Animal Behaviour最新文献

{"title":"On the function of the male’s front legs in Sepsis flies (Diptera: Sepsidae): evolutionary insight from behavioural detail","authors":"Hossein Asgari ,&nbsp;Marjan Seiedy","doi":"10.1016/j.anbehav.2024.12.003","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.anbehav.2024.12.003","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Male genitalia and nongenital structures that contact the female during copulation diverge rapidly. Two hypotheses propose different explanations for this rapid divergence: sexual conflict and female choice. The sexual conflict hypothesis posits that differential reproductive optima of the two sexes lead to sexually antagonistic coevolution. The female choice hypothesis posits that female preferences drive rapid divergence in male courtship structures. We tested these hypotheses with sepsid flies, which have been considered case studies of sexual conflict involving males using their species-specific front legs to hold the females' wings and females resisting this hold. In terms of these flies, the sexual conflict hypothesis predicts that the male front legs function as mechanical devices to clamp the female wings. The female choice hypothesis predicts that the male front legs function as stimulatory courtship devices. We tested these predictions by carefully observing mating interactions and morphological contact in two closely related species, <em>Sepsis fulgens</em> and <em>Sepsis violacea</em>. We found that males use their front legs to perform rhythmic, stereotypic and species-specific tactile stimulation on the female wing zones that contained numerous campaniform sense organs and sensory setae. We conclude that male front legs are stimulation devices rather than species-specific mechanical clamps. These results support the female choice hypothesis and emphasize the power of attention to behavioural detail to promote discovery.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50788,"journal":{"name":"Animal Behaviour","volume":"221 ","pages":"Article 123047"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-01-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143480434","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Habituation or sensitization? Short-term adjustment of flight initiation distance in incubating common eiders","authors":"Bertille Mohring ,&nbsp;Frédéric Angelier ,&nbsp;Kim Jaatinen ,&nbsp;Benjamin Steele ,&nbsp;Markus Öst","doi":"10.1016/j.anbehav.2024.11.008","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.anbehav.2024.11.008","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Optimal escape theory predicts that prey balance the costs and benefits of fleeing. However, the use of prior experience in prey escape decisions has been overlooked. Indeed, when repeatedly exposed to a nonlethal yet threatening stimulus, prey may adjust their escape response by habituating, delaying escape when repeatedly exposed to that stimulus, or by becoming sensitized, escaping sooner. Here, we investigated intrinsic and extrinsic drivers of short-term variation in flight initiation distance (FID, distance at initiating escape) in response to repeated human approaches in incubating female common eiders, <em>Somateria mollissima</em>. We predicted habituation to repeated exposure to threatening but nonlethal stimuli, reflected in decreased FID. We also expected increased habituation in females with a high current reproductive value (older breeders, females in good condition or laying large clutches) or brood value (early breeders). Last, we investigated whether changes in FID varied with threat level (i.e. different adult or nest predation risk or breeding habitat). The magnitude of change in FID was small and varied among individuals, depending on individual traits (body condition, clutch size and phenology) and perceived threat (island-specific adult predation risk). Accordingly, females in poorer body condition, that laid larger clutches or laid earlier in the season were more prone to become sensitized over repeated approaches. Consistent with the risk allocation hypothesis predicting a dampening of antipredator responses under chronic risk exposure, females were less prone to become sensitized when nesting on islands with high adult predation risk. These results underline the ability of animals to make plastic state- and context-dependent adjustments of antipredator behaviour when repeatedly confronted with nonlethal stimuli. Nevertheless, given the limited magnitude of within-individual, short-term adjustment of FID compared to the among-individual variation in FID, questions remain concerning the efficacy of these antipredator responses in a context of rapidly changing predation regimes.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50788,"journal":{"name":"Animal Behaviour","volume":"219 ","pages":"Article 123030"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143096943","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Parasitized but undeterred: how mice disperse seeds while coping with ectoparasites","authors":"Aleksandra Wróbel ,&nbsp;Milena Zduniak ,&nbsp;Paulina Celebias ,&nbsp;Rafał Zwolak","doi":"10.1016/j.anbehav.2024.11.019","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.anbehav.2024.11.019","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Ectoparasites are known to induce behavioural changes in their hosts, yet their downstream effects on other ecological interactions are less well understood. We examined the influence of ectoparasites on a key process in forest ecosystems: seed dispersal by their granivorous hosts. In a controlled field experiment, we manipulated ectoparasite loads on wild yellow-necked mice, <em>Apodemus flavicollis</em>, and monitored changes in various aspects of acorn, <em>Quercus robur</em>, dispersal: