bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Effect of Male Competition on Male‐Female Relationships in Bi‐male Groups of Mountain Gorillas
Authors: Sicotte Pascale 
Published: May 2010

AbstractIn gorillas (Gorilla gorilla beringei), male reproductive competition is manifested during inter‐group encounters through displays and contact aggression with opposing males and through attempts to control the movement of females between groups. This paper documents the effect of within‐group male reproductive competition on male‐female relationships. In one‐male groups, females are known to take the initiative in the maintenance of their relationships with males. In two‐male units, because males face within‐group reproductive competition, one can expect a reversed pattern of responsibility for proximity maintenance. Three measures were used to assess responsibility for proximity maintenance: Hinde's index of proximity: the proportion of ‘follows’ and ‘neighing’. The proportion of follows is the number of follows in relation to the number of departures within each dyad. Neighing is a vocalization emitted by males towards departing females. It is used as a measure of males' motivation to negotiate proximity with females. The data come from focal observations on the silverbacks and ad libitum data collected over 8 months (380 h in 1989) at the Karisoke Research Center. Results indicate that within‐group reproductive competition in itself does not lead to a reversed pattern of responsibility in proximity maintenance between males and females, but that the stability of the dominance relationship between the males, and the quality of the relationship between males and females, might have a role to play as well. Results on the neighing vocalization suggest that males are eager to negotiate proximity with cycling females rather than with lactating or pregnant females.
Effects of the Cestode Schistocephalus solidus on Food Intake and Foraging Decisions in the Three‐spined Stickleback Gasterosteus aculeatus
Authors: Cunningham Emma J. , Tierney Jayne F. , Huntingford Felicity A. 
Published: May 2010

AbstractFood intake, feeding efficiency, prey profitability and diet choice were examined in wild‐caught three‐spined sticklebacks, Gasterosteus aculeatus, infected with the cestode Schistocephalus solidus. Infected fish ingested significantly fewer chironomid larvae (bloodworms) before becoming satiated and handled prey for significantly longer than did uninfected fish. This was especially marked when fish had partially‐full stomachs. For uninfected fish, large bloodworms were more profitable than smaller ones, regardless of level of satiation. The two prey sizes were equally profitable for infected fish with empty stomachs. However, for infected fish that had already consumed one prey item, smaller bloodworms were more profitable; prey profitability was negatively related to relative size of the parasite. When offered a choice between large and small bloodworms, uninfected fish consistently chose the larger. Infected fish with empty stomachs were unselective with respect to prey size, but after eating just one prey item, they showed a significant preference for the smaller prey.
Can Dominance Hierarchies be Replicated? Form‐ re‐form Experiments using the Cockroach (Nauphoeta cinerea)
Authors: Dugatkin Lee Alan , Alfieri Michael S. , Moore Allen J. 
Published: May 2010

AbstractAlthough stable hierarchies have been documented in a wide variety of species, virtually nothing is known about what occurs when a hierarchy is disrupted, and the group is subsequently re‐formed. How likely is it that the same hierarchy will re‐form? This attribute, which we quantify using a measure we call replicability, may provide insight into the processes governing hierarchy formation and maintenance. We examined replicability in the cockroach Nauphoeta cinerea. A total of 11 groups, with four males in each group, were subjected to this formation and re‐formation process. Aggressive interactions, leading to an eventual hierarchy formation, were observed for 3 d. Groups were then disbanded and individuals housed in isolation for 2 d. These same individuals were then reintroduced into the same 11 groups, and observed for another 3 d. Although 10 of the 11 groups formed stable hierarchies the first time they were put together, only six of the hierarchies were replicable.While it is difficult to pinpoint why some hierarchies were replicable and others were not, one trend emerged that might help explain the difference. Alpha individuals in replicable hierarchies participated in a lower proportion of interactions the first time groups were together than alpha individuals in non‐replicable hierarchies. Alpha individuals in non‐replicable hierarchies thus had to participate in more interactions to maintain their alpha status. The combination of such exertion, group‐dispansion, and re‐establishment of position may preclude regaining alpha status for such individuals.
Former Experience Can Modify Social Selectivity during Song Learning in the Nightingale (Luscinia megarhynchos)
Authors: Todt Dietmar , Böhner Jörg 
Published: May 2010

