Discover animals最新文献

Effect of dairy calf rearing systems on affective states. 犊牛饲养制度对情感状态的影响。

Discover animals Pub Date : 2026-01-01 Epub Date: 2026-06-17 DOI: 10.1007/s44338-026-00209-8

Malina Suchon, Daniel M Weary, Marina A G von Keyserlingk

{"title":"Effect of dairy calf rearing systems on affective states.","authors":"Malina Suchon, Daniel M Weary, Marina A G von Keyserlingk","doi":"10.1007/s44338-026-00209-8","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s44338-026-00209-8","url":null,"abstract":"Dairy calves are typically reared in environments that differ greatly from naturalistic conditions: separated from their dam after birth, housed without peer contact, and unable to graze or have outdoor access. An improved understanding of the effect of the farming environment on calves' affective states may help refine management practices to improve dairy calf welfare. In this narrative review, we examine how characteristics of dairy calf rearing systems relate to both short- and long-term affective states. Affective states are commonly inferred from behavioral proxy measures (e.g., changes in time budgets, play, etc.) or conditioned responses to affective-state paradigms. We categorized environmental elements through physical, social, and temporal components and discuss the current knowledge on their effects on indicators of affective states. Consistent evidence supports that physical features such as adequate milk allowance, different sources of solid food (e.g., concentrate and forage), soft and dry lying surfaces; and a social environment allowing full contact with conspecifics appear important for promoting positive affective states and reducing negative ones in dairy calves. Although the temporal characteristics of environmental features remain comparatively underexplored, available evidence suggests factors such as timing, predictability, and control can modulate how physical and social components are experienced. Overall, knowledge regarding longer-lasting mood states in dairy calves remains limited. Addressing these gaps through future research could help refine rearing practices that support not only the reduction of negative states, but also the promotion of positive welfare in dairy calves.","PeriodicalId":520282,"journal":{"name":"Discover animals","volume":"3 1","pages":"56"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13275605/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148298647","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Learnt formant modulation via upper vocal tract movements in a marine mammal. 通过海洋哺乳动物的上声道运动学习形成峰调制。

Discover animals Pub Date : 2026-01-01 Epub Date: 2026-01-05 DOI: 10.1007/s44338-025-00145-z

Teresa Raimondi, Francesca D'Orazio, Denise Di Martino, Melina Witt, Flavia Grenga, Peter Cook, Livio Favaro, Cristina Pilenga, Andrea Ravignani

{"title":"Learnt formant modulation via upper vocal tract movements in a marine mammal.","authors":"Teresa Raimondi, Francesca D'Orazio, Denise Di Martino, Melina Witt, Flavia Grenga, Peter Cook, Livio Favaro, Cristina Pilenga, Andrea Ravignani","doi":"10.1007/s44338-025-00145-z","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s44338-025-00145-z","url":null,"abstract":"Formants are resonance frequencies shaped by the upper vocal tract. Across vertebrates, they have a key role in acoustic communication. Humans show fine-grained control of formant modulation; little is known about such control in other species. We trained a male harbor seal (Phoca vitulina) to modify a baseline vocalization via upper vocal tract movements, resulting in a conditioned vocalization. The seal also had to maintain the baseline throughout the experiment. Over 150 days, we collected 455 baseline and 640 conditioned vocalizations. We extracted the first three formants (F1, F2, F3) and quantified their within-vocalization modulation using complementary measures. First, the times series of formant contours showed that F1 and F3 were similar at the start of the experiment but diverged over time. Second, coefficients of variation for F1 decreased, with higher values in the conditioned vocalizations at the end of the experiment. Third, F1 and F3 modulation depth, measuring frequency variation between adjacent time points, was higher in conditioned vocalizations. Fourth, formants' spectral entropy decreased only in conditioned vocalizations, indicating a more predictable energy distribution over the course of the experiment. Fifth, machine learning techniques confirmed that vocal types became more distinguishable at the end than at the start of the experiment solely based on modulation parameters. Our findings show that (1) an adult harbor seal can be trained to open and close its mouth while phonating; (2) the resulting vocal output contains modulated formants and (3) differs from a baseline vocalization; (4) both vocal types' formant features changed over time as an interconnected system.Supplementary information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s44338-025-00145-z.","PeriodicalId":520282,"journal":{"name":"Discover animals","volume":"3 1","pages":"2"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12769615/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145919571","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Pain and pessimism affect calves' play behaviours post-disbudding. 疼痛和悲观情绪会影响小牛犊的玩耍行为。

