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Author Kelly, C.D. url  doi
openurl 
  Title Fighting for harems: assessment strategies during male-male contests in the sexually dimorphic Wellington tree weta Type (up) Journal Article
  Year 2006 Publication Animal Behaviour. Abbreviated Journal Anim. Behav.  
  Volume 72 Issue 3 Pages 727-736  
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  Abstract Females often aggregate at particular sites for feeding or shelter, thus giving adult males the opportunity to defend harems and increase male reproductive success. Rival males compete for control of harems via ritualized displays or direct combat using weaponry. Contests for harems or the resources required by females can be settled based on asymmetries in fighting ability or resource ownership. Males that accurately assess a rival's fighting ability prior to engaging in potentially costly combat should be favoured by selection. Game theory and optimality models provide three models to explain how individuals decide to persist in or flee from a fight. These models are the energetic war of attrition, the sequential assessment model and the cumulative assessment model. Using staged contests in the laboratory, I tested predictions of these models using the Wellington tree weta, Hemideina crassidens, a sexually dimorphic insect native to New Zealand. Male H. crassidens use their enlarged mandibles as weapons in fights for access to adult females that reside in cavities in trees. My results supported a prediction common to each assessment model: contest duration was negatively correlated with the asymmetry in opponent's weapon size. The sequential assessment model of contest settlement was partially supported but the strongest support was for the cumulative assessment model. Predictions of the latter model were supported because: (1) fights are apparently settled based on own-size assessment; (2) fights occur in a single phase and escalate; and (3) contests involve physical combat and injury. I suggest that, in nocturnal species, cumulative assessment will generally be most applicable.  
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  Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 297  
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Author Flack, J.C.; Girvan, M.; de Waal, F.B.M.; Krakauer, D.C. doi  openurl
  Title Policing stabilizes construction of social niches in primates Type (up) Journal Article
  Year 2006 Publication Nature Abbreviated Journal Nature  
  Volume 439 Issue 7075 Pages 426-429  
  Keywords Animals; Conflict (Psychology); Female; Macaca nemestrina/*physiology/*psychology; Male; Models, Biological; *Social Behavior  
  Abstract All organisms interact with their environment, and in doing so shape it, modifying resource availability. Termed niche construction, this process has been studied primarily at the ecological level with an emphasis on the consequences of construction across generations. We focus on the behavioural process of construction within a single generation, identifying the role a robustness mechanism--conflict management--has in promoting interactions that build social resource networks or social niches. Using 'knockout' experiments on a large, captive group of pigtailed macaques (Macaca nemestrina), we show that a policing function, performed infrequently by a small subset of individuals, significantly contributes to maintaining stable resource networks in the face of chronic perturbations that arise through conflict. When policing is absent, social niches destabilize, with group members building smaller, less diverse, and less integrated grooming, play, proximity and contact-sitting networks. Instability is quantified in terms of reduced mean degree, increased clustering, reduced reach, and increased assortativity. Policing not only controls conflict, we find it significantly influences the structure of networks that constitute essential social resources in gregarious primate societies. The structure of such networks plays a critical role in infant survivorship, emergence and spread of cooperative behaviour, social learning and cultural traditions.  
  Address Santa Fe Institute, Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501, USA. jflack@santafe.edu  
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  ISSN 1476-4687 ISBN Medium  
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  Notes PMID:16437106 Approved no  
  Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 298  
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Author Aureli, F.; Cords, M.; van Schaik, C.P. url  doi
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  Title Conflict resolution following aggression in gregarious animals: a predictive framework Type (up) Journal Article
  Year 2002 Publication Animal Behaviour. Abbreviated Journal Anim. Behav.  
  Volume 64 Issue 3 Pages 325-343  
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  Abstract Knowledge of how animals manage their conflicts is critical for understanding the dynamics of social systems. During the last two decades research on gregarious animals, especially primates, has focused on the mechanisms of conflict management, mainly on friendly postconflict reunions (also called `reconciliation') in which former opponents exchange affiliative behaviour soon after an aggressive conflict. Our aim in this paper is to present a framework in which the costs and benefits of friendly postconflict reunions, both for each individual opponent and for their mutual relationship, are used to predict the patterning of postconflict resolution mechanisms in other gregarious animals. The framework predicts the occurrence of postconflict reunions in species that live in stable social units, have individualized relationships, and experience postconflict hostility, but especially in those in which intragroup aggression disrupts valuable relationships. The critical issue is whether aggressive conflicts occur between cooperative partners and whether the level of aggression is sufficient to jeopardize the benefits associated with such valuable relationships. We conclude by proposing four research priorities to evaluate the role of friendly reunions in negotiating relationships and the way they are themselves influenced by asymmetries in partner value and biological market effects. Copyright 2002 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.  
