bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Ethogram of the Australian Magpie (Gymnorhina tibicen) in Comparison to Other Cracticidae and Corvus Species
Authors: Brown Eleanor D. , Veltman Clare J. 
Published: May 2010

AbstractThis study is a descriptive catalogue of the behavior patterns of the Australian magpie (Gymnorhina tibicen, Cracticidae), a member of the Australian corvid assemblage (SlBLEY & AHLQUIST 1985) and a group‐living species that maintains year‐round territories. The ethogram is constructed with comparisons to the cracticid genera Strepera and Cracticus and the closely related genus Corvus. In comparison with Corvus species, Australian magpies have few close‐range social communication patterns, and there are few interactions among members of the same territorial social group. Conversely, Australian magpies exhibit many behavior patterns used in long‐distance communication related to territorial aggression and defense. The foraging and food item manipulation patterns of the magpie are more limited than in currawongs (Strepera) or in Corvus. These differences may be due to the Australian magpie's highly specialized territorial way of life and relatively narrowly defined diet. Corvus and Strepera species are generalists that exhibit flocking, partial migration, and a lesser degree of territoriality. Territoriality in Gymnorhina may be an evolutionary response to environmental factors, interspecific competition with other cracticids and Corvus, or both.
Status Signalling by Parus major: An Experiment in Deception
Authors: Jäurvi Torbjörn , Walsø Øyvind , Barken Morten 
Published: May 2010

AbstractThe ‘social control’ and ‘incongruence’ hypotheses, first put forward by ROHWER (1977) to explain how attempted ‘deceit’ status signalling is kept in check among winter‐flocking birds, were tested under semi‐natural conditions for Parus major. This species signals its social status by the width of its breast stripe. The lowest‐ranked male in experimental flocks, each made up of four individuals, was manipulated in one of three ways: 1) the status signal was altered by painting the breast stripe to make it broader; 2) agonistic behaviour was altered by injecting testosterone; 3) both status signal and behaviour were manipulated. A study of the outcome of subsequent agonistic encounters by these birds revealed that the status of the manipulated individuals only rose when both their behaviour and status signal were altered. This indicates that the ‘social control’ hypothesis must be rejected, but not the ‘incongruence’ hypothesis.
The Role of “Outward‐Journey Information” in Homing Experiments with Pigeons: New Data on Ontogeny of Navigation and General Survey
Authors: Wallraff Hans G. , Sinsch Ulrich 
Published: May 2010

AbstractPotentially, homing from distant areas can be based on two different principles of navigation: (1) A path‐integration mechanism records and integrates an animal's motions during the outward trip; it is independent of location‐specific stimuli. (2) Site localization, by contrast, is performed by deducing the animal's position in relation to home from such stimuli. Hence the first mechanism entirely depends on an uninterrupted flow of “outward‐journey information”. The second mechanism may but need not be independent of stimuli recorded during the outward journey.Homing of pigeons is evidently based on site localization. Empirical findings do not support the idea that in experiments using passive displacement path integration is involved in addition or alternatively. Also, there is no reason to assume that very young pigeons transitionally, for only few weeks, apply such a method (as has been concluded by Wiltschko & Wiltschko 1982, 1985, etc.).It is shown that very young pigeons require local olfactory signals for initial homeward orientation as do older birds (Fig. 1). They are not generally better at homeward orientation than older inexperienced pigeons and show similar deviations from home and preferences for a particular compass direction (Table 1, Fig. 2).Olfactory signals appear to be gathered, as good as conditions allow, during any stage of a homing experiment. No fundamental difference can be recognized between olfactory “outward‐journey information”, “release‐site information”, etc. Signals received at different times and sites before release may contribute by varying proportions to the initial‐orientation patterns observed under varying circumstances.
The Effect of Density and Temperature on the Swimming and Aggregating Behaviour of the Backswimmer, Anisops deanei (Heteroptera: Notonectidae) and Subsequent Encounter Rate with a Sit‐and‐Wait Predator
Authors: Bailey Paul C. E. 
Published: May 2010

