Abstract: The process of domestication involves adaptation, usually to a captive environment. Domestication is attained by some combination of genetic changes occurring over generations and developmental mechanisms (e.g., physical maturation, learning) triggered by recurring environmental events or management practices in captivity that influence specific biological traits. The transition from free-living to captive status is often accompanied by changes in availability and/or accessibility of shelter, space, food and water, and by changes in predation and the social environment. These changes set the stage for the development of the domestic phenotype. Behavioral development in animals undergoing domestication is characterized by changes in the quantitative rather than qualitative nature of responses. The hypothesized loss of certain behavior patterns under domestication can usually be explained by the heightening of response thresholds. Increases in response frequency accompanying domestication can often be explained by atypical rates of exposure to certain forms of perceptual and locomotor stimulation. Genetic changes influencing the development of the domestic phenotype result from inbreeding, genetic drift, artificial selection, natural selection in captivity, and relaxed selection. Experiential contributions to the domestic phenotype include the presence or absence of key stimuli, changes in intraspecific aggressive interactions and interactions with humans. Man's role as a buffer between the animal and its environment is also believed to have an important effect on the development of the domestic phenotype. The domestication process has frequently reduced the sensitivity of animals to changes in their environment, perhaps the single-most important change accompanying domestication. It has also resulted in modified rates of behavioral and physical development. Interest in breeding animals in captivity for release in nature has flourished in recent decades. The capacity of domestic animals to survive and reproduce in nature may depend on the extent to which the gene pool of the population has been altered during the domestication process and flexibility in behavioral development. “Natural” gene pools should be protected when breeding wild animals in captivity for the purpose of reestablishing free-living natural populations. In some cases, captive-reared animals must be conditioned to live in nature prior to their release.

Abstract: Bonobos have been described as a relatively egalitarian and female dominant species. The exact nature and quality of their dominance relationships and the existence of female dominance are current topics of dispute. We investigated the consistency across social contexts, the stability in time, and the degree of expression of the competitive feeding ability and agonistic dominance in a captive group of bonobos. First, we examined whether the competitive feeding ranks and agonistic ranks differed in different dyadic contexts, triadic contexts and the whole group context. For some pairs of animals the dominance relationships with respect to competitive feeding altered with different group compositions. The agonistic dominance relationships changed accordingly. The competitive feeding ranks and agonistic ranks in the experiments correlated strongly with each other. The alpha position was occupied by a female, but not all females outranked all males. We suggest that females can profit from each others presence to gain inter-sexual dominance. Second, although the agonistic rank order in the whole group remained the same over at least five years, some dyadic competitive feeding ranks changed over time, resulting in a stronger female intersexual dominance. Third, the degree of expression of the behaviors used to quantify dyadic competitive and agonistic dominance was not high, in line with the popular 'egalitarian' epithet. Notwithstanding its low consistency across contexts, the dominance hierarchy in the whole group has a strong predictive value for other social relationships such as grooming. Given this strong effect of rank on other behaviours and given the strong dependency of rank on social context, the choice of the right party members may be a crucial factor in the fission-fusion processes of free-ranging bonobos.

Abstract: Equine colour vision was measured under conditions that minimised the possibility of animals using brightness cues to make chromatic discriminations. In a two-stage study, we first obtained luminance discrimination functions for achromatic targets then tested for chromatic discrimination over a range of target luminances. Horses were trained on a two-choice discrimination task. The positive stimulus was varied in luminance and/or colour using neutral density and broad band colour filters. The negative stimulus appeared as a uniform grey. In the brightness discrimination task, the horses performed well at large luminance differences but their percentage of correct responses declined to near chance levels at differences of less than 0.2 log units. In addition, a decrement in performance was noted at luminance differences of less than 0.2 log units for green and yellow chromatic discrimination functions, suggesting that horses cannot easily discriminate yellow and green from grey. However, the chromatic discrimination functions for red and blue showed that animals performed very well across the full range of target luminances. These results suggest that horses are at least dichromats.

Abstract: Based on an intensive analysis of literature, the study summarizes problems involved in the significance of domesticated dogs as objects of instruction and assistants of the education of children. Several important topics are discussed in view of advances for children in families keeping dogs. Such topics are mainly related to a general socio-emotional level, the support of cognitive development and character formation. Further aspects are the acquisition of a sense of responsibility, and the development of self-confidence, a sense of social membership and security, as well as important attributes of character such as frankness, broad mindedness, and sympathetic understanding. Moreover, knowledge about the life cycle and functions of body organs can be conveyed, and the dog could, at least in part, substitute for brothers and sisters. Basically, positive attitudes towards animals in general, as well as nature and environment are supported. All topics are critically commented and considered to be realistic or not. The supporting role of parents, in particular, is emphasized. Parental commitment should include deep concern with the typical attributes of the dog breed desired, and optimal dog keeping conditions to prevent harm to the children. The final commentary lays special emphasis on negative features of domestication for a pet owner, and cautions against non-biological and illusionary ideas about domesticated animals.

Abstract: Abstract: The relationship between degree of social bonding (extent of association among individuals) and level of aggression in ruminants is unclear. I examined social bonding and aggression in three groups of female Roosevelt elk (Cervus elaphus roosevelti) over 2 years. I hypothesized that when animals are socially bonded, bouts of aggression will be won by the individual initiating the aggression, occur quickly, and involve little physical contact, and the level of aggression does not correlate with group size. The degree of social bonding was high among individuals in all groups. Dyads of known individuals were together >80% of the time. A permutation analysis indicated that groups with the observed sizes had <0.001 chance of random association, except on one occasion when the probability was 0.72 for one group. Using focal-animal sampling, aggressive interactions were won 72% of the time by the initiator, occurred quickly (<5 s), and involved little physical contact, and the level of aggression was not correlated with group size. The level of aggression was, however, significantly lower in one of the groups. This group may have had access to more abundant food resources than the other groups. Socially bonded elk conducted aggressive interactions in a fashion that did not disrupt social stability. Résumé : La relation entre le degré de liaison sociale (importance des associations entre individus) et l`agressivité n`est pas claire chez les ruminants. J`ai étudié les liaisons sociales et l`agressivité chez trois groupes de femelles du Cerf de Roosevelt (Cervus elaphus roosevelti) pendant 2 ans. J`ai posé en hypothèse que, chez les animaux liés socialement, la victoire devrait être emportée par l`individu qui entreprend l`agression, l`agression devrait être de courte durée, se faire avec peu de contacts physiques et la fréquence des agressions ne devrait pas être liée à la taille du groupe. Des paires d`individus passaient plus de 80% de leur temps ensemble. Une analyse des permutations a démontré que, chez les groupes des tailles observées, la probabilité d`une association aléatoire était de moins de 0,001, sauf en un cas où cette probabilité a été évaluée à 0,72 chez un groupe. Par échantillonnage directionnel, j`ai observé que les interactions agressives étaient gagnées par l`individu attaquant 72% du temps, étaient de courte durée (<5 s), se faisaient avec peu de contacts physiques et leur fréquence n`était pas reliée à la taille du groupe. Il y avait cependant moins d`agressivité chez l`un des groupes. Il se peut que ce groupe ait eu accès à plus de ressources alimentaires que les autres. Chez les cerfs liés par des liens sociaux, l`agressivité ne se manifeste pas de façon à déséquilibrer la stabilité sociale.