Records |
Author |
Ratcliffe, J.M.; Fenton, M.B.; Shettleworth, S.J. |
Title |
Behavioral flexibility positively correlated with relative brain volume in predatory bats |
Type |
Journal Article |
Year |
2006 |
Publication |
Brain, behavior and evolution |
Abbreviated Journal |
Brain Behav Evol |
Volume |
67 |
Issue |
3 |
Pages |
165-176 |
Keywords |
Adaptation, Psychological; Animals; Behavior, Animal/*physiology; Brain/*anatomy & histology/physiology; Chiroptera/*anatomy & histology/*physiology; Organ Size; Predatory Behavior/*physiology |
Abstract |
We investigated the potential relationships between foraging strategies and relative brain and brain region volumes in predatory (animal-eating) echolocating bats. The species we considered represent the ancestral state for the order and approximately 70% of living bat species. The two dominant foraging strategies used by echolocating predatory bats are substrate-gleaning (taking prey from surfaces) and aerial hawking (taking airborne prey). We used species-specific behavioral, morphological, and ecological data to classify each of 59 predatory species as one of the following: (1) ground gleaning, (2) behaviorally flexible (i.e., known to both glean and hawk prey), (3) clutter tolerant aerial hawking, or (4) open-space aerial hawking. In analyses using both species level data and phylogenetically independent contrasts, relative brain size was larger in behaviorally flexible species. Further, relative neocortex volume was significantly reduced in bats that aerially hawk prey primarily in open spaces. Conversely, our foraging behavior index did not account for variability in hippocampus and inferior colliculus volume and we discuss these results in the context of past research. |
Address |
Department of Zoology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada. jmr247@cornell.edu |
Corporate Author |
|
Thesis |
|
Publisher |
|
Place of Publication |
|
Editor |
|
Language |
English |
Summary Language |
|
Original Title |
|
Series Editor |
|
Series Title |
|
Abbreviated Series Title |
|
Series Volume |
|
Series Issue |
|
Edition |
|
ISSN |
0006-8977 |
ISBN |
|
Medium |
|
Area |
|
Expedition |
|
Conference |
|
Notes |
PMID:16415571 |
Approved |
no |
Call Number |
refbase @ user @ |
Serial |
358 |
Permanent link to this record |
|
|
|
Author |
Skov-Rackette, S.I.; Shettleworth, S.J. |
Title |
What do rats learn about the geometry of object arrays? Tests with exploratory behavior |
Type |
Journal Article |
Year |
2005 |
Publication |
Journal of experimental psychology. Animal behavior processes |
Abbreviated Journal |
J Exp Psychol Anim Behav Process |
Volume |
31 |
Issue |
2 |
Pages |
142-154 |
Keywords |
Animals; Behavior, Animal; *Discrimination Learning; *Exploratory Behavior; Female; *Form Perception; Habituation, Psychophysiologic; Male; Rats; Rats, Long-Evans |
Abstract |
Six experiments using habituation of exploratory behavior tested whether disoriented rats foraging in a large arena encode the shapes of arrays of objects. Rats did not respond to changes in position of a single object, but they responded to a change in object color and to a change in position of 1 object in a square array, as in previous research (e.g., C. Thinus-Blanc et al., 1987). Rats also responded to an expansion of a square array, suggesting that they encoded sets of interobject distances rather than overall shape. In Experiments 4-6, rats did not respond to changes in sense of a triangular array that maintained interobject distances and angles. Shapes of object arrays are encoded differently from shapes of enclosures. |
Address |
Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5S 3G3, Canada. shannon.skov.rackette@utoronto.ca |
Corporate Author |
|
Thesis |
|
Publisher |
|
Place of Publication |
|
Editor |
|
Language |
English |
Summary Language |
|
Original Title |
|
Series Editor |
|
Series Title |
|
Abbreviated Series Title |
|
Series Volume |
|
Series Issue |
|
Edition |
|
ISSN |
0097-7403 |
ISBN |
|
Medium |
|
Area |
|
Expedition |
|
Conference |
|
Notes |
PMID:15839772 |
Approved |
no |
Call Number |
refbase @ user @ |
Serial |
363 |
Permanent link to this record |
|
|
|
Author |
Shettleworth, S.J.; Sutton, J.E. |
Title |
Multiple systems for spatial learning: dead reckoning and beacon homing in rats |
Type |
Journal Article |
Year |
2005 |
Publication |
Journal of experimental psychology. Animal behavior processes |
Abbreviated Journal |
J Exp Psychol Anim Behav Process |
Volume |
31 |
Issue |
2 |
Pages |
125-141 |
Keywords |
Animals; Behavior, Animal; Cues; *Feeding Behavior; Habituation, Psychophysiologic; *Homing Behavior; *Learning; Male; Rats; Rats, Long-Evans; *Space Perception |
