bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
A Quantitative Study of the Behaviour of the Male Mormoniella Vitripennis (Walker) (Hymenoptera, Pteromalidae) Towards Two Constant Stimulus-Situations
Authors: Barrass Robert 
Published: April 2008

Abstract1. The method of dual quantification was used to study the effect of courtship of both receptive and non-receptive females on the subsequent behaviour of the male Mormoniella vitripennis. 2. The male's responsiveness to successive non-receptive females waned when the time between presentations was short. The extent of this waning was less with longer time intervals. 3. When many females were presented to a male one after another the male courted almost all of them if they were receptive females but only a few if they were non-receptive females. 4. A single courtship of either a receptive or a non-receptive female had a similar effect on the male's subsequent behaviour and recovery occurred in a similar way. 5. Courtship of 20 non-receptive females reduced the male's response to further females more than did courtship of 20 receptive females. 6. The significance of these observations is discussed with reference to the use of dummy animals and to the recent ethological concepts of reaction specific energy, motivational impulses, specific action potentiality and consummatory act. 7. An endogenous central nervous influence on the male's readiness to respond is postulated. Courtship has a short-term response-specific effect (receptive or non-receptive females) and an inhibitory stimulus-specific effect (non-receptive females). With receptive females the inhibitory effect is absent and/or mating has an excitatory effect. The stimuli provided by a receptive female must direct nervous activity rather than release a limited amount of stored energy.
Comparative Studies On the Reproductive Behaviour of Two Closely Related Weaver Bird Species (Ploceus Cucullatus and Ploceus Nigerrimus) and Their Races
Authors: Crook John Hurrell 
Published: April 2008

AbstractI. This paper provides quantitative data on the precise differences in breeding behaviour between two closely related weaver bird species, some of which function in reproductive isolation. 2. Ploceus cucullatus (7 races) and P. nigerrimus (2 races) have a wide broadly sympatric distribution in West, Central and East Africa south of the Sahara. P. nigerrimus is restricted to forest fringe and secondary growth around cultivation in forest lands while cucullatus, in addition to these, inhabits humid savannah and riverine areas in arid country. In one locality hybridisation has been reported. The races of each species are partially allopatric with interbreeding in zones of overlap. 3. The birds breed in crowded colonies and are polygamous, the males constructing up to five nests successively and acquiring a number of females. Each male defends a territory around his nest group. 4. Territorial behaviour in cucullatus consists of "supplants", "song bows" and "lunging matches" and the posturing is particularly static. In nigerrimus more mobile behaviour
A Comparison of the Social Postures of Some Common Laboratory Rodents
Authors: Grant E.C. , Mackintosh J.H. 
Published: April 2008

Abstract
This paper describes elements in the social behaviour of the laboratory rat, mouse, hamster and Guinea-pig. These elements are divided into postures, which are static, and acts, which involve movement. A total of 45 of these elements are mentioned, most of which are common, with only slight modification, to all four species. Apart from these the guinea pig differs in not having a true Upright Posture and also in showing a male sexul display "Rumba". The postures are classified under broad motivational headings. A number of general concepts are discussed, for example the relation of convulsions to flight behaviour, the reduction of incoming aggressive stimuli in submissive postures, "Cut-Off", and the inhibition of biting in the more social species.
An Analysis of the Social Behaviour of the Male Laboratory Rat
Authors: Grant E.C. 
Published: April 2008

AbstractAn analysis is made of the social behaviour of the male laboratory rat using the following methods. One rat is introduced into the home cage of another. One observer records the series of elements shown by each rat. These results are tabulated in sequence tables of elements. The tables are analysed by calculating an "expected" value for each cell and comparing this with the observed value. An ethogram is built up showing the relationships of the elements seen when the rats are close together and indicating the possible motivation of these elements in terms of the interaction of Aggression and Flight. It is shown that the Flight motivated elements fall into two groups, one leading to Crouch and the other leading to Submissive Posture. The occurrence of grooming and digging as displacement activities is shown and is contrasted to the occurrence of mounting which appears to be separately aroused in male-male situations. A group of elements occurring when the rats are at a distance from each other, and showing conflict between approach and avoidance, is described. It is suggested that there are two main Flight pathways, one leading to a Submissive Posture and the other to Crouch or Retreat, the occurrence of these is related to two types of behaviour seen in the wild, intra-colonial and territorial. Finally, the possible occurrence of an Approach component other than Aggression or Mating, which might be called a social drive, is suggested.
Ethological Studies of the Budgerigar (Melopsittacus Undulatus): Non-Reproductive Behavior
Authors: Brockway Barbara F. 
Published: April 2008