AbstractChanges in preference for a specific song‐learning context, characterized by close proximity of a tutor, were investigated in the nightingale, Luscinia megarhynchos. Two groups of males were tutored with conspecific song for two periods, days 42 to 56, and days 57 to 71. Song types were either presented from tape alone (group A) or were played in the presence of a familiar tutor, i.e. the person who hand‐raised the birds (group B). Acquisition success did not differ between the groups for period 2. However, while males of group B acquired songs during both tutoring periods, males of group A learned only during period 2. This indicates that in nightingales the preference for a specific song‐learning context decreases during development. A comparison with an earlier study suggests that this shift is not age dependent but primarily due to auditory experience with the song patterns to be learned. Such a mechanism has also been described for the termination of sensitive phases for song learning. Because song acquisition in adult nightingales does not depend any more on close spatial proximity of a familiar tutor, a male in his first spring and later on can learn from a number of singing territorial neighbours, and by this means acquire the large song‐type repertoire typical for the species.
The Effects of Early Feeding Experience on Long‐term Seed Choice by Canaries (Serinus canaria)
Authors: Doherty Shaun , Cowie Richard J. 
Published: May 2010

AbstractEarly experience has been found to have long‐term effects on behaviour such as social imprinting and song learning. In this paper we investigate whether early experience with particular types of food can lead to long‐term feeding preferences in canaries. For 8 wk following the onset of independent foraging, two groups of naive fledgling canaries were reared on different diets. One group had a choice of four seed types, while individuals in the other group received only one type of seed. After this training period, all the birds were given a mixed seed diet for a further 15 wk, and then their preference for the original seeds was tested. All six birds that had been given four seeds during the training period showed the same preference, namely: hemp > niger > millet > linseed. However, all the birds that had been trained on one seed type only, still preferred the seed on which they had been trained. After a further 23 wk on a mixed‐seed diet, birds from the restricted early diet group showed no further preference for the seed on which they were trained, and their seed choice at this stage was similar to the birds that had received four seeds. We conclude that early experience can affect food choice in canaries for at least 15 wk, but is subordinate to other influences in the longer term.
Parasite Infestation and Parental Care in the Barn SwallowHirundo rusticala Test of the Resource‐provisioning Model of Parasite‐mediated Sexual Selection
Authors: Møller Anders Pape 
Published: May 2010

AbstractBarn swallows,Hirundo rustica, are commonly infested by the haematophagous tropical fowl miteOmithonyssus bursa(Macronyssidae, Gamasida), which severely reduces various measures of reproductive success among the barn swallow hosts. Food provisioning rate by parent barn swallows, measured in terms of absolute feeding rate by males and females and relative feeding rate by males (percentage of food provided by the male parent), was not significantly related to natural levels of infestation of nests. Experimental manipulation of mite loads in nests during the egg‐laying period of the first clutch, which also affected mite loads of parent barn swallows, significantly affected food‐provisioning rates of single‐brooded, but not of double‐brooded barn swallows. These results suggest that effects of mites on the parenting ability of barn swallow hosts depend on host resistance towards parasites. This is consistent with the resource‐provisioning hypothesis of parasite‐mediated sexual selection, suggesting that females prefer parasite‐free males because they are efficient parents, but also with the hypothesis that females prefer males with traits signalling genetic resistance to parasites.
Time Allocation during the Reproductive Season in Vicuñas
Authors: Vila Bibiana L. , Cassini Marcelo H. 
Published: May 2010