AbstractFour different swimming behaviours of the backswimmer, Anisops deanei, each characterized by a different angular position of the metathoracic legs and speed, are described along with the effect of water temperature and density on (1) the number of each behaviour exhibited and (2) total time spent swimming, per unit time. Generally, as density increased the swimming activity in each behaviour decreased while as temperature increased swimming activity increased. The direction of the effects were the same when total time spent swimming per unit time was examined. Nearest neighbour analysis showed that A. deanei form obvious aggregations in laboratory tanks as density increases, and this effect remains significant at least to the third neighbour. Density had a significant effect on neighbour distances whereas temperature did not. It was hypothesized that the primary function of these aggregations, which are also commonly observed in the field, is an anti‐predator behaviour. Laboratory experiments using models of a common sit‐and‐wait predator of A. deanei, showed that although the encounter rate increased with both water temperature and density the observed encounter rate at the higher densities was significantly less than expected with a random distribution of prey. It is suggested that this defence effect would also exist with more mobile predators like fish.
Interindividual Variability and Idiosyncrasy in Social Behaviours in the Ant Camponotus vagus Scop
Authors: Bonavita‐Cougourdan Annie , Morel Laurence 
Published: May 2010

AbstractLarge intraspecific variability was found in interactive ant behaviours. However, a time study of callow and mature Camponotus vagus workers showed some stability in relationships within pairs of workers or in given individuals. Individual idiosyncrasies were observed as tendencies to simultaneously display a single level of activity for several behaviours. Thus some mature workers reverse the food flow during trophallactic exchanges, spend more time exchanging food and are more aggressive toward intruders. The time spent by callows in their main activity, brood‐tending, allows discrimination on two activity levels. Moreover, callows deprived of any relationship with older nestmates show different levels of activity in the duration and intensity of aggressive and non‐aggressive behaviours. The causality of these behavioural idiosyncrasies could possibly be explained in part by the social experience of each individual.
A Universal Time Constant Operating in Human Short‐term Behaviour Repetitions
Authors: Schleidt Margret 
Published: May 2010

AbstractIn repetitive movement patterns of everyday behaviour in humans a time constant of about 3 s could be shown to prevail. This time constant was found in four independent cultures (Europeans, Trobriand Islanders, Yanomami Indians and Kalahari Bushmen) and structures behaviour into units. As Pöppel (1978, 1985) has already found such a time constant in recited verse and optical illusions, it seems that we are dealing here with a universal central nervous mechanism structuring time. Its function could be seen in creating a subjective present and in facilitating communication and synchronisation between interactants.Only 15% of patterns in the investigated behaviour repetitions do not obey the 3‐s time span. These are stereotyped behaviour patterns of longer duration which seem to have a special function.
Communal Nesting among Genetically Similar House Mice
Authors: Wilkinson Gerald S. , Baker Ann Eileen Miller 
Published: May 2010

AbstractFrom March to October 1986, 35 house mice, Mus domesticus, were fitted with radio‐transmitters and tracked in and around a Colorado feed shed for an average of 5 (range 2 to 17) days. 5 of 36 simultaneously tracked pairs of lactating females used identical nesting sites. Genotypic similarity at 5 enzyme loci, assayed from biopsies of blood and toes, indicated that these females were more genetically alike than would be expected if pairing occurred randomly among females. We posit that female house mice recognize and preferentially form communal nests with close relatives. Aside from the communally nesting females, minimal overlap occurred among home ranges of lactating females. Only 4 of 10 adult male home ranges appreciably overlapped female home ranges. The home ranges of these 4 males overlapped less than the other adult male home ranges suggesting that males defend one or more females for access to mating. The possibility that communally nesting females are nursing each other's pups is discussed.
Foraging, Delayed Maturation, and Advantages of Cooperative Breeding in White‐winged Choughs, Corcorax melanorhamphos
Authors: Heinsohn Robert G. , Cockbu Andrew , Cunningham R. B. 
Published: May 2010