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  Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 299  
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Author Visser, E.K.; van Reenen, C.G.; van der Werf, J.T.N.; Schilder, M.B.H.; Knaap, J.H.; Barneveld, A.; Blokhuis, H.J. url  doi
openurl 
  Title Heart rate and heart rate variability during a novel object test and a handling test in young horses Type (up) Journal Article
  Year 2002 Publication Physiology & Behavior Abbreviated Journal Physiol. Behav.  
  Volume 76 Issue 2 Pages 289-296  
  Keywords Heart rate; Heart rate variability; Consistency; Behavioral tests; Temperament; Emotionality; Horses  
  Abstract Forty-one Dutch Warmblood immature horses were used in a study to quantify temperamental traits on the basis of heart rate (HR) and heart rate variability (HRV) measures. Half of the horses received additional training from the age of 5 months onwards; the other half did not. Horses were tested at 9, 10, 21 and 22 months of age in a novel object and a handling test. During the tests, mean HR and two heart variability indices, e.g. standard deviation of beat-to-beat intervals (SDRR) and root mean square of successive beat-to-beat differences (rMSSD), were calculated and expressed as response values to baseline measures. In both tests, horses showed at all ages a significant increase in mean HR and decrease in HRV measures, which suggests a marked shift of the balance of the autonomic nervous system towards a sympathetic dominance. In the novel object test, this shift was more pronounced in horses that had not been trained. Furthermore, statistical analysis showed that the increase in mean HR could not be entirely explained by the physical activity. The additional increase in HR, the nonmotor HR, was more pronounced in the untrained horses compared to the trained. Hence, it is suggested that this nonmotor HR might be due to the level of emotionality. HR variables showed consistency between years, as well as within the second year. These tests bring about a HR response in horses, part of which may indicate a higher level of emotionality; and horses show individual consistency of these HR variables over ages. Therefore, it is concluded that mean HR and HRV measures used with these tests quantify certain aspects of a horse's temperament.  
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  Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 320  
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Author Visser, E.K.; van Reenen, C.G.; Hopster, H.; Schilder, M.B.H.; Knaap, J.H.; Barneveld, A.; Blokhuis, H.J. url  doi
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  Title Quantifying aspects of young horses' temperament: consistency of behavioural variables Type (up) Journal Article
  Year 2001 Publication Applied Animal Behaviour Science Abbreviated Journal Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci.  
  Volume 74 Issue 4 Pages 241-258  
  Keywords Horses; Temperament; Individual differences; Behavioural variables; Pca  
  Abstract Performance of horses, whether in sports or in leisure, depends on both physical abilities as well as temperament. The aim of the present work was to measure individual variation and consistency of behavioural variables, related to temperament, in young horses of the same breed and age, and reared under controlled housing conditions and management. A total of 41 Dutch Warmblood horses were tested at 9, 10, 21 and 22 months of age in two behavioural tests, i.e. the novel object test and the handling test. In the novel object test horses were confronted with an open umbrella that was lowered from the ceiling. In the handling test horses were led by a human to cross a bridge. Per test, behavioural variables in the following behavioural classes were observed: locomotor activity, latency times, postural expressions and vocalisations. Within years, all behavioural variables in the handling test, and all but two in the novel object test were positively correlated (0.36<Rs<0.81, P<0.05). For both tests, at 9, 10, 21 and 22 months of age, a principal component analysis (PCA) was carried out to examine whether there were indications for underlying components of these individual behavioural variables that could possibly serve as measures for temperamental traits. The first component in the novel object test could be regarded as `flightiness' and the second as `sensitiveness'. In the handling test, the first component was suggested to relate to `patience', the second component to `willingness to perform'. The temperamental trait `flightiness' (novel object test) as well as the temperamental trait `patience' (handling test) were positively correlated within both years (0.36<Rs<0.65, P<0.05). For the traits `sensitiveness' (novel object test) and `willingness to perform' (handling test) a positive correlation was only found within the first year (0.44<Rs<0.57, P<0.01). A few individual behavioural variables showed consistency over years. Additionally, just one out of four temperamental traits, namely `flightiness', proved to be consistent over years (Rs=0.49, P<0.01). The temperamental trait `patience' showed a trend between years (Rs=0.31, 0.05<P<0.1). It is concluded that the behavioural tests employed in the present study can be used to reliably identify individual behavioural variables and temperamental traits in young horses. Long-term consistency, i.e. between subsequent years, could not be demonstrated convincingly. Nevertheless, future work may indicate that employing the same approach and considering an even longer time period or different phases of the horse's life, long-term consistency does exist.  
