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Bandini, E., & Tennie C. (2020). Exploring the role of individual learning in animal tool-use. PeerJ, 25, 8:e9877.
Abstract: The notion that tool-use is unique to humans has long been refuted by the growing number of observations of animals using tools across various contexts. Yet, the mechanisms behind the emergence and sustenance of these tool-use repertoires are still heavily debated. We argue that the current animal behaviour literature is biased towards a social learning approach, in which animal, and in particular primate, tool-use repertoires are thought to require social learning mechanisms (copying variants of social learning are most often invoked). However, concrete evidence for a widespread dependency on social learning is still lacking. On the other hand, a growing body of observational and experimental data demonstrates that various animal species are capable of acquiring the forms of their tool-use behaviours via individual learning, with (non-copying) social learning regulating the frequencies of the behavioural forms within (and, indirectly, between) groups. As a first outline of the extent of the role of individual learning in animal tool-use, a literature review of reports of the spontaneous acquisition of animal tool-use behaviours was carried out across observational and experimental studies. The results of this review suggest that perhaps due to the pervasive focus on social learning in the literature, accounts of the individual learning of tool-use forms by naïve animals may have been largely overlooked, and their importance under-examined.
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Bandini, E., Motes-Rodrigo, A., Steele, M. P., Rutz, C., & Tennie, C. (2020). Examining the mechanisms underlying the acquisition of animal tool behaviour. Biol. Lett., 16(2020122).
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Byström, A., Clayton, H. M., Hernlund, E., Rhodin, M., & Egenvall, A. (2020). Equestrian and biomechanical perspectives on laterality in the horse. Comp. Exerc. Physiol., 16(1), 35–45.
Abstract: It has been suggested that one of the underlying causes of asymmetrical performance and left/right bias in sound riding horses is laterality originating in the cerebral cortices described in many species. The aim of this paper is to review the published evidence for inherent biomechanical laterality in horses deemed to be clinically sound and relate these findings to descriptions of sidedness in equestrian texts. There are no established criteria to determine if a horse is left or right dominant but the preferred limb has been defined as the forelimb that is more frequently protracted during stance and when grazing. Findings on left-right differences in forelimb hoof shape and front hoof angles have been linked to asymmetric forelimb ground reaction forces. Asymmetries interpreted as motor laterality have been found among foals and unhandled youngsters, and the consistency or extent of asymmetries seems to increase with age. Expressions of laterality also vary with breed, sex, training and handling, stress, and body shape but there are no studies of the possible link between laterality and lameness. In a recent study of a group of seven dressage horses, a movement pattern in many ways similar to descriptions of sidedness in the equestrian literature, e.g. one hind limb being more protracted and placed more laterally than the other, has been documented. The role of innate laterality versus painful conditions, training, human handedness and simply habit remains to be determined. Understanding the biomechanical manifestations of laterality in healthy horses, including individual variation, would yield a potential basis for how laterality should be taken into account in relation to training/riding and rehabilitation of lameness.
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Janczarek, I., Wisniewska, A., Chruszczewski, M. H., Tkaczyk, E., & Górecka-Bruzda, A. (2020). Social Behaviour of Horses in Response to Vocalisations of Predators. Animals, 10(2331).
Abstract: We tested the hypothesis that social defensive responses to the vocalisation of a predator still exist in horses. The recordings of a grey wolf, an Arabian leopard and a golden jackal were played to 20 Konik polski and Arabian mares. Durations of grazing, standing still, standing alert and the number of steps in walk and trot/canter were measured. In one-minute scans, the distances of the focal horse from the reference horse (DIST-RH) and from the nearest loudspeaker (DIST-LS) were approximated. The vocalisation of a leopard aroused the Arabians more than the Koniks (less grazing, stand-still and walk, more stand-alert and trotting/cantering). Koniks showed more relaxed behaviours to the leopard vocalisation (more grazing, stand-still and walk), but high alertness to the wolf playback (stand-alert, trotting/cantering). Spatial formation of the herd of Koniks showed tight grouping (lower DIST-RH) and maintaining distance from the potential threat (DIST-LS) in response to the wolf howling, while the Arabians approached the loudspeakers in linear herd formation when the leopard growls were played. Adult horses responded to potential predation by changing spatial group formations. This ability to apply a social strategy may be one of the explanations for the least number of horses among all hunted farm animal species.
