bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Suckling and Weaning in Captive White-Tailed and Fallow Deer
Authors: Gauthier Danielle , Barrette Cyrille 
Published: April 2008

Abstract
Parental investment and parent-offspring conflict theories make specific predictions on the behavior of parents and offspring. Since milk is a direct and vital form of maternal investment in mammals, nursing behavior is very well suited to test such predictions. We provide such tests here, as well as a fine-grained quantitative description of the weaning process in two species of deer. Both in white-tailed and fallow deer, fawns of primiparas had a significantly higher suckling rate than those of multiparous mothers in the first few days of life (2.90 ± 0.70 vs 1.24 ± 0.21 suckles/h from 0 to 5 days in FD, p < 0.01; and 1.42 ± 0.22 vs 0.81 ± 0.08 suckles/h from 6 to 10 days in WTD, p < 0.01). In both species, in the first 10 days of lactation, suckling bouts initiated by the mother had a significantly longer mean duration than those initiated by the fawn. We found no inter-sex difference in the rate of suckling, mean duration of suckles, total time suckling (s/h), and proportion of suckling attempts that were successful, in fawns of both species, at any age from birth to 80 days. White-tailed deer single fawns were identical to twins for all the above parameters. Fallow deer mothers were much more aggressive toward alien fawns than white-tailed deer mothers were, and spent more time close to their fawns (less than 10 m, 38% of the time from birth to 80 days, compared to 12% for white-tailed deer). We propose that weaning starts at about 20 days of age in both species. This is the time when the mother terminates more than half of all suckling bouts, terminates more bouts than she initiates, and when suckles are shorter when she initiates compared to when it is her fawn that does.
Experiments On the Relationship Between the Hen and Chick (Gallus Gallus): the Role of the Auditory Mode in Recognition and the Effects of Maternal Separation
Authors: Kent J.P. 
Published: April 2008

AbstractIn a series of 6 experimental studies, the means by which a chick recognises its mother, and the reversibility of filial attachments were examined using bantam hens and their chicks. In a simultaneous discrimination test it was determined that the chick could discriminate between own and alien hens by means of the hens' cluck vocalizations, on the 4th and 8th days post hatching, (Experiment 1). The chicks could make this discrimination more efficiently when live hens were presented (Experiment 2). On separating the hen and chicks for 4 h on the 4th day, the chicks could no longer discriminate between own and an alien live hen (Experiment 3) while they would accept an alien hen, (Experiment 4). These findings suggest that maternal-filial bonds may be reversed with little difficulty. Thus Experiment 5 was designed to examine the stability of these later maternal filial bonds. Chicks spent the first 3 days post hatching, with the hen who incubated the eggs. Then they spent 3 days with an alien hen, after which 3 days isolation followed. It was found that chicks could discriminate in favour of their own hen after the first period of exposure, and in favour of the alien hen after the second period of exposure. Following 3 days isolation they showed no preference for either hen. Experiment 6 was essentially a replication of Experiment 5, but included a control for familiarity. Only one test took place after the 3 days isolation. The chicks were presented with the 1st 2nd and an unfamiliar alien hen. The chicks did not discriminate in favour of any particular hen. It is concluded that after 4 h or 3 days isolation, the chicks did not discriminate between the hens presented, yet they remained responsive to hens.
Evaluating Sex Differences in Aggressiveness in Cattle, Bison and Rhesus Monkeys
Authors: Reinhardt Viktor , Reinhardt Catherine , Reinhardt Annie 
Published: April 2008

AbstractThe assumption has often been made that aggressiveness is predominantly a masculine characteristic (e.g. COLLIAS, 1944; MOYER, 1974; SCOTT, 1975; BOUISSOU, 1983a, b). Many investigators simply accept the idea that males are more aggressive than females. Based on generally applicable operational terms, the validity of the "notion of universal male aggressiveness" (JOHNSON, 1972) has been tested in three different mammalian species. The study was done under nonexperimental conditions by scoring partner-directed aggressions (potentially injurious actions) among members of three undisturbed, heterogeneous groups of Bos taurus, Bison bison and Macaca mulatta. The expression of aggression was regulated by the number of subordinate partners (animals who, without being the target of aggression, consistently withdrew), with high-ranking individuals having more opportunities to display aggressions than low-ranking individuals. Hence, it was self-evident that, whenever the two sexes differed in dominance status (number of subordinates), they also differed in terms of aggression rate (total number of aggressions shown per unit time). The average number of aggressions directed by dominant animals against individual subordinate partners (aggression index: REINHARDT & REINHARDT, 1975) did not exhibit a significant sex difference in any of the three species studied (Bos taurus: xf= 1.8 vs xm = 1.8; Bison bison: xf= 6.9 vs xm = 6.6 ; Macaca mulatta: xf= 4.1 vs xm = 2.9). This was not only true in general but was also consistently confirmed when comparing the sexes within different age classes (adults and juveniles). From this it was inferred that the two sexes were equally aggressive in the general day-to-day situation of dominance reinforcement in all three species. The data thus did not support the general belief that mammalian males are more aggressive than females.
Queen Regulation of Worker Foraging in Paper Wasps: a Social Feedback Control System (Polistes Fuscatus, Hymenoptera: Vespidae)
Authors: Reeve Hudson K. , Gamboa George J. 
Published: April 2008