AbstractWhite‐winged choughs live in groups which cooperate in all aspects of rearing young, affording an opportunity to examine the influence of cooperation on foraging behavior. The amount of food choughs forage for themselves and feed to young increases with age, supporting the idea that individuals which dispersed to breed would have difficulty in rearing young. When feeding nestlings, individuals in the two larger groups returned to the nest less often and with larger loads than the individuals in the smallest group. Choughs in the smallest group also consumed less food at the beginning of each trip from the nest than those in the larger groups. We suggest that these measures indicate the greater efficiency allowed to individuals in larger groups when foraging from the nest. In all groups, individuals returning to the nest simultaneously with other group members carried smaller loads than those returning alone. We propose that returning in groups enables all nestlings of asynchronously hatched broods to obtain sufficient food.
Wie klassifizieren Javaneraffen (Macaca fascicularis) natürliche Muster?
Authors: Dittrich Winand 
Published: May 2010

AbstractHow do Crab‐eating Monkeys (Macaca fascicularis) Perceive and Classify Realistic Visual Patterns?The process by which crab‐eating monkeys perceive and classify stimuli functionally relevant to their feeding behaviour was investigated. The visual patterns consisted of realistic drawings of insects and parts of plants.

A new experimental approach was conceived: During the experimental sessions social interactions within the group were permitted while the learning behaviour of individual monkeys was analysed. The procedure consisted of the simultaneous discrimination tasks of four visual patterns and motoric responses (continuous reinforcement).
To prepare the functional analysis of their ability to classify environmental objects, tests were conducted in which the animals successively learned to answer visual stimuli with motoric responses. The monkeys learned not only to discriminate geometrical patterns from contrast and form cues but also to build specific associations between visual patterns and special motoric coordinations. When shown similar geometrical stimuli, the animals were able to generalise their recognition of invariant features (‘angularity’).
The monkeys learned very quickly to discriminate insects from parts of plants. This discrimination ability could be transferred immediately to other insect pictures. This learning process was linked with a memorized classification system of natural objects induced by environmental experience. A preference test for single cues resulted in a graded estimation of particular pattern components. Numerous variations of the insect pattern were shown to the animals. From the different choice frequency for single cues, a gradual continuum of cue relevance could be established (e. g. contrast and form were the most relevant cues). A direct dependence between the completeness of the insect ‘gestalt’ and its choice frequency was shown.
Homing in Harvester Termites: Evidence of Magnetic Orientation
Authors: Rickli M. , Leuthold R. H. 
Published: May 2010

AbstractColonies of Trinervitermes geminatus (Wasman) build a network of forked foraging trails. Homing workers choose, with few exceptions, those tracks at the forks of the pheromone trail network that lead direct to the nest. Assessments show that these workers are also able to distinguish between the homeward and outward direction along an unbranched trail. Experiments involving the alteration of the local natural magnetic field by means of a weak permanent magnet provide evidence that the termites recognise the home direction by means of magnetoreception.
Aggression and Nearest Neighbour Distances in Female Reindeer during the Rut
Authors: Kojola Ilpo , Nieminen Mauri 
Published: May 2010

AbstractData on nearest neighbours and aggressive behaviour were collected within rutting groups of semi‐domesticated reindeer (Rangifer t. tarandus L.) in a 1300‐ha pasture in Finnish Lapland, and wild forest reindeer (Rangifer t. fennicus Lönnb.) in a 15‐ha enclosure in Central Finland. Adult cows of forest reindeer charged yearling males, yearling females and calves in that order of decreasing frequency. Semi‐domesticated reindeer cows rushed yearling females more often than they did one another. One suggested influence of antagonism by cows were the observed intragroup associations of yearling females. Cows were tolerant toward their own yearling females, but not toward their own yearling males. Although no maternal aggression toward calves was found, male calves moved away more often from their mothers than did female calves during the post‐rut period.
Initiation and Resolution of Fights between Swimming Crabs (Liocarcinus depurator)
Authors: Glass C. W. , Huntingford F. A. 
Published: May 2010

