Applied Animal Behaviour Science最新文献

Mending fences: Relationship quality, not reproductive cycle, predicts reconciliation in Amiata jennies 修补篱笆：关系质量，而不是生育周期，预示着Amiata珍妮的和解

IF 2 2区农林科学 Q1 AGRICULTURE, DAIRY & ANIMAL SCIENCE

Applied Animal Behaviour Science

Pub Date : 2025-12-03 DOI: 10.1016/j.applanim.2025.106885

Alice Galotti , Viviana Forti , Alessandra Rota , Paolo Baragli , Elisabetta Palagi

Research on reconciliation has mainly focused on primates, leaving domestic ungulates largely unexplored. To address this gap, we investigated female–female agonistic and post-conflict dynamics in a stable group of jennies (Equus asinus), integrating behavioral observations with a physiologically validated reproductive parameter. During estrus, females showed increased proximity, suggesting that reproductive cycle promotes tolerance and spatial cohesion. Closer spacing did not lead to more overt aggression, but was associated with a rise in subtle threats, likely functioning as a low-cost strategy to regulate tension while avoiding escalation. Here, we also reported reconciliation in our group of jennies, consistent with findings in horses, a species phylogenetically close to donkeys. Most conciliatory contacts occurred within seconds after aggression and were more frequent between closely bonded partners, supporting the Valuable Relationship Hypothesis. Victims were more likely to initiate post-conflict contacts with close affiliates and aggressors of similar rank, indicating a balance between preserving valuable ties and minimizing risk. Reconciliation was also more likely after high-intensity aggression, suggesting its key role in rapidly repairing relationships when social costs are highest. Contrary to our predictions, the reproductive cycle did not influence post-conflict behavior. The absence of a resident male in the group likely reduced reproductive competition among females, which may explain this result. By integrating physiological and behavioral approaches, this study not only provides the first systematic evidence of reconciliation in donkeys but also demonstrates that subtle social dynamics in female-only groups can be rigorously quantified. Extending conflict management research beyond primates to domestic ungulates reveals mechanisms that are both evolutionarily informative and directly relevant to husbandry, offering novel insights into how social cohesion and welfare can be maintained in managed populations.

关于和解的研究主要集中在灵长类动物身上，而对家养有蹄类动物的研究基本上是未知的。为了解决这一差距，我们研究了一群稳定的珍妮马（Equus asinus）的雌性-雌性激动和冲突后动态，将行为观察与生理验证的生殖参数相结合。在发情期，雌性的接近性增加，表明生殖周期促进了容忍和空间凝聚力。更近的间隔并不会导致更多的公开攻击，但与微妙威胁的增加有关，可能是一种低成本的策略，可以调节紧张情绪，同时避免升级。在这里，我们也报告了我们的珍妮组的和解，与马的发现一致，马是一个在系统发育上接近驴的物种。大多数和解接触发生在攻击后的几秒钟内，而且在关系密切的伴侣之间更频繁，这支持了“有价值关系假说”。受害者更有可能在冲突后与亲密的附属机构和类似级别的侵略者进行接触，这表明在保持有价值的关系和尽量减少风险之间取得了平衡。在高强度的攻击之后，和解也更有可能发生，这表明在社会成本最高的情况下，和解在快速修复关系方面发挥了关键作用。与我们的预测相反，生殖周期并不影响冲突后的行为。群体中没有常驻的雄性可能会减少雌性之间的生殖竞争，这可能解释了这一结果。通过整合生理学和行为学的方法，这项研究不仅提供了驴子和解的第一个系统证据，而且还表明，在只有雌性的群体中，微妙的社会动态可以严格量化。将冲突管理研究从灵长类动物扩展到家养有蹄类动物，揭示了既具有进化信息又与畜牧业直接相关的机制，为如何在管理种群中维持社会凝聚力和福利提供了新的见解。

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引用次数: 0

Assessment of the interrelationship between personality traits, emotional states and abnormal behaviour in horses 马的人格特征、情绪状态和异常行为之间相互关系的评估

IF 2 2区农林科学 Q1 AGRICULTURE, DAIRY & ANIMAL SCIENCE

Applied Animal Behaviour Science

Pub Date : 2025-12-01 DOI: 10.1016/j.applanim.2025.106813

Laize Guedes do Carmo , Matheus Borges de Carvalho , Pedro Vicente Michelotto , Ruan Rolnei Daros

