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Author |
Linklater, W.L. |
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Title |
Adaptive explanation in socio-ecology: lessons from the Equidae |
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Journal Article |
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Year |
2000 |
Publication |
Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society |
Abbreviated Journal |
Biol. Rev. |
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Volume |
75 |
Issue |
1 |
Pages  |
1-20 |
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*Adaptation, Physiological; Animals; Ecology; Equidae/*physiology; Female; Male; Phylogeny |
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Abstract |
Socio-ecological explanations for intra- and interspecific variation in the social and spatial organization of animals predominate in the scientific literature. The socio-ecological model, developed first for the Bovidae and Cervidae, is commonly applied more widely to other groups including the Equidae. Intraspecific comparisons are particularly valuable because they allow the role of environment and demography on social and spatial organization to be understood while controlling for phylogeny or morphology which confound interspecific comparisons. Feral horse (Equus caballus Linnaeus 1758) populations with different demography inhabit a range of environments throughout the world. I use 56 reports to obtain 23 measures or characteristics of the behaviour and the social and spatial organization of 19 feral horse populations in which the environment, demography, management, research effort and sample size are also described. Comparison shows that different populations had remarkably similar social and spatial organization and that group sizes and composition, and home range sizes varied as much within as between populations. I assess the few exceptions to uniformity and conclude that they are due to the attributes of the studies themselves, particularly to poor definition of terms and inadequate empiricism, rather than to the environment or demography per se. Interspecific comparisons show that equid species adhere to their different social and spatial organizations despite similarities in their environments and even when species are sympatric. Furthermore, equid male territoriality has been ill-defined in previous studies, observations presented as evidence of territoriality are also found in non-territorial equids, and populations of supposedly territorial species demonstrate female defence polygyny. Thus, territoriality may not be a useful categorization in the Equidae. Moreover, although equid socio-ecologists have relied on the socio-ecological model derived from the extremely diverse Bovidae and Cervidae for explanations of variation in equine society, the homomorphic, but large and polygynous, and monogeneric Equidae do not support previous socio-ecological explanations for relationships between body size, mating system and sexual dimorphism in ungulates. Consequently, in spite of the efforts of numerous authors during the past two decades, functional explanations of apparent differences in feral horse and equid social and spatial organization and behaviour based on assumptions of their current utility in the environmental or demographic context remain unconvincing. Nevertheless, differences in social cohesion between species that are insensitive to intra- and interspecific variation in habitat and predation pressure warrant explanation. Thus, I propose alternative avenues of inquiry including testing for species-specific differences in inter-individual aggression and investigating the role of phylogenetic constraints in equine society. The Equidae are evidence of the relative importance of phylogeny and biological structure, and unimportance of the present-day environment, in animal behaviour and social and spatial organization. |
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Institute of Natural Resources, Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand |
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1464-7931 |
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PMID:10740891 |
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2024 |
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Author |
Reznikova, Z.I. |
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Title |
[The study of tool use as the way for general estimation of cognitive abilities in animals] |
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Journal Article |
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Year |
2006 |
Publication |
Zhurnal Obshchei Biologii |
Abbreviated Journal |
Zh Obshch Biol |
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Volume |
67 |
Issue |
1 |
Pages |
3-22 |
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Keywords |
Adaptation, Psychological; Animals; *Cognition; Learning; Pattern Recognition, Physiological; Species Specificity |
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Abstract |