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Leliveld, L. M. C., Düpjan, S., Tuchscherer, A., & Puppe, B. (2020). Hemispheric Specialization for Processing the Communicative and Emotional Content of Vocal Communication in a Social Mammal, the Domestic Pig. Front. Behav. Neurosci., 14, 596758.
Abstract: In humans, speech perception is lateralized, with the left hemisphere of the brain dominant in processing the communicative content and the right hemisphere dominant in processing the emotional content. However, still little is known about such a division of tasks in other species. We therefore investigated lateralized processing of communicative and emotionally relevant calls in a social mammal, the pig (Sus scrofa). Based on the contralateral connection between ears and hemispheres, we compared the behavioural and cardiac responses of 36 young male pigs during binaural and monaural (left or right) playback to the same sounds. The playback stimuli were calls of social isolation and physical restraint, whose communicative and emotional relevance, respectively, were validated prior to the test by acoustic analyses and during binaural playbacks. There were indications of lateralized processing mainly in the initial detection (left head-turn bias, indicating right hemispheric dominance) of the more emotionally relevant restraint calls. Conversely, there were indications of lateralized processing only in the appraisal (increased attention during playback to the right ear) of the more communicative relevant isolation calls. This implies differential involvement of the hemispheres in the auditory processing of vocalizations in pigs and thereby hints at similarities in the auditory processing of vocal communication in non-human animals and speech in humans. Therefore, these findings provide interesting new insight in the evolution of human language and auditory lateralization.
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Maloney, S. J. (2019). The Relationship Between Asymmetry and Athletic Performance: A Critical Review. The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research, 33(9).
Abstract: Maloney, SJ. The relationship between asymmetry and athletic performance: A critical review. J Strength Cond Res 33(9): 2579-2593, 2019--Symmetry may be defined as the quality to demonstrate an exact correspondence of size, shape, and form when split along a given axis. Although it has been widely asserted that the bilateral asymmetries are detrimental to athletic performance, research does not wholly support such an association. Moreover, the research rarely seeks to distinguish between different types of bilateral asymmetry. Fluctuating asymmetries describe bilateral differences in anthropometric attributes, such as nostril width and ear size, and are thought to represent the developmental stability of an organism. There is evidence to suggest that fluctuating asymmetries may be related to impaired athletic performance, although contradictory findings have been reported. Sporting asymmetries is a term that may better describe bilateral differences in parameters, such as force output or jump height. These asymmetries are likely to be a function of limb dominance and magnified by long-standing participation within sport. Sporting asymmetries do not seem to carry a clear influence on athletic performance measures. Given the vast discrepancy in the methodologies used by different investigations, further research is warranted. Recent investigations have demonstrated that training interventions can reduce sporting asymmetries and improve performance. However, studies have not sought to determine whether the influence of sporting asymmetry is independent of improvements in neuromuscular parameters. It may be hypothesized that the deficient (weaker) limb has a greater potential for adaptation in comparison to the strong limb and may demonstrate greater responsiveness to training.
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Seghrouchni, M., Elkasraoui, H., Piro, M., Alyakine, H., Bouayad, H., Chakir, J., et al. (2019). Osteoarticular radiographic findings of the distal forelimbs in Tbourida Horses. Heliyon, 5(9), e02514.
Abstract: Tbourida is a traditional Moroccan equestrian sport in which 15 horses gallop 200 m in a line while riders fire into the sky with muskets. The stop is the finale and representative demands of this equestrian event. Such particular sudden stop after a fast gallop requires a hyperextension of the metacarpophalangeal joint. Indeed, it is well known that Tbourida show predisposes horses to different injuries of the hard and soft tissues of the distal forelimbs. Yet, there is a paucity of research that examined such lesions. The aim of the present study was to investigate for the first time the type and the prevalence of osteoarticular findings in the distal forelimbs of Tbourida horses using radiographic images. The study was conducted on 127 Tbourida horses aged between 2.5 and 15 years old with 6-year-old horses being the most affected. Data analysis showed that 93,7% of horses exhibit degenerative joint lesions of the fetlock, 86,6% showed ossification of the ungual cartilage, 78,7% had enthesophytes associated with the deep digital flexor tendons, 81,1% had enthesophytes associated with the suspensory ligament branches, and 19,6% showed a particular exostosis on the first phalanx. This large number of lesions reflects how this sport is difficult for horses and also argues that animals are suffering from a lack of welfare and care in their husbandry management.