Personality traits may be linked to the development of abnormal behaviours in horses. However, abnormal behaviour could represent an attempt to adapt to the environment to improve the horses' emotional state. This study aimed to investigate whether personality traits can predict the expression of acute abnormal behaviours in horses stabled for a short period and whether the emotional state is influenced by the occurrence of these abnormal behavioural responses or by personality traits. To this end, fifteen mixed breed adult mares, housed outdoors, underwent three validated equine personality tests (open field test, novel object test, and startle test) and a new behavioural test aimed to assess neuroticism in horses. Subsequently, the mares were housed in individual stalls for three consecutive days and were filmed using continuous focal sampling to monitor acute abnormal behavioural responses. At the end of the third day, three additional tests were conducted to assess the emotional state of the mares in the stalls: memory bias test, judgement bias test, and attention test. The results showed that the mares exhibited box walking behaviour but no other abnormal behaviour when housed for three days in an individual box stall. Box walking events were counted and ranked according to the frequency observed in each mare. The median of these values was used to separate the mares into two groups categorized as with and without abnormal behaviour. Principal component analyses were performed to extract the main personality traits from each test; however, there was no association between the extract traits and the groups with and without abnormal behaviour. Additionally, no association was found between box walking frequency and the responses in the memory, judgement, and attention tests. When testing the association of personality traits with cognitive tests, neuroticism showed an association with the memory test, the insecurity trait (novel object test) was negatively associated with the judgement bias test, and the duration of the first alert event (startle test) and neuroticism were associated with the attention test. This study identified box walking within the first three days of housing; however, it was not possible to associate this behaviour with personality traits or cognitive test responses. Nevertheless, certain personality traits, including neuroticism, may be associated with horses' cognitive responses over a short period of individual housing.

性格特征可能与马异常行为的发展有关。然而，不正常的行为可能代表了一种适应环境以改善马的情绪状态的尝试。本研究旨在探讨人格特质是否可以预测短期马厩马急性异常行为的表达，以及这些异常行为反应的发生是否会影响情绪状态，或者人格特质是否会影响情绪状态。为此，15匹混合品种的成年母马被关在户外，进行了三次有效的马性格测试（开放场地测试、新物体测试和惊吓测试）和一项新的行为测试，旨在评估马的神经质。随后，连续三天将母马单独饲养，并使用连续焦点采样拍摄，以监测急性异常行为反应。在第三天结束时，对马的情绪状态进行了三个额外的测试：记忆偏倚测试、判断偏倚测试和注意测试。结果表明，在一个单独的箱栏中饲养3天后，母马表现出箱行走行为，但没有其他异常行为。根据在每匹母马中观察到的频率，对箱子步行事件进行计数和排名。这些值的中位数用于将母马分为两组，分为有和没有异常行为。主成分分析从每个测试中提取主要人格特征；然而，提取物性状与有无异常行为组之间没有相关性。此外，箱子行走频率与记忆、判断和注意力测试的反应之间没有关联。在人格特质与认知测试的关联测试中，神经质与记忆测试呈显著负相关，不安全特质（新客体测试）与判断偏差测试呈显著负相关，首次警觉事件（惊吓测试）持续时间和神经质与注意测试呈显著负相关。这项研究确定了在住房的前三天内进行盒子行走；然而，不可能将这种行为与人格特征或认知测试反应联系起来。然而，某些人格特征，包括神经质，可能与马在短期内的认知反应有关。

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引用次数: 0

Animals and society: Striking the right balance through ethology. Preface for the special issue of the 57th congress of the International Society for Applied Ethology 动物与社会：通过动物行为学达到适当的平衡。国际应用动物行为学学会第57届大会特刊序

IF 2 2区农林科学 Q1 AGRICULTURE, DAIRY & ANIMAL SCIENCE

Applied Animal Behaviour Science

Pub Date : 2025-12-01 DOI: 10.1016/j.applanim.2025.106842

Kris Descovich, Ruan Daros, Andreia de Paula Vieira, Thiago Bernardino, Peta Taylor

引用次数: 0

Corrigendum to “Mouse aversion to isoflurane versus carbon dioxide gas” [Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci. 2014; 158:95–101] “老鼠对异氟烷和二氧化碳气体的厌恶”的勘误表[苹果]。动画。Behav。Sci。2014;158:95 - 101]

IF 2 2区农林科学 Q1 AGRICULTURE, DAIRY & ANIMAL SCIENCE

Applied Animal Behaviour Science

Pub Date : 2025-12-01 DOI: 10.1016/j.applanim.2025.106866

Carly M. Moody, Daniel M. Weary

引用次数: 0

What we can learn from Jane Goodall 我们可以从简·古道尔身上学到什么

IF 2 2区农林科学 Q1 AGRICULTURE, DAIRY & ANIMAL SCIENCE

Applied Animal Behaviour Science

Pub Date : 2025-12-01 DOI: 10.1016/j.applanim.2025.106861

Irene Camerlink, Péter Pongrácz

引用次数: 0

Corrigendum to “Effects of birdwatching tourism on breeding behaviour and reproductive success of hornbills” [Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci. 292 (2025) 106763] “观鸟旅游对犀鸟繁殖行为和繁殖成功的影响”的勘误表[苹果]。动画。Behav。科学通报292 (2025)106763]

