Eth-1 Flashcards
Tinbergen
Methodology (Dutch ethologist + ornithologist)
“Tinbergen’s 4 questions”
Nobel
Lorenz
First coherent theory of instinct + innate behaviour
Zoologist, fundamental ideas
Nobel
Frisch
Communication of bees
Nobel
Ethology as a well accepted science
Frisch, Lorenz, Tinbergen: “their discoveries concerning organization + elicitatoin of individual + social behaviour problems”
4 questions
- Causation of behaviour (stimuli that elicits behaviour)
- Function of behaviour (how the behaviour adds to the animal’s reproductive success)
- Behaviour during ontogeny (modified by individual experiences)
- Behaviour during phylogeny (comparison of related spp)
Human-Animal relationship
How animals perceive humans + how they remember experiences => help farmers to a more smooth interaction
Abnormal behaviour
Farm animals- cannibalism, etc
Companion animals- aggression, uncontrolled urination + defecation
Housing that fail to meet the behavioural needs
- Ethostasis
- Multifactorial diseases
- Animal Welfare
Legislation
Laws + regulations for animal protection
Animal Welfare
The science supports the regulatory work (e.g providing scientific info about the space requirements of the animals)
Welfare Science
Applied Ethology and other fields.
Animals possess int.world
- Differentiate themselves from other creatures by odour, visual, auditory, etc.
- Fear/frustration = expression of subjective suffer
- Basic emotions
- Feel the empathy of humans + they have empathy towards group mates
- Altruistic behaviour (self-sactifying of mother defending offsprings)
- Pain sensation
Sentience
Individual has the capacity to have feelings
Animal Welfare Science
By Ruth Harrison, 1964
Rogers Brambell- min requirement list
- Freedom of mvm
- Feeding, water supply, handling + treatment of farm animals
- Keeping conditions of different farm animal spp
5 freedoms= the 5 domains of potential welfare compromise
- Freedom from thirst, hunger + malnutrition
- Freedom from discomfort
- Freedom from pain, injury + disease
- Freedom to express normal behaviour
- Freedom from fear + distress
“Life worth living”, “Good life”
Good housing, treatments, transport, slaughtering and skilled stockperson and farmers
Promotion of good welfare
- Scientific info about the needs of animals
- How genetic selection affects animal health
- How the environment influences injuries + transmission of diseases
- How the environment affects adaptive behaviour
- Minimize conflict and allow positive social contact
UFAW (University Federation for Animal Welfare)
1938, before= University of London Animal Welfare Society
Experiment of Tryon (1940) and Cooper + Zubek (1958)
Reared in an improverished environment (bright rats as poorly as dull rats) + in an enriched environment (dull rats as well as bright rats).
=> how careful we must be infering deterministic genetic control over behaviour correlation has been demonstrated.
Genetic vs Environmental influence
Genetic traits = predispositions to certain reactions
Eg. may develop when the environment lacks a stimuli
Single gene influences- rare barking (Scott + Fuller)/ on a complex behaviour in insects.
DNA
It’s storing info which are used to provide instructions how and when a protein should be produced
Mutation
Alters the protein encoded + affect receptivity
QTL (quantitative trait loci)
Chromosomal regions of the tendency of honey bees to sting, preference for alcohol (mice), hyperactivity (rats)
Jungle fowl + modern laying hens => F2: large genotypic + ohenotypic variation
‘Knockout animals’
Specific genes = ‘turned off’
Ie. mice kacking the gene for oxytocin- lack capacity to eject milk, reduced agressivity
Principles of evolution
- Principle of variation (the closer the relationship the greater the resemblance)
- Principle of genetic inheritance (genes have some influence over the phenotypic variation)
- Principle of natural selection (influence reproductive abilities- if reproductive capacity is enhanced => increased frequency, if it’s reduced => decreased
Ritualization
A process by which ancertain behaviour evolves into a signal by becoming exaggerated and losing its original function.
Fitness
Contribute genes to the next generation
Consumes energy
Optimal behaviour
Low cost, e.g. Large territory, optimal foraging
ESS (Evolutionary Stable Strategy)
On average confers the largest benefit to the individuals of a population
First wave of domestication
Farm animals, dog, horse
Second wave of domestication
Foxes, raccoon, dog, chinchillas, etc
For specific needs or wishes
Dopamine
Regulation of cognition + motivation-related functions, sleep, mood, stereotypic behaviours (hens)
Serotonin
Level of fear, anxiety, stress, stereotypic behaviour
Tryptophan (precursor)- reduce fear + anxiety in fur animals and reduce stress in pigs
Neuropeptides
Endorphins, encephalins
Analgesic effect, pleasureable events (eating)
Circardian rhythms
Suprachiasmatic Nucleus (SCN)- regulated by light, regulates the secretion of melatonin (during darkness)
Melatonin -> sleep
Sleeping: when glucocortical levels are slow (evening) and ends when highest (morning)
Sleep
Ceasing activities when environmental conditions are not optimal
2 phases: rapid eye-mvm (REM) and non-rapid eye mvm (NREM)
True sleep: “brain sleep” with EEG δ waves + “paradoxical sleep” with REM + mvm of distal digits
Food intake
Governed by hypothalamus
CKK (cholecystokinin): reduces meal size
Leptins: limits eating, follows circardian rhythm
Ghrelin: increases feeling of hunger, affects hypothalamus
Insulin: increases after eating
Melatonin: effect on metabolism and hunger
Motivational state
“Sums up” the input stimuli and determines the output behaviour
The magnitude of motivation alters behaviour
Also the combined physiological + perceptual state of an animal as represented in its brain
Motivation is controlled by forebrain
Negative feedback
Execution of a behaviour pattern reduces the motivation to perform it
Hysteresis
Delayed negative feedback. It takes time to reduce motivation
Sollert-Istwert model
Acting more like a thermostat => causes behaviour that brings an animal’s state closer to andesired end point.
