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Author Emery, N.J. doi  openurl
  Title The eyes have it: the neuroethology, function and evolution of social gaze Type Journal Article
  Year 2000 Publication Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews Abbreviated Journal Neurosci Biobehav Rev  
  Volume 24 Issue 6 Pages 581-604  
  Keywords Animals; *Eye; Fixation, Ocular; Humans; *Social Behavior  
  Abstract Gaze is an important component of social interaction. The function, evolution and neurobiology of gaze processing are therefore of interest to a number of researchers. This review discusses the evolutionary role of social gaze in vertebrates (focusing on primates), and a hypothesis that this role has changed substantially for primates compared to other animals. This change may have been driven by morphological changes to the face and eyes of primates, limitations in the facial anatomy of other vertebrates, changes in the ecology of the environment in which primates live, and a necessity to communicate information about the environment, emotional and mental states. The eyes represent different levels of signal value depending on the status, disposition and emotional state of the sender and receiver of such signals. There are regions in the monkey and human brain which contain neurons that respond selectively to faces, bodies and eye gaze. The ability to follow another individual's gaze direction is affected in individuals with autism and other psychopathological disorders, and after particular localized brain lesions. The hypothesis that gaze following is “hard-wired” in the brain, and may be localized within a circuit linking the superior temporal sulcus, amygdala and orbitofrontal cortex is discussed.  
  Address Center for Neuroscience, Department of Psychiatry & California Regional Primate Research Center, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA. njemery@ucdavis.edu  
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  Language English Summary Language Original Title  
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  ISSN 0149-7634 ISBN Medium  
  Area Expedition Conference  
  Notes PMID:10940436 Approved no  
  Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 3996  
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Author Palme, R.; Fischer, P.; Schildorfer, H.; Ismail, M.N. url  openurl
  Title Excretion of infused 14C-steroid hormones via faeces and urine in domestic livestock Type Journal Article
  Year 1996 Publication Animal Reproduction Science Abbreviated Journal  
  Volume 43 Issue 1 Pages 43-63  
  Keywords Sheep--endocrinology; Pig--endocrinology; Pony; 14C-steroids; Faeces; Urine; Blood  
  Abstract The aim of this comparative study was to gain more information about the excretion of steroid hormones in farm animals. This should help to establish or improve non-invasive steroid monitoring procedures, especially in zoo and wildlife animals. Over a period of 4 h the 14C-steroid hormones (3.7 MBq) progesterone (three females), testosterone (three males), cortisol and oestrone (two males, two females) were infused intravenously in sheep, ponies and pigs. Faeces were collected immediately after defecation. Urine was sampled via a permanent catheter in females and after spontaneous urination in males. A total of 88 +/- 10% (mean +/- SD) of the administered radioactivity was recovered. Considerable interspecies differences were measured both in the amounts of steroid metabolites excreted via faeces or urine and the time course of excretion. Progesterone and oestrone in ewes, and progesterone in mares were excreted mainly in the faeces (over 75%). The primary route of excretion of all other 14C-steroids was via the urine but to a different extent. In general, sheep showed the highest degree of faecal excretion and pigs the least. The highest radioactivity in urine (per mmol creatinine) was observed during the infusion or in one of the next two samples thereafter, whereas in faeces it was measured about 12 h (sheep), 24 h (ponies) or 48 h (pigs) after the end of the infusion. Thereafter the radioactivity declined and reached background levels within 2-3 weeks. In faeces, steroid metabolites were present mainly in an unconjugated form, but in blood and urine as conjugates. Mean retention time of faecal radioactivity suggested that the passage rate of digesta (duodenum to rectum) played an important role in the time course of the excretion of steroids. The information derived from this investigation could improve the precision of sampling as well as the extraction of steroids from the faeces. Furthermore, the study demonstrates that it should be possible to establish methods for measuring faecal androgen and cortisol metabolites for assessing male reproductive endocrinology and stress in animals.  
