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Feh, C., & de Mazières, J. (1993). Grooming at a preferred site reduces heart rate in horses. Anim. Behav., 46(6), 1191–1194.
Abstract: Abstract. It is commonly suggested that the principal function of allogrooming is to reduce social tension between group members, but direct evidence of the physiological consequences of grooming at particular sites is lacking. By filming allogrooming sequences in a herd of Camargue horses, Equus caballus , their preferred grooming site, which lies on the lower neck, was identified. Experimental imitation of grooming at this site reduced the heart rate of the recipient while grooming on a non-preferred area did not, in both adults and foals. This preferred site lies close to a major ganglion of the autonomic nervous system.
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Reboreda, J. C., & Kacelnik, A. (1990). On cooperation, tit-for-tat and mirros. Anim. Behav., 40(6), 1188–1189.
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Wolff, P. R., & Powell, A. J. (1984). Urine patterns in mice: An analysis of male/female counter-marking. Anim. Behav., 32(4), 1185–1191.
Abstract: Counter-marking in mice, Mus musculus was investigated by analysing urine deposition on filter paper marked asymmetrically with urine of the opposite sex. Intact males deposited large numbers of urine spots with a marked angular bias towards previously marked quadrants. More spots were deposited on proestrous and ovariectomized donor urine patterns, their distribution being more centrifugal on oestrous urine and more centripetal in quadrants containing a large female urine spot in a central position. In contrast, castrated male mice deposited very few spots with no angular bias. Female urine patterns showed angular bias in response to intact, but not castrated male donor urine, a larger number of spots being produced by oestrous females. Thus the pattern of deposition offers scope for two-way communication of information about reproductive potential.
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Thouless, C. R., & Guinness, F. E. (1986). Conflict between red deer hinds: the winner always wins. Anim. Behav., 34(4), 1166–1171.
Abstract: Dominance relations between free-living, female red deer (hinds) (Cervus elaphus L.) on the Isle of Rhum, Scotland, were investigated. Most interactions were won by the older hind of the pair and this was the case even when both individuals had reached full body size. The younger hind was more likely to be the winner if the conflict was escalated or if the two hinds were strangers, in which case escalation was more frequent than usual. When outside their normal home range, older hinds were much more likely to lose, and younger ones more likely to win, than usual. These results can be best explained by the hinds using previous experience as a cue for conventional resolution of conflict, with the result that dominance relationships established early in life are perpetuated. No such cue is available if the hinds have not previously met.
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Cloutier, S., Newberry, R. C., Honda, K., & Alldredge, J. R. (2002). Cannibalistic behaviour spread by social learning. Anim. Behav., 63(6), 1153–1162.
Abstract: We hypothesized that social learning is involved in the spread of cannibalism in domestic fowlGallus gallus domesticus . To investigate this hypothesis without harming birds, we used an inanimate chicken model as our cannibalism stimulus. We randomly assigned flocks of 12 White Leghorn pullets to one of two treatments: (1) flocks with two trained demonstrators (N=9) and (2) control flocks (N=8). Demonstrators were trained to pierce a membrane covering a dish of chicken blood and consume the blood. To assess the effect of access to the cannibalism stimulus during demonstrations, we randomly assigned observer pairs to one of two observer treatments: (1) observe stimulus through a wire mesh partition and (2) observe stimulus within the same enclosure. We conducted five 10-min demonstration sessions, each followed by a 10-min test of each observer pair in the absence of demonstrators, over a period of 15 days when the birds were 41-55 days of age, and two further tests at 63-64 and 91-92 days of age. Pairs that observed demonstrators piercing a membrane and consuming blood were more likely to perform this task when tested than control pairs. Learning of the task was enhanced by direct access to the cannibalism stimulus rather than observing it through a wire mesh partition. Blood consumption during tests was increased by direct access to the cannibalism stimulus during demonstration sessions. The birds made bigger holes in the membrane when tested after observing trained demonstrators and after having direct access to the stimulus. Our results provide the first experimental evidence that social learning can contribute to the spread of cannibalistic behaviour in domestic fowl. We suggest that stimulus enhancement and observational conditioning were the social-learning mechanisms involved. Copyright 2002 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
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Ward, C., Trisko, R., & Smuts, B. B. (2009). Third-party interventions in dyadic play between littermates of domestic dogs, Canis lupus familiaris. Anim. Behav., 78(5), 1153–1160.