Abstract |
Rats homed with food in a large lighted arena. Without visual cues, they used dead reckoning. When a beacon indicated the home, rats could also use the beacon. Homing did not differ in 2 groups of rats, 1 provided with the beacon and 1 without it; tests without the beacon gave no evidence that beacon learning overshadowed dead reckoning (Experiment 1). When the beacon was at the home for 1 group and in random locations for another, there was again no evidence of cue competition (Experiment 2). Dead reckoning experience did not block acquisition of beacon homing (Experiment 3). Beacon learning and dead reckoning do not compete for predictive value but acquire information in parallel and are used hierarchically. |
Address |
Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5S 3G3, Canada. shettle@psych.utoronto.ca |
Corporate Author |
|
Thesis |
|
Publisher |
|
Place of Publication |
|
Editor |
|
Language |
English |
Summary Language |
|
Original Title |
|
Series Editor |
|
Series Title |
|
Abbreviated Series Title |
|
Series Volume |
|
Series Issue |
|
Edition |
|
ISSN |
0097-7403 |
ISBN |
|
Medium |
|
Area |
|
Expedition |
|
Conference |
|
Notes |
PMID:15839771 |
Approved |
no |
Call Number |
refbase @ user @ |
Serial |
364 |
Permanent link to this record |
|
|
|
Author |
Gibson, B.M.; Shettleworth, S.J. |
Title |
Competition among spatial cues in a naturalistic food-carrying task |
Type |
Journal Article |
Year |
2003 |
Publication |
Learning & behavior : a Psychonomic Society publication |
Abbreviated Journal |
Learn Behav |
Volume |
31 |
Issue |
2 |
Pages |
143-159 |
Keywords |
Adaptation, Psychological; Animals; Appetitive Behavior; *Association Learning; *Attention; Choice Behavior; *Cues; *Discrimination Learning; Male; Rats; Rats, Long-Evans; Space Perception; *Spatial Behavior |
Abstract |
Rats collected nuts from a container in a large arena in four experiments testing how learning about a beacon or cue at a goal interacts with learning about other spatial cues (place learning). Place learning was quick, with little evidence of competition from the beacon (Experiments 1 and 2). Rats trained to approach a beacon regardless of its location were subsequently impaired when the well-learned beacon was removed and other spatial cues identified the location of the goal (Experiment 3). The competition between beacon and place cues reflected learned irrelevance for place cues (Experiment 4). The findings differ from those of some studies of associative interactions between cue and place learning in other paradigms. |
Address |
University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
Corporate Author |
|
Thesis |
|
Publisher |
|
Place of Publication |
|
Editor |
|
Language |
English |
Summary Language |
|
Original Title |
|
Series Editor |
|
Series Title |
|
Abbreviated Series Title |
|
Series Volume |
|
Series Issue |
|
Edition |
|
ISSN |
1543-4494 |
ISBN |
|
Medium |
|
Area |
|
Expedition |
|
Conference |
|
Notes |
PMID:12882373 |
Approved |
no |
Call Number |
refbase @ user @ |
Serial |
368 |
Permanent link to this record |
|
|
|
Author |
Nevin, J.A.; Shettleworth, S.J. |
Title |
An analysis of contrast effects in multiple schedules |
Type |
Journal Article |
Year |
1966 |
Publication |
Journal of the experimental analysis of behavior |
Abbreviated Journal |
J Exp Anal Behav |
Volume |
9 |
Issue |
4 |
Pages |
305-315 |
Keywords |
Animals; Birds; *Conditioning (Psychology); Conditioning, Operant; Discrimination Learning; *Extinction, Psychological; Male; Reaction Time; *Reinforcement (Psychology) |
Abstract |
|
Address |
|
Corporate Author |
|
Thesis |
|
Publisher |
|
Place of Publication |
|
Editor |
|
Language |
English |
Summary Language |
|
Original Title |
|
Series Editor |
|
Series Title |
|
Abbreviated Series Title |
|
Series Volume |
|
Series Issue |
|
Edition |
|
ISSN |
0022-5002 |
ISBN |
|
Medium |
|
Area |
|
Expedition |
|
Conference |
|
Notes |
PMID:5961499 |
Approved |
no |
Call Number |
refbase @ user @ |
Serial |
392 |
Permanent link to this record |
|
|
|
Author |
Cameron, E.Z. |
Title |
Facultative adjustment of mammalian sex ratios in support of the Trivers-Willard hypothesis: evidence for a mechanism |
Type |
Journal Article |
Year |
2004 |
Publication |
Proceedings. Biological sciences / The Royal Society |
Abbreviated Journal |
Proc Biol Sci |
Volume |
271 |
Issue |
1549 |
Pages |
1723-1728 |
Keywords |
Age Factors; Animals; Body Constitution; *Evolution; Female; Glucose/metabolism/physiology; Litter Size; Male; Mammals/*physiology; *Models, Biological; Reproduction/physiology; Seasons; Sex Factors; *Sex Ratio; Time Factors |
