bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Visiting Behaviour by Females of the Sexually Dichromatic Damselfish, Chrysiptera cyanea (Teleostei: Pomacentridae): a Probable Method of Assessing Male Quality
Authors: Gronell Ann M. 
Published: May 2010

AbstractThe process of female choice of mates was examined in the damselfish Chrysiptera cyanea. Females make their choices during courtship periods termed “visiting” which are performed the day prior to spawning. Each female spawns once every four days; the eggs take four days to hatch. Female spawning is asynchronous. Males may therefore have eggs in all stages of development in their nests simultaneously. Females were shown to rely on apparent male reproductive status (whether or not there were eggs in the nest at the time of visits) when choosing spawning partners. Secondarily, courtship levels, male size, and the colour pattern of males appeared to influence choice. Among successful males, estimates of male reproductive success were correlated with the operative sex ratio (females to successful males) and the percentage of the eggs received which remained on day 4, just prior to hatching (estimated parental care ability). The first factor contributes in a direct manner to male reproductive success. The second is probably a result of differential reproductive success and not a cause of it. Eggs in nests with a large number of eggs had a higher hatching success than those in nests with fewer. Females therefore pursue a copying strategy, preferentially laying their eggs with those of other females. Thus eggs appear to be a valuable commodity from the viewpoint of the males. Unsuccessful males readily foster eggs, regardless of their source, in what is effectively a “cheating” strategy.
Neighbor Recognition in a Solitary Desert Rodent (Dipodomys merriami)
Authors: Randall Jan A. 
Published: May 2010

AbstractNeighbor recognition in the Merriam's kangaroo rat (Dipodomys merriami) was tested in neighbor and nonneighbor pairs of the same and opposite sex in a large enclosure in the field. Mutual tolerance, rather than aggression, occurred in the encounters, and neighbor recognition was more apparent in females than in males. Females tolerated and engaged in nonagonistic contact with familiar males and females; males approached and attempted to contact neighbors and nonneighbors alike. Neighbor recognition is important to both spacing and mating in females. Males' persistent attempts to interact with any conspecific may be important to their mating success.
Courtship, Fighting and Sexual Dimorphism of the Banded Newt, Triturus vittatus ophryticus
Authors: Raxworthy C. J. 
Published: May 2010

AbstractA study was made of the courtship and fighting behaviour of banded newt Triturus vittatus ophryticus in both the laboratory and field. Sexual dimorphism is more pronounced in this species than in any other urodele but up to now there has been no detailed description of the courtship behaviour. Functional explanations are proposed for the extreme secondary sexual characters based on the nature of courtship and fighting behaviour. T. vittatus appears to have a type of lek mating system similar to T. marmoratus and T. cristatus. Behavioural features of the courtship display indicate that T. vittatus is taxonomically closely related to T. marmoratus and T. cristatus.
Fertility Advertisement in Birds: a Means of Inciting Male‐male Competition?
Authors: Montgomerie Robert , Thornhill Randy 
Published: May 2010

AbstractCertain loud calls made by female red junglefowl and Lapland longspurs are given most frequently immediately after egg laying, when a copulation should have the highest probability of fertilizing the next egg to be laid. In these species there is considerable male‐male interaction for access to fertilizable females, and males are attracted to or follow females making these calls. Based on our interpretation of these calls, we develop a general hypothesis to predict the pattern of occurrence of fertility advertisement both within and among bird species. We hypothesize that certain loud calls given by female birds before and during the egg‐laying period are designed to advertise fertility and thereby incite male‐male competition. This hypothesis predicts that calls advertising female fertility should most often occur soon after an egg is laid (i.e. during the period of highest fertility) but may also occur at any time during the female's fertilizable period. Such calls are unlikely to be given by females in strictly monogamous species (especially those with long‐term pair bonds) because in these species each female usually mates with only a single male and extra‐pair copulations are avoided. Although reports of loud female calls associated with copulation are rare in the literature, the 18 examples we found (including junglefowl and longspurs) were predominantly (15/18) in species adopting mating systems other than strict monogamy, and these calls were most commonly and disproportionately reported in multi‐male mating systems. This form of “estrus” in birds may be widespread because few species appear to be strictly monogamous, but it will be difficult to study because the period of high fertility for female birds is so short.
Homing to Hibernating Sites in Helix pomatia Involving Detailed Long‐term Memory
Authors: Lind Hans 
Published: May 2010

