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Fürst, A., Knubben, J., Kurtz, A., Auer, J., & Stauffacher, M. (2006). Pferde in Gruppenhaltung: Eine Betrachtung aus tierärztlicher Sicht unter besonderer Berücksichtigung des Verletzungsrisikos [Group housing of horses: veterinary considerations with a focus on the prevention of bite and kick injuries]. Pferdeheilkunde, 22(3), 254–258.
Abstract: Mit der zunehmenden Bedeutung der Gruppenhaltung von Pferden ist die Tierärzteschaft gefordert mitzuhelfen, das Verletzungsrisiko in
Gruppenhaltungssystemen zu verringern. Dem Vermeiden von Schlag- und Bissverletzungen kommt hierbei eine zentrale Bedeutung zu. Präventive
Maßnahmen konzentrieren sich im Wesentlichen auf die Gruppenzusammensetzung und Eingliederung neuer Pferde sowie auf die
Gestaltung der Haltungssysteme. Die Raumaufteilung und die Fütterungstechnik müssen equidentypisches Verhalten (Lokomotion, langandauernde
Futteraufnahme und schadensfreie soziale Interaktionen) erlauben. Es gilt, Kenntnisse über Zusammenhänge zwischen Haltung,
Fütterung, Nutzung, Verhalten und Gesundheit an Pferdehalter und Stallbaufirmen weiterzugeben.
[Although group housing of horses has become common practice, the risk of equine injury is substantial. The veterinary community is challenged
to reduce this risk, particularly with regard to injuries caused by kicking and biting. Preventive measures should focus on the disposition
of horses within the group, the introduction of new horses to the group and the design of the housing facility. Feeding methods as
well as the structure of the environment should meet the physiological requirements for horses; there should be adequate space for exercise,
extended foraging and the possibility of benign social interactions. Veterinarians need to educate horse owners and builders of equine
facilities about the husbandry, feeding, use, behaviour and health of horses.]
Keywords: Verhalten, Gruppenhaltung, Prävention, Schlagverletzungen, Bissverletzungen, Tierschutz [Behaviour, group housing, prevention, bite injuries, kick injuries, animal protection]
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Purvis, A. (2006). The h index: playing the numbers game. Trends. Ecol. Evol, 21(8), 422.
Abstract: Article Outline
References
The ‘h index’ was developed recently as a measure of research performance [1]: a researcher's h is the number of his or her papers that have been cited at least h times. In their thoughtful critique of the index, Kelly and Jennions [2] point out many ways in which h is no better than ‘traditional’ bibliometrics, such as total citation counts. However, there is one way in which, for researchers, it could be very much better, especially if (as Hirsch suggests [1]) it is to inform hiring and promotion decisions. The skewed nature of the distribution of citations among publications means that most researchers have several papers that nearly but not quite count. Consequently, h can be distorted much more easily than can total citation count just by finding a subtle way to cite one's own papers that are ‘bubbling under’. Incidentally, bats show broadly the same life-history allometries as other mammalian clades [3].
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Naylor, J. M., Poirier, K. L., Hamilton, D. L., & Dowling, P. M. (2006). The effects of feeding and fasting on gastrointestinal sounds in adult horses. J Vet Intern Med, 20(6), 1408–1413.
Abstract: The effect of changes in feed intake on auscultatable gastrointestinal sounds has not been systematically studied. Disagreement also is present in the literature about variation in sounds according to the quadrant of auscultation. Gastrointestinal sounds were recorded over the center of the left dorsal, left ventral, right ventral, and right dorsal quadrants and over the middle of the right abdominal flank. During 24 hours (n = 4) or 48 hours (n = 5) of fasting, there was a reduction in the intensity of gastrointestinal sounds as assessed by analysis of sound recordings. There was also a reduction in the number of mixing-like and propulsive-like sounds heard by 2 blinded observers. After refeeding, there was a marked increase in sound. Sound intensity varied among abdominal quadrants, but blinded observers did not notice significant differences in the number of mixing-like sounds. The left dorsal quadrant was quieter than others during fasting and refeeding. The right ventral quadrant appeared to be least affected by fasting, and sounds were louder over the right ventral and right middle quadrants than over the others. The blinded observers' perceptions of sound correlated poorly with one another and with objective measures of sound intensity. This experiment demonstrates the effectiveness of computerized analysis of abdominal sound in detecting a reduction in the intensity of gastrointestinal sounds during fasting and their return during refeeding. The left dorsal quadrant was quieter than other quadrants, likely because of its position over the small colon. There was considerable observer variation in the number of intestinal sounds heard.