AbstractMelopsittacus undulatus, a member of the parrot family Psittacidae, sub-family Psittacinae, is a colonial nomadic species inhabiting the dry grasslands of Australia. Only domesticated strains were studied and information concerning general biology is included. Non-reproductive behavior (maintenance and agonistic activities) are described and analysed with respect to function, causation and biological significance. Budgerigars perform a maintenance activity (scratching the lateral crissum) never reported for any other species of bird. Most maintenance activities closely parallel those of another parrot genus Agapornis. Budgerigars perform few stereotyped agonistic behaviors. This may be correlated with the relatively little physical injury involved in settling disputes by overt fights involving bills and occasionally feet. Females seem generally more aggressive than males, however sex differences in agonistic behavior seem of a quantitative nature only. Feather postures of the crown and throat are described and attempts made to correlate these with underlying agonistic motivations. Data from objective "ranking" of agonistic behaviors indicate that functions appear to parallel causation.
Analysis of Sniffing of the Albino Rat 1)
Authors: Welker W.I. 
Published: April 2008

AbstractSniffing behavior of albino rats was photographed on movie film at 30, 32, or 64 frames per sec. The ontogenetic development of sniffing was studied and the component movements were described. The effects of olfactory, somatic, visual, and auditory stimuli, and of certain drugs, nerve sections, and cerebral ablations upon sniffing were examined. The following results were obtained: "Sniffing" by rats consists of an integrated and precisely timed movement sequence in which four distinct synergistic muscle groups participate to produce: (a) bursts of polypnea, (b) recurrent protraction and retraction of mystacial vibrissae, (c) repetitive retraction and protraction of the tip of the snout, and (d) a rapid series of discrete head movements and fixations. These four component movements occur at rates between 5-11/sec. in bursts of varying duration (1-10 sec.). Some of these movements may occur independently of the others, but when they all occur together, which is more common, they blend at the same rate and in a fixed temporal pattern with respect to one another. The sniffing bursts are brought into play when the animal is aroused to explore by olfactory, visual, auditory, or tactile stimulation. Sniffing actions are not dependent on olfactory or tactile vibrissae input for their initiation or synchronous patterning despite the fact that the main adaptive values of these actions would seem to be those of olfactory and somatic sensory perception. In normal rats, olfactory input affects sniffing activities by regulating the degree of their persistence; the duration being affected by the character of the olfactory stimuli encountered. Thus, aversive stimuli are contacted only briefly, whereas, preferred stimuli elicit prolonged bursts of sniffing. Each of the four component movements of the sniffing sequence emerge at different times during ontogeny. This suggests that separate neural centers driving them also mature at different times. As each type of movement appears, it swings into synchrony with those actions already present. Interruption of olfactory input does not alter the normal rate of sniffing. Interruption of somatic sensory input from vibrissae may reduce the overall sniffing rate slightly. Bilateral ablation of neocortex drastically interferes with the sniffing sequences. In the decorticate rat these actions were elicited only with difficulty; the sharpness of the individual movements was blurred, and their magnitude and rate were diminished. The possibility that these effects are not directly related to cortical control of sniffing patterns is suggested. The various lines of evidence indicate that sniffing is a fixed and stable response pattern that is relatively independent of age and of long or short term experiential factors.
Changes in Marching of Locusts With Rearing Conditions
Authors: Ellis Peggy E. 
Published: April 2008

Abstract1) Locusta migratoria migratorioides (R. & F.) hoppers reared in crowds march actively; those reared in isolation do not, even when placed in a marching crowd. When rearing conditions are changed the amount of marching alters from one extreme towards the other. 2) Significant changes in marching occurred within 15 days of altering rearing conditions, well within the nymphal life of each locust. 3) It is suggested that long term changes in behaviour are associated with changes in endocrine status.
Incubation and Nest-Building Behaviour of Black-Headed Gulls
Authors: Beer C.G. 
Published: April 2008

Abstract(1) Parental behaviour, and its development from incubation behaviour during the reproductive season, is described. (2) Day to day observations of the natural situation showed that elements of the incubation pattern persist throughout the post-hatching period but progressively decline in quantity, duration and completeness. (3) Substitution of eggs for chicks also showed that the readiness to show incubation responses in a standard incubation situation declines progressively during the post-hatching period. (4) A certain amount of experience with hatched chicks renders Black-headed Gulls incapable of immediately returning to sustained incubation behaviour if the conditions of the incubation period are restored. (5) Failure of the eggs to hatch results in extension of the incubation behaviour period beyond the normal time. (6) Premature introduction of hatched chicks in the nests of incubating gulls can cause the gulls to switch to parental behaviour and so end the incubation behaviour period before the normal time. (7) The timing of the change from incubation to parental behaviour is thus mainly a matter of external control. (8) Certain of the relationships found to hold between responses having an incubation function and responses having a nest-building function in the earlier phases also hold in the post-hatching period.
Behavioural Effects of Electrical Stimulation in the Forebrain of the Pigeon Ii. Protective Behaviour
Authors: Åkerman Bengt 
Published: April 2008