AbstractVicuñas (Vicugna vicugna) are wild South American camelids that live in high‐altitude grasslands (Puna). Their social organization is based on family and bachelor groups. The amount of time they allocated to walking, running, lying, grazing and alert behaviour was studied in Abrapampa, northwestern Argentina, during the 1988–1990 reproductive seasons. Females and yearlings spent significantly more time grazing, and less time walking, running and alert than territorial males and bachelors. This result suggests that females maximized the time spent foraging to fulfil the energetic demands of reproduction. The alertness of the territorial males increased and the grazing decreased with the number of females in the families, suggesting that males that incurred a higher cost of lost feeding time through vigilance activities increased their mating success.
Nesting Behaviour of Abert Squirrels (Sciurus aberti)
Authors: Halloran Margaret E. , Bekoff Marc 
Published: May 2010

AbstractNesting behaviour of Abert squirrels (Sciurus aberti), including site selection and use, was studied in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains in Boulder County, Colorado. Only females were observed building nests, although both males and females maintained nests once they were built. Communal nesting by Abert squirrels was rare, but the majority of observed nest sharings involved unrelated male and female pairs. A total of 14 variables were used to evaluate the nests (n = 49) inhabited by Abert squirrels from May 1988 to Jun. 1991. All nests were located in Ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) trees. The majority of nests were constructed of twigs and located in the upper one‐third of the canopy, near the trunk, on the south‐east side of the tree. Trees with nests were predominantly located in closed stands. Nest trees, when compared with unused control trees that were equally accessible to squirrels, were significantly different from control trees in five of nine variables. Nest tree crowns intertwined with a larger number of adjacent tree crowns than did control tree crowns. Nest trees were also significantly taller than control trees, but subdominant to adjacent trees within a stand. Seasonal and diurnal patterns of nest use indicate that Abert squirrels do not choose nest locations on the south‐east sides of trees to facilitate behavioural thermoregulation. Rather, Abert squirrels select nest site locations to (1) maximize accessibility and (2) maximize structural stability which may provide protection from wind and rain.
Domestic Calves (Bos taurus) Recognize their Own Mothers by Auditory Cues
Authors: Barfield Christine H. , Tang‐Martinez Zuleyma , Trainer Jill M. 
Published: May 2010

AbstractThe goal of this study was to determine if auditory cues are important in maternal recognition by domestic cattle calves, Bos taurus. Cows and their calves were separated and the vocalizations of the mothers were recorded. During experimental playbacks in a test enclosure, each calf (n = 9) was given a choice between a tape‐recorded vocalization of its mother and that of a strange mother. Calves significantly preferred their own mother's vocalization as compared to the vocalization of the unfamiliar mother. Calves spent significantly more time near the speaker that played their own mother's call, and approached significantly closer to their mother's speaker. These results demonstrate that 3–5‐wk‐old calves can recognize their mothers by auditory cues alone. Visual inspection of audiospectrograms of the cows' vocalizations suggests that there are individual differences among cows.
Effect of Mate Removal on Current and Subsequent Parental Care in the Convict Cichlid (Pisces: Cichlidae)
Authors: Lavery Robert J. , Reebs Stéphan G. 
Published: May 2010

AbstractIn most biparental, substrate‐brooding species of cichlid fishes, female and male roles differ. Females are usually more involved in direct care of the young while males spend more time away patrolling the territory. This study tested the flexibility of these sex roles with removal experiments in the convict cichlid, Cichlasoma nigrofasciatum. When males were removed, female fanning activity increased. When females were removed, males spent more time fanning and less time away from the brood. Other behavioural variables (frequency of digging, mouthing, foraging and retrieving) were not affected. Being alone or paired during a first breeding episode did not affect parental behaviour during a subsequent episode in which all fish were paired. Observations were carried out during the day and at night, and nocturnal fanning of fry is reported here for the first time. Female role appears less flexible than male role, as befits the more direct care normally given by females.
Dominance, Age and Aggression among Female Pronghorn, Antilocapra americana (Family: Antilocapridae)
Authors: Fairbanks W. Sue 
Published: May 2010