AbstractWe examined the queen's role in regulation of worker foraging in small field colonies of the primitively eusocial wasp, Polistes fuscatus (29 colonies; 148 h observation). Queen removal results in a significant reduction in worker departure rate. The placement of a cooled, inactive queen into her queenless nest produces a significantly greater reduction in worker departure rate than does queen removal, and the resumption of activity by an inactive queen causes a significant increase in worker departure rate. Removal or cooling of a single worker does not produce similar effects on worker foraging, suggesting that the queen is the central regulator of worker foraging in small P. fuscatus colonies. We present evidence that: (1) the queen's control of worker foraging is mediated primarily by her influence on worker nest activity, (2) queen aggression may be important in stimulating departures by workers with low tendencies to leave the nest (i.e., dominant workers), and (3) the magnitude of the queen's stimulatory influence on worker foraging is directly related to the number of workers on the nest. We integrate these results with evidence from our other studies of polistine colony dynamics in a feedback control model of the social regulation of foraging.
Defence as Parental Care in Tawny Owls (Strix Aluco)
Authors: Wallin Kjell 
Published: April 2008

AbstractParental defence was studied during the breeding season with individually marked tawny owls (Strix aluco). Attacking tawny owls pose a serious threat to an intruder because of their dangerous talons. As predicted by theory, parental defence was positively correlated with offspring age and brood size. Pairs with equal numbers of offspring but with different initial clutch sizes showed equal defence levels. The level of defence is therefore determined more by expected gain in number of offspring produced than by cumulative investment. Pairs breeding early in the season defended more strongly than those breeding later on. This was partly explained by a seasonal decrease in brood size, but the trend also persisted within each brood size. One possible explanation is that the probability of breeding failure increase as the breeding season progresses, making a risky defence less worthwhile for late-breeding pairs. The level of defence was positively correlated with the female's body mass. Defence behaviour did not change significantly with female age. Females in pairs that defended their offspring had a lower probability of breeding the following season than did females in non-defending pairs. Individual females changed their defence behaviour between years in relation to their seasonal start of breeding, suggesting that parental defence is a plastic behaviour.
Dominance and Its Fitness Consequences in American Bison Cows
Authors: Rutberg Allen T. 
Published: April 2008

Abstract1. Dominance relations among adult female American bison (Bison bison) were studied between June 1980 and August 1982 at the National Bison Range, Moiese, Montana, and Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, U.S.A. 2. Contested interactions, or "battles", between cows were rare at both sites. Only one of 362 observed interactions among known Bison Range cows was contested, and only four such interactions were observed during the entire study. 3. Among Bison Range cows, reversals of dominance status within dyads occurred at an extrapolated rate of once every 7.5 dyad-years. 4. Success in aggressive encounters between Bison Range cows was strongly, positively correlated with age, but uncorrelated with body weight or horn damage. Hence, dominance appears to be poorly correlated with fighting ability. Instead, dominance may be determined by cost-benefit asymmetries; older cows may have less to lose from aggression than younger cows. 5. The cow dominance "hierarchy" at the Bison Range does not show a higher degree of linearity than expected given the age-dominance correlation. 6. At neither Yellowstone nor the Bison Range was there evidence of aggressive inhibition of female reproduction, or of harassment of calves by dominant cows. 7. In a variety of environments, a cow that received aggression during foraging suffered a reduction in the proportion of foraging time she spent cropping. Since aggression frequencies varied considerably between habitats, however, the influence of dominance on cropping times also varied between habitats. 8. Aggression frequencies were highest in habitats where forage was sparse and heterogeneous in quality. Accordingly, aggression was most frequent, and probably had the strongest effects on feeding efficiency, in habitats where there was significant travel time between suitable grazing patches.
Response of the Newly Born Clun Forest Lamb To Maternal Vocalisations
Authors: Vince Margaret A. 
Published: April 2008

