acta ethologica最新文献

{"title":"Sniffing and spraying: first insights into the marking behaviour in wildcats (Felis silvestris) through a citizen science camera-trapping project in Italy","authors":"Simone Calandri,&nbsp;Antonino Abbruzzo,&nbsp;Giorgia Bertagni,&nbsp;Alfredo Bruno,&nbsp;Tommaso Busconi,&nbsp;Luciano Cicognani,&nbsp;Stefano Comazzi,&nbsp;Ivano Da Corte,&nbsp;Fabio Dartora,&nbsp;Vanessa Draksler,&nbsp;Stefano Filacorda,&nbsp;Lorenzo Filoni,&nbsp;Elisa Fimiani,&nbsp;David Francescangeli,&nbsp;Giovanni Gallipo,&nbsp;Lorenzo Gaudiano,&nbsp;Mario Kemeny,&nbsp;Fabrizio Gerardo Lioy,&nbsp;Maurizio Maggiorotti,&nbsp;Franca Monti,&nbsp;Alex Nardone,&nbsp;Tommaso Nuti,&nbsp;Girolamo Parretta,&nbsp;Andre Roveyaz,&nbsp;Simone Rutella,&nbsp;Sara Savazza,&nbsp;Gianluca Serra,&nbsp;Antonio Sicuro,&nbsp;Niccolò Tramontana,&nbsp;Claudio Vecchietti,&nbsp;Carlo Vecchioli,&nbsp;Sara Zannoni,&nbsp;Clayton Kent Nielsen,&nbsp;Sebastien Devillard,&nbsp;Stefano Anile","doi":"10.1007/s10211-026-00511-4","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s10211-026-00511-4","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Marking behaviour is crucial for regulating territoriality in felids. We leveraged a large-scale citizen science camera-trapping project in Italy to investigate European wildcat (<i>Felis silvestris</i>) marking behavior, plus the exploratory sniffing behaviour, in relation to sex, season, substrate and light. We collected wildcat detections (<i>n</i> = 1614) from l697 cameras during 77,595 camera-days and analyzed 106 marking detections originated from 52 individuals (females = 28, males = 24) taken at 55 cameras. We assessed interrelationships between marking behaviour and covariates using Bayesian networks, followed by a hierarchical Bayesian model for estimating the probability of spraying. Marking behaviour was most frequent during spring and winter, with spraying the most observed type of marking, primarily on standing trees. Other relationships included: (i) males marking at higher frequency than females across seasons, in addition to males engaging in spraying when they did not perform clawing; and (ii) sniffing that positively influenced the probability of a subsequent rub.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":6879,"journal":{"name":"acta ethologica","volume":"29 3","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2026-09-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149133251","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Distributed social learning hypothesis: a driving mechanism for filling the missing fragments of innate complex patterns","authors":"Zhanna Reznikova","doi":"10.1007/s10211-026-00506-1","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s10211-026-00506-1","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Social learning and communication enable animals to enhance their adaptability and behavioural flexibility in response to changing environmental conditions. This paper examines current perspectives on the diversity of social learning mechanisms, their ecological significance, and the behavioural mechanisms underlying the spread of novel behaviours within animal groups, with particular attention to the relationship between innovativeness and intelligence and the potential for innovative behaviours to spread through social learning. Within this framework, I highlight the distributed social learning (DSL) hypothesis, which posits that the initial performance of a complete behavioural pattern by a few individuals promotes its spread among conspecifics that possess only dormant fragments of the same behaviour. These fragments consist of short, neutral action sequences that, under favourable conditions, can be integrated into a coherent and functional pattern. Drawing on a wide range of research on social learning, I propose that DSL functions as a form of ‘folk culture’, blending innate, previously dormant behavioural components with learned ones. This process may enable animals to assemble novel behavioural patterns by recruiting and integrating pre-existing latent fragments of behaviour more efficiently than would be possible through entirely de novo acquisition.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":6879,"journal":{"name":"acta ethologica","volume":"29 3","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2026-09-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148926773","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Prey size influences the feeding behaviour of predatory female Photuris lugubris fireflies (Coleoptera: Lampyridae)","authors":"Aldair Vergara,&nbsp;Carlos Cordero","doi":"10.1007/s10211-026-00508-z","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s10211-026-00508-z","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Hunting female fireflies of the Photurinae subfamily specialize in feeding on heterospecific male fireflies, generally smaller than themselves, responding to their courtship signals. <i>Photuris</i> spp. females hunt males of <i>Photinus</i> spp. species, from which they obtain nutrients and defensive toxins. In some localities, <i>Photuris lugubris</i> is sympatric with <i>Photinus extensus</i>, whose males are larger than the hunting females. Here, we report a field study of the frequency of interactions between signalling <i>P. extensus</i> males and hunting <i>P. lugubris</i> females. We also report an experiment to determine whether <i>P. lugubris</i> females attack and feed on <i>P. extensus</i> males in captivity. In more than 18 h of focal observations, we only observed one case in which a <i>P. extensus</i> male was attracted by a <i>P. lugubris</i> female, but no attack occurred. In our experiment, females attacked in 17% of the opportunities they had. However, instead of the typical feeding on soft tissues and killing of the prey (as observed, for example, when <i>P. lugubris</i> females feed on males of the smaller <i>Photinus palaciosi</i>), the females restrained the males with their legs and mandibles and fed on the liquid substance (presumably, haemolymph) exuded from pores located along the margin of the elytra and pronotum (reflex bleeding). All attacked males freed themselves and recovered from the attack. To the best of our knowledge, we are the first to report this peculiar non-lethal predatory behaviour in fireflies.