Discover animals Pub Date : 2025-01-01 Epub Date: 2025-07-31 DOI: 10.1007/s44338-025-00105-7

Amelia St John Wallis, Suzanne D E Held, Michael T Mendl, Marina A G von Keyserlingk, Daniel M Weary, Benjamin Lecorps

{"title":"Pain and pessimism affect calves' play behaviours post-disbudding.","authors":"Amelia St John Wallis, Suzanne D E Held, Michael T Mendl, Marina A G von Keyserlingk, Daniel M Weary, Benjamin Lecorps","doi":"10.1007/s44338-025-00105-7","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s44338-025-00105-7","url":null,"abstract":"Calves are expected to play less when in pain, and more pessimistic individuals may be more affected by painful events, such as hot-iron disbudding (i.e., horn-bud removal). We explored 1) the impact of disbudding on different play behaviours, predicting that those involving the head (e.g., play-fighting) may be more sensitive to disbudding due to the injury location, and 2) the effect of 'pessimism' (assessed using the judgement bias test) on changes in play post-disbudding. Holstein female calves (n = 19) were housed in groups of 10, individually tested for judgement bias at 25 days old, and disbudded following the farm's standards (including sedation and local anaesthesia) at 45 days old. Individual and parallel locomotor play and play-fighting were recorded for 4 h/day (from 1800 to 2200 h) for 5 days before disbudding, on disbudding day, and for 7 days after. Play-fighting reduced after disbudding compared to baseline and did not recover over 7 days. Locomotor play did not change on disbudding day and increased on the day after compared to baseline. More pessimistic calves did not show greater changes in play post-disbudding, but they showed a smaller increase in locomotor play on the day after disbudding, suggesting they did not recover as well as the others. Overall, play-fighting (i.e., pushing with the head) may be a more sensitive indicator of disbudding pain than other play behaviours, likely reflecting calves avoiding evoked pain, which may persist for at least 7 days. Our results also add to the growing literature demonstrating that pessimistic expectations affect animals' ability to cope with stressors.Supplementary information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s44338-025-00105-7.","PeriodicalId":520282,"journal":{"name":"Discover animals","volume":"2 1","pages":"50"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12313738/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144777565","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Stress induces nucleobindin-1 mRNA and nesfatin-1-like peptide stimulates cortisol secretion in goldfish. 应激诱导金鱼的核吲哚-1 mRNA 和内司蛋白-1 样肽刺激皮质醇分泌。

Discover animals Pub Date : 2024-01-01 Epub Date: 2024-11-06 DOI: 10.1007/s44338-024-00031-0

Lakshminarasimhan Sundarrajan, Umar Farouk Mustapha, Suraj Unniappan

{"title":"Stress induces nucleobindin-1 mRNA and nesfatin-1-like peptide stimulates cortisol secretion in goldfish.","authors":"Lakshminarasimhan Sundarrajan, Umar Farouk Mustapha, Suraj Unniappan","doi":"10.1007/s44338-024-00031-0","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s44338-024-00031-0","url":null,"abstract":"Stress is a state of disrupted homeostasis triggered by physical or psychological stimuli that elicit adaptive responses at the molecular and cellular levels. In fish, the hypothalamus-pituitary-interrenal (HPI) axis mediates stress responses. Nesfatin-1 and a nesfatin-1-like peptide (NLP), derived from nucleobindin-1 (NUCB1), have been implicated in stress hormone regulation in mammals. This study investigated the cell-specific expression of NUCB1/NLP in HPI tissues and its effects on stress response in goldfish (Carassius auratus). NUCB1 mRNA is abundant in the hypothalamus, pituitary, and several other peripheral tissues of goldfish. NUCB1/NLP-like immunoreactivity was found in the brain and pituitary, co-localized with corticotropin-releasing factor receptor 1 (CRF-R1) in the hypothalamus, and with adrenocorticotrophic hormone (ACTH) in the pituitary. In vivo netting and restraint stress increased nucb1 and crf-r1 mRNAs in the brain and acth mRNA in the pituitary, as determined by RT-qPCR. Intraperitoneal injection of NLP increased cortisol in circulation, crf-r1 mRNA in the brain and acth mRNA in the pituitary. These findings suggest that NUCB1/NLP is a new player in mediating the endocrine stress response of goldfish through the HPI axis.","PeriodicalId":520282,"journal":{"name":"Discover animals","volume":"1 1","pages":"32"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11562699/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142635491","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0