anim. Behav. |
| Volume |
68 |
Issue |
4 |
Pages |
897-902 |
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We used socially learned food preferences of Norway rats, Rattus norvegicus, to examine two common predictions of formal models of social learning in animals: (1) that animals living in relatively stable environments should be more attentive to socially acquired information than animals living in highly variable environments, and (2) that older demonstrators should have greater influence than younger demonstrators on the behaviour of young observers. Old and young demonstrators were equally effective in modifying the food preferences of juveniles that interacted with them. However, food choices of rats that were moved daily from one cage to another and fed at unpredictable times for unpredictable periods were less affected by demonstrators than were rats maintained in stable environments. Our results thus provided experimental support for the first, but not the second, prediction from theory. |
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0003-3472 |
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no |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
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5610 |
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| Author |
Kaminski, G.; Gentaz, E.; Mazens, K. |
| Title |
Development of children’s ability to detect kinship through facial resemblance |
Type |
Journal Article |
| Year |
2012 |
Publication |
Animal Cognition |
Abbreviated Journal |
Anim. Cogn. |
| Volume |
15 |
Issue |
3 |
Pages |
421-427 |
| Keywords |
Biomedizin & Life Sciences |
| Abstract |
Facial features appear to be a prominent kinship cue for ascribing relatedness among human individuals. Although there is evidence that adults can detect kinship in unrelated and unfamiliar individual’s faces, it remains to be seen whether people already possess the ability when they are young. To further understand the development of this skill, we explored children’s ability to detect parent-offspring resemblance in unrelated and unfamiliar faces. To this end, we tested approximately 140 children, aged 5–11, in two photo-matching tasks. We used a procedure that asked them to match one neonate’s face to one of three adults’ faces (Task 1), or to match one adult’s face to one of three neonate’s faces (Task 2). Our findings reveal asymmetrical performance, depending on the tasks assigned (performance of Task 2 is stronger than for Task 1), and on the sex of individuals who made up the parent-offspring pair (male parents are better matched with neonates than female parents, and boys are better matched than girls). The picture that emerges from our study is, on one hand, that the ability to detect kinship is already present at the age of five but continues to improve as one gets older, and on the other, that perception of parent-offspring facial resemblance varies according to the appraisers’ characteristics. |
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Springer Berlin / Heidelberg |
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1435-9448 |
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no |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
Serial |
5605 |
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Dumont, B.; Rossignol, N.; Loucougaray, G.; Carrère, P.; Chadoeuf, J.; Fleurance, G.; Bonis, A.; Farruggia, A.; Gaucherand, S.; Ginane, C.; Louault, F.; Marion, B.; Mesléard, F.; Yavercovski, N. |
| Title |
When does grazing generate stable vegetation patterns in temperate pastures? |
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Journal Article |
| Year |
2012 |
Publication |
Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment |
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153 |
Issue |
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Pages |
50-56 |
| Keywords |
Boolean process; Cattle; Patch stability; Productivity; Stocking density; Temperate pasture |
| Abstract |
The stability of grazing-induced spatial patterns of vegetation was analyzed at two spatial scales (25 m × 20 m areas and 1.6 m × 0.8 m grids) in pastures of contrasting productivity (maximum standing biomass: 130–800 gDM/m2). At both scales, the mosaic of grazed and ungrazed patches was modeled as a Boolean process, calculating cross-variograms to quantify the temporal stability of grazing patterns and its links with local floristic composition were tested. The scale at which stability of vegetation patterns took place in two successive years depended on pasture productivity. Inter-annual stability of large-scale patterns mainly occurred in extensively used fertile pastures grazed by cattle, and in pastures grazed by horses. Less-fertile grasslands were mainly characterized by a fine-scale stability of grazing patterns. Stable fine-scale patterns were often related to the local abundance of legumes and forbs. Stable large-scale patterns of grazing within lightly grazed productive grasslands could result in divergent local vegetation dynamics, which can be seen as an opportunity for restoring biodiversity in fertile grasslands. |
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0167-8809 |
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no |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
Serial |
5595 |
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| Author |
Irvine, C.H.G.; Alexander, S.L. |
| Title |
Factors affecting the circadian rhythm in plasma cortisol concentrations in the horse |
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Journal Article |
| Year |
1994 |
Publication |
Domestic Animal Endocrinology |
Abbreviated Journal |
Domest. Anim. Endocrinol. |
| Volume |
11 |
Issue |
2 |
Pages |
227-238 |
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| Abstract |
In horses, a circadian rhythm in plasma cortisol concentrations has been reported in some but not all studies. When a rhythm occurred, horses were accustomed to a management routine, comprising stabling, feeding and sometimes exercise, which may entrain a circadian pattern. In this work, we monitored plasma cortisol by collecting jugular blood through indwelling cannulae from four groups: 1): 10 untrained, unperturbed mares grazing excess pasture, bled hourly for 26 hr; 2) 4 mares housed in a barn for 48 hr before sampling every 15 min for 20–24 hr; 3) 5 mares placed in an outdoor yard for sampling every 30 min from 0930–2100 hr; and 4) 4 stabled racehorses in training, bled every 30 min from 0730–2000 hr and once the following morning at 0830 hr. Plasma cortisol showed a similarly-timed circadian rhythm (P<0.0001) in all Group 1 horses, with a peak at 0600–0900 hr, and a nadir at 1800–2100 hr. By contrast, cortisol concentrations did not vary with time in either Group 2 or 3. Neither daily mean nor peak cortisol values differed in Group 1 and 2 (i.e. bled for >= 20 hr); however nadir values were higher (P<0.05) in Group 2. In Group 4, cortisol declined (P=0.004) during the sampling period but had returned to initial concentrations the next morning. Values did not differ from those for Group 1, except between 1000 and 1300 hr when cortisol in Group 4 was lower (P<0.05). We conclude that a circadian cortisol rhythm exists in horses in the absence of any known cues imposed by humans. However, this rhythm can be obliterated by the minor perturbation of removing the horse from its accustomed environment. By contrast, the rhythm occurs in trained racehorses, suggesting either that they have adapted to their environment thereby allowing an endogenous rhythm to emerge, or that the rhythm is entrained by their daily routine. These observations highlight the difficulties in determining the cortisol status of a horse, since measurements will be affected by time of day, the occurrence of short-term fluctuations, and how accustomed the horse is to its environment. |
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0739-7240 |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
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5590 |
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