AbstractResponses that showed a very good conformity to the normal defence and escape behaviour have been released by means of electrical stimulation at di- and telencephalic structures in the forebrain in unanaesthetized, freely moving pigeons (Columba livia). The defense response consisted of the characteristic threat posture of the species with crouching, ruffling of the feathers, wing erection and the growling vocalisation. The response could be very intense with defensive attacks, either in empty space or towards a threatening object. The attacks were accompanied by a short and hard call. The escape response was shown either by flying or running away. The defence and escape responses were obtained from a linked substratum extending from the hypothalamus and the diencephalic paraventricular gray via the area ventralis and the posterior parts of the cerebral peduncles up into the paleo- and archistriatum. The defence reactions were released from more medial sites compared to the escape reactions. The spatial arrangement of the active area within the forebrain shows similarities with the neural projection of the same category of behaviour in mammals. Combined data from this and a previous investigation show that a field involved in the coordination of an "agonistic" behaviour complex including aggressive and defensive threat and escape can be traced in the di- and telencephalon of the pigeon. The results produce further evidence that functionally linked actions at a high level also have a linked central representation.
Inter-Situational Transfer in the Ant Formica Schaufussi as Tested in a Two-Phase Single Choice-Point Maze
Authors: Weiss Burton A. , Schneirla T.C. 
Published: April 2008

AbstractWorkers of the ant Formica schaufussi did not transfer a specific choice-point response of right- or left-turning (learned on entrance runs in which an opposed-turns alley sequence led to the choice-point) to an equivalent free-turns situation traversed on returns from the food-box to the nest. Variable behavior, however, was evident in both phases of the maze run after the choice-point alternatives had been reversed experimentally. This behavior is attributed to the general excitatory effects of the situational change. The outcome of this study supports previous results for these ants in complex mazes and in single choice-point U-approach mazes. The conclusion is confirmed that choice-point learning in these ants is bound to the situation in which it is established, evidently through a specificity of response to the sensory aspects and the organic conditions peculiar to action in that situation.
Spatial Organisation in Small Flocks of Domestic Fowl
Authors: Lill Alan 
Published: April 2008

Abstract(i) Spatial organisation was studied in small flocks of domestic fowl to elucidate its underlying mechanisms and provide a basis for future comparative analyses. (ii) Approach-tolerance distance values were obtained in a non-competitive feeding and a roosting situation. (iii) A zone of variable width across which the likelihood of approach eliciting agonistic response increased centripetally was observed around feeding birds. No sexual difference in zone width was noted, and tolerance of approach was great. (iv) No indication of constant Individual Distance in roosting birds was obtained, though spatial adjustment following agonistic interaction was observed. Clumping was common. (v) Activity-dependent variability in spatial organisation was described and correlated with the distribution of aggressive behaviour. (vi) It was postulated that the state of dispersion during specific activities was explicable in terms of the interaction of the opposed tendencies to congregate and aggregate and to react aggressively when approached. (vii) The nature and distribution of clumping and allopreening responses were described, and their causation and function discussed.
Effects of Pre-Experimental Conditions On Nest Site Selection and Aggression in Gasterosteus Aculeatus L
Authors: Jenni Donald A. , Van Iersel J.J.A. , Van Den Assem J. 
Published: April 2008

AbstractMale three-spined sticklebacks were held individually in compartments under one of four conditions: Total Isolation (Ti) ; Physical Isolation (Pi), compartments from which the males could see the room; Physical Isolation with Aggression Tests (PiA), similar to Pi but with the addition of aggression tests each day; and Physical Isolation with a Goldfish Companion (PiG), similar to Pi but with a white color-phase goldfish in the same compartment. Ti and PiA individuals became shy and tended to hide motionless in the corners of their compartments; when disturbed, they sometimes dashed madly about the compartment before becoming motionless. Pi and PiG fish became tame or non-shy. When tested individually in a 300 cm tank planted with a dense row of vegetation along one end, the shy males (Ti and PiA) selected nest sites nearer the ends of the tank than the non-shy males (Pi and PiG) did. The distribution of nests built by Ti individuals differed significantly from those of the other groups. Latency of response to a test male showed great variation; the difference between PiG with the shortest delays, and PiA with the longest delays, are significant. PiG and Pi males showed significantly more aggression toward the test male than did Ti and PiA males. The small differences in the amount of aggression between PiG and Pi and between Ti and PiA are not significant. Latency of response is negatively correlated with number of bites in the first minute and (less well) with total number of bites. The negative correlation between latency and total aggression is much better if we exclude those with short latencies. There is no correlation between nest site and latency of response to the test male. The location of the nest (distance from nearest end) and amount of biting directed at the test male are positively correlated. It is quite clear that the conditions under which these wild caught, first-year males were held in the laboratory immediately prior to the experiments affected the numbers nesting, their choice of nest sites, their latency in responding to intruding male, and the amount of biting they directed against them. The differences in treatment did not affect the percent of individuals that built nests and responded to the test male. Four Ti individuals showed large amounts of nest building behavior during the aggression tests, but none of the other groups showed this. In spite of gross differences in the treatments the four groups received, the two groups which became shy responded very similarly to one another and the two groups which became non-shy also responded similarly to one another.
Preoptic Activation of Mating Call Orientation in Female Anurans
Authors: Schmidt Robert S. 
Published: April 2008