Investigation of tool use is an effective way to determine cognitive abilities of animals. This approach raises hypotheses, which delineate limits of animal's competence in understanding of objects properties and interrelations and the influence of individual and social experience on their behaviour. On the basis of brief review of different models of manipulation with objects and tools manufacturing (detaching, subtracting and reshaping) by various animals (from elephants to ants) in natural conditions the experimental data concerning tool usage was considered. Tool behaviour of anumals could be observed rarely and its distribution among different taxons is rather odd. Recent studies have revealed that some species (for instance, bonobos and tamarins) which didn't manipulate tools in wild life appears to be an advanced tool users and even manufacturers in laboratory. Experimental studies of animals tool use include investigation of their ability to use objects physical properties, to categorize objects involved in tool activity by its functional properties, to take forces affecting objects into account, as well as their capacity of planning their actions. The crucial question is whether animals can abstract general principles of relations between objects regardless of the exact circumstances, or they develop specific associations between concerete things and situations. Effectiveness of laboratory methods is estimated in the review basing on comparative studies of tool behaviour, such as “support problem”, “stick problem”, “tube- and tube-trap problem”, and “reserve tube problem”. Levels of social learning, the role of imprinting, and species-specific predisposition to formation of specific domains are discussed. Experimental investigation of tool use allows estimation of the individuals' intelligence in populations. A hypothesis suggesting that strong predisposition to formation of specific associations can serve as a driving force and at the same time as obstacle to animals' activity is discussed. In several “technically gifted” species (such as woodpecker finches, New Caledonian crows, and chimpanzees) tool use seems to be guided by a rapid process of trial and error learning. Individuals that are predisposed to learn specific connections do this too quickly and thus become enslaved by stereotypic solutions of raising problems. |
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Russian |
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0044-4596 |
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PMID:16521567 |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
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2857 |
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Author |
Zentall, T.R. |
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Title |
Action imitation in birds |
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Journal Article |
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Year |
2004 |
Publication |
Learning & behavior : a Psychonomic Society publication |
Abbreviated Journal |
Learn Behav |
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Volume |
32 |
Issue |
1 |
Pages |
15-23 |
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Keywords |
Adaptation, Psychological; Animals; *Birds; *Imitative Behavior; Imprinting (Psychology); *Learning; Motivation; Psychological Theory; *Social Environment; *Social Facilitation; Vocalization, Animal |
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Abstract |
Action imitation, once thought to be a behavior almost exclusively limited to humans and the great apes, surprisingly also has been found in a number of bird species. Because imitation has been viewed by some psychologists as a form of intelligent behavior, there has been interest in how it is distributed among animal species. Although the mechanisms responsible for action imitation are not clear, we are now at least beginning to understand the conditions under which it occurs. In this article, I try to identify and differentiate the various forms of socially influenced behavior (species-typical social reactions, social effects on motivation, social effects on perception, socially influenced learning, and action imitation) and explain why it is important to differentiate imitation from other forms of social influence. I also examine some of the variables that appear to be involved in the occurrence of imitation. Finally, I speculate about why a number of bird species, but few mammal species, appear to imitate. |
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Department of Psychology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky 40506, USA. zentall@uky.edu |
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1543-4494 |
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PMID:15161137 |
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no |
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Call Number |
refbase @ user @ |
Serial |
230 |
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Author |
Fragaszy, D.; Visalberghi, E. |
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Title |
Socially biased learning in monkeys |
Type |
Journal Article |
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Year |
2004 |
Publication |
Learning & behavior : a Psychonomic Society publication |
Abbreviated Journal |
Learn Behav |
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Volume |
32 |
Issue |
1 |
Pages |
24-35 |
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Keywords |
Adaptation, Psychological; Animal Communication; Animals; Behavior, Animal; *Feeding Behavior/psychology; Food Preferences/psychology; Haplorhini/*psychology; *Imitative Behavior; Imprinting (Psychology); *Learning; *Social Environment; *Social Facilitation |
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Abstract |
We review socially biased learning about food and problem solving in monkeys, relying especially on studies with tufted capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella) and callitrichid monkeys. Capuchin monkeys most effectively learn to solve a new problem when they can act jointly with an experienced partner in a socially tolerant setting and when the problem can be solved by direct action on an object or substrate, but they do not learn by imitation. Capuchin monkeys are motivated to eat foods, whether familiar or novel, when they are with others that are eating, regardless of what the others are eating. Thus, social bias in learning about foods is indirect and mediated by facilitation of feeding. In most respects, social biases in learning are similar in capuchins and callitrichids, except that callitrichids provide more specific behavioral cues to others about the availability and palatability of foods. Callitrichids generally are more tolerant toward group members and coordinate their activity in space and time more closely than capuchins do. These characteristics support stronger social biases in learning in callitrichids than in capuchins in some situations. On the other hand, callitrichids' more limited range of manipulative behaviors, greater neophobia, and greater sensitivity to the risk of predation restricts what these monkeys learn in comparison with capuchins. We suggest that socially biased learning is always the collective outcome of interacting physical, social, and individual factors, and that differences across populations and species in social bias in learning reflect variations in all these dimensions. Progress in understanding socially biased learning in nonhuman species will be aided by the development of appropriately detailed models of the richly interconnected processes affecting learning. |
