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Review of: Antarctic Seals: Research Methods and Techniques. Edited by R. M. LAWS. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press (1993). Pp. xxii+390. Price $84.95.
Gunnison's prairie dogs, Cynomys gunnisoni, are colonial social rodents that give alarm calls upon the approach of a predator. Field experiments at two natural colonies showed that the prairie dogs are able to encode information into their alarm calls about the colour of clothes and general shape of individual humans eliciting alarm calls. This shows that the prairie dogs are able to incorporate information about the characteristic features of individuals within a given predator category. Published in Animal Behaviour, volume 42, issue 5, on pages 713 - 719, in 1991.
Kin selection and helpers at the nest: Effects of paternity and biparental care, credited to Charnov, Eric L, published in 1981. Published in Animal Behaviour, volume 29, issue 2, on pages 1 - 1, in 1981.
Little is known of the mating system of the swift fox or how it compares to other socially monogamous mammals. In a 4-year study of 188 swift foxes, we used microsatellite analysis at 11 loci along with spatial observations to investigate swift fox mating strategies. The mating strategies used by swift foxes were highly diverse. Previous field observations have indicated that the swift fox is socially monogamous. However, we found that extrapair mating was a common breeding strategy; 52% of offspring were sired by a male that was not the mate of their mother. There was also variation in the structure of social groups. Of 59 social groups, the most common consisted of a male and female pair (93% of social groups);...
Daily time-budgets of adult and immature yellow-eyed juncos, Junco phaeonotus, were examined over the course of the breeding season to compare the relative severity of time constraints among breeding adults and between breeding adults and their offspring. No significant differences in time allocation between males and females were found at any stage of the breeding cycle. Adults feeding nestlings spent substantially more time foraging and flying than females engaged in incubation and the males paired to such females. The allocation of time to foraging peaked after the young left the nest and, among adults, parents caring for recently fledged young faced the most severe time constraints. The allocation of time to...
Male Great Plains toads, Bufo cognatus, exhibit two mating tactics. At any time, most males give advertisement calls to attract females, while other males, ?satellites?, remain silent and station themselves near callers in an attempt to intercept females. Females are usually capable of moving through choruses undetected by males. Those females detected by males can avoid being clasped by quickly darting away; but if clasped, can detach the male by inflating. Females initiated amplexus with callers; subsequently calling males mated with 92% of the females and satellites mated with the remaining 8%. Toads employing the satellite tactic associated with males that had longer calls and that were larger, although call...
We developed a system for evaluation of visual function in larval and adult fish. Both optomotor (swimming) and optokinetic (eye movement) responses were monitored and recorded using a system of rotating stripes. The system allowed manipulation of factors such as width of the stripes used, rotation speed of the striped drum, and light illuminance levels within both the scotopic and photopic ranges. Precise control of these factors allowed quantitative measurements of visual acuity and motion detection. Using this apparatus, we tested the hypothesis that significant posthatch ontogenetic improvements in visual function occur in the medaka Oryzias latipes, and also that this species shows significant in ovo neuronal...
The effect of body temperature on the learning of Lashley mazes I and II was studied with the desert iguana, Dipsosaurus dorsalis. Indices of learning were error scores, number of trials to criterion, and running time. Four temperature groups were studied. Lizards trained at 22 �C did not exceed chance levels after 125 trials. A 27 �C and a 32 �C group successfully learned both mazes with fewer errors and less trials in the higher temperature group. Temperature coefficients for these two temperature groups were 3�1 on maze I and 2�3 on maze II. A second 32 �C group trained only on maze II did not differ significantly in trials and error scores from the 32 �C group experienced on maze I. However, variability within...
Although plasticity in signal production is well recognized as a means for animals to modify their communication systems, modifying responsiveness to signals could be equally important. We examined plasticity of responsiveness to social signals that mediate group formation and cohesion in red crossbills. The red crossbill is composed of several ecologically diverged forms, defined by variation in morphology, ecological specialization and vocal behaviour; each form is associated with a distinct variant of the species ?contact call.? To understand how plasticity in response to signal variants may influence social dynamics, we examined the response of red crossbills to distinct call variants before and after experimental...
Categories: Publication;
Types: Citation,
Journal Citation;
Tags: Animal Behaviour,
Loxia curvirostra,
contact call,
playback,
red crossbill
We studied the effects of prior residence on contests for status within dominance hierarchies of captive male dark-eyed juncos (Junco hyemalis) to test predictions of a game-theory model of contest behaviour (Maynard Smith & Parker 1976; Hammerstein 1981). Several predictions of the model were supported. (1) Encounters between birdsnext term that were equally matched in size, age, experience, and prior residence were more aggressive than those involving residents and non-residents of equal size, age, and experience. (2) Residents usually dominated non-residents when the contestants were equally matched in size, age, and experience. (3) In a few cases, residents dominated non-residents that may have been slightly...
Animals make trade-offs between predation risk and pursuit of opportunities such as foraging and reproduction. Trade-offs between antipredator behaviours and foraging are well suited to manipulation in laboratory and field settings and have generated a vast compendium of knowledge. However, much less is known about how animals manage trade-offs between predation risk and pursuit of reproductive opportunities in the absence of the confounding effects of foraging. In the present study, we investigated how the nonfeeding migratory life stage of sea lamprey, Petromyzon marinus, responds to odour from dead conspecifics (a cue that induces avoidance behaviours in laboratory and field studies). We released groups of PIT-tagged...
Experiments were designed to determine whether assortative mating occurs in wild and game-farm mallard strains (Anas platyrhynchos). Mallard males of either strain raised with females of their own strain courted females of their own strain more than females of the opposite strain, and these males were only successful in pairing with females of their own strain. Males raised with females of the opposite strain courted wild and game-farm females with equal intensity. They were successful in pairing with females of either strain. While this study does not settle the question of possible gene flow between these two mallard populations, it does indicate that there is a potential barrier to panmixia.
Songbirds undergo a sensitive period in which exposure to adult song is necessary for normal vocal development. During this period, a template is formed and later used as a model for comparison via auditory feedback. In montane white-crowned sparrows, Zonotrichia leucophrys oriantha, whose song typically consists of four to five distinct segments (phrases), exposure to syntactically overlapping phrase pairs during the sensitive period provides the minimum sufficient information for song assembly; exposure to isolated phrases is insufficient. This suggests that a template representing phrase-pair information is sufficient for guiding normal song production. However, birds may also store and use the additional information...
Categories: Publication;
Types: Citation,
Journal Citation;
Tags: Animal Behaviour,
Zonotrichia leucophrys oriantha,
bird song,
phonology,
song template,
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