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Animal behaviour
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Animal behaviour

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    Colour pattern variation affects predation in chrysomeline larvae

    Tan, Eunice J.Reid, Chris A. M.Elgar, Mark A.
    3-10页
    查看更多>>摘要：Most animals are under strong selection to avoid predation, and several strategies have evolved in response to this selection. The developmental change in colour patterns of toxin-protected chrysomeline larvae provides a system to investigate the potential costs and benefits of conspicuous coloration development in animals. Field experiments in which artificial, palatable prey of various colour patterns were presented to wild avian predators confirmed that warning colours alone are not sufficient to deter predation, but that the spatial distribution of yellow and black coloration may be key to conferring a warning signal. Crown Copyright (C) 2016 Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour. All rights reserved.
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    • NETL
    • NSTL
    • Elsevier

    Males and females differentially adjust vigilance levels as group size increases: effect on optimal group size

    Whiteside, Mark A.Langley, Ellis J. G.Madden, Joah R.
    11-18页
    查看更多>>摘要：A strong motivation for one individual to aggregate with others is to reduce their vigilance because other group members provide coverage and warning of approaching predators. This collective vigilance means that a focal individual is usually less susceptible to predation than when alone. However, individuals differ in their vigilance levels depending on status and context. They may also differ in how they adjust their vigilance levels as group size changes. This flexibility in response means that the collective vigilance of a group, and hence its optimal size, is not intuitive. We demonstrate, in both natural and experimental systems, that male and female pheasants, Phasianus colchicus, in harems differentially adjusted their vigilance levels as harem size changed. Females became less vigilant as harems became larger, and benefited by increasing their foraging time. Conversely, males became more vigilant as harems became larger. We calculated the collective probability that a harem would detect a predator. Within natural harem sizes, a male and two females exhibited the highest probability of collective detection, with decreases as more females joined. This optimal harem size matched the average harem size observed at our study site. Females may join harems for benefits of collective vigilance. Despite both sexes having a shared interest in larger harems for mating benefits, optimal harem size is influenced by trade-offs in a nonsexual behaviour, vigilance. This results in males with relatively small harems, females associating with less preferred males and each male being surrounded by fewer females than he could mate with. (C) 2016 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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    • NETL
    • NSTL
    • Elsevier

    How competition and predation shape patterns of waterhole use by herbivores in arid ecosystems

    Sirot, EtienneRenaud, Pierre-CyrilPays, Olivier
    19-26页
    查看更多>>摘要：Access to surface water is crucial for herbivores in arid ecosystems. Here, we build a game-theoretical model, based on an evolutionary algorithm, to study the influence of ecological factors on the temporal patterns of presence at waterholes in the herbivore community. In this model, we incorporate the specific features of arid environments, namely, the important hydric losses endured by individuals exposed during the warmest hours of the day, and competition for access to water, both within and between species. We also consider the presence of ambushing predators around waterholes, particularly during dark hours. In response to this predation regime, our model predicts a strong aggregative tendency in herbivores. The number of groups, however, is variable, as well as the time these groups choose to attend the waterhole, even if the total number of individuals is fixed. The reason is a multiplicity of possible evolutionarily stable strategies, corresponding to different responses to the trade-off between the advantages of grouping, in terms of risk dilution, and its costs, in terms of increased competition. This variety of possible behavioural responses affects, in turn, the moments when the waterhole is occupied, and the moments when the different species meet each other. In general, herbivores also respond to predation threat by avoiding coming to waterholes after dusk. However, the cumulative effects of a relatively high level of predation during the day and a high level of interspecific competition for access to water may induce an important presence of herbivores at the waterhole at night. Our predictions are discussed in the light of existing empirical studies. (C) 2016 Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour.
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    • NETL
    • NSTL
    • Elsevier

    Immune activation influences the trade-off between thermoregulation and shelter use

    Todd, GeorgeJodrey, AliciaStahlschmidt, Zachary
    27-32页
    查看更多>>摘要：Animal behaviour is influenced by many environmental factors, including temperature and predation risk. Although many species utilize shelters to buffer ambient temperature and avoid predators, a trade-off can exist between thermoregulation and predator avoidance (e.g. an animal avoids a shelter that is too hot or cold at the expense of increased vulnerability to predators). Immune activation influences both thermoregulation and shelter use, yet its role in mediating a trade-off between these two important processes is unclear. Thus, we examined the dynamics of this thermoregulation-shelter use trade-off using the cornsnake, Pantherophis guttatus, and a repeated measures 2 x 2 factorial design in a thermal gradient where shelter availability and immune activation status were manipulated. Immune activation (injection of lipopolysaccharide, LPS, an endotoxin found in the cell walls of Gram-negative bacteria) did not elicit behavioural fever or change shelter use when shelter was available across the entire thermal gradient. Although snakes strongly prioritized shelter use (e.g. snakes injected with saline were observed under shelter 98% of the time), their prioritization shifted during immune challenge. Snakes injected with LPS that were forced to choose between preferred temperature and shelter use maintained thermoregulation, but they spent up to nine-fold more time exposed relative to when they were injected with saline. These results demonstrate the plasticity of the widespread trade-off between thermoregulation and shelter use. Our results also indicate that immune-challenged animals not exhibiting fever may still exhibit important shifts in the prioritization of thermoregulation; thus, we recommend a more nuanced assessment of the effects of immune activation on thermoregulatory behaviour. (C) 2016 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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    • NETL
    • NSTL
    • Elsevier