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Psychology Department, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602, USA. doree@uga.edu |
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1543-4494 |
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PMID:15161138 |
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no |
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Call Number |
refbase @ user @ |
Serial |
828 |
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Author |
Cheng, K. |
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Title |
Generalisation: mechanistic and functional explanations |
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Journal Article |
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Year |
2002 |
Publication |
Animal Cognition |
Abbreviated Journal |
Anim. Cogn. |
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Volume |
5 |
Issue |
1 |
Pages |
33-40 |
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Keywords |
Adaptation, Physiological; Animals; Bees/*physiology; Cognition; Evolution; Models, Psychological |
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Abstract |
An overview of mechanistic and functional accounts of stimulus generalisation is given. Mechanistic accounts rely on the process of spreading activation across units representing stimuli. Different models implement the spread in different ways, ranging from diffusion to connectionist networks. A functional account proposed by Shepard analyses the probabilistic structure of the world for invariants. A universal law based on one such invariant claims that under a suitable scaling of the stimulus dimension, generalisation gradients should be approximately exponential in shape. Data from both vertebrates and invertebrates so far uphold Shepard's law. Some data on spatial generalisation in honeybees are presented to illustrate how Shepard's law can be used to determine the metric for combining discrepancies in different stimulus dimensions. The phenomenon of peak shift is discussed. Comments on mechanistic and functional approaches to generalisation are given. |
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Department of Psychology, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia. kcheng@axon.bhs.mq.edu.au |
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1435-9448 |
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Notes |
PMID:11957400 |
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no |
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Call Number |
Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
Serial |
2612 |
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Author |
Whiten, A.; Horner, V.; Litchfield, C.A.; Marshall-Pescini, S. |
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Title |
How do apes ape? |
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Journal Article |
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Year |
2004 |
Publication |
Learning & Behavior |
Abbreviated Journal |
Learn. Behav. |
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Volume |
32 |
Issue |
1 |
Pages |
36-52 |
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Keywords |
Adaptation, Psychological; Animals; Behavior, Animal; Hominidae/*psychology; *Imitative Behavior; Imprinting (Psychology); *Learning; Psychological Theory; *Social Environment; *Social Facilitation |
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Abstract |
In the wake of telling critiques of the foundations on which earlier conclusions were based, the last 15 years have witnessed a renaissance in the study of social learning in apes. As a result, we are able to review 31 experimental studies from this period in which social learning in chimpanzees, gorillas, and orangutans has been investigated. The principal question framed at the beginning of this era, Do apes ape? has been answered in the affirmative, at least in certain conditions. The more interesting question now is, thus, How do apes ape? Answering this question has engendered richer taxonomies of the range of social-learning processes at work and new methodologies to uncover them. Together, these studies suggest that apes ape by employing a portfolio of alternative social-learning processes in flexibly adaptive ways, in conjunction with nonsocial learning. We conclude by sketching the kind of decision tree that appears to underlie the deployment of these alternatives. |
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Centre for Social Learning and Cognitive Evolution, Scottish Primate Research Group, School of Psychology, University of St. Andrews, St. Andrews, Fife, Scotland. a.whiten@st-and.ac.uk |
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1543-4494 |
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PMID:15161139 |
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refbase @ user @ |
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734 |
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Author |
Kuroshima, H.; Fujita, K.; Fuyuki, A.; Masuda, T. |