AbstractFights between male swimming crabs (Liocarcinus depurator) were studied in the laboratory and in the field. These crabs fight readily in the laboratory, interactions being initiated equally often by the larger and the smaller of the two opponents, but usually being won by the larger. Many different combinations of cheliped and swimming leg postures are seen during fights, which fell into 4 categories: 13% involved only stationary display, 38% were resolved by a single approach and retreat by displaying crabs, 9% were resolved by multiple approaches and retreats and 39% involved physical contact between the crabs. Fight length was variable, and depended both on the absolute size and on the relative size of the participants. During the course of the fights, few behavioural differences were observed between the eventual winners and losers. Fights were less common in the field, but the same rules determined their initiation, content and outcome. The results are discussed in the context of game theory.
Development of Antipredator Responses in Snakes
Authors: Herzog Harold A. , Burghardt Gordon M. 
Published: May 2010

AbstractIndividual and litter differences in the number of attacks directed by Mexican garter snakes (Thamnophis melanogaster) at a threatening stimulus were studied over the first year of life. Newborn snakes born to wildcaught females from the same population were tested the day after they were born and at 7, 16, 31, and 54 weeks of age on reactivity to a potent nonmoving and moving stimulus (a human finger). There were significant individual and interlitter differences in number of strikes directed at both stimuli but no significant effect of sex. Intercorrelations among the strike scores of individuals across test days averaged .54 for the nonmoving stimulus presentations and .63 for trials with the moving stimulus. Strike scores to the moving and nonmoving stimuli were significantly correlated at each age, however, attack responses to the moving stimulus declined over the year while those to the nonmoving stimulus remained constant. Measures of concordance showed that both individual strike scores and litter means were highly consistent, whereas consistency within litters was reduced. The results indicate that litter and individual differences among newborn snakes in the tendency to engage in antipredator behavior (“defensive temperament”) remain relatively stable from the first day after birth throughout the first year of life.
Aggressive Behavior and Courtship Rejection in Brightly and Plainly Colored Female Keeled Earless Lizards (Holbrookia propinqua)
Authors: Cooper William E. 
Published: May 2010

AbstractRelationships between bright secondary sexual coloration and behavior were studied in female Holbrookia propinqua, which develop striking orange and yellow colors during the breeding season. In tethered introduction studies, brightly colored females performed aggressive courtship rejection behaviors toward conspecific males; plainly colored females were not aggressive toward males, but attempted to avoid them. Responses of females of the two color patterns toward conspecific females of both color phases were not detectably different. Experimental introductions of lizards with coloration modified by paint showed that females of both color patterns recognize any other lizard bearing the bright female colors as female, regardless of actual sex. Both the orange and yellow components were shown to contribute to sex recognition. The yellow component alone allowed accurate sex identification, but only half the females responded to males painted with only the orange female component as if they were females. Because females did not behave differently toward other females on the basis of coloration, the hypothesis that bright coloration evolved as an adaptive signal between females is rejected. The dark ventrolateral stripes of male and plainly colored females did not appear to affect intraspecific social responses by females.
Auditory Processing of Temporal Information in a Neotropical Frog is Independent of Signal Intensity
Authors: Rose Gary J. , Zelick Randy , Rand A. Stanley 
Published: May 2010

AbstractAnimals often encounter the problem of identifying the temporal structure of their species‐specific communication sounds amidst heterospecific signals that are more intense. Little information is available, however, concerning the effects of intensity on these discriminative capacities. Here we report that male frogs,Physalaemus pustulosus, are able to discriminate between sounds that differ only in their direction of frequency modulation and that this discrimination remains intact over their entire response range; more than a 10,000‐fold range in sound intensity in some cases.
Repertoires and Countersinging in Western Meadowlarks (Sturnella neglecta)
Authors: Horn Andrew G. , Falls J. Bruce 
Published: May 2010