Abstract: Interventions occur when animals interfere in competitive interactions between two or more individuals. Interveners can alter the nature of the ongoing interaction by targeting one party (attacking, biting) and supporting the other. Three theories have been proposed to account for intervention behaviour: kin selection, reciprocity and direct benefits. The kin selection hypothesis predicts that interveners will selectively support relatives over nonrelatives; the reciprocity hypothesis predicts that when intervener [`]A' supports individual [`]B', later [`]B' will intervene and support [`]A'; and the direct benefits hypothesis predicts that target/support patterns should serve the immediate interests of the intervener. We tested the reciprocity and direct benefits hypotheses by exploring third-party interventions in play fighting among littermates of domestic dogs. Interveners in dyadic play did not preferentially target or support preferred playmates of the intervener. Interveners targeted the dog in the losing role at the time of the intervention, and they did not show reciprocity in support. Taken together, these last two findings suggest that littermates benefit directly and use interventions opportunistically to practise offence behaviours directed at littermates already behaving subordinately. Opportunities to practise targeting in a playful setting may help structure dominance relationships among littermates. Additionally, the tendency for puppies to do what the other is doing (target the dog in the losing role) may pave the way for synchronizing cooperative behaviours during group hunting and territorial defence. The types of behaviours used to intervene changed over development, but the outcome following an intervention remained stable.
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Sara J. Shettleworth. (1999). Female mate choice in swordtails and mollies: symmetry assessment or Weber's law? Anim. Behav., 58(5), 1139–1142.
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Earley, R. L., Druen, M., & Alan Dugatkin, L. (2005). Watching fights does not alter a bystander's response towards naive conspecifics in male green swordtail fish, Xiphophorus helleri. Anim. Behav., 69(5), 1139–1145.
Abstract: Bystanders are capable of extracting cues from signalling interactions between others and appear to use information gained via eavesdropping when confronted with the watched individuals. A question that has gained little attention is whether observing fights affects bystander behaviour outside the context of interacting with the watched individuals. Our aim was to determine whether watching fights elicits general changes in bystander aggression levels in Xiphophorus helleri. We manipulated the bystanders' ability to witness encounters using clear, one-way-mirror and opaque partitions. After watching (or not watching) an initial contest, the bystanders were pitted against naive conspecifics instead of the animals they had seen fight. Observing fights did not alter the bystanders' propensity to initiate aggression, escalate, or win against naive individuals, indicating that bystanders do not experience general changes in aggressive behaviour after watching a fight. Earlier work in this species, however, has shown that bystanders respond in predictable ways to individuals they have witnessed winning or losing a fight. Taken together, these data support the notion that bystanders consistently modify their behaviour towards previously watched winners or losers in response to information gained via eavesdropping. We discuss our results in light of some recent work on the behavioural and endocrinological responses triggered by watching fights and suggest that comparative approaches to understanding networking phenomena may be productive.
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McElreath, R., & Strimling, P. (2006). How noisy information and individual asymmetries can make `personality' an adaptation: a simple model. Anim. Behav., 72(5), 1135–1139.
Abstract: Recent attention has been drawn to the existence of individual differences in correlated behaviour across contexts, animal `personality' (Gosling 2001, Psychological Bulletin, 127, 45-86) and behavioural syndromes (Sih et al. 2004b, Quarterly Review of Biology, 79, 241-277). The causes of these patterns of behaviour are subjects of debate. Here, we present a very simple model of how adaptively managing noisy information, combined with differences in individual state, can lead to evolutionarily stable differences in how individuals respond to environmental cues. When information is very noisy, behavioural syndromes are most likely, but as long as there is some error, some types of individuals display the same behaviour in all contexts. In extreme cases, very few individuals display flexible behaviour, and different stable behavioural types dominate the population.
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Bateson, M., & Kacelnik, A. (1997). Starlings' preferences for predictable and unpredictable delays to food. Anim. Behav., 53(6), 1129–1142.
Abstract: Risk-sensitive foraging theory is based on the premise that unpredictable runs of good or bad luck can cause a variable food source to differ in fitness value from a fixed food source yielding the same average rate of gain but no unpredictability. Thus, risk-sensitive predictions are dependent on the food intake from variable sources being not only variable but also unpredictable or `risky' in outcome. This study tested whether unpredictability is a component of the value that foraging starlings,Sturnus vulgarisattribute to food sources that are variable in the delay to obtain food. Two groups of birds chose between a fixed and a variable delay option; the variable option was unpredictable in the risky group and predictable in the risk-free group in the overall rate of intake it yielded. In both groups the fixed option was adjusted by titration to quantify the magnitude of preference for predictable and unpredictable variance. On negative energy budgets both groups were significantly risk-prone, with the risky group being significantly more risk-prone than the risk-free group. Switching the birds to positive budgets by doubling the size of each food reward had no significant effect on preference, and similar trends to those found with negative budgets were observed. These results are not readily explained by risk-sensitive foraging theory, but may be explained by the algorithm used by the birds to attribute value to average expected rewards.
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