AbstractForty Clun Forest lambs were removed from their dams immediately after lambing and were tested singly for 30 minutes in a circular arena under one of four conditions: (1) with no stimulation, (2) in the presence of recorded low frequency, low amplitude "rumble"-type vocalisations of the kind made by the ewe from just before lambing and in caring for her lamb, (3) in the presence of a large, rectangular, white, moving object, or (4) in the presence of the same white object and of the recorded "rumbles". The results showed that righting movements were reduced and standing delayed in the lambs which heard "rumbles", whether or not they were in the presence of the moving object. For two other indices of response there was no effect of rumbles but behaviour varied with the presence or absence of the moving object: there were fewer ear movements in lambs presented with the model, as compared with those without and there was more tail-wagging in the presence of the model, than without it. Results are discussed in terms of the dam as a composite stimulus for her lamb.
Recognition of the Sow's Voice By Neonatal Piglets
Authors: SHILLITO WALSER Elizabeth E. 
Published: April 2008

AbstractPiglets were tested for recognition of their sow's voice at 1, 2 & 6 days of age. Each piglet was tested individually by playing one minute of recorded grunts from its own sow and one minute of recordings from an alien sow, compared with a one minute period alone with no sound. The vocalizations of the piglets were recorded and analysed. Some piglets responded to their own sow's voice by making rapid 'quacking' grunts which differed in tone from the 'closed mouth grunts' made alone; some piglets responded by orientation and movements towards the sound. At one day old 29% piglets responded vocally exclusively to their own sow and 52 % responded when movement was included as a sign of recognition. 27 % piglets responded to both own and alien sow voices. At 2 days the response had become exclusive to their own sow's voice and 87 % piglets responded (57 % vocally). At 6 days 81 % piglets responded positively to their own sow's voice (62% vocally). The number of grunts increased in each minute of the tests with 1 and 2 day old piglets regardless of treatment, but at 6 days old, the piglets grunted more to their own sow's voice than to an alien.
Development of Predatory Behaviour in the Southern Grasshopper Mouse (Onychomys Torridus)
Authors: Langley William M. 
Published: April 2008

AbstractThis study described the effects that maturation and experience had on the development of cricket-catching behaviour in the southern grasshopper mouse. The responses of eight groups of mice of different ages or backgrounds were compared. Mice from the field exhibited the most proficient searches, pursuits, and kills and committed fewer errors than the lab-reared mice. Of the groups of lab-reared mice, the 20-day-old mice were the least and the 70-day-old the most proficient attackers. Maturation primarily affected the mouse's first attack response. Mice younger than 23 days of age were more reluctant to attack a cricket the first time than older lab-reared mice. These maturational changes appeared related to when weaning normally occurs in grasshopper mice. Experience contributed to the development of attack proficiency in three ways: decrease in reluctance to attack, improved killing technique and recognition of a cricket as prey sooner during an encounter. Compared with hamsters, grasshopper mice exhibit a nearly complete functional attack response the first time and require much less experience from repeated trials to become proficient insect captors. The early and rapid development of a proficient attack response may be related to the grasshopper mouse's carnivorous life style.
Habitat, Group Size, and the Behaviour of White-Tailed Deer
Authors: Lagory Kirk E. 
Published: April 2008

AbstractThe behaviour of white-tailed deer on Ossabaw Island, Georgia was examined in three habitats which differed in cover density and forage abundance. Forest had relatively dense cover but low forage availability; wooded pasture had relatively dense cover and abundant forage; open pasture had no woody cover but abundant forage. Deer groups were small in both the forest and the wooded pasture relative to groups in the open pasture. Group size in the open pasture did not vary with seasonal changes in forage supply. Groups were small in open pasture during the autumn rut when food was abundant, but were relatively large at other times of year, even during the winter when forage abundance was comparable to that in the forest. Deer in the open pasture spent more time feeding, less time moving, and less time alert than did deer in the forest. Deer in the wooded pasture were intermediate between deer in the other two habitats for percent time feeding, more similar to deer in the open pasture for percent time moving, and more like deer in the forest for percent time alert. Differences in alert behaviour suggest that deer in dense vegetation (e.g. forest and wooded pasture) were more wary than deer in open areas. In all habitats, deer in larger groups (four or more deer) spent more time feeding and less time alert than deer in smaller groups. More aggressive interactions were seen in the open pasture; more nonaggressive interactions were seen in the forest. The rate of aggressive interaction was not clearly related to group size. Temporal variation in nearest-neighbor distance within groups was greater in the forest than in the open pasture, possibly due to loss of contact between deer under conditions of restricted visibility. Although these data suggest that cover density rather than forage characteristics was related to deer group size, no support was given for the hypothesis that this relationship was a consequence of different anti-predator strategies. Groups may have been smaller in dense vegetation because deer had difficulty maintaining contact with other group members when visibility was restricted.
Factors Affecting the Structure of Song and the Singing Behaviour of Some Northern European Passerine Birds
Authors: Sorjonen Jorma 
Published: April 2008

