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Author Vallortigara, G.; Rogers, L.J.
Title Survival with an asymmetrical brain: advantages and disadvantages of cerebral lateralization Type Journal Article
Year (down) 2005 Publication The Behavioral and Brain Sciences Abbreviated Journal Behav Brain Sci
Volume 28 Issue 4 Pages 575-89; discussion 589-633
Keywords Animals; Attention/*physiology; Behavior/*physiology; Behavior, Animal/*physiology; Dominance, Cerebral/*physiology; *Evolution; Humans; Models, Biological; Visual Perception/physiology
Abstract Recent evidence in natural and semi-natural settings has revealed a variety of left-right perceptual asymmetries among vertebrates. These include preferential use of the left or right visual hemifield during activities such as searching for food, agonistic responses, or escape from predators in animals as different as fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals. There are obvious disadvantages in showing such directional asymmetries because relevant stimuli may be located to the animal's left or right at random; there is no a priori association between the meaning of a stimulus (e.g., its being a predator or a food item) and its being located to the animal's left or right. Moreover, other organisms (e.g., predators) could exploit the predictability of behavior that arises from population-level lateral biases. It might be argued that lateralization of function enhances cognitive capacity and efficiency of the brain, thus counteracting the ecological disadvantages of lateral biases in behavior. However, such an increase in brain efficiency could be obtained by each individual being lateralized without any need to align the direction of the asymmetry in the majority of the individuals of the population. Here we argue that the alignment of the direction of behavioral asymmetries at the population level arises as an “evolutionarily stable strategy” under “social” pressures occurring when individually asymmetrical organisms must coordinate their behavior with the behavior of other asymmetrical organisms of the same or different species.
Address Department of Psychology and B.R.A.I.N. Centre for Neuroscience, University of Trieste, 34123 Trieste, Italy. vallorti@univ.trieste.it
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 0140-525X ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:16209828 Approved no
Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 4622
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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 (down) 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
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Author Dall, Sasha R. X; Houston, Alasdair I.; McNamara, John M.
Title The behavioural ecology of personality: consistent individual differences from an adaptive perspective Type Journal Article
Year (down) 2004 Publication Ecology Letters Abbreviated Journal Ecol. Letters
Volume 7 Issue Pages 734-739
Keywords Adaptive individual differences, behavioural ecology, behavioural syndromes, evolutionary game theory, life history strategies, personality differences, state-dependent dynamic programming
Abstract Individual humans, and members of diverse other species, show consistent differences in

aggressiveness, shyness, sociability and activity. Such intraspecific differences in

behaviour have been widely assumed to be non-adaptive variation surrounding

(possibly) adaptive population-average behaviour. Nevertheless, in keeping with recent

calls to apply Darwinian reasoning to ever-finer scales of biological variation, we sketch

the fundamentals of an adaptive theory of consistent individual differences in behaviour.

Our thesis is based on the notion that such .personality differences. can be selected for if

fitness payoffs are dependent on both the frequencies with which competing strategies

are played and an individual`s behavioural history. To this end, we review existing models

that illustrate this and propose a game theoretic approach to analyzing personality

differences that is both dynamic and state-dependent. Our motivation is to provide

insights into the evolution and maintenance of an apparently common animal trait:

personality, which has far reaching ecological and evolutionary implications.
Address
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes Approved no
Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 494
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Author Fenton, B.; Ratcliffe, J.
Title Animal behaviour: eavesdropping on bats Type Journal Article
Year (down) 2004 Publication Nature Abbreviated Journal Nature
Volume 429 Issue 6992 Pages 612-613
Keywords Acoustics; Animals; Chiroptera/anatomy & histology/classification/genetics/*physiology; Echolocation/*physiology; *Evolution; Phylogeny; Predatory Behavior/physiology; Species Specificity
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 1476-4687 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:15190335 Approved no
Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 500
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Author Danchin, E.; Giraldeau, L.-A.; Valone, T.J.; Wagner, R.H.
Title Public information: from nosy neighbors to cultural evolution Type Journal Article
Year (down) 2004 Publication Science (New York, N.Y.) Abbreviated Journal Science
Volume 305 Issue 5683 Pages 487-491
Keywords Animals; *Behavior, Animal; Cues; *Cultural Evolution; *Decision Making; Environment; Evolution; Feeding Behavior; Female; Genes; Humans; Male; Reproduction; Sexual Behavior, Animal
Abstract Psychologists, economists, and advertising moguls have long known that human decision-making is strongly influenced by the behavior of others. A rapidly accumulating body of evidence suggests that the same is true in animals. Individuals can use information arising from cues inadvertently produced by the behavior of other individuals with similar requirements. Many of these cues provide public information about the quality of alternatives. The use of public information is taxonomically widespread and can enhance fitness. Public information can lead to cultural evolution, which we suggest may then affect biological evolution.
Address U.P.M.C. CNRS-UMR7625, Bat A-7e etage-Case 237, 7 quai Saint Bernard, 75252 Paris Cedex 05, France. edanchin@snv.jussieu.fr
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 1095-9203 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:15273386 Approved no
Call Number Serial 2131
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Author Zhang, T.-Y.; Parent, C.; Weaver, I.; Meaney, M.J.
Title Maternal programming of individual differences in defensive responses in the rat Type Journal Article
Year (down) 2004 Publication Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences Abbreviated Journal Ann N Y Acad Sci
Volume 1032 Issue Pages 85-103
Keywords Adaptation, Biological; Aggression/*physiology; Animals; Evolution; Female; Gene Expression/physiology; Humans; Individuality; *Maternal Behavior; Phenotype; Pregnancy; Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects; Rats; Stress, Psychological/physiopathology
Abstract This paper describes the results of a series of studies showing that variations in mother-pup interactions program the development of individual differences in behavioral and endocrine stress responses in the rat. These effects are associated with altered expression of genes in brain regions, such as the amygdala, hippocampus, and hypothalamus, that regulate the expression of stress responses. Studies from evolutionary biology suggest that such “maternal effects” are common and often associated with variations in the quality of the maternal environment. Together these findings suggest an epigenetic process whereby the experience of the mother alters the nature of the parent-offspring interactions and thus the phenotype of the offspring.
Address McGill Program for the Study of Behavior, Genes and Environment, Douglas Hospital Research Centre, Department of Psychiatry, McGill University, 6875 boul. LaSalle, Montreal (Quebec), Canada H4H 1R3
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 0077-8923 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:15677397 Approved no
Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 4132
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Author Lefebvre, L.; Reader, S.M.; Sol, D.
Title Brains, Innovations and Evolution in Birds and Primates Type Journal Article
Year (down) 2004 Publication Brain, Behavior and Evolution Abbreviated Journal Brain. Behav. Evol.
Volume 63 Issue 4 Pages 233-246
Keywords Innovation W Brain evolution W Hyperstriatum ventrale W Neostriatum W Isocortex W Birds W Primates W Tool use W Invasion biology
Abstract Abstract