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  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 4069  
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Author Touma, C.; Palme, R. doi  openurl
  Title Measuring fecal glucocorticoid metabolites in mammals and birds: the importance of validation Type Journal Article
  Year 2005 Publication Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences Abbreviated Journal Ann N Y Acad Sci  
  Volume 1046 Issue Pages 54-74  
  Keywords Animals; Birds/*metabolism; Circadian Rhythm; Feces/*chemistry; Glucocorticoids/*analysis; Mammals/*metabolism; Reproducibility of Results; Seasons; Sex Factors  
  Abstract In recent years, the noninvasive monitoring of steroid hormone metabolites in feces of mammals and droppings of birds has become an increasingly popular technique. It offers several advantages and has been applied to a variety of species under various settings. However, using this technique to reliably assess an animal's adrenocortical activity is not that simple and straightforward to apply. Because clear differences regarding the metabolism and excretion of glucocorticoid metabolites (GCMs) exist, a careful validation for each species and sex investigated is obligatory. In this review, general analytical issues regarding sample storage, extraction procedures, and immunoassays are briefly discussed, but the main focus lies on experiments and recommendations addressing the validation of fecal GCM measurements in mammals and birds. The crucial importance of scrutinizing the physiological and biological validity of fecal GCM analyses in a given species is stressed. In particular, the relevance of the technique to detect biologically meaningful alterations in adrenocortical activity must be shown. Furthermore, significant effects of the animals' sex, the time of day, season, and different life history stages are discussed, bringing about the necessity to seriously consider possible sex differences as well as diurnal and seasonal variations. Thus, comprehensive information on the animals' biology and stress physiology should be carefully taken into account. Together with an extensive physiological and biological validation, this will ensure that the measurement of fecal GCMs can be used as a powerful tool to assess adrenocortical activity in diverse investigations on laboratory, companion, farm, zoo, and wild animals.  
  Address Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, Department of Behavioral Neuroendocrinology, Kraepelinstrasse 2-10, D-80804 Munich, Germany. touma@mpipsykl.mpg.de  
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  ISSN 0077-8923 ISBN Medium  
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  Notes PMID:16055843 Approved no  
  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 4073  
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Author Palme, R. doi  openurl
  Title Measuring fecal steroids: guidelines for practical application Type Journal Article
  Year 2005 Publication Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences Abbreviated Journal Ann N Y Acad Sci  
  Volume 1046 Issue Pages 75-80  
  Keywords Animals; Feces/*chemistry; Immunoassay/methods; Reproducibility of Results; Specimen Handling/methods; Steroids/*analysis  
  Abstract During the past 20 years, measuring steroid hormone metabolites in fecal samples has become a widely appreciated technique, because it has proved to be a powerful, noninvasive tool that provides important information about an animal's endocrine status (adrenocortical activity and reproductive status). However, although sampling is relatively easy to perform and free of feedback, a careful consideration of various factors is necessary to achieve proper results that lead to sound conclusions. This article aims to provide guidelines for an adequate application of these techniques. It is meant as a checklist that addresses the main topics of concern, such as sample collection and storage, time delay extraction procedures, assay selection and validation, biological relevance, and some confounding factors. These issues are discussed briefly here and in more detail in other recent articles.  
  Address Institute of Biochemistry, Department of Natural Sciences, University of Veterinary Medicine, Veterinaerplatz 1, A-1210 Vienna, Austria. Rupert.Palme@vu-wien.ac.at  
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  ISSN 0077-8923 ISBN Medium  
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  Notes PMID:16055844 Approved no  
  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 4081  
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Author Palme, R.; Rettenbacher, S.; Touma, C.; El-Bahr, S.M.; Mostl, E. doi  openurl
  Title Stress hormones in mammals and birds: comparative aspects regarding metabolism, excretion, and noninvasive measurement in fecal samples Type Journal Article
  Year 2005 Publication Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences Abbreviated Journal Ann N Y Acad Sci  
  Volume 1040 Issue Pages 162-171  
  Keywords Adrenal Glands/chemistry/metabolism; Animals; Birds; Catecholamines/analysis/chemistry/*metabolism; Feces/*chemistry; Glucocorticoids/analysis/chemistry/*metabolism; Hormones/analysis/metabolism; Mammals; Species Specificity; Stress/*metabolism  
  Abstract A multitude of endocrine mechanisms are involved in coping with challenges. Front-line hormones to overcome stressful situations are glucocorticoids (GCs) and catecholamines (CAs). These hormones are usually determined in plasma samples as parameters of adrenal activity and thus of disturbance. GCs (and CAs) are extensively metabolized and excreted afterwards. Therefore, the concentration of GCs (or their metabolites) can be measured in various body fluids or excreta. Above all, fecal samples offer the advantages of easy collection and a feedback-free sampling procedure. However, large differences exist among species regarding the route and time course of excretion, as well as the types of metabolites formed. Based on information gained from radiometabolism studies (reviewed in this paper), we recently developed and successfully validated different enzyme immunoassays that enable the noninvasive measurement of groups of cortisol or corticosterone metabolites in animal feces. The determination of these metabolites in fecal samples can be used as a powerful tool to monitor GC production in various species of domestic, wildlife, and laboratory animals.  