Abstract |
Evolutionary theory predicts that mothers of different condition should adjust the birth sex ratio of their offspring in relation to future reproductive benefits. Published studies addressing variation in mammalian sex ratios have produced surprisingly contradictory results. Explaining the source of such variation has been a challenge for sex-ratio theory, not least because no mechanism for sex-ratio adjustment is known. I conducted a meta-analysis of previous mammalian sex-ratio studies to determine if there are any overall patterns in sex-ratio variation. The contradictory nature of previous results was confirmed. However, studies that investigated indices of condition around conception show almost unanimous support for the prediction that mothers in good condition bias their litters towards sons. Recent research on the role of glucose in reproductive functioning have shown that excess glucose favours the development of male blastocysts, providing a potential mechanism for sex-ratio variation in relation to maternal condition around conception. Furthermore, many of the conflicting results from studies on sex-ratio adjustment would be explained if glucose levels in utero during early cell division contributed to the determination of offspring sex ratios. |
Address |
Mammal Research Institute, Department of Zoology and Entomology, University of Pretoria, Pretoria 0002, South Africa. ezcameron@zoology.up.ac.za |
Corporate Author |
|
Thesis |
|
Publisher |
|
Place of Publication |
|
Editor |
|
Language |
English |
Summary Language |
|
Original Title |
|
Series Editor |
|
Series Title |
|
Abbreviated Series Title |
|
Series Volume |
|
Series Issue |
|
Edition |
|
ISSN |
0962-8452 |
ISBN |
|
Medium |
|
Area |
|
Expedition |
|
Conference |
|
Notes |
PMID:15306293 |
Approved |
no |
Call Number |
refbase @ user @ |
Serial |
413 |
Permanent link to this record |
|
|
|
Author |
Broom, M. |
Title |
A unified model of dominance hierarchy formation and maintenance |
Type |
Journal Article |
Year |
2002 |
Publication |
Journal of theoretical biology |
Abbreviated Journal |
J. Theor. Biol. |
Volume |
219 |
Issue |
1 |
Pages |
63-72 |
Keywords |
Animals; *Behavior, Animal; Feeding Behavior; *Models, Psychological; *Social Dominance; Social Environment |
Abstract |
In many different species it is common for animals to spend large portions of their lives in groups. Such groups need to divide available resources amongst the individuals they contain and this is often achieved by means of a dominance hierarchy. Sometimes hierarchies are stable over a long period of time and new individuals slot into pre-determined positions, but there are many situations where this is not so and a hierarchy is formed out of a group of individuals meeting for the first time. There are several different models both of the formation of such dominance hierarchies and of already existing hierarchies. These models often treat the two phases as entirely separate, whereas in reality, if there is a genuine formation phase to the hierarchy, behaviour in this phase will be governed by the rewards available, which in turn depends upon how the hierarchy operates once it has been formed. This paper describes a method of unifying models of these two distinct phases, assuming that the hierarchy formed is stable. In particular a framework is introduced which allows a variety of different models of each of the two parts to be used in conjunction with each other, thus enabling a wide range of situations to be modelled. Some examples are given to show how this works in practice. |
Address |
Centre for Statistics and Stochastic Modelling, School of Mathematical Sciences, University of Sussex, Falmer, Brighton, BN1 9QH, U.K. m.broom@sussex.ac.uk |
Corporate Author |
|
Thesis |
|
Publisher |
|
Place of Publication |
|
Editor |
|
Language |
English |
Summary Language |
|
Original Title |
|
Series Editor |
|
Series Title |
|
Abbreviated Series Title |
|
Series Volume |
|
Series Issue |
|
Edition |
|
ISSN |
0022-5193 |
ISBN |
|
Medium |
|
Area |
|
Expedition |
|
Conference |
|
Notes |
PMID:12392975 |
Approved |
no |
Call Number |
refbase @ user @ |
Serial |
439 |
Permanent link to this record |
|
|
|
Author |
Hemelrijk, C.K.; Wantia, J. |
Title |
Individual variation by self-organisation |
Type |
Journal Article |
Year |
2005 |
Publication |
Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews |
Abbreviated Journal |
Neurosci Biobehav Rev |
Volume |
29 |
Issue |
1 |
Pages |
125-136 |
Keywords |