AbstractThe relationships among dominance, age and aggressive behaviour of marked, female pronghorn (Antilocapra americana; Family Antilocapridae) were studied in north central Colorado. Females formed dominance hierarchies with few circular relationships. Unlike other female ungulates, dominance rank was not correlated with age. Dominance rank was negatively correlated with rate of aggression initiated in summer and winter; however, aggressiveness as an individual trait was not related to dominance. Older females received higher rates of aggression than younger females in summer and winter. During the rut, dominance rank was correlated with rate of aggression received but not with rate of aggression initiated. Patterns of aggression that differ by season within a given hierarchy of dominance relationships suggest a different cause or function of aggressive behaviour in different seasons.
Absence of Prey Chemical Discrimination by Tongue‐flicking in an Ambush‐foraging Lizard Having Actively Foraging Ancestors
Authors: Cooper William E. , van Wyk Johannes H. 
Published: May 2010

AbstractLingually mediated detection of prey chemicals is widespread in one major clade of lizards, Scleroglossa, but rare in the other, Iguania. It is absent in all ambush‐foraging families tested and present in all actively foraging families. In Iguania, prey chemical discrimination is known only in the herbivorous Iguanidae; in Scleroglossa, it was heretofore known to be absent only in ambush‐foraging gekkonids. Because ambush foraging precludes lingual sampling of a wide area and tongue‐flicking would disrupt the crypticity ambushers maintain by immobility, we predicted that prey chemical discrimination would be absent in scleroglossans that have secondarily adopted ambush foraging. The Cape girdled lizard, Cordylus cordylus, is member of Cordylidae, a family of ambush foragers considered derived from active foragers in the Autarchoglossa, a group of scleroglossan families having highly developed lingual chemosensory behaviours. As predicted, this species did not discriminate surface chemicals of three prey species from control substances in a series of standardized experiments in which prey chemicals were presented on cotton‐tipped applicators. Thus, even in taxa having highly developed prey chemical discrimination, adoption of ambush foraging may induce loss of prey chemical discrimination, providing further and stronger evidence that prey chemical discrimination is adaptively adjusted to foraging mode.
Seasonal and Diurnal Changes in Aggression and Territory Size in the Black‐headed Gull (Larus ridibundus L.) on Islands in the Middle Reaches of the Vistula River
Authors: Bukacińska Monika , Bukaciński Dariusz 
Published: May 2010

AbstractSeasonal and diurnal changes in territory size and frequency of aggressive interactions of various intensity were examined in colonies of the black‐headed gull (Larus ridibundus) on river islands and ponds of central Poland. The highest frequency of the total aggression and the largest territories were recorded before the egg‐laying stage, this being related to the establishing of territories, defence of the mate, and defence of nest material. Later in the season both aggression and territory size declined. Unlike the large species of gulls, black‐headed gulls did not increase their aggression and territory size during hatching of the young. High‐intensity aggressive behaviours (choking, attacking and fighting) were not so frequently displayed as low‐intensity aggressive postures (upright, long call, forward) in each phase of the breeding cycle. Presumably this was because the former were more costly in terms of energy. Peak territorial activity occurred in the late afternoon. An increase in the frequency of intense aggressive behaviours (attack, fight) at that time was combined with an increased mobility of birds (departures to and arrivals from foraging sites). A reduced frequency of high‐intensity aggressive displays in the period when the largest number of birds was present in the colony was likely to be adaptive.
Weak Mate Guarding in Tree Swallows: Ecological Constraint or Female Control?
Authors: Chek Andrew A. , Robertson Raleigh J. 
Published: May 2010