Several comparative research programs have focusedon the cognitive, life history and ecological traits thataccount for variation in brain size. We review one ofthese programs, a program that uses the reported frequencyof behavioral innovation as an operational measureof cognition. In both birds and primates, innovationrate is positively correlated with the relative size of associationareas in the brain, the hyperstriatum ventrale andneostriatum in birds and the isocortex and striatum inprimates. Innovation rate is also positively correlatedwith the taxonomic distribution of tool use, as well asinterspecific differences in learning. Some features ofcognition have thus evolved in a remarkably similar wayin primates and at least six phyletically-independent avianlineages. In birds, innovation rate is associated withthe ability of species to deal with seasonal changes in theenvironment and to establish themselves in new regions,and it also appears to be related to the rate atwhich lineages diversify. Innovation rate provides a usefultool to quantify inter-taxon differences in cognitionand to test classic hypotheses regarding the evolution ofthe brain.
Address
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language 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 Approved no
Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 4738
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Author Vollmerhaus, B.; Roos, H.; Gerhards, H.; Knospe, C.
Title [Phylogeny, form and function of canine teeth in the horse] Type Journal Article
Year (down) 2003 Publication Anatomia, histologia, embryologia Abbreviated Journal Anat Histol Embryol
Volume 32 Issue 4 Pages 212-217
Keywords Animals; Cuspid/*anatomy & histology/radiography; Evolution; Horses/*anatomy & histology; Male; Phylogeny; *Social Dominance
Abstract The canine teeth of the horse developed phylogenically from the simple, pointed, short-rooted tooth form of the leaf eating, in pairs living, Eocene horse Hyracotherium and served up to the Oligocene as a means of defense (self preservation). In the Miocene the living conditions of the Merychippus changed and they took to eating grass and adopted as a new behavior the life in a herd. The canine teeth possibly played an important role in fights for social ranking; they changed from a crown form to knife-like shape. In the Pliohippus the canine tooth usually remained in male horses and since the Pliocene, it contributed to the fights between stallions, to ensure that the offspring only came from the strongest animals (preservation of the species). Form and construction of the canine tooth are described and discussed in detail under the above mentioned phylogenic and ethologic aspects.
Address Institut fur Tieranatomie und Chirurgische Tierklinik der Universitat Munchen, Veterinarstrasse 13, D 80539 Munchen, Deutschland. c-neumueller@anat.vetmed.uni-muenchen.de
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language German Summary Language Original Title [Zur Phylogenie, Form und Funktion der Dentes canini des Pferdes]
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0340-2096 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:12919071 Approved no
Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 672
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Author de Waal, F.B.M.
Title Darwin's legacy and the study of primate visual communication Type Journal Article
Year (down) 2003 Publication Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences Abbreviated Journal Ann N Y Acad Sci
Volume 1000 Issue Pages 7-31
Keywords Affect; Aggression/psychology; Animals; Culture; *Evolution; *Facial Expression; Gestures; Grooming; Humans; Laughter; *Nonverbal Communication; Primates/*physiology; Smiling; *Visual Perception
Abstract After Charles Darwin's The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals, published in 1872, we had to wait 60 years before the theme of animal expressions was picked up by another astute observer. In 1935, Nadezhda Ladygina-Kohts published a detailed comparison of the expressive behavior of a juvenile chimpanzee and of her own child. After Kohts, we had to wait until the 1960s for modern ethological analyses of primate facial and gestural communication. Again, the focus was on the chimpanzee, but ethograms on other primates appeared as well. Our understanding of the range of expressions in other primates is at present far more advanced than that in Darwin's time. A strong social component has been added: instead of focusing on the expressions per se, they are now often classified according to the social situations in which they typically occur. Initially, quantitative analyses were sequential (i.e., concerned with temporal associations between behavior patterns), and they avoided the language of emotions. I will discuss some of this early work, including my own on the communicative repertoire of the bonobo, a close relative of the chimpanzee (and ourselves). I will provide concrete examples to make the point that there is a much richer matrix of contexts possible than the common behavioral categories of aggression, sex, fear, play, and so on. Primate signaling is a form of negotiation, and previous classifications have ignored the specifics of what animals try to achieve with their exchanges. There is also increasing evidence for signal conventionalization in primates, especially the apes, in both captivity and the field. This process results in group-specific or “cultural” communication patterns.
Address Yerkes Primate Center, and Psychology Department, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia 30322, USA. dewaal@emory.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 0077-8923 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:14766618 Approved no
Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 177
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Author Johnson, D.D.P.; Stopka, P.; Knights, S.
Title Sociology: The puzzle of human cooperation Type Journal Article
Year (down) 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