Aggression; Animals; Behavior, Animal/*physiology; Competitive Behavior/*physiology; Female; Humans; *Individuality; Male; Models, Psychological; Sex Characteristics; *Social Dominance; Time Factors |
Abstract |
In this paper, we show that differences in dominance and spatial centrality of individuals in a group may arise through self-organisation. Our instrument is a model, called DomWorld, that represents two traits that are often found in animals, namely grouping and competing. In this model individual differences grow under the following conditions: (1) when the intensity of aggression increases and grouping becomes denser, (2) when the degree of sexual dimorphism in fighting power increases. In this case the differences among females compared to males grow too, (3) when, upon encountering another individual, the tendency to attack is 'obligate' and not conditional, namely 'sensitive to risks'. Results resemble phenomena described for societies of primates, mice, birds and pigs. |
Address |
Theoretical Biology, University of Groningen, NN Haren, The Netherlands. hemelrij@ifi.unizh.ch |
Corporate Author |
|
Thesis |
|
Publisher |
|
Place of Publication |
|
Editor |
|
Language |
English |
Summary Language |
|
Original Title |
|
Series Editor |
|
Series Title |
|
Abbreviated Series Title |
|
Series Volume |
|
Series Issue |
|
Edition |
|
ISSN |
0149-7634 |
ISBN |
|
Medium |
|
Area |
|
Expedition |
|
Conference |
|
Notes |
PMID:15652260 |
Approved |
no |
Call Number |
refbase @ user @ |
Serial |
443 |
Permanent link to this record |
|
|
|
Author |
Johnson, D.D.P.; Stopka, P.; Knights, S. |
Title |
Sociology: The puzzle of human cooperation |
Type |
Journal Article |
Year |
2003 |
Publication |
Nature |
Abbreviated Journal |
Nature |
Volume |
421 |
Issue |
6926 |
Pages |
911-2; discussion 912 |
Keywords |
Altruism; *Cooperative Behavior; Evolution; Humans; *Models, Biological; Punishment; Reward; Risk |
Abstract |
|
Address |
Olin Institute for Strategic Studies, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA. dominic@post.harvard.edu |
Corporate Author |
|
Thesis |
|
Publisher |
|
Place of Publication |
|
Editor |
|
Language |
English |
Summary Language |
|
Original Title |
|
Series Editor |
|
Series Title |
|
Abbreviated Series Title |
|
Series Volume |
|
Series Issue |
|
Edition |
|
ISSN |
0028-0836 |
ISBN |
|
Medium |
|
Area |
|
Expedition |
|
Conference |
|
Notes |
PMID:12606989 |
Approved |
no |
Call Number |
refbase @ user @ |
Serial |
467 |
Permanent link to this record |
|
|
|
Author |
Scheffer, M.; van Nes, E.H. |
Title |
Self-organized similarity, the evolutionary emergence of groups of similar species |
Type |
Journal Article |
Year |
2006 |
Publication |
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America |
Abbreviated Journal |
Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. |
Volume |
103 |
Issue |
16 |
Pages |
6230-6235 |
Keywords |
Animals; *Competitive Behavior; *Ecosystem; *Evolution; *Models, Biological |
Abstract |
Ecologists have long been puzzled by the fact that there are so many similar species in nature. Here we show that self-organized clusters of look-a-likes may emerge spontaneously from coevolution of competitors. The explanation is that there are two alternative ways to survive together: being sufficiently different or being sufficiently similar. Using a model based on classical competition theory, we demonstrate a tendency for evolutionary emergence of regularly spaced lumps of similar species along a niche axis. Indeed, such lumpy patterns are commonly observed in size distributions of organisms ranging from algae, zooplankton, and beetles to birds and mammals, and could not be well explained by earlier theory. Our results suggest that these patterns may represent self-constructed niches emerging from competitive interactions. A corollary of our findings is that, whereas in species-poor communities sympatric speciation and invasion of open niches is possible, species-saturated communities may be characterized by convergent evolution and invasion by look-a-likes. |
Address |
Aquatic Ecology and Water Quality Management Group, Department of Environmental Sciences, Wageningen University, P.O. Box 8080, 6700 DD, Wageningen, The Netherlands. marten.scheffer@wur.nl |
Corporate Author |
|
Thesis |
|
Publisher |
|
Place of Publication |
|
Editor |
|
Language |
English |
Summary Language |
|
Original Title |
|
Series Editor |
|
Series Title |
|
Abbreviated Series Title |
|
Series Volume |
|
Series Issue |
|
Edition |
|
ISSN |
0027-8424 |
ISBN |
|
Medium |
|
Area |
|
Expedition |
|
Conference |
|
Notes |
PMID:16585519 |
Approved |
no |
Call Number |
refbase @ user @ |
Serial |
510 |
Permanent link to this record |