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  Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 324  
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Author Visser, E.K.; Van Reenen, C.G.; Engel, B.; Schilder, M.B.H.; Barneveld, A.; Blokhuis, H.J. doi  openurl
  Title The association between performance in show-jumping and personality traits earlier in life Type (up) Journal Article
  Year 2003 Publication Applied Animal Behaviour Science Abbreviated Journal Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci.  
  Volume 82 Issue 4 Pages 279-295  
  Keywords Personality; Performance; Horses; Prediction; Individual differences; Behavioural tests  
  Abstract For a horse to succeed in a show-jumping career, the individual has to possess both excellent physical abilities as well as a suitable personality to perform under challenging conditions. Forty-one Dutch Warmblood horses were used to develop personality tests and correlations between test variables and early training performances in jumping were studied. In behavioural tests, during the first 2 years of the horses' lives, personality aspects like emotionality, reactivity to human and learning abilities were quantified. At the age of 3, horses were broken and received early training in show-jumping. The inter-relationship between several performance variables measured during this early training phase were studied using principal component analysis (PCA). Variables measured in the different personality tests (novel-object test, handling test, avoidance-learning test and a reward-learning test) showed no correlations, suggesting that these tests all triggered different aspects of a horse's personality. This study indicates that it is possible to predict a substantial part of the show-jumping performance of an individual horse later in life by personality traits earlier in life.  
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  Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 326  
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Author Hausberger, M.; Muller, C. url  doi
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  Title A brief note on some possible factors involved in the reactions of horses to humans Type (up) Journal Article
  Year 2002 Publication Applied Animal Behaviour Science Abbreviated Journal Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci.  
  Volume 76 Issue 4 Pages 339-344  
  Keywords Horses; Aggressiveness; Behavioural reactions; Human-animal relationship  
  Abstract In order to investigate relationships of adult horses to humans, we developed a simple evaluation test and scores based on observations. The first reactions of 224 adult horses to the presence of an experimenter were observed and scored. All these horses belonged to the same riding school, had the same general housing conditions and were all geldings. The evaluation was based on the horse's posture. Individual differences that could be related to some extent to the breed but also to human factors emerged clearly. French saddlebreds showed more often friendly behaviour than Angloarabs, whereas thoroughbreds were more indifferent. Clear variations occurred between groups of horses that depended on different caretakers. In this school, one caretaker is responsible for the whole daily management of a group of horses and is probably a very important factor in their well-being. The effects of this daily relation to a human seemed to be involved in the reactions to a strange person. Further studies are required to investigate what, in practice, may be determinant.  
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  Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 329  
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Author Agrillo, C.; Dadda, M.; Bisazza, A. doi  openurl
  Title Quantity discrimination in female mosquitofish Type (up) Journal Article
  Year 2007 Publication Animal cognition Abbreviated Journal Anim. Cogn.  
  Volume 10 Issue 1 Pages 63-70  
  Keywords Animals; Cognition; *Cyprinodontiformes; *Discrimination Learning; Female; Male; Mathematics; *Pattern Recognition, Visual  
  Abstract The ability in animals to count and represent different numbers of objects has received a great deal of attention in the past few decades. Cumulative evidence from comparative studies on number discriminations report obvious analogies among human babies, non-human primates and birds and are consistent with the hypothesis of two distinct and widespread mechanisms, one for counting small numbers (<4) precisely, and one for quantifying large numbers approximately. We investigated the ability to discriminate among different numerosities, in a distantly related species, the mosquitofish, by using the spontaneous choice of a gravid female to join large groups of females as protection from a sexually harassing male. In one experiment, we found that females were able to discriminate between two shoals with a 1:2 numerosity ratio (2 vs. 4, 4 vs. 8 and 8 vs. 16 fish) but failed to discriminate a 2:3 ratio (8 vs. 12 fish). In the second experiment, we studied the ability to discriminate between shoals that differed by one element; females were able to select the larger shoal when the paired numbers were 2 vs. 3 or 3 vs. 4 but not 4 vs. 5 or 5 vs. 6. Our study indicates that numerical abilities in fish are comparable with those of other non-verbal creatures studied; results are in agreement with the hypothesis of the existence of two distinct systems for quantity discrimination in vertebrates.  