  Address Institute of Biochemistry, Department of Natural Sciences, University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna, Austria. rupert.palme@vu-wien.ac.at  
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  ISSN 0077-8923 ISBN Medium  
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  Notes PMID:15891021 Approved no  
  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 4083  
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Author Giraldeau, Luc-Alain; Valone, Thomas, J.; Templeton, Jennifer, J. url  doi
openurl 
  Title Potential disadvantages of using socially acquired information Type Journal Article
  Year 2002 Publication Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences Abbreviated Journal Phil. Trans. Biol. Sci.  
  Volume 357 Issue 1427 Pages 1559-1566  
  Keywords Public Information Informational Cascades Social Learning Sampling  
  Abstract The acquisition and use of socially acquired information is commonly assumed to be profitable. We challenge this assumption by exploring hypothetical scenarios where the use of such information either provides no benefit or can actually be costly. First, we show that the level of incompatibility between the acquisition of personal and socially acquired information will directly affect the extent to which the use of socially acquired information can be profitable. When these two sources of information cannot be acquired simultaneously, there may be no benefit to socially acquired information. Second, we assume that a solitary individual's behavioural decisions will be based on cues revealed by its own interactions with the environment. However, in many cases, for social animals the only socially acquired information available to individuals is the behavioural actions of others that expose their decisions, rather than the cues on which these decisions were based. We argue that in such a situation the use of socially acquired information can lead to informational cascades that sometimes result in sub-optimal behaviour. From this theory of informational cascades, we predict that when erroneous cascades are costly, individuals should pay attention only to socially generated cues and not behavioural decisions. We suggest three scenarios that might be examples of informational cascades in nature.  
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  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 4197  
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Author Val-Laillet, D.; Passille, A.M. de; Rushen, J.; von Keyserlingk, M.A.G. url  doi
openurl 
  Title The concept of social dominance and the social distribution of feeding-related displacements between cows Type Journal Article
  Year 2008 Publication Applied Animal Behaviour Science Abbreviated Journal Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci.  
  Volume 111 Issue 1-2 Pages 158-172  
  Keywords Cattle; Social dominance; Competitive success; Hierarchy; Feeding competition  
  Abstract The aim of this study was to determine the extent to which the classical properties of social dominance describe the pattern of feeder-related displacements with groups of cattle. We also compared the advantages and disadvantages of three dominance indices for describing the competitive success at the feeder. We observed displacements at the feeder within six groups of 12 lactating dairy cows over 72 h per group. We demonstrated that the cattle in our experiment established a quasi-linear hierarchy at the feeder where many dominance relationships were bi-directional (52.0 +/- 5.9%); namely, dominance relationships were significantly linear (P < 0.05 in five of the six groups) but contained many circular triads (45.0 +/- 5.6%). Dominance rank influenced the milk production (r = 0.36, P = 0.002) and the time budget of the animals: high-ranking cows were found spending more time at the feeder during the 120 min following provision of fresh food than low-ranking cows (P = 0.022), but dominance indices based on the occurrence of displacements at the feeder did not correlate with actual time spent at the feeder. The presence of numerous circular triads and bi-directional relationships suggests that the classical properties of social dominance do not correspond to the pattern of displacements that occur at feeders within small groups of cattle. Instead, the competitive success may also be affected by motivation or persistence by the animal to gain access to the food resource.  
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  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 4213  
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Author Fleurance, G.; Duncan, P.; Fritz, H.; Cabaret, J.; Cortet, J.; Gordon, I.J. url  doi
openurl 
  Title Selection of feeding sites by horses at pasture: Testing the anti-parasite theory Type Journal Article
  Year 2007 Publication Applied Animal Behaviour Science Abbreviated Journal Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci.  