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":6879,"journal":{"name":"acta ethologica","volume":"29 3","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2026-09-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s10211-026-00508-z.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148926611","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Comparative analysis of optional hunting behaviour in myomorph rodents: evolutionary and experience-dependent variations in attack patterns","authors":"Jan V. Levenets,&nbsp;Anna A. Novikovskaya,&nbsp;Sofia N. Panteleeva,&nbsp;Zhanna I. Reznikova","doi":"10.1007/s10211-026-00507-0","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s10211-026-00507-0","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>This study presents a comparative analysis of original laboratory data on optional insect-hunting behaviour across 21 species of myomorph rodents, which revealed that, during the phase of prey attacks, the dropping out of elements from the “bite–seizing with paws” sequence followed distinct species-level patterns. The behavioural elements ‘bite’ and ‘seizing with paws’ differed in the degree to which their expression was evolutionarily constrained. Zero-inflated negative binomial phylogenetic generalized linear mixed model (ZINB PGLMM) analysis revealed a statistically significant negative association between the dropping out of these behavioral elements, indicating that most species tended to omit a single attack element rather than both. Cricetinae uniquely exhibited pronounced inter-individual variability, with individuals omitting either element. In Gerbillinae, the dropping out of ‘bites’ occurred not only during unsuccessful attacks but also during successful hunting sequences. Notably, this dropping out showed a strong phylogenetic signal, suggesting a close correspondence between variation in this trait and species relationships. Together, these results highlight the flexibility of sequential attack patterns in rodents, indicating that stereotyped action patterns can be reorganised in response to ecological and behavioural demands. The dropping out of ‘bites’ may represent a transitional step toward more derived attack strategies, such as initiating prey capture with the forepaws. Given the observed interspecific and individual-level variability, we propose that experience-dependent processes may contribute to the modification of hunting sequences. Stable individual differences in hunting behaviour may therefore provide a substrate for natural selection under changing ecological conditions, offering promising directions for future experimental and comparative research.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":6879,"journal":{"name":"acta ethologica","volume":"29 3","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2026-08-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148838027","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Frog distress calls may attract nearby animals during predation: an opportunistic observation involving a Vine Snake, a Blacksmith Treefrog, and marmosets","authors":"Fábio Hepp,&nbsp;Bruna Carvalho","doi":"10.1007/s10211-026-00510-5","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s10211-026-00510-5","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Distress calls are widespread among frogs, yet their communicative function remains poorly understood. Several hypotheses have been proposed, including startling predators, warning nearby individuals, and attracting other animals that may interfere with predation, but direct evidence supporting any of these functions is scarce. Here we report an opportunistic observation of a Blacksmith Treefrog (<i>Boana faber</i>) emitting distress calls while being attacked by a vine snake (<i>Chironius</i> sp.) in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. During the predation event, four hybrid marmosets (<i>Callithrix jacchus</i> × <i>C. penicillata</i>) approached the source of the calls, closely followed the snake, and physically interacted with it while the frog continued vocalizing. The marmosets became progressively more engaged as the frog increased the intensity and rate of distress calling, suggesting that the calls attracted their attention and may have contributed to their interference with the predator. Although the outcome of the predation attempt could not be determined, this observation suggests that frog distress calls may attract nearby animals to an ongoing predation event, potentially creating additional opportunities for escape. Further field observations and experimental studies are needed to determine how widespread this phenomenon is and whether it may have contributed to the evolution of distress calls in frogs.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":6879,"journal":{"name":"acta ethologica","volume":"29 3","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2026-08-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s10211-026-00510-5.