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Reinhardt, I., Kluth, G., Nowak, C., Szentiks, C. A., Krone, O., Ansorge, H., et al. (2019). Military training areas facilitate the recolonization of wolves in Germany. Conservation Letters, 12(3), e12635.
Abstract: Abstract Wolves (Canis lupus) are currently showing a remarkable comeback in the highly fragmented cultural landscapes of Germany. We here show that wolf numbers increased exponentially between 2000 and 2015 with an annual increase of about 36%. We demonstrate that the first territories in each newly colonized region were established over long distances from the nearest known reproducing pack on active military training areas (MTAs). We show that MTAs, rather than protected areas, served as stepping-stones for the recolonization of Germany facilitating subsequent spreading of wolf territories in the surrounding landscape. We did not find any significant difference between MTAs and protected areas with regard to habitat. One possible reason for the importance of MTAs may be their lower anthropogenic mortality rates compared to protected and other areas. To our knowledge, this is the first documented case where MTAs facilitate the recolonization of an endangered species across large areas.
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Gaunitz, C., Fages, A., Hanghøj, K., Albrechtsen, A., Khan, N., Schubert, M., et al. (2018). Ancient genomes revisit the ancestry of domestic and Przewalski's horses. Science, 360(6384), 111–114.
Abstract: The Eneolithic Botai culture of the Central Asian steppes provides the earliest archaeological evidence for horse husbandry, ~5,500 ya, but the exact nature of early horse domestication remains controversial. We generated 42 ancient horse genomes, including 20 from Botai. Compared to 46 published ancient and modern horse genomes, our data indicate that Przewalski's horses are the feral descendants of horses herded at Botai and not truly wild horses. All domestic horses dated from ~4,000 ya to present only show ~2.7% of Botai-related ancestry. This indicates that a massive genomic turnover underpins the expansion of the horse stock that gave rise to modern domesticates, which coincides with large-scale human population expansions during the Early Bronze Age.
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Pimenta, V., Barroso, I., Boitani, L., & Beja, P. (2018). Risks a la carte: Modelling the occurrence and intensity of wolf predation on multiple livestock species. Biol. Conserva., 228, 331–342.
Abstract: Predation on livestock is a source of human-wildlife conflicts and can undermine the conservation of large carnivores. To design effective mitigation strategies, it is important to understand the determinants of predation across livestock species, which often differ in husbandry practices, vulnerability to predators and economic value. Moreover, attention should be given to both predation occurrence and intensity, because these can have different spatial patterns and predictors. We used spatial risk modelling to quantify factors affecting wolf predation on five livestock species in Portugal. Within the 1619 parishes encompassing the entire wolf range in the country, the national wolf compensation scheme recorded 17,670 predation events in 2009-2015, each involving one or more livestock species: sheep (31.7%), cattle (27.7%), goats (26.8%), horses (14.8%) and donkeys (3.2%). Models built with 2009-2013 data and validated with 2014-2015 data, showed a shared general pattern of predation probability on each species increasing with its own density and proximity to wolf packs. For some species there were positive relations with the density of other livestock species, and with habitat variables such as altitude, and land cover by shrubland and natural pastures. There was also a general pattern for predation intensity on each species increasing with its own density, while proximity to wolf packs had no significant effects. Predation intensity on goats, cattle and horses increased with the use of communal versus private pastures. Our results suggest that although predation may occur wherever wolves coexist with livestock species, high predation intensity is mainly restricted to particular areas where husbandry practices increase the vulnerability of animals, and this is where mitigation efforts should concentrate.
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