removal, recovery, consumption, caching and dispersal distance. Contrary to the hypothesis that ectoparasite-infested mice would change seed-handling behaviours due to increased foraging costs, our results demonstrated minimal impacts of ectoparasites on these behaviours. Initially, we observed marginally lower removal rates of acorns and shorter dispersal distances in the ectoparasite-reduced populations, which later aligned with the control groups. No significant differences were found in the probability of acorn recovery, modes of consumption or caching behaviours between the control and treated groups. Thus, the anticipated parasite-induced trophic cascade did not occur. These patterns suggest that yellow-necked mice exhibit behavioural tolerance of infestation, and their ecological role as seed dispersers remains unchanged despite ectoparasite infestation. Our findings challenge the assumptions regarding the severity of ectoparasitic impacts on host foraging behaviour.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50788,"journal":{"name":"Animal Behaviour","volume":"219 ","pages":"Article 123041"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143096946","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Group level trait and individual performance: the impact of in-nest activity on food recruitment in ants","authors":"Oscar Vaes,&nbsp;Lucy-Anne de Selliers de Moranville,&nbsp;Claire Detrain","doi":"10.1016/j.anbehav.2024.10.009","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.anbehav.2024.10.009","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>By being consistent and colony specific, the activity level inside insect societies may be considered as a group level personality trait. However, there is no information about how this group level trait relates to the behaviour of individual workers and how it may affect colony efficiency. In this study, we correlated the levels of in-nest activity in eight ant colonies with the levels of individuals’ commitment to food recruitment and with collective foraging outcomes. Results showed that this group level trait is differentially related to the activity of individuals depending on whether they are recruiting foragers or workers contacted in the nest. For the foragers that had discovered a sugar food source, a high in-nest activity did not affect their recruiting behaviour. Conversely, for contacted individuals, their responsiveness to recruitment stimuli correlated positively with colony in-nest activity. However, this effect was too small to accelerate colony foraging dynamics and increase the number of workers at the food source. This study suggests that a group level trait, such as the in-nest activity, can be correlated with the individual behaviour of its members, albeit to a different extent depending on their role within the society. Similarly, in other group-living species, we expect complex and nuanced relationships between group level traits, individual responses and emergent collective behaviours. Future comparative studies will shed light on factors such as mode of communication that may weaken or strengthen links between personality traits at different organizational levels.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50788,"journal":{"name":"Animal Behaviour","volume":"219 ","pages":"Article 122995"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143096948","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The role of similarity of stimuli and responses in learning by nectar-foraging bumble bees: a test of Osgood’s model","authors":"Minjung Baek,&nbsp;Daniel R. Papaj","doi":"10.1016/j.anbehav.2024.11.014","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.anbehav.2024.11.014","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Learning stimulus–response associations helps animals to adjust to changing environments. Sequentially learned associations may interact with each other, either reinforcing memory, a process referred to as ‘transfer’, or hindering memory, a process referred to as ‘interference’. According to Osgood’s (1949, <em>Psychological Review</em>, <em>56</em>(3), 132–143) model, close similarity between new and previously learned stimuli can enhance the transfer of memory through a process of stimulus generalization. In contrast, the model proposes that if responses are different from those previously learned, generalizing stimuli may lead to confusion, resulting in the interference of memory. This model has primarily been applied in the context of human verbal learning. However, the interaction between stimulus similarity and response similarity is poorly documented in nonhuman animals, despite a growing body of literature suggesting that both vertebrate and invertebrate species share complex cognitive abilities similar to those found in humans. Here, we tested Osgood’s model using bumble bees (<em>Bombus impatiens</em>) foraging for sucrose on artificial flowers with varied colours (= stimuli) that required either legitimate visits or nectar robbing (= responses). Bees were first allowed to forage on one type of flower, then switched to another type of flower and finally returned to the initial flower type. We measured learning performance via flower-handling time and the number of failed visits. Consistent with Osgood’s model, bees made more failed visits when they switched between similarly coloured flowers requiring different foraging techniques but made fewer failed visits when switching between similarly coloured flowers with the same technique. Regardless of similarities in stimuli or responses, however, experienced bees were faster in handling flowers than were naïve bees. Results taken together thus provide mixed support for Osgood’s model. Possible explanations for the mixed results are discussed.