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148838012","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A pseudoscorpion clinging to a cave salamander: phoresy or failed predation?","authors":"Luca Colla,&nbsp;Simone Lenci,&nbsp;Francesco Nobile,&nbsp;Matteo Riccardo Di Nicola","doi":"10.1007/s10211-026-00509-y","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s10211-026-00509-y","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Pseudoscorpions are well known for phoretic associations with arthropods, but interactions with amphibians are rarely documented. Here we report a pseudoscorpion attached to the left palpebral region of an adult male Italian cave salamander, <i>Speleomantes italicus</i>, observed during a visual survey in a karst cave in Tuscany, Italy. The pseudoscorpion, assigned on the basis of visible morphology and locality to <i>Chthonius</i> cf. <i>elongatus</i>, was grasping a minute cutaneous fold on the lower margin of the left upper eyelid with one chela while the salamander moved slowly over the rock surface. No handling was performed and the initial contact between the two animals was not observed. The event therefore cannot be interpreted unambiguously, but may represent opportunistic phoresy or defensive attachment following a failed predation attempt. To our knowledge, this is the first published observation of a pseudoscorpion attached to a European plethodontid salamander and highlights a poorly documented interaction between cave salamanders and arachnids.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":6879,"journal":{"name":"acta ethologica","volume":"29 3","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2026-08-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148837724","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The ocean as a laboratory for animal intelligence","authors":"Maria Castro Mariano,&nbsp;Francisco Louro,&nbsp;Patrícia Pinto,&nbsp;João Grave,&nbsp;Victor Callais,&nbsp;Nicolas Collazo,&nbsp;Beatriz Pereira,&nbsp;Daniel Gouveia,&nbsp;Lisandra Tavares,&nbsp;Luís Almeida,&nbsp;Raúl Oliveira,&nbsp;Ana S. Carmo,&nbsp;Catherine E. Sheppard,&nbsp;Tânia Marquês,&nbsp;Arianna Gentili,&nbsp;Catarina Barros,&nbsp;José Ricardo Paula","doi":"10.1007/s10211-026-00504-3","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s10211-026-00504-3","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>The ocean’s physical properties and ecological complexity shape a unique selective environment for the evolution of cognition and behaviour in marine life. This review explores how marine organisms sense, interpret, and act upon information in a three-dimensional space that shifts constantly, influenced by light attenuation, sound transmission, and hydrodynamic flow. We combine information across taxa to show how social and environmental pressures have influenced both domain-specific specialisation and domain-general flexibility. From the diffuse nerve nets of cnidarians to the complex brains of cephalopods and cetaceans, marine cognition displays multiple evolutionary pathways to abilities like problem-solving, learning, and innovation. In ectothermic fish, modular brain systems seem to manage specialised tasks such as social negotiation or spatial learning. Meanwhile, endothermic marine mammals exhibit domain-general intelligence characterised by behavioural flexibility and cultural transmission. It is also discussed individual and social learning behaviours, including cooperation, imitation and teaching, and their ecological significance in marine ecosystems. Unknown insights into cognition under natural conditions are now possible thanks to recent technological developments, including biologging, autonomous vehicles, acoustic monitoring, and neurogenomic tools. Finally, we discuss how anthropogenic stressors such as pollution, artificial noise and light disrupt behavioural plasticity, with implications for adaptation and species resilience. This review combines evolutionary, behavioural, and technical perspectives to present the ocean as a testing ground for cognitive evolution. Furthermore, we also advocate for the broader inclusion of marine ecosystems in ethological and comparative cognitive studies.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":6879,"journal":{"name":"acta ethologica","volume":"29 3","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2026-08-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148750971","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Honey diet reduces mating behavior in a predatory ladybird","authors":"Nathalia Loranna,&nbsp;Andréa Karla da Silva Sena,&nbsp;Gabriela Streppel Steindorff,&nbsp;Wendel José Teles Pontes","doi":"10.1007/s10211-026-00505-2","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s10211-026-00505-2","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>The quantity and quality of diet consumed by ladybugs can influence their life cycle and behavior, in both females and males. Diet can influence female’s pre-oviposition period, mate choice and ovary development, and male’s spermatophore composition and foraging for copulation. We tested the reproductive behavior of Cryptoleamus montrouzieri (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) in four different diet treatments: (1) males and females fed only on honey; (2) males fed on honey and females fed on mealybugs; (3) males fed on mealybugs and females fed on honey; (4) males and females fed only on mealybugs. We also tested if the shift from honey to mealybug restores sexual behaviors on male and females. We found that the alternative diet modifies the sexual behavior of the species. Males fed on honey had significantly fewer engagements and copulations and females became more susceptible to male harassment. A variation in female behavior in both diets indicates that copulation frequency is likely related to the males’ diet. There was a significant increase in the behavioral events when the individuals fed mealybug for seven days. The study suggests that the exclusive consumption of alternative diets, like honey, is an important inhibitory factor in pre-copulatory behavior in C. montrouzieri. These findings suggest that carbohydrate-rich alternative diets may reduce reproductive efficiency in mass-rearing systems and should be carefully managed when maintaining populations of biological control agents.