The greater the discrepancy bw Sollwert and Istwert => stronger the motivation
Prevalent in captive animals
Abnormal repetitive behaviours with no apparent goal
Origin of horses
Eohippus (55-60 million years), fox sized, forest Modern horse (2 million years), 1 toe
Hybrids
Normally sterile, except for Przewalski
Viosion (horses)
Panoramic field 330-350
Blind spots: behind itself, in front of the muzzle
Limited ability to focus bw distant and close objects
Extremely sensitive to mvm
Rods: dominate => excellent night vision
Dichromats bw green and grays (some red and not yellow and vv)
Hearing (horses)
Well developed
Funnel shaped ears can move in unison/ indepndently of each other, using 10 mm, move around a L arc of 180 degrees
Broad hearing range 55-33.5Hz
Senses geographical vibrations through the hoof
Smell (horses)
Smell ans taste are linked neurologically
Sniffing: part of greeting
Accessory olfactory system- vomeronasal organ (does not open in the oral cavity). Used to detect pheromones in urine - Flehmen response (colts show more than fillies, but foalsmore often than do their mothers)
Taste
Grooming
Determination of caloric content of foods
Avoid a food associated with illness
Touch (horses)
Withers, mouth, flank and elbow are very sensitive
Dislike their ears, eyes, groin and bulbs of the heels to being touched
Eating
12-17h < , when forage is scarce => increase bite-frequency
Peaks: early morning, late afternoon
Risk of gastric ulceration increases, gastric acidity rises
Olfaction- avoid areas with eq feces
Drinking (horses)
2-4 L/ kg of dry matter food consumed
90 L
In winter, v cold water => decrease uptake => dehydration, colic
Locomotion
Walk,trot,gallop (rack in Icelandic horses)
- Walk: 4-beat, diagonal: RF, LH, LF, LH
- Trot: 2-beat, diagonal
- Canter: 3-beat, Gallop: 4-beat , asymmetrical, L or R according to the leading FL
- Pace: most lateral gait
Mutual grooming
Exchange of odors => reduce heart rate
Females more time than males
Stallions in multi-stallion harems groom one another
Low-ranking individuals groom more- role in appeasement
Rest and sleep (horses
Active 80% of day and 60% of night
2h daily in 4-5 periods
Drowsing: standing, eyelids partly opened, min muscular effort, avoidance of the cardiorespiratory compromise
Sleeping: SWS (slow wave sleep), REM. SWS cannot compensate for lost REM.
Feral horses
- Harem groups: 1 male, multiple females, natal band (mares, offspring, stallion)
- Bachelor: excess males
Dominance hierarchy
Remains stable. In feral groups the males tend to rank at the top, with dominance being expressed as threats to bite / kick
Role of stallion in natal band
If there is a threat, drives his group away using snake gestures
Ears (horses)
Most important in eq non-vocal communication Forward: alert Drooping: relaxed Laid Back: request, listening Pinned back: anger Multidirectional: confusing
English purebreed horses
Middle of Feb-Jul (breeding season)
Normal racehorse
Midd of Feb - midd of Oct (breeding season)
Breeding season
5 days estrus, 16 days diestrus
Winter acyclia in horses
Nov-Jan
“Sneak matings”
Subordinate stallions with young females
Suckling response
Stimulated by tactile stimuli
Suckling (horse)
35-40 weeks
Weaning - 15 weeks before the next foaling
- domestic: 4-6 months old
Abnormal behaviour (horses)
- Indicating physical pain/ disease (stawhorse-stance, kicking towards abdomen, lifting/ ringing tail, etc).
- Stereotypic behaviour (stress coping mechanisms ?)
Streotypic behaviour
Repetitive, functionless, inadequate management conditions
In captive wild animals (40%
Stereotypic behaviours
Crib-biting, tongue rolling, lip mvms, wood chewing
Weaving (shifting weight bw front legs)
Self biting, wall-kicking
Factors for developing stereotypies
Social isolation, stalling, high/low [forage] => increase acidity => crib-biting
Thoroughbreds
Stress
Ancestor of dogs
Wolf. MtDNA only inherited from mothers, wolf has the closest.
Vision (dogs)
~human eyes: 97% rods (human:95%), 3% cones (human:5%)
6X lower acuity
Dichromatic vision: blue + yellow
Smell (dog)
Vomeronasal organ: bottom of nasal cavity, behind upper incisors
Socialization period (dog)
Open eyes (2 weeks) Open ear canals (3 weeks)
Sexual maturity (dog)
Male: 5-7 months
Female: 7-9 months