  Address Department of General Psychology, University of Padova, via Venezia 8, 35131, Padova, Italy. christian.agrillo@unipd.it  
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  ISSN 1435-9448 ISBN Medium  
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  Notes PMID:16868736 Approved no  
  Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 339  
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Author Wittig, R.M.; Crockford, C.; Wikberg, E.; Seyfarth, R.M.; Cheney, D.L. doi  openurl
  Title Kin-mediated reconciliation substitutes for direct reconciliation in female baboons Type (up) Journal Article
  Year 2007 Publication Proceedings. Biological sciences / The Royal Society Abbreviated Journal Proc Biol Sci  
  Volume 274 Issue 1613 Pages 1109-1115  
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  Abstract It has been hypothesized that group-living mammals engage in reconciliation (post-conflict affiliation between former opponents) to reduce the disruptive costs of aggression and restore opponents' tolerance to baseline levels. Recipients of aggression are sometimes reluctant to tolerate the proximity of a recent opponent, however, in apparent fear that aggression will be renewed. In such cases, reconciliatory behaviour by the aggressor's close kin may substitute for direct reconciliation. We describe a playback experiment with free-ranging baboons (Papio hamadryas ursinus) that examines whether friendly behaviour by the aggressor's kin can substitute for direct reconciliation by the aggressor herself. In the test condition, female subjects who had recently been threatened heard the friendly grunt of one of their aggressor's relatives, mimicking kin-mediated vocal reconciliation. In the control condition, subjects heard the grunt of a dominant female from a different matriline. Subjects responded significantly more strongly in test than in control trials. Moreover, in the next hour they were significantly more likely to tolerate the proximity of both their aggressor and the relative whose grunt they had heard. In contrast, subjects' behaviour towards both control females and other members of their aggressor's matriline was unaffected. We conclude that kin-mediated vocal reconciliation can substitute for direct reconciliation in baboons.  
  Address Department of Biology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104-6018, USA  
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  ISSN 0962-8452 ISBN Medium  
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  Notes PMID:17301022 Approved no  
  Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 342  
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Author Paz-y-Miño C. G.; Bond, A.B.; Kamil, A.C.; Balda, R.P. doi  openurl
  Title Pinyon jays use transitive inference to predict social dominance Type (up) Journal Article
  Year 2004 Publication Nature Abbreviated Journal Nature  
  Volume 430 Issue 7001 Pages 778-781  
  Keywords Animals; Cognition/*physiology; Group Structure; Male; *Social Dominance; Songbirds/*physiology  
  Abstract Living in large, stable social groups is often considered to favour the evolution of enhanced cognitive abilities, such as recognizing group members, tracking their social status and inferring relationships among them. An individual's place in the social order can be learned through direct interactions with others, but conflicts can be time-consuming and even injurious. Because the number of possible pairwise interactions increases rapidly with group size, members of large social groups will benefit if they can make judgments about relationships on the basis of indirect evidence. Transitive reasoning should therefore be particularly important for social individuals, allowing assessment of relationships from observations of interactions among others. Although a variety of studies have suggested that transitive inference may be used in social settings, the phenomenon has not been demonstrated under controlled conditions in animals. Here we show that highly social pinyon jays (Gymnorhinus cyanocephalus) draw sophisticated inferences about their own dominance status relative to that of strangers that they have observed interacting with known individuals. These results directly demonstrate that animals use transitive inference in social settings and imply that such cognitive capabilities are widespread among social species.  
  Address Center for Avian Cognition, School of Biological Sciences, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, Nebraska 68588, USA  
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  Notes PMID:15306809 Approved no  
  Call Number refbase @ user @; Equine Behaviour @ team @ room B 3.029 Serial 352  
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