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50788,"journal":{"name":"Animal Behaviour","volume":"219 ","pages":"Article 123036"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143097317","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Vocal accommodation in bonobos","authors":"Nicolas Mathevon ,&nbsp;Sumir Keenan ,&nbsp;Jeroen M.G. Stevens ,&nbsp;Klaus Zuberbühler ,&nbsp;Florence Levréro","doi":"10.1016/j.anbehav.2024.10.028","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.anbehav.2024.10.028","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Dialects and accents in human speech have a demonstrated social function as markers of group identity and often serve as psychological foundations of trust and cooperation. The extent to which this phenomenon is a feature of primate communication more generally is still debated. Here, we show that the vocal signatures of bonobos, <em>Pan paniscus</em>, belonging to three social groups show group-specific acoustic features independent of genetic relatedness. We compared the barks of 22 adults from the three groups and found that individuals currently living together had more similar barks than individuals that had never met or had lost touch with each other, regardless of their degree of genetic relatedness. We concluded that group-specific vocal accommodation is present in bonobos, suggesting an early evolutionary emergence of vocal plasticity in apes, which could be a means to signal social closeness between individuals.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50788,"journal":{"name":"Animal Behaviour","volume":"219 ","pages":"Article 123014"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143097319","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Associations between social behaviour and proinflammatory immune activation are modulated by age in a free-ranging primate population","authors":"Eve B. Cooper ,&nbsp;Connor Whalen ,&nbsp;Nina Beeby ,&nbsp;Josué E. Negron-Del Valle ,&nbsp;Daniel Phillips ,&nbsp;Cayo Biobank Research Unit ,&nbsp;Noah Snyder-Mackler ,&nbsp;Lauren J.N. Brent ,&nbsp;James P. Higham","doi":"10.1016/j.anbehav.2024.10.035","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.anbehav.2024.10.035","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The effect of the social environment on the proinflammatory immune response may mediate the relationship between social environment and fitness but remains understudied outside captive animals and human populations. Age can also influence both immune function and social behaviour, and hence may modulate their relationships. This study investigates the role of social interactions in driving the concentrations of two urinary markers of proinflammatory immune activation, neopterin and soluble urokinase plasminogen activator receptor (suPAR), in a free-ranging population of rhesus macaques, <em>Macaca mulatta</em>. We collected 854 urine samples from 172 adult monkeys and quantified how urinary suPAR and neopterin concentrations were related to affiliative behaviour and agonistic behaviour received over 60 days. In females, but not in males, higher rates of affiliative interactions were associated with lower neopterin concentrations, while conversely, experiencing more agonistic interactions was associated with higher neopterin concentrations. The association between affiliation and neopterin concentration was modulated by age, with older females experiencing a stronger negative association between affiliative behaviour and neopterin concentration. There were no associations between suPAR concentration and social environment for either sex. This study demonstrates that proinflammatory immune activity is a potential mechanism mediating the association between social environment and fitness under naturalistic conditions and that age can be an important modulator of the effect of social environment on the immune system.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50788,"journal":{"name":"Animal Behaviour","volume":"219 ","pages":"Article 123021"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143015784","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The effect of temporal masking on alarm call communication in wild superb fairy-wrens","authors":"You Zhou ,&nbsp;Andrew N. Radford ,&nbsp;Robert D. Magrath","doi":"10.1016/j.anbehav.2024.10.010","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.anbehav.2024.10.010","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Noise from human activity is a global concern that threatens wildlife, including by disrupting acoustic communication. This disruption appears predominantly caused by masking, where noise makes it difficult to hear acoustic signals. Previous studies have found a strong masking effect when noise and signals occur simultaneously. However, noise can also have a temporal masking effect, meaning that the signal is not detected even if noise occurs before or after the signal (forward and backward masking, respectively). As background noise is often intermittent, temporal masking by natural sounds and anthropogenic noise could pose a significant challenge for animal communication. Surprisingly, although commonly found in humans, temporal masking has been rarely studied in other species. To investigate whether temporal masking affects bird communication in the wild, we conducted a playback experiment on superb fairy-wrens, <em>Malurus cyaneus</em>, using single-element alarm calls before, during and after filtered white noise, as well as a control playback of alarm calls alone. We found that fairy-wrens stopped responding to alarm calls during noise, showing simultaneous masking, but were equally likely to flee if there was noise immediately before or after an alarm call as when there was no noise, suggesting a lack of temporal masking. However, among those fairy-wrens that fled, there was a 20 ms delay in the response to alarm calls after the noise, possibly because of subtle forward masking that delayed call reception. We conclude that temporal masking is unlikely to stop fairy-wrens’ fleeing to alarm calls but might slightly delay call reception. We urge further studies of temporal masking in other species, using various sources of natural and anthropogenic noise, as only then will we know whether temporal masking is of general significance in compromising animal communication.