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Title |
Understanding of the relationship between seeing and knowing by tufted capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella) |
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Journal Article |
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Year |
2002 |
Publication |
Animal Cognition |
Abbreviated Journal |
Anim. Cogn. |
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Volume |
5 |
Issue |
1 |
Pages |
41-48 |
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Keywords |
Adaptation, Psychological; Animals; Cebus/*psychology; *Discrimination (Psychology); Feeding Behavior/*psychology; Female; Male |
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The ability of four tufted capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella) to recognize the causal connection between seeing and knowing was investigated. The subjects were trained to follow a suggestion about the location of hidden food provided by a trainer who knew where the food was (the knower) in preference to a trainer who did not (the guesser). The experimenter baited one of three opaque containers behind a cardboard screen so that the subjects could not see which of the containers hid the reward. In experiment 1, the knower appeared first in front of the apparatus and looked into each container; next, the guesser appeared but did not look into any containers. Then the knower touched the correct cup while the guesser touched one of the three randomly. The capuchin monkeys gradually learned to reach toward the cup that the knower suggested. In experiment 2, the subjects adapted to a novel variant of the task, in which the guesser touched but did not look into any of the containers. In experiment 3, the monkeys adapted again when the knower and the guesser appeared in a random order. These results suggest that capuchin monkeys can learn to recognize the relationship between seeing and knowing. |
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Department of Psychology, Graduate School of Letters, Kyoto University, Yoshida-honmachi, Sakyo, Kyoto, 606-8501, Japan. kuroshi@psy.bun.kyoto-u.ac.jp |
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1435-9448 |
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PMID:11957401 |
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Call Number |
Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
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2611 |
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Author |
Ben-Shlomo, G.; Plummer, C.; Barrie, K.; Brooks, D. |
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Title |
Characterization of the normal dark adaptation curve of the horse |
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Journal Article |
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Year |
2012 |
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Veterinary Ophthalmology |
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15 |
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1 |
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42-45 |
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adaptation; curve; dark; electroretinography; equine; scotopic |
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Objective The goal of this work is to study the dark adaptation curve of the normal horse electroretinogram (ERG). Procedures The electroretinographic responses were recorded from six healthy female ponies using a contact lens electrode and a mini-Ganzfeld electroretinographic unit. The horses were sedated intravenously with detomidine, an auriculopalpebral nerve block was then performed, and the pupil was fully dilated. The ERG was recorded in response to a low intensity light stimulus (30 mcd.s/m2) that was given at times (T) T = 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 40, 50, and 60 min of dark adaptation. Off-line analysis of the ERG was then performed. Results Mean b-wave amplitude of the full-field ERG increased continuously from 5 to 25 min of dark adaptation. The b-wave amplitude peaked at T = 25, however, there was no statistical significance between T = 20 and T = 25. The b-wave amplitude then remained elevated with no significant changes until the end of the study at T = 60 (P > 0.49). The b-wave implicit time increased continuously between T = 5 and T = 20, then gradually decreased until T = 60. No distinct a-wave was observed during the testing time. Conclusions Evaluation of horse rod function or combined rod/cone function by means of full-field ERG should be performed after a minimum 20 min of dark adaptation. |
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Blackwell Publishing Ltd |
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1463-5224 |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
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5626 |
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Author |
Kronfeld, D.S.; Custalow, S.E.; Ferrante, P.L.; Taylor, L.E.; Wilson, J.A.; Tiegs, W. |
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Title |
Acid-base responses of fat-adapted horses: relevance to hard work in the heat |
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Journal Article |
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Year |
1998 |
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Applied Animal Behaviour Science |
Abbreviated Journal |
Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci. |
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59 |
Issue |
1-3 |
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61-72 |
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Acid-base; Strong ion difference; pCO2; Exercise; Fat adaptation; Corn oil; Ambient heat; Horse |