AbstractHibernation sites and home ranges of marked snails were recorded in the field for several years. Each individual usually returned to the same relatively small hibernating area every year. Shifts between alternative hibernation areas sometimes occurred. Most of the observed non‐returns can be explained by changes in spatial behaviour of the preceding season rather than disorientation. Observations and experiments show the existence of a detailed memory related to topographical features of the hibernating area and lasting for at least three years. The snails seem to orientate towards a goal area which has been memorized at the preparations for hibernation during previous years. Experiments seem to indicate the importance of chemical cues. A probably adaptive potential for very detailed memorizing of topographical cues allows for localization of hibernation areas less than 30 cm in radius, and even accurate returns to previous sites, although no traces of these are left. It seems that the supposedly primitive brain of gastropods like Helix has a capability for complex and long‐term spatial memory similar to that of the vertebrate brain.
Prey Odor Discrimination in the Varanoid Lizards Heloderma suspectum and Varanus exanthematicus
Authors: Cooper William E. 
Published: May 2010

AbstractUse of chemical senses to detect prey is believed to be an important component of foraging behavior in actively foraging lizards. Ability to detect prey odors and discriminate them from control odors by tongue‐flicking was studied in representatives of two families of lizards having highly forked, elongated, retractile tongues. Responses of gila monsters (Heloderma suspectum) and savannah monitors (Varanus exanthematicus) to deionized water, a control for pungency (cologne), and mouse odor on cotton swabs were studied in experiments using repeated‐measures designs and employing the tongue‐flick attack score (TFAS) as the primary measure of response strength. TFAS differed among treatments for gila monsters and monitors. Both species had greater TFAS to mouse odors than to either of the control stimuli, but responses to cologne were not statistically distinguishable from those to water. Numbers of tongue‐flicks elicited by prey odors were greater than those for control stimuli in V. exanthematicus, but not for H. suspectum. Gila monsters, but not savannah monitors, bit in a significantly greater proportion of tests with prey odors than with control stimuli. Details of responses, including frequency of biting, apparent search behavior in the vicinity of applicators bearing mouse odors, and responses to control stimuli are discussed in relation to the foraging behavior of these two species and their relatives. Evidence from this and other studies suggests that the vomeronasal sense (and perhaps other chemical senses) is an important means of locating and recognizing prey in widely foraging autarchoglossan lizards.
The Role of Visual Cues in Prey Selection in Three‐spined Sticklebacks (Gasterosteus aculeatus)
Authors: Ibrahim A. A. , Huntingford F. A. 
Published: May 2010

AbstractIn order to determine the proximate cues responsible for prey selection by sticklebacks, subjects were given a series of choices between pairs of prey items differing in the visual characteristics that differentiate natural prey species. When only one stimulus‐dimension was varied, the sticklebacks showed significant preference for, in decreasing order for each stimulus dimension, red and pale over dark colour, relatively fast over slow movement, straight and rectangular over globular shape and larger over smaller size. In contrast, the way in which the prey moved did not influence prey choice. When two stimulus‐dimensions were varied simultaneously, colour (if red) was shown to be a more important cue than movement, followed by shape, and then by size. When red colour was replaced by pale colour, a different preference order was found, with movement becoming more important than colour, followed by shape and then by size. These results are discussed in the light of the existing literature of prey selection in fish.
Use of an Inclination Compass during Migratory Orientation by the Bobolink (Dolichonyx oryzivorus)
Authors: Beason Robert C. 
Published: May 2010

AbstractAdult bobolinks were tested in a planetarium under patterns of nonrotating artificial stars to determine the influence of natural and modified magnetic fields on their migratory orientation. The modified magnetic field was of the same total intensity as the natural field, but the vertical vector was reversed, causing the resulting total vector to point up and north (compared to the natural northern hemisphere vector pointing down and north).When exposed to the artificial magnetic field, the birds reversed their preferred headings relative to the stellar and geographic references. This response is consistent with the use of an inclination compass. Although 60 % of the individuals reversed their headings the first night, some individuals took up to 5 nights (mean = 2.1 nights).
Spatial and Temporal Resource Use by Feral and Abandoned Dogs
Authors: Daniels Thomas J. , Bekoff Marc 
Published: May 2010

AbstractWe compared spatial and temporal patterns of resource use by feral and abandoned domestic dogs (Canis familiaris) on the Navajo reservation in Arizona and New Mexico. Community dumps provide locally abundant food resources utilized both by feral dogs and dogs abandoned at the dump site. Although population parameters were much the same for feral and abandoned dogs, the use of space varied distinctly and reflected behavioral differences in the way each population responded to the absence of human control, the need to acquire food, and the developmental state of pups. Temporal use of resources by feral dogs varied seasonally with the age of pups in one pack, but not in a second pack. Priority of access to local resources may be influenced by aggressive interactions among dogs at a dump. Barking may serve to warn dogs already present at a dump that competitors have arrived.
Colony Foundation and Nestmate Recognition in the Social Wasp,Belonogaster petiolata
Authors: Keeping Malcolm G. 
Published: May 2010