AbstractIn this study the effects of bird size, genus, habitat, song community and geographical distribution on song structure and singing behaviour of some passcrine species in northern Europe were simultaneously studied. Most species tend to improve their long distance song propagation in their specific habitat and song community. Song propagation correlates strongest with the use of low-pitched elements but not all birds are able to use these because of size limitation. In forest habitats whistles and modulated elements were used to improve song propagation. In open habitats high-pitched elements as well as repeated and trilled syllables were often used for better propagation of acoustic information. In song communities with a great number of species, the birds reduce song interference by other singers, by singing short songs and using modulated elements and long intersong pauses. When the birds greatly profit from effective long distance song propagation, like in northern areas with only short time for pair formation, the birds can segregate in singing time by using the light nights for singing. In these communities with low numbers of species the birds have been freed from song interference and have long songs and short intersong pauses and they can increase in this way their singing rate. The effect of song community on song length, intersong pause and the use of modulated elements in the song is stronger than that of habitat. The effect of the song community increases towards the north.
The Dynamics of Snake Harassment By Black-Tailed Prairie Dogs
Authors: Loughry W.J. 
Published: April 2008

AbstractDifferential participation by particular classes of individuals is likely to influence how we assess the functional significance of harassing. I examined encounters between black-tailed prairie dogs (Cynomys ludovicianus) and snakes in both natural and experimentally-induced encounters and found substantial differences in how various age/sex classes of prairie dogs deal with snakes. Specifically, males spent more time close to snakes and in actively confronting these potential predators than did either females or pups. Fathers were not closer to snakes than were non-fathers, but fathers spent more time actively engaged in dealing with the snakes. Mothers and non-mothers did not differ markedly in how they dealt with snakes. Encounters with snakes occurred before and after the pups' first emergence from their natal burrows, but pup emergence did not alter the basic differences between males and females and fathers and non-fathers. Pup emergence did coincide with changes in the behavior of these classes, fathers barked less after pup emergence, and all classes with the exception of mothers were less positively oriented to snakes after pup emergence. However, the significance of these changes was not apparent. These results require that the functional significance of snake harassment by prairie dogs take into account this male bias in snake-directed behavior. Males are hypothesized to be less vulnerable to snakes than are pups and to have more at stake reproductively than do females. Fathers have more at stake reproductively than do non-fathers (although non-fathers may still be protecting mates) and thus should spend more time confronting and harassing snakes. This interpretation is founded on an understanding of the relationship between potential predator and potential prey and I conclude with a discussion of the appropriate description of this relationship.
Persistence in Foraging: When Do Bullfinches Abandon Unprofitable Seeds?
Authors: Greig-Smith Peter W. 
Published: April 2008

AbstractCaptive bullfinches (Pyrrhula pyrrhula) were studied in order to find out if and why they abandon fruits after lengthy unsuccessful attempts to crack open the husks. For three kinds of fruits, the probability of husks cracking remained constant throughout handling. Bullfinches feeding on ash and sunflower fruits dropped many, failing to retrieve most of those that dropped in the first 12 seconds after picking up (thus identified as 'rejected'), but only 20% of those dropped later ('abandoned'). The incidence of abandoning fruits was higher in samples taken from ash trees with less variably-sized fruits, and when sunflower fruits of a particular size were presented alone, rather than in a mixture of other sizes. Both results support the idea that unsuccessful handling provides information allowing birds to revise their estimates of fruits' profitability. However, abandonment did not occur after a consistent period, as predicted. Rejection of fruits during the first few seconds of handling was a more important food selection mechanism than either visual assessment before handling, or later abandonment.
Courtship of Drosophila Melanogaster in Large Observation Chambers: the Influence of Female Reproductive State
Authors: Ewing A.W. , Ewing L.S. 
Published: April 2008

Abstract1. Mixed sex groups of D. melanogaster were observed in large observation chambers in which food was available. The ratio of mated to virgin females was 3:1. 2. Fertilised females spent more time feeding than virgins and virgin flies spent more time in locomotor activity. 3. Most courtship behaviour took place on the food and consequently mated females received more courtships. 4. To test whether fertilised females were excluding virgin females from the food, groups of females without males were observed. The groups were composed either of virgin, or of a mixture of virgin and mated females. The results showed that even in the absence of fertilised females virgins fed less and were more active. There was no evidence that mated females excluded the virgins. 5. The adaptive significance of the observations is discussed in relation to dispersal from the site of eclosion, oviposition and remating.