| Records |
| Author |
Harcourt, J.L.; Biau, S.; Johnstone, R.; Manica, A. |
| Title |
Boldness and Information Use in Three-Spined Sticklebacks |
Type |
Journal Article |
| Year |
2010 |
Publication |
Ethology |
Abbreviated Journal |
Ethology |
| Volume |
116 |
Issue  |
5 |
Pages |
440-447 |
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| Abstract |
Abstract In foraging groups, individuals may utilise information from their social environment to aid decision making when choosing where to search for food. Little work has looked at the costs or benefits of behavioural differences, such as consistent individual variation in boldness, with respect to learning ability. Here, we investigate the response of three-spined stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) to ‘social cues’, ‘local enhancement’ and ‘public information’ during foraging tasks. Our results confirm previous work suggesting that this species responds to social cues and local enhancement but not public information. Variation in boldness did not affect the use of different types of information. However, time taken to make a choice and reach a patch varied between fish with different levels of boldness. Contrary to expectation, shy fish were the more variable individuals, having a greater range of reaction times when responding to the tasks. This suggests that individual behavioural differences still play a role when utilising information obtained from the environment and may influence the relative benefits that could result in different contexts. |
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Blackwell Publishing Ltd |
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1439-0310 |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
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5198 |
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| Author |
Fedurek, P.; Dunbar, R. I. M. |
| Title |
What Does Mutual Grooming Tell Us About Why Chimpanzees Groom? |
Type |
Journal Article |
| Year |
2009 |
Publication |
Ethology |
Abbreviated Journal |
Ethology |
| Volume |
115 |
Issue |
6 |
Pages |
566 - 575 |
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| Abstract |
Grooming might be a resource that is offered in exchange for some benefit (e.g. access to a feeding site or coalitionary support) or it might be a mechanism for building and servicing social relationships, whose function, in turn, is to facilitate the exchange of resources and services. Bi-directional (or simultaneous mutual) grooming is unusually common among chimpanzees (though rare in other primates) and we suggest that this might be because it is an especially strong indicator of social bonding. Because the bonding role of bi-directional grooming offers substantially different predictions from the interpretation offered by the models based on reciprocal altruism (RA), we use a critical tests methodology (i.e. tests that unequivocally support one hypothesis at the expense of the other) to differentiate between the bonding and RA hypotheses. We use data on the dynamics of grooming interactions from a captive group of chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) to show that dominant individuals tolerated the individuals with whom they performed bi-directional grooming more than they did those who typically provided them unidirectional grooming. Dominants rejected and terminated grooming sessions more often with the individuals who provided them with mostly unidirectional grooming than with those with whom they groomed bi-directionally. In addition, animals engaged in bi-directional grooming more often with both relatives and those with whom they were often in proximity. These results support the bonding model of mutually reciprocated grooming at the expense of the RA model, and suggest that, at least in chimpanzees, simultaneous mutual grooming may play a particularly important role in social bonding. |
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School of Biological Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK; Institute of Cognitive & Evolutionary Anthropology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK DOI – 10.1111/j.1439-0310.2009.01637.x |
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© 2009 Blackwell Verlag GmbH |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
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4941 |
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| Author |
McPhee, M.E.; Segal, A.; Johnston, R.E. |
| Title |
Hamsters Use Predator Odors as Indirect Cues of Predation Risk |
Type |
Journal Article |
| Year |
2010 |
Publication |
Ethology |
Abbreviated Journal |
Ethology |
| Volume |
116 |
Issue |
6 |
Pages |
517-523 |
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Abstract Golden hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus) use olfactory cues to assess traits of conspecifics such as kinship, individual identity, and reproductive status. The environment, however, is full of a wide variety of other olfactory information such as signals emitted by some of the hamster’s primary predators. Given this, we hypothesized that hamsters use odors from predators as an indirect sign of increased predation risk in the environment. In addition, based on data that show that wild hamsters are diurnal while laboratory hamsters are nocturnal, we hypothesized that if golden hamsters did respond to the predator odors, perceived predator risk might influence daily activity patterns in hamsters. We tested male and female hamsters over 5 d with scent gland secretion from domestic ferrets (Mustela putorius furo) and compared their behavior to that observed when they were exposed to a clean arena. In response to the predator odor, subjects significantly decreased the amount of time active outside of their burrow, returned to their burrow more quickly, and spent less time near the predator odor than the clean control stimulus. These results strongly support our hypothesis that hamsters, like other species of small mammals, avoid predator odors. The results did not, however, support our second hypothesis that exposure to predator odors during the dark phase of the light cycle would elicit a switch to a more diurnal pattern of activity. More work is needed to understand how environmental cues and internal mechanisms interact to shape activity patterns. |