AbstractEmergence from hibernation and synchronized nest foundation by foundresses ofB. petiolatain the southern Transvaal, appeared to be stimulated largely by a rise in temperature during early and mid August of each season. Initial foundresses on newly built nests were joined by other foundresses during the first few weeks of the nesting season to form foundress associations. Although females were strongly philopatric and able to discriminate between nestmates (from their natal nests) and non‐nestmates, former nestmates did not reassociate to a significant degree on new nests. Thus, associated foundresses were, on average, not closely related. Rather than facilitating the reassociation of former nestmates, the advantage of philopatric behaviour appears to lie in ensuring that foundresses return to an area of relatively high nesting density, where their chances of being involved in multiple‐foundress groups (irrespective of intra‐colonial relatedness) are high. Non‐philopatric females which nest away from localities of high nesting density have a low probability of being involved in associations, and may therefore have to attempt colony foundation alone, with little or no chance of reproducing successfully.
The Effects of Isolation on the Sensitization and Habituation of Aggression in the Threespine Stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus)
Authors: Peeke Harman V. S. , Dark Kathleen A. 
Published: May 2010

AbstractOur previous research showed that territorial threespine sticklebacks are more aggressive toward a male conspecific placed in their territory if they have been housed adjacent to a gravid female rather than a male or a nongravid female. This study replicated the condition of a territorial male with an adjacently housed male and compared the results with isolated territorial males. This permitted us to contrast explanations for the increased aggression when the neighbor was a gravid female. If the social context determines the level of aggression, then males with no neighbors (isolates) might be less aggressive because there would be no unique reproductive resource to protect nor any neighbor to protect resources from. Alternatively, if aggression is higher in the isolated group it might be because there was no male neighbor to redirect aggression toward. We found that isolated males were more aggressive toward an intruded male stimulus than males with a male neighbor. The study also provided evidence that sensitization produced by the appearance of an intruding male energizes other aggressive behavior, but not those related to feeding, nor does it cause increase in general activation as measured by increased locomotion.
Vigilant Behaviour: Predictability or Randomness? Spectral Analysis of Series of Scan Durations and their Relationship with Inter‐scan Intervals
Authors: Desportes Jean‐Pierre , Metcalfe Neil B. , Brun Bernard , Cezilly Frank 
Published: May 2010

AbstractWhile feeding, many animals frequently look up and visually scan their environment. Using spectral analysis of continuous series of scan durations from a purple sandpiper Calidris maritima and Barbary doves Streptopelia risoria, we show that there are sequential non‐random patterns and significant periodicities in all the examined series such that the birds cycled regularly between short and long scans. The cycles are comparable to those for the continuous series of inter‐scan intervals of the same behavioural sequences. We suggest a re‐examination of the functional costs and benefits of instantaneous randomness versus sequential predictability in alternating between feeding and scanning and a revision of the models of the way animals alternate between these behaviour patterns.
Establishment Success of Experimentally Delayed Juvenile Marsh Tits Parus palustris
Authors: Nilsson Jan‐Åke 
Published: May 2010

AbstractBy experimentally manipulating the time when young marsh tits, Parus palustris, could become established, I tested the influence of size, hatching date, social dominance in caged situations, and time of season on establishment success. Individuals that managed to become established were divided into two groups: those that became established in new territories and those that were found in the same territory as the one where they were caught. In no circumstances did size, hatching date or social dominance influence establishment success. The only factor tested that had a significant effect on establishment success, was when the juveniles were released; those that established themselves in new territories had been released earlier than unsuccessful ones. Thus, prior occupancy rather than hatching date per se is the factor determining establishment in new territories. Juveniles that became re‐established in their former territory had been released significantly later than those not becoming re‐established. As the season progresses, increasingly fewer unestablished juveniles are present to fill vacancies. Thus, late‐released juveniles stood a better chance of finding their flock position still vacant compared with juveniles released early, whose previous positions would already have been occupied by other juveniles.
Perceptual Organization in Animal Learning: Cues or Objects?
Authors: Vallortigara Giorgio , Zanforlin Mario , Compostella Silvia 
Published: May 2010

AbstractChicks were trained to discriminate between two identical boxes on the basis of their position. Subsequently, the colour of parts of the positive (reinforced) box was changed and chicks were retrained. Results showed that chicks were more or less impaired during retraining depending on the spatial distribution of the changed stimuli. Chicks behaved as if a figure (a disc or a spot of dots) painted on a box was irrelevant to them, whereas they did respond to changes in the colour of a uniformly coloured box or of scattered dots painted on a box. Similar results were obtained in simultaneous discrimination learning tasks involving addition of cues (e.g. colour plus position). Addition of cues facilitated learning using boxes the same colour all over or with painted scattered dots, but not using boxes with a disc or a spot of dots. Furthermore, addition of shape and position information had different outcomes depending on the use of three‐dimensional objects or of painted figures: learning facilitation occurred only using three‐dimensional objects. Results are interpreted in terms of an “object hypothesis”, and the validity and usefulness of traditional terms such as cues is questioned.
Site Tenacity and Dominance in Wintering White‐throated Sparrows Zonotrichia albicollis (Passeriformes: Emberizidae)
Authors: Piper Walter H. 
Published: May 2010