  Volume 108 Issue 3-4 Pages 228-301  
  Keywords Foraging strategies; Horses; Parasite risk; Patch choice  
  Abstract Management of grazed grasslands for production and/or conservation objectives requires a thorough understanding of the choices of feeding sites by herbivores, and of the biological processes involved. Most models of the feeding strategies of herbivores are based on the principle that optimising the intake of energy (or some nutrient) is the primary goal of foragers but other selective forces, such as parasitism, could be important. Gastrointestinal parasites (including cyathostome nematodes) have powerful effects on the fitness of herbivores and may act as a major selection pressure favouring host behaviour that reduces the risk of encountering parasites. Among large herbivores, horses have perhaps the most marked tendency to select particular feeding sites within grasslands. We test here: (1) whether horses select feeding patches with relatively low parasite densities and (2) if their choice is affected by their parasite load. We used 10 two-year old saddle-horses and three periods. In the first period, the horses were under natural parasitism which varied strongly among individuals; in the second period they were all dewormed, and in the third, a sub-set of the horses was experimentally infected with cyathostome larvae. Ninety-eight percent of the infective larvae in the pasture were found <1 m from faeces. The main determinant of the choice of feeding patch by horses was the availability of patches of different parasite risk and grass height. Controlling for availability, the horses used tall grasses (>16 cm) less than expected, whether the grass was contaminated or not, and they selected for short patches >1 m from faeces, where the risk of encountering parasites was low. These results suggest that selection of feeding sites by horses is driven by an interaction between their nutritional and anti-parasite strategies: the horses avoid the patches of tall grass which are generally of low quality and areas contaminated by parasite larvae which leads them to prefer the patches of short grass far from faeces. The parasite status of the horses at the time of the experiment had no effect on their feeding choices. However, before concluding that the challenge by cyathostomes has no effect on the selection of feeding sites in horses, it will be necessary to test whether the history of parasitism of the individuals, rather than the current status, is important.  
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  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 4228  
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Author Sweeting, M.P.; Houpt, C.E.; Houpt, K.A. url  openurl
  Title Social Facilitation of Feeding and Time Budgets in Stabled Ponies Type Journal Article
  Year 1985 Publication Journal of Animal Science Abbreviated Journal J. Anim Sci.  
  Volume 60 Issue 2 Pages 369-374  
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  Abstract Eight pairs of pony mares were observed. Members of a pair were housed in adjacent stalls and fed hay ad libitum. The behavior of both ponies was recorded simultaneously in the morning (1000 to 1200 h) and afternoon (1400 to 1600 h) for a total of 117 h. The time budget was: 70.1 {+/-} 8.6% eating; 17.8 {+/-} 7.4% standing (including stand rest, stand alert and stand nonajert); 5.2 {+/-} 7.0% pushing hay; 2.9 {+/-} 1.2% walking; 1.9 {+/-} 2.9% drinking; 1.3 {+/-} 1.1% self-grooming; .2 {+/-} .3% defecating; .06 {+/-} .1% chewing nonfood items; .06 {+/-} .03% urination; .06 {+/-} .1% licking salt; .07 {+/-} .1% pawing hay; .6 {+/-} .7% lying and .07 {+/-} .08% stretching the neck over the stall wall dividing the ponies. While eating, the ponies lifted their heads 25.4 {+/-} 11.0 times/h. In less than one-half of the occasions when urination or defecation was observed, the ponies walked away from the spot where they had been eating to eliminate. During one-half of the observations, visual contact between the ponies was prevented by a solid partition between the stalls. The ponies spent significantly more time standing nonalert when the partition prevented visual contact (12 {+/-} 7%) than when visual contact could take place (6 {+/-} 3%, P<.05). When fresh hay was supplied in the mornings, the ponies spent similar amounts of time eating whether visual contact was allowed or not, but in the afternoon significantly more time was spent feeding when visual contact was allowed (73 {+/-} 4%) than when it was not (60 {+/-} 7%). Less time was spent eating, in the absence of visual contact, despite the presence of auditory and olfactory contact. Apparently social facilitation is important in maintaining feeding behavior in ponies. N1 -  
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  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 4232  
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Author Silk, J.B. url  doi
openurl 
  Title Social Components of Fitness in Primate Groups Type Journal Article
  Year 2007 Publication Science Abbreviated Journal Science  
  Volume 317 Issue 5843 Pages 1347-1351  
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  Abstract There is much interest in the evolutionary forces that favored the evolution of large brains in the primate order. The social brain hypothesis posits that selection has favored larger brains and more complex cognitive capacities as a means to cope with the challenges of social life. The hypothesis is supported by evidence that shows that group size is linked to various measures of brain size. But it has not been clear how cognitive complexity confers fitness advantages on individuals. Research in the field and laboratory shows that sophisticated social cognition underlies social behavior in primate groups. Moreover, a growing body of evidence suggests that the quality of social relationships has measurable fitness consequences for individuals.  
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  Notes 10.1126/science.1140734 Approved no  
  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 4239  
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