    Male guppies change courtship behaviour in response to their own quality relative to that of a rival male

    Yoshikawa, TakashiOhkubo, YusakuKarino, KenjiHasegawa, Eisuke...
    33-37页
    查看更多>>摘要：Compared with female mate choice, male mate choice has been an important but minor topic in the past two decades. In the guppy, Poecilia reticulata, a male approaching a female abandons his courtship when a rival male appears next to the focal female; however, the effect of the relative quality of the males on this behavioural change is unknown. We show here that male guppies abandon their approach to a female only when the rival male is phenotypically superior. Both natural and artificially induced brightly coloured males continued to approach a female even when the rival male was brightly coloured, but both natural and induced dull-coloured males abandoned their approach to a female when the rival was brightly coloured. Males decided their behaviours on the basis of their own appearance, not on their genotypes, because artificially induced brightly and dull- coloured brothers differed in their behaviour. Our results show that male mate choice behaviour is finely tuned to maximize the probability of acceptance by the approached female. (C) 2016 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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    • NETL
    • NSTL
    • Elsevier

    Why come back home? Investigating the proximate factors that influence natal philopatry in migratory passerines

    Cava, Jenna A.Perlut, Noah G.Travis, Steven E.
    39-46页
    查看更多>>摘要：Knowledge of which cues attract birds back to natal areas is important for conservation because the cues could be manipulated to attract breeders to source habitat or discourage breeders from settling in sink habitat. We examined the influence of intrinsic and extrinsic variables on natal philopatry using two metrics, short-distance natal dispersal and the probability of philopatry to the natal field, in two obligate-grassland bird species breeding in an agricultural landscape: the bobolink, Dolichonyx oryzivorus, and the Savannah sparrow, Passerculus sandwichensis. During 2002-2014, we detected 90 locally hatched Savannah sparrows and 129 locally hatched bobolinks breeding as adults near their places of origin (mean +/- SD dispersal distances: Savannah sparrows: 917 +/- 851 m; bobolinks: 1251 +/- 839 m). For both species, the location of the field on which they bred relative to fields where annual productivity was greater than replacement best explained variation in natal dispersal distance. The probability a Savannah sparrow was philopatric to its natal field increased if it fledged later in the season, while this probability decreased if there was an opposite-sex parent or sibling present on the natal field, or the field was under a late-hay management scheme. None of the variables considered explained variation in bobolink natal philopatry. Natal philopatry and short-distance natal dispersal in these species appear to be influenced by factors that are difficult to manage; however, land managers should attempt to keep management consistent across time to reduce misinformation in dispersal cues. (C) 2016 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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    • NETL
    • NSTL
    • Elsevier

    Parental care and competition with microbes in carrion beetles: a study of ecological adaptation

    Trumbo, Stephen T.Sikes, Derek S.Philbrick, Paula K. B.
    47-54页
    查看更多>>摘要：The investigation of the function of a complex adaptation can benefit from multiple approaches. We used comparative study and physical simulation to re-examine the hypothesis that parental adaptations enable carrion beetles (Silphidae) to better compete with carrion microbes. The comparative study used two closely related species, Nicrophorus orbicollis and Ptomascopus morio, which differ markedly in their level of care. Reproductive performance was measured using carcasses aged on field soil for 0, 3, 6 or 9 days. As expected, N. orbicollis converted more carrion biomass to offspring biomass than did P. morio (27.8% versus 16.6% on fresh carcasses) and both species produced smaller broods on aged carcasses. There was a negative interaction, however, between the level of care and carcass age on reproductive performance; the parental care advantage exhibited by N. orbicollis was less on older carcasses than on fresh carcasses, and was negligible on the oldest (6- and 9-day) carcasses. Ptomascopus morio also demonstrated superior ability to regulate the size of offspring when using carcasses of various ages. In a second experiment, we simulated antimicrobial activity of Nicrophorus anal exudates. A 6-day pretreatment with an antibacterial, an antifungal, or a combination treatment did not result in larger broods relative to those on untreated 6-day carcasses. The results call into question the hypothesis that preparation of the carcass by Nicrophorus evolved primarily as an adaptation for preventing microbial deterioration of carrion. We suggest that selection to compete with microbes may be relaxed in carrion beetles that provide elaborate parental care. A small vertebrate carcass is a potential model system for applying the comparative method to ecological function. (C) 2016 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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    • NETL
    • NSTL
    • Elsevier