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50788,"journal":{"name":"Animal Behaviour","volume":"219 ","pages":"Article 122996"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143096921","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Facing the heat: nestlings of a cavity-nesting raptor trade safety for food when exposed to high nest temperatures","authors":"Alejandro Corregidor-Castro ,&nbsp;Simone Militti ,&nbsp;Jennifer Morinay ,&nbsp;Andrea Romano ,&nbsp;Michelangelo Morganti ,&nbsp;Jacopo G. Cecere ,&nbsp;Diego Rubolini ,&nbsp;Andrea Pilastro","doi":"10.1016/j.anbehav.2024.10.020","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.anbehav.2024.10.020","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Increasing temperatures due to climate warming may expose many species to thermally dangerous conditions, especially during less mobile phases of their life cycle when the chances of relocating to cooler sites are limited. We investigated how altricial nestlings of cavity-nesting lesser kestrels, <em>Falco naumanni</em>, respond to elevated nest temperatures. In the study system, nestlings develop in nestboxes placed on roof terraces. Before fledging, they often rest outside the nestbox, near the entrance hole, where they can be fed by parents and rapidly re-enter if threatened. This behaviour is similar to premature fledging observed in some species during heatwaves, which causes extensive nestling mortality. We experimentally tested whether high nest temperatures increased the likelihood of nestlings temporarily leaving their nest, thereby exposing themselves to higher predation risk. This may occur either because nestlings attempt to escape unbearable temperatures inside the nest or because resting outside provides them with priority access to parentally delivered food. After the eggs hatched, we reduced the maximum nest temperatures by ca. 4 °C by shading the nestboxes. We found that nestlings from control (unshaded) nestboxes were twice as likely to be detected outside than those from shaded ones. Regardless of shading, nestlings left the nestboxes more frequently in the early morning when nest temperatures were lowest. Notably, hourly nest temperature did not significantly affect the probability of nestlings being detected outside. Nestlings resting outside monopolized parentally delivered food; however, parental provisioning did not differ between shaded and control nests, implying a costly, zero-sum competition game among nestmates. Our results suggest that exposure to high nest temperatures associated with climate warming can increase mortality due to dehydration and impaired growth and may also induce nestlings to trade their safety for enhanced access to food, thereby exacerbating the negative effects of climate warming on birds' reproduction.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50788,"journal":{"name":"Animal Behaviour","volume":"219 ","pages":"Article 123006"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143096926","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Genetic relatedness shapes social dynamics in a threatened finch: implications for population assessment","authors":"Mara F. Müller ,&nbsp;Cameron J. Baker ,&nbsp;Sam C. Banks ,&nbsp;Mariana A. Campbell ,&nbsp;Tara L. Crewe ,&nbsp;Mirjam Kaestli ,&nbsp;Sydney J. Collett ,&nbsp;Ian J. Radford ,&nbsp;Hamish A. Campbell","doi":"10.1016/j.anbehav.2024.11.013","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.anbehav.2024.11.013","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Tropical granivorous finches often form large flocks around resources. The composition of these flocks, whether they are random groups of individuals or comprise related birds travelling together, is currently unknown. To bridge this knowledge gap, we combined high-frequency location tracking with comprehensive genetic sequencing to investigate the relationship between pairwise association strength and genetic relatedness in Gouldian finches, <em>Erythrura gouldiae</em>, as they ranged across the landscape. We found that birds captured within close proximity were more genetically similar than birds captured further away and generally moved across the landscape together. These findings show that for the Gouldian finch, within-flock associations are influenced by genetic relatedness, and we argue that forming sibling subgroups may assist young Gouldian finches to optimally locate resources across this harsh landscape. Maintaining stable and consistent flock compositions as they move across the landscape and visit waterholes may have implications for estimating population size for Gouldian finches. This is because it will reduce the likelihood of single bird revisits and double counts within the same sampling window during waterhole surveys. By considering the flock as a distinct unit, reasonably accurate estimates could be made of a local population, and repeated counts on consecutive days could be assumed to provide reliable and replicable abundance estimates.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50788,"journal":{"name":"Animal Behaviour","volume":"219 ","pages":"Article 123035"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143097323","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}