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Feeding and training may affect acid-base responses to strenuous exercise. Acidosis usually correlates with higher blood lactate concentrations during intense exercise, but alkalosis has been found in several studies of horses, and higher lactate responses during sprints have been found in fat adapted horses. To elucidate these unexpected findings, we applied a comprehensive physicochemical approach to evaluate acid-base responses during exercise in fat adapted horses. In incremental tests and repeated sprints, changes in blood [H+] were dependent upon corresponding changes in pCO2 but not strong ion difference (SID, the algebraic sum of ions of sodium, potassium, chloride and lactate). The influence of changes in [Lac-] were largely offset by changes in [Na+], [K+] and [Cl-], so that SID was unchanged and did not contribute to the exercise induced acidemia, so it may be inaccurate to term this a lacticacidosis. During repeated sprints, central venous [H+] increased (acidosis) but arterial [H+] decreased (alkalosis). These changes were consistent with concurrent changes in venous and arterial pCO2 but not SID. Fat adaptation decreased mixed venous pCO2 during repeated sprints, which is consistent with the lower respiratory quotient associated with fat oxidation. Less pulmonary work to eliminate CO2 could benefit horses under hot and humid conditions, especially those with mildly reduced pulmonary function. The blood lactate response was decreased during aerobic tests but increased during anaerobic tests on fat adapted horses. Fat adaptation appears to facilitate the metabolic regulation of glycolysis, by sparing glucose and glycogen at work of low intensity, but by promoting glycolysis when power is needed for high intensity exercise. The blood lactate response to repeated sprints was increased more by the combination of fat adaptation and oral supplementation of sodium bicarbonate than by the sum of the responses to fat alone or bicarbonate alone. This synergism suggests that need for further studies of the interaction of fat adaptation with dietary cation-anion balance, especially under hot conditions. These results integrate harmoniously with previous findings of lower feed intake and fecal output, lower loads of heat and CO2, lower water losses in the feces and by evaporation, and less spontaneous activity and reactivity in fat adapted horses. Thus fat adaptation confers several advantages on horses and presumably other equids used for hard work, especially in the heat. |
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0168-1591 |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
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4832 |
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Author |
Chappell, J.; Kacelnik, A. |
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Tool selectivity in a non-primate, the New Caledonian crow (Corvus moneduloides) |
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Journal Article |
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Year |
2002 |
Publication |
Animal Cognition |
Abbreviated Journal |
Anim. Cogn. |
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Volume |
5 |
Issue |
2 |
Pages |
71-78 |
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Adaptation, Psychological; Animals; *Cognition; Female; *Learning; Male; Perception; *Songbirds |
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Abstract |
We present an experiment showing that New Caledonian crows are able to choose tools of the appropriate size for a novel task, without trial-and-error learning. This species is almost unique amongst all animal species (together with a few primates) in the degree of use and manufacture of polymorphic tools in the wild. However, until now, the flexibility of their tool use has not been tested. Flexibility, including the ability to select an appropriate tool for a task, is considered to be a hallmark of complex cognitive adaptations for tool use. In experiment 1, we tested the ability of two captive birds (one male, one female), to select a stick (from a range of lengths provided) matching the distance to food placed in a horizontal transparent pipe. Both birds chose tools matching the distance to their target significantly more often than would be expected by chance. In experiment 2, we used a similar task, but with the tools placed out of sight of the food pipe, such that the birds had to remember the distance of the food before selecting a tool. The task was completed only by the male, who chose a tool of sufficient length significantly more often than chance but did not show a preference for a matching length. |
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Address |
Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OXI 3PS, UK. jackie.chappell@zoo.ox.ac.uk |
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Thesis |
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Publisher |
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Place of Publication |
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Editor |
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Language |
English |
Summary Language |
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Original Title |
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Series Editor |
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Series Title |
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Abbreviated Series Title |
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Series Volume |
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Series Issue |
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Edition |
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ISSN |
1435-9448 |
ISBN |
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Conference |
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Notes |
PMID:12150038 |
Approved |
no |
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Call Number |
Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
Serial |
2606 |
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