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Blackwell Publishing Ltd |
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1439-0310 |
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no |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
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5212 |
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| Author |
Duncan, P. |
| Title |
Foal killing by stallions |
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Journal Article |
| Year |
1982 |
Publication |
Applied Animal Ethology |
Abbreviated Journal |
Appl. Animal. Ethol. |
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8 |
Issue |
6 |
Pages |
567-570 |
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Feral horses live in social systems similar to those of some species in which infant killing has been reported (e.g. lions), but such behaviour has been reported neither in horses nor in any other ungulate. The results of interviews with owners of free-ranging horses (Camargue breed) are given which show that, though rare, infant killing occurs in this breed, and that it seems to be confined to male foals. It is argued that the observed behaviour cannot simply be considered as pathological, and that close attention should be paid to the possibility that it occurs in wild and feral equids. |
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0304-3762 |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
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5260 |
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Dunbar, R. I. M.; Bever, J. |
| Title |
Neocortex size predicts group size in carnivores and some insectivores |
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Journal Article |
| Year |
1998 |
Publication |
Ethology |
Abbreviated Journal |
Ethology |
| Volume |
108 |
Issue |
8 |
Pages |
695-708 |
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Neocortex size has been shown to correlate with group size in primates. Data for carnivores and insectivores are used to test the generality of this relationship. The data suggest that carnivores lie on the same grade as the primates, but that insectivores lie on a separate grade to the left of these two orders. Among the insectivores, there appears to be a distinction between the 'advanced' genera (which show a relationship between group size and neocortex size) and the 'basal' genera (which do not). |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
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4734 |
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| Author |
Raquel Monclús; Heiko G. Rödel |
| Title |
Influence of Different Individual Traits on Vigilance Behaviour in European Rabbits |
Type |
Journal Article |
| Year |
2009 |
Publication |
Ethology |
Abbreviated Journal |
Ethology |
| Volume |
115 |
Issue |
8 |
Pages |
758-766 |
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An animal's level of vigilance depends on various environmental factors such as predator presence or the proximity of conspecific competitors. In addition, several individual traits may influence vigilance. We investigated the effects of body condition, social rank and the state of pregnancy on individual vigilance (scanning) rates in individually marked European rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) of a field enclosure population. We found lower rates in young rabbits than in adult females, but male and female juveniles did not differ. Vigilance of juveniles was positively correlated with their age-dependent body mass (used as a measure of body condition), i.e. young rabbits with lower body condition scanned less. We suggest that juveniles with low body condition were trading off vigilance against feeding to maximise their growth. In contrast, there was no significant correlation between body mass and vigilance in adult females. Adult females increased scanning rates during late pregnancy, which might constitute a behavioural compensation because of their lower capacity to escape predator attacks. In addition, adult females with low social ranks scanned more than high ranking individuals, likely because of their higher risk of attacks by conspecifics. In summary, our results highlight various individual characteristics that influence vigilance behaviour in European rabbits. |
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Unidad de Zoologa, Dpto. Biologa, Universidad Autnoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain; Department of Animal Physiology, University of Bayreuth, Bayreuth, Germany |
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© 2009 Blackwell Verlag GmbH |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
Serial |
4994 |
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| Author |
Hemelrijk, C.K. |
| Title |
Understanding Social Behaviour with the Help of Complexity Science (Invited Article) |
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Journal Article |
| Year |
2002 |
Publication |
Ethology |
Abbreviated Journal |
Ethology |
| Volume |
108 |
Issue |
8 |
Pages |
655-671 |
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Abstract In the study of complexity, a new kind of explanation has been developed for social behaviour. It shows how patterns of social behaviour can arise as a side-effect of the interaction of individuals with their social or physical environment (e.g. by self-organization). This development may influence our ideas about the direct causation and evolution of social behaviour. Furthermore, it may influence our theories about the integration of different traits. This new method has been made possible by the increase in computing power. It is now applied in many areas of science, such as physics, chemistry, sociology and economics. However, in zoology and anthropology it is still rare. The major aim of this paper is to make this method more generally accepted among behavioural scientists. |
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Blackwell Verlag, GmbH |
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1439-0310 |