AbstractSupplemental feeding of a wintering population of 132 white‐throated sparrows was suspended in midwinter to determine characteristics associated with the tendency to remain within previously established home ranges after a drop in food levels. Site‐faithful birds tended to be dominant, to have high levels of subcutaneous fat and to reside in certain regions of the study area. The high site fidelity of dominant sparrows reaffirms the importance of dominance in structuring populations.
The Payoffs to Producing and Scrounging: What Happens when Patches are Divisible?
Authors: Giraldeau Luc‐Alain , Hogan Jerry A. , Clinchy Michael J. 
Published: May 2010

AbstractAlthough many group‐foraging models assume that all individuals search for and share their food equally, most documented instances of group foraging exhibit specialized use of producer and scrounger strategies. In addition, many of the studies have focused on groups with strong individual asymmetries exploiting food that is not easily divisible. In the present study we describe individual foraging behavior of relatively nonaggressive flock foragers exploiting divisible clumps of food. Two experiments, one with flocks of spice finches and another with flocks of zebra finches, suggest that divisibility of food patches may have important consequences for social foraging behavior. Neither dominance nor the distribution and quality of food patches affect the relative advantage that producing individuals enjoy over those that scrounge. Specialized producers and scroungers are absent from flocks of both species. Systems where patches are shared may differ fundamentally from those where patches are monopolized by scroungers.
Dominance and Immunity in Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes)
Authors: Masataka Nobuo , Ishida Takafumi , Suzuki Juri , Matsumura Shuiti , Udono Shunji , Sasaoka Sadanobu 
Published: May 2010

AbstractThe study reported here examined the effect of dominance status on serum immunoglobulin (IgG and IgM) levels in chimpanzees living in five captive colonies. Blood samples were collected from each individual twice, and agonistic and grooming interactions were observed. After initial group observations, members of four of the five groups were caged singly. Thereafter blood samples were again taken. Both IgG and IgM levels of the animals living in groups were significantly negatively correlated with their dominance status in all five groups. The higher‐ranked chimpanzees were likely to show lower levels of IgG and IgM. No such consistent correlation was found between individual Ig levels and frequency of aggressive behaviour or grooming. On transfer to isolated conditions, Ig levels of the chimpanzees did not correlate with their previous dominance status in the groups. Being of high rank is a biological cost for colony‐living chimpanzees with regard to immunity levels.
Male Age, Copulation Duration and Insemination Success inMystacides azurea(Leptoceridae, Trichoptera)
Authors: Petersson Erik 
Published: May 2010

AbstractTime in copula in the swarming caddis flyMystacides azureaL. (Trichoptera: Leptoceridae) ranged from 0.33 to 44.5 min. It increased with male age (wing wear) and male dry weight, but was independent of male and female size (forewing length), female wing wear and number of eggs in the females. Older males failed to transfer sperm during copulation more frequently than did younger ones. It is suggested that females benefit by interrupting prolonged copulations if sperm is not transferred rapidly, since being in copula might increase the risk of predation. Alternatively, young and old males follow different mating tactics; old males have a lower chance to acquire new mates and they do better by monopolizing a female, once they get one, by prolonging the copulation.
Behavioural Response of Juvenile Bluegill Sunfish to Variation in Predation Risk and Food Level
Authors: Gotceitas Vytenis , Colgan Patrick 
Published: May 2010

AbstractThe behavioural response of juvenile bluegill sunfish (Lepomis macrochirus) to predation risk when selecting between patches of artificial vegetation differing in food and stem density was investigated. Bluegill foraging activity was significantly affected by all three factors. Regardless of patch stem density or risk of predation bluegills preferred patches with the highest prey number. During each trial bluegill foraging activity was clearly divided into a between‐ and within‐patch component. In the presence of a predator bluegills reduced their between‐patch foraging activity by an equivalent amount regardless of patch stem density or food level, apparently showing a risk‐adjusting behavioural response to predation risk. Within patches, however, foraging activity was affected by both food level and patch stem density. When foraging in a patch offering a refuge from predation, the presence of a predator had no effect on bluegill foraging activity within this patch. However, if foraging in a patch with only limited refuge potential, bluegill foraging activity was reduced significantly in the presence of a predator. Further, this reduction was significantly greater if the patch contained a low versus a high food level, indicating a risk‐balancing response to predation with respect to within‐patch foraging activity. Both these responses differ from the risk‐avoidance response to predation demonstrated by juvenile bluegills when selecting among habitats. Therefore, our results demonstrate the flexibility of juvenile bluegill foraging behaviour.