    Large vocal repertoires do not constrain the dear enemy effect: a playback experiment and comparative study of songbirds

    Moser-Purdy, ChristopherMennill, Daniel J.
    55-64页
    查看更多>>摘要：Many territorial animals are less aggressive towards neighbours than they are towards strangers. This phenomenon is known as the 'dear enemy' effect and it occurs because strangers represent a considerably higher threat to territory take-over compared to neighbours. Some evidence has suggested that large repertoires may constrain neighbour-stranger discrimination. We tested whether songbirds with large repertoires exhibit neighbour-stranger discrimination, conducting a playback study on a songbird with a large vocal repertoire, and a comparative analysis of the dear enemy effect across all published studies of songbirds. In our playback study, we broadcast neighbour and stranger songs within the breeding territories of red-eyed vireos, Vireo olivaceus, a songbird species with a large song repertoire (ca. 50 songs per individual). Vireos responded significantly more aggressively to playback of stranger versus neighbour songs; subjects approached closer to the loudspeaker, had a lower latency to approach the loudspeaker, spent more time near the loudspeaker and sang more soft songs during stranger trials than during neighbour trials. We examined song sharing between red-eyed vireos and found low levels of song sharing between neighbours, suggesting that red-eyed vireos may discriminate among conspecifics based on individually distinctive song types. We then conducted a comparative analysis of neighbour-stranger discrimination across the published literature on songbirds, using a phylogenetically controlled analysis to explore whether species with large repertoires are less likely to discriminate between neighbours and strangers. Across 34 species, we found no evidence that songbirds with large repertoires are constrained in their ability to distinguish between neighbours and strangers. We conclude that large song repertoires do not inhibit neighbour-stranger discrimination in red-eyed vireos specifically, or songbirds generally. (C) 2016 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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    • NETL
    • NSTL
    • Elsevier

    How do lizards determine dominance? Applying ranking algorithms to animal social behaviour

    Bush, Jordan M.Quinn, McKenzie M.Balreira, E. CabralJohnson, Michele A....
    65-74页
    查看更多>>摘要：Dominance relationships are a defining feature of the social organization of many animal species. Populations structured by absolute dominance usually maintain a generally linear hierarchy, while relative dominance occurs, for example, within territorial populations where an animal is likely to be dominant within its territory. Because relative dominance is dependent on social context, the traits associated with it are often unclear. Green anole lizards, Anolis carolinensis, are an ideal system in which to determine dominance-related traits, as anoles use territorial defence in most natural environments, but establish a dominance hierarchy at high densities such as those that occur in captivity. We hypothesized that anoles use similar morphological and behavioural traits to determine social status under both forms of social organization. To test this, we studied a natural population of anoles to determine the traits most predictive of male territory size and quality (as measured by the number of females overlapping a male's territory). While these measures of territory may be related, they measure different components of territorial success. We then used mathematical ranking algorithms to quantify dominance in a tournament of paired arena trials, and identified traits associated with rank. Our results showed that lizards with wider heads had higher social rank, while those with longer heads were more successful at territorial defence. We also found that, independently of morphology, lizards who behaved more aggressively ranked higher in dominance trials, although behaviour did not predict measures of territory. Together, our results indicate that different traits may determine absolute and relative dominance in the green anole. (C) 2016 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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    • NETL
    • NSTL
    • Elsevier

    Do insects feel pain? A question at the intersection of animal behaviour, philosophy and robotics

    Adamo, Shelley Anne
    75-79页
    查看更多>>摘要：Insects are common model organisms for studies in animal behaviour, genetics, molecular biology and other fields. They are also the focus of pesticide research, a subspecialty devoted to devising chemicals capable of killing them. These studies would raise animal welfare concerns, if insects were thought capable of suffering (i.e. experiencing pain). Four disparate areas of research touch on the question of whether insects feel pain: (1) philosophy, (2) insect neurobiology and behaviour, (3) artificial intelligence and robotics and (4) evolution. Using the perspectives provided by these fields, I assess what we know about whether insects feel pain. (C) 2016 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
      原文链接:
    • NETL
    • NSTL
    • Elsevier