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":6879,"journal":{"name":"acta ethologica","volume":"29 3","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2026-08-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s10211-026-00505-2.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148750680","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Male influence on patterns of aggressive behavior in semi-free ranging macaques","authors":"R. Dolado,&nbsp;H. Meunier,&nbsp;L. Mármol,&nbsp;M. Olivé,&nbsp;F. S. Beltran","doi":"10.1007/s10211-026-00503-4","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s10211-026-00503-4","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Dominance hierarchies are fundamental for understanding the social structure of primate groups. Traditionally, primatological research has focused on female-female interactions to figure out aggression patterns. This approach, centered on female philopatry and food competition among females, has often neglected intersexual interactions and typically examined male and female dominance hierarchies independently, despite beloging to the same social group. Recent studies suggest that intersexual dominance relationships may significantly affect group dominance dynamics, challenging the assumption that males in sexually dimorphic species dominate females. In this study, we examined the effect of intersexual interactions on dominance hierarchies and social structures across four macaque groups (<i>Macaca mulatta n</i> = 11<i>, Macaca fascicularis n</i> = 11<i>, Macaca sylvanus n</i> = 23, and <i>Macaca tonkeana n</i> = 19) living in semi-free ranging conditions. These species were selected for their pronounced sexual dimorphism and wide range of aggressive interactions across different social styles, enabling the assessment of the importance of intersexual interactions. We compared aggressive behavior patterns in the four groups taking into account female–female interactions only <i>versus</i> interactions between all group members (i.e., female–female, female–male and male–male relationships). Analysis of aggressive interactions between all group members showed that groups with a higher proportion of males exhibited smoothed measures of aggressive behavior patterns, resulting in more egalitarian dominance dynamics. Our results suggest that, at least in semi-free ranging groups of macaques, intersexual interactions play a crucial role in shaping aggressive behavior patterns and should be considered when assessing dominance hierarchies.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":6879,"journal":{"name":"acta ethologica","volume":"29 3","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2026-07-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148613603","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Seasonal dynamics in coloration and behavioral strategies in the polymorphic lizard Sceloporus aeneus","authors":"Juan Manuel Carmen-Cristóbal,&nbsp;Carla García-Morales,&nbsp;Liliana Berenice D´Alba-Altamirano,&nbsp;Carlos Alejandro Rangel-Patiño,&nbsp;María de Lourdes Ruiz-Gomez","doi":"10.1007/s10211-026-00502-5","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s10211-026-00502-5","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Color is one of the most conspicuous attributes in nature, strongly associated with behavior and with individual performance. In lizards, color plays an important role in social signaling, including sex recognition, dominance, aggressiveness, physiological condition, and locomotor performance; in some species, it also occurs as discrete color polymorphisms. These polymorphisms have often been linked to alternative reproductive strategies shaped by sexual selection. Here, we experimentally evaluated the association between male color polymorphism, male-male agonistic behavior, and female mate choice in the bunchgrass lizard <i>Sceloporus aeneus</i>. Males exhibit three lateral color morphs: gray, yellow, and orange. We quantified coloration using digital image analysis, assessed aggression through dyadic observations, and evaluated female preference for each morph. We found significant seasonal variation in lateral and ventral coloration, as well as differences in agonistic behavior among morphs. However, these patterns were not strongly associated with dominance status or female preference. Our findings suggest that color polymorphism in <i>S. aeneus</i> may not be a strong signal of male status or fighting ability. Instead, this polymorphism may be maintained by nonsexual selective pressures and random mating, highlighting the potential role of alternative evolutionary mechanisms in shaping phenotypic diversity within the genus.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":6879,"journal":{"name":"acta ethologica","volume":"29 3","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2026-07-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148613747","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}