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no |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
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5200 |
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Biondi, L.M.; García, G.O.; Bó, M.S.; Vassallo, A.I. |
| Title |
Social Learning in the Caracara Chimango, Milvago chimango (Aves: Falconiformes): an Age Comparison |
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Journal Article |
| Year |
2010 |
Publication |
Ethology |
Abbreviated Journal |
Ethology |
| Volume |
116 |
Issue |
8 |
Pages |
722-735 |
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Abstract Milvago chimango is a gregarious raptor showing great ecological plasticity. Their ability to explore new resources has allowed them to survive in areas with increasing human modification. In this study, we evaluated the social learning ability in wild-caught individuals of M. chimango. In particular, we tested whether an ‘observer’ individual could improve the acquisition of a novel behaviour by watching a ‘demonstrator,’ and we examined the effects of age of both observers and demonstrators on social learning. We measured the ability of 18 observers to open an opaque Plexiglas box containing food, and we compared their performance to that of 10 control birds who did not watch a demonstrator solve the task. Prior to watching a demonstrator, only two of the observers and two of the control birds were able to open the box. After watching a demonstrator, 67% of observers were able to open the box, outperforming control birds in speed and success. Juvenile observers were more successful and faster than adults at contacting and opening the box. The age of the demonstrator did not influence the observers’ likelihood of success. These results showed that M. chimango are able to learn a box-opening task with a hidden food reward by observing the behaviour of a conspecific and that this behaviour persisted over several days. Social learning ability in M. chimango might allow certain behavioural patterns, such as those related to novel resource acquisition in modified environments, to be socially transmitted among individuals in a population. |
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Blackwell Publishing Ltd |
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1439-0310 |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
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5283 |
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Mersmann, D.; Tomasello, M.; Call, J.; Kaminski, J.; Taborsky, M. |
| Title |
Simple Mechanisms Can Explain Social Learning in Domestic Dogs (Canis familiaris) |
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Journal Article |
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2011 |
Publication |
Ethology |
Abbreviated Journal |
Ethology |
| Volume |
117 |
Issue |
8 |
Pages |
675-690 |
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Abstract Recent studies have suggested that domestic dogs (Canis familiaris) engage in highly complex forms of social learning. Here, we critically assess the potential mechanisms underlying social learning in dogs using two problem-solving tasks. In a classical detour task, the test dogs benefited from observing a demonstrator walking around a fence to obtain a reward. However, even inexperienced dogs did not show a preference for passing the fence at the same end as the demonstrator. Furthermore, dogs did not need to observe a complete demonstration by a human demonstrator to pass the task. Instead, they were just as successful in solving the problem after seeing a partial demonstration by an object passing by at the end of the fence. In contrast to earlier findings, our results suggest that stimulus enhancement (or affordance learning) might be a powerful social learning mechanism used by dogs to solve such detour problems. In the second task, we examined whether naïve dogs copy actions to solve an instrumental problem. After controlling for stimulus enhancement and other forms of social influence (e.g. social facilitation and observational conditioning), we found that dogs’ problem solving was not influenced by witnessing a skilful demonstrator (either an unknown human, a conspecific or the dog’s owner). Together, these results add to evidence suggesting that social learning may often be explained by relatively simple (but powerful) mechanisms. |
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Blackwell Publishing Ltd |
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1439-0310 |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
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5409 |
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Koops, M.A.; Abrahams, M.V. |
| Title |
Assessing the Ideal Free Distribution: Do Guppies Use Aggression as Public Information about Patch Quality? |
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Journal Article |
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1999 |
Publication |
Ethology |
Abbreviated Journal |
Ethology |
| Volume |
105 |
Issue |
9 |
Pages |
737-746 |
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Aggression can be costly to foragers, yet some recent research suggests that foragers should use aggression as a cue to patch quality (the attractive aggression hypothesis). If aggression is predictive of patch quality, then the attractive aggression hypothesis predicts that the distribution of foragers should follow the distribution of aggression. If, instead, aggression is repulsive because it is costly, then the distribution of foragers should diverge from the distribution of aggression. We tested the attractive aggression hypothesis using female guppies, Poecilia reticulata, and found that the distribution of foragers followed the distribution of food, but was unaffected by the distribution of aggression. These data do not support the attractive aggression hypothesis, but instead suggest that the distribution of aggression is a consequence of the distribution of foragers, and that aggression is not used as public information about patch quality. |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
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4271 |
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