AbstractCountersinging in territorial birds has been viewed as a form of vocal contest. We studied the role of song repertoires in countersinging by western meadowlarks,Sturnella neglecta, by simultaneous observations of neighboring males. Neighbors tended to switch song types synchronously, but tendency to lead or follow in such switches did not correlate with orientation, subsequent behaviour, tendency to interact (as measured by the number of repetitions of each song type), or breeding stage. Males did not match song types, but were more likely to sing if their neighbour sang a song type that they shared. We suggest that synchronous switching is not a vocal contest in this species, but may be a form of competitive advertisement.
Temporal Features of Social Play in the Laboratory Rat
Authors: Hole Graham 
Published: May 2010

AbstractLongitudinal observational studies were made of social play (wrestling) in laboratory‐housed Rattus norveguus, between 21–60 days of age. Particular attention was paid to the temporal features of this behaviour. Data are presented on the duration of play bouts, the percentage of time spent by each participant in the “on‐top” position, and the number of role reversals occurring during play.Play bouts were found to be very brief events, in which very little reciprocity was shown; the initiator of a bout tended to remain on top of his partner for most of the bout. Males initiated more play than did females, but there were relatively few age or sex differences in the temporal measures of play. However, bouts involving females did tend to be shorter than those between males. Females initiating mixed‐sex play were less likely to remain on top for prolonged periods than was the case in play bouts initiated by males with females or in bouts between same‐sex pairs.The duration of play bouts appeared to be randomly determined. This fact, together with the absence of age‐changes in bout duration, is held to represent evidence against the hypothesis that play's primary function is to provide physical training for the participants, at least for social play in this particular species.The implications of these results for the use of “reciprocity” as a defining characteristic of play are discussed.
Mating Systems and Reproductive Strategies in Three Australian Gryllid Crickets: Bobilla victoriae Otte, Balamara gidya Otte and Teleogryllus commodus (Walker) (Orthoptera: Gryllidae: Nemobiinae; Trigonidiinae; Gryllinae)
Authors: Evans A. R. 
Published: May 2010

AbstractThe behaviour of B. victoriae and B. gidya in simulated natural habitats is described. Regular predictable sequences of behaviour are represented by ethograms.The mating systems of B. victoriae and B. gidya are compared with that of T. commodus which shows a sedentary call‐and‐reside strategy. B. victoriae shows an elaborated male call‐search strategy while in B. gidya the male strategy is one purely of searching rather than advertising for mates. Males of B. victoriae and B. gidya were less territorial and less aggressive than males of T. commodus.Males of B. victoriae attracted females and monopolized them for repeated matings by providing what might be a nutritional resource in the form of multiple spermatophores which females were allowed to eat soon after copulation. Males of B. gidya produced fewer but much larger spermatophores than males of B. victoriae or T. commodus and females of B. gidya became unreceptive after mating.The reproductive strategies of the three species are analyzed in terms of environmental variables.
Pillar Function in the Fiddler Crab Uca beebei (I): Effects on Male Spacing and Aggression
Authors: Christy John H. 
Published: May 2010

AbstractMales of 14 species of fiddler crabs (genus Uca) are known to build structures out of mud or sand at the entrances to burrows they court from and defend. A study of spacing, space use and aggression between courting male Uca musica (Zucker 1974, 1981) suggested that the hoods males build reduce territorial overlap and rates of aggression between neighboring males. Thus, each male may have more time to court females during limited lunar, diurnal and tidal mating periods.I studied the courtship and aggressive behavior of male Uca beebei in the field to determine if the pillars males of this species build affect male behavior as do the hoods of U. musica. U. beebei occurs sympatrically with U. musica on the Pacific coast of Panama and is broadly similar in its ecology and mating behavior. Unlike the hoods of U. musica, pillars did not focus a male's activity space away from its closest neighbor nor did they reduce either overlap with neighbors' activity spaces or rates of aggressive interaction among neighbors. Pillar builders courted more but also fought their neighbors more than did males that did not build pillars. The pillars of U. beebei and the hoods of U. musica affect male behavior differently and probably have different functions.