AbstractWe re‐examined tree swallows (Tachycineta bicolor) for the presence of the paternity protection tactic of mate guarding using less conservative criteria for its detection than did an earlier study. Our results are consistent with weak mate guarding, but may also be explained by the copulatory access hypothesis. The latter hypothesis suggests that the spatio‐temporal demands of pair copulation can result in a similar pattern of behaviour to mate guarding. We address two hypotheses advanced previously for the lack of intense mate guarding in this species as compared with other species. These are that female fidelity obviates the need for males to mate guard, and that the risk of nest site usurpation prevents males from guarding. Since tree swallows have one of the highest known rates of extra‐pair paternity, the first hypothesis is discounted. We find the second hypothesis unlikely after an examination of the species' ecology, and suggest an alternative hypothesis to account for the lack of intense guarding. In short, we propose that in species such as tree swallows, in which females appear to have a significant degree of interest in, and control over, extra‐pair fertilizations, frequent copulation may be a more cost‐efficient means of ensuring paternity than is mate guarding.
Social Behaviour of Domestic Cats (Felis lybica f. catus L.): a Study of Dominance in a Group of Female Laboratory Cats
Authors: van den Bos Ruud , Buning Tjard de Cock 
Published: May 2010

AbstractThe behaviour of a group of female domestic cats (n = 10) under laboratory conditions is described. Behavioural observations were made on a total of 20 days during a 3‐month period; only frequencies were recorded. Analysis of the winner/loser matrix revealed a linear rank order. This rank order correlated with several variables. The higher the rank, the more offensive threats a cat emitted overall, and the more defensive threats it received overall; within a pair, the higher‐ranking cat displayed more offensive threats, whereas the lower‐ranking cat displayed more defensive threats. The higher a rank, the more bouts of social licking a cat emitted overall, and the more bouts of social sniffing and social rubbing it received overall; within a pair, the higher‐ranking cat tended to show more social licking, whereas the lower‐ranking cat showed more social sniffing. The higher the rank, the more time a cat tended to spend on the floor, and the less time it spent in a 16‐compartment complex; the further animals were apart in rank, the smaller were the proximity scores between them. Finally, higher‐ranking cats tended to gain weight, whereas lower‐ranking cats tended to lose weight. These data suggest that the concept of dominance may be applied to this group of cats. It is discussed whether the observed rank order is specific for indoor conditions under which the cats were living. The role of social licking is also discussed.
Orientation of Fall‐migrating Butterflies in North Peninsular Florida and Source Areas
Authors: Walker Thomas J. , Littell Ramon C. 
Published: May 2010

AbstractPhoebis sennae(Pieridae),Agraulis vanillae(Heliconidae) andUrbanus proteus(Hesperiidae) migrate into peninsular Florida each fall from summer breeding areas throughout the south‐eastern United States. Fall flight directions of the three species were studied at 78 sites for clues to their means of orientation and migratory routes. Mean flight directions for a visit to a site were calculated using conventional circular statistics. The distribution of flight directions permitted using linear procedures to combine visit means. The overall mean direction (OMD) of a species at a site was defined as the mean of visit means, weighted by frequency/angular variance, with a lower limit of 0.2 imposed on angular variance. In intensive studies at two sites at Gainesville, Florida, mean flight directions during fall migration were largely independent of time of day and crosswinds. The OMDs of the three species at the two Gainesville sites were similar (142 to 156°) and not significantly different among species at a site or, for the same group of dates, between sites for a species. However, day‐to‐day variation among species and between sites was not concordant. Visits to 65 sites on a grid throughout the southeastern United States and to 11 sites along transects inland from the Gulf and Atlantic coasts yielded 10 cases of aP. sennaeOMD at a grid or transect site differing significantly from its OMD at the main Gainesville site. In each of these, the OMD was more easterly at sites inland from the Gulf coast or more southerly or south‐westerly at sites inland from the Atlantic coast. By unknown means and with large, unexplained day‐to‐day variations in directions,P. sennaeconverge on peninsular Florida from widespread summer breeding grounds. They do this without closely following the Atlantic or Gulf coasts.