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Berger, K. M. (2006). Carnivore-Livestock conflicts: effects of subsidized predator control and economic correlates on the sheep industry. Conserv Biol, 20.
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Purpura, G. J. (2006). In Search of Human Uniqueness. Philosophical Psychology, 19, 443–461.
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Ligout, S., & Porter, R. - H. (2006). Social recognition in mammals: Mechanisms and sensorial bases. Prod. Anim., 19(2), 119–133.
Abstract: Social recognition plays a major role in the mediation of interactions between individuals and the organisation of societies. During the last 20 years, numerous studies have investigated the adaptive significance, underlying mechanisms and sensory basis of individual recognition of kin as well as non-kin. The results indicate that the recognition of conspecifics involves complex, flexible processes that are widespread throughout the vertebrate kingdom. Such recognition can be based upon different mechanisms and sensory modalities, and influenced by diverse factors. Learned phenotypic traits of conspecifics through familiarisation, including oneself, is the fundamental mechanism implicated in recognition. Animals become directly familiar with others with which they interact. Moreover, kin of familiar conspecifics may be discriminated because of their resemblance to the known individuals. An animal's genotype and environmental variables may both contribute to its recognisable individual signatures (e.g. distinctive olfactory, visual, or auditory characteristics). In general, the study of social recognition enhances our understanding of the cognitive world of animals.
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Kuczaj, S. A., Makecha, R., Trone, M., Paulos, R. D., & Ramos, J. A. (2006). Role of Peers in Cultural Innovation and Cultural Transmission: Evidence from the Play of Dolphin Calves. Int. J. Comp. Psychol, 19(2), 223–240.
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Rosell, F., & Sanda, J. I. (2006). Potential risks of olfactory signaling: the effect of predators on scent marking by beavers. Behav. Ecol., 17(6), 897–904.
Abstract: Mammals scent mark their territories to advertise occupancy and ownership. However, signaling with scent for territorial defense can have a negative effect by advertising an individual's presence and location to predators. In this study, we measured responses to a simulated territorial intrusion by conspecific adult male Eurasian beavers (Castor fiber) either in the localized presence or in the absence of odor of a predator to test the hypothesis that the territorial defense of free-living beavers would be disrupted by the presence of predation risk in their natural environment. We predicted that beavers would significantly reduce their willingness to countermark intruder's scent in the presence of the scent of predators (wolf [Canis lupus] and lynx [Lynx lynx]), compared with a control (no odor), as responses are in general stronger to predator scent marks than nonpredator scent. Therefore, we also predicted that the effects of nonpredatory mammal scent (neophobic control) (eland [Taurotragus oryx] and horse [Equus cabalus]) are to be expected somewhere in between the effects of the predator odor and a control. Our results suggest that both predator and nonpredator scents reduce beavers response to a simulated intruder's scent mounds and therefore disrupt their territorial defense. However, predator scent had a stronger effect than nonpredator scent. Beavers may therefore be at great risk on territories with predators present because of the trade-off between predator avoidance and territorial defense. Our study demonstrates the potential of predation risk as a powerful agent of counterselection on olfactory signaling behavior.
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Biro, D., Sumpter, D. J. T., Meade, J., & Guilford, T. (2006). From Compromise to Leadership in Pigeon Homing. Curr Biol, 16(21), 2123–2128.
Abstract: Summary A central problem faced by animals traveling in groups is how navigational decisions by group members are integrated, especially when members cannot assess which individuals are best informed or have conflicting information or interests , , , and . Pigeons are now known to recapitulate faithfully their individually distinct habitual routes home , and , and this provides a novel paradigm for investigating collective decisions during flight under varying levels of interindividual conflict. Using high-precision GPS tracking of pairs of pigeons, we found that if conflict between two birds' directional preferences was small, individuals averaged their routes, whereas if conflict rose over a critical threshold, either the pair split or one of the birds became the leader. Modeling such paired decision-making showed that both outcomes--compromise and leadership--could emerge from the same set of simple behavioral rules. Pairs also navigated more efficiently than did the individuals of which they were composed, even though leadership was not necessarily assumed by the more efficient bird. In the context of mass migration of birds and other animals, our results imply that simple self-organizing rules can produce behaviors that improve accuracy in decision-making and thus benefit individuals traveling in groups , and .
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Chappell J. (2006). Avian cognition: understanding tool use. Curr. Biol., 16, 244.
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