AbstractTechniques are described for inducing ovulation in tree frogs (Hyla cinerea) and toads (Bufo woodhousei fowleri) and for testing the ability of these gravid females to orient to homospecific mating calls. A few preliminary tests were also made with heterospecific mating calls. Several responses to calls are described. Of special interest is an escape response made by Bufo to heterospecific calls. This may serve as an isolating mechanism by effecting avoidance of heterospecific calling males. Males of the same species could not be induced to move toward mating calls. Testing of females with forebrain lesions showed that the telencephalon and the dorsal part of the preoptic area are not necessary for orientation behavior, but that the region of the ventral magnocellular preoptic nucleus is essential.
Significance of Antiphonal Song in the Eastern Whipbird, Psophodes Olivaceus
Authors: Watson Michael 
Published: April 2008

AbstractA spectrographic analysis of the antiphonal song of the Eastern Whipbird, Psophodes olivaceus was carried out. Preliminary results show an overall constancy of male song and a marked geographical variation in female song. Male song is shown to consist of two components: the introduction, which is individually variable; and the whip-crack, which is rigidly species specific. Individual male birds use a series of up to four distinct frequency bands in their introduction. The female antiphonal component shows an individual variation but a constant pattern in any one area. There is a slow development of antiphonal song in juvenile pairs. Both sexes have specialised non-directional nest approach calls. Tentative conclusions indicate a threefold function of antiphony in this species: maintainance of contact; maintainance of the pair bond; and territorial advertisement and display. The song of P. olivaceus is discussed in relation to P. nigrogularis and other Passerine antiphonal species. There is a discussion of the possible origin, evolution and adaptive significance of antiphony in P. olivaceus.
Response To Novel Objects in Three Lower Primates : Greater Galago, Slow Loris, and Owl Monkey
Authors: Ehrlich Annette 
Published: April 2008

AbstractExploratory behavior, defined as response to novel objects, was measured in representatives of three lower primate species -greater galago, slow loris, and owl monkey. Test apparatus was a two-compartment cage; animals could choose between remaining on the familiar, home cage side or entering the novel side which contained six manipulable objects. Galagos spent the most time in contact with objects and the least time in retreat to the home cage. Owl monkeys and lorises were less responsive to the test objects but, while lorises actively explored spatial features of the new environment, owl monkeys remained inactive. For all species: i) the greatest degree of responsiveness to novel objects occurred during the first 5 min. of the 15-min. session. 2) initial object contacts were made with the nose; these were brief and were followed by lengthier contacts with mouth and hands. 3) occurrence of the various behavioral categories (object contacts, active responses, inactive responses, and retreat) followed a consistent pattern.
Song-Like Displays in Sayornis Species
Authors: Smith W. John 
Published: April 2008

Abstract(1) Each of the three species of Sayornis employs some of its vocal displays in more or less continuous, regular, and prolonged bouts which, for present purposes, are defined as "song". In each species, song is a complex form of displaying comprising various combinations of two to three basic displays, the Regularly Repeated Vocalizations (RRVs, with units RR1 and RR2) and the Initially Peaked Vocalizations (IPVs). (2) Within each species, the basic display units differ from one another in the behavior patterns with which their employment can be correlated; that is, each display differs in message from the others. Since song comprises various combinations of these displays, its message is variable and dependent upon their ratio in each combination. (Whether or not the message of song varies in direct proportion to the frequency of its components has not been measured.) Yet the general range of employment of song bouts appears to be similar from species to species, indicating that the range of messages available to song is also generally similar. The song messages indicate different probabilities that the communicator will attack or escape, be nonagonistic, or associate; they also identify the communicator. (3) The messages of at least the RR1 and IPV displays vary among the species, so that the use of these displays in song also varies among the species. IPV is rarely or never used in song bouts of S. phoebe, but is prominent in the song of S. nigricans, and is the major component of S. saya song in which the RR1 is used very little. Many of the behavioral patterns with which the use of IPV is correlated in S. nigricans (and apparently in S. saya, for which the data are less extensive) are correlated with use of the RR1 in S. phoebe.