IF 2 2区农林科学 Q1 AGRICULTURE, DAIRY & ANIMAL SCIENCE

Applied Animal Behaviour Science

Pub Date : 2025-12-01 DOI: 10.1016/j.applanim.2025.106867

Shuang Yang , Xi Lu , Jiaju Liu , Shuangping Yu , Zuwei Yang , Anru Zuo , Ruixin Mo , Dong Zhu , Shilong Liu , Yubao Duan

引用次数: 0

Can we assess neuroticism in horses? A study on a novel behavioural test 我们能评估马的神经质吗？一种新型行为测试的研究

IF 2 2区农林科学 Q1 AGRICULTURE, DAIRY & ANIMAL SCIENCE

Applied Animal Behaviour Science

Pub Date : 2025-12-01 DOI: 10.1016/j.applanim.2025.106856

Laize Guedes do Carmo , Matheus Borges de Carvalho , Pedro Vicente Michelotto , Ruan Rolnei Daros

Neuroticism is one of the five personality traits described in the Five-Factor Model and is associated with emotional instability and behavioural rigidity. It reflects an individual’s sensitivity to negative emotions, resulting in repetitive behavioural responses aimed at avoiding novelty and the unknown. Although this trait has been assessed in horses through questionnaires, no behavioural test had been developed to measure it objectively. This study aimed to propose a novel behavioural test to assess neuroticism in horses based on patterns of food-choice repetition. Fifteen adult mixed-breed mares were tested over five consecutive days in a familiar arena. The test comprised two phases: (1) food recognition and (2) assessment of repetitive patterns in food consumption. Five food types (carrot sticks, carrot cubes, chicory, apple semicircles, and triangular apple pieces) were placed in five divisions of a table. In phase 1, mares underwent five consecutive three-minute sessions, each presenting a single food type. In phase 2, all five foods were presented simultaneously in a fixed arrangement, and each mare completed one five-minute session per day for four days. The sequence in which each food item was consumed was recorded manually. A repetition-based "interday score" was calculated for each mare to quantify behavioural consistency across days. Scores ranged from 32 to 138 points, indicating individual variability in food-choice patterns. To evaluate whether the score represented a new personality trait, principal component analyses were conducted using behavioural data from three validated personality tests (open field, novel object, and startle tests). The interday score did not load with any component extracted from these tests, suggesting it captured a distinct behavioural dimension. This new test generated diverse, consistent response patterns among individuals and appears to assess a personality trait related to neuroticism; however further validation against questionnaires or other tests that measure (or intent to) neuroticism are still needed. Nonetheless, the findings offer a novel behavioural approach to better understand equine personality.

神经质是五因素模型中描述的五种人格特征之一，与情绪不稳定和行为僵化有关。它反映了一个人对负面情绪的敏感性，导致重复的行为反应，旨在避免新奇和未知。虽然这一特征已经通过问卷调查在马身上进行了评估，但还没有开发出行为测试来客观地衡量它。本研究旨在提出一种基于食物选择重复模式的新的行为测试来评估马的神经质。十五匹成年混血母马在一个熟悉的竞技场连续五天接受测试。测试包括两个阶段：(1)食物识别和(2)评估食物消费的重复模式。五种食物（胡萝卜条、胡萝卜块、菊苣、半圆形苹果和三角形苹果片）被放在桌子的五个部分。在第一阶段，母马经历了连续五次三分钟的训练，每次提供一种食物。在第二阶段，所有五种食物以固定的方式同时呈现，每匹母马每天完成一次五分钟的进食，持续四天。每种食物的食用顺序都是手工记录的。研究人员为每匹母马计算了一个基于重复的“日间得分”，以量化它们在几天内的行为一致性。得分从32分到138分不等，表明个体在食物选择模式上存在差异。为了评估得分是否代表了一种新的人格特质，主成分分析使用了三个经过验证的人格测试（开放领域、新对象和惊吓测试）的行为数据。日间评分没有加载从这些测试中提取的任何成分，这表明它捕获了一个独特的行为维度。这项新测试在个体中产生了多样化、一致的反应模式，似乎是在评估与神经质相关的一种人格特质；然而，针对问卷调查或其他测量（或意图）神经质的测试，还需要进一步的验证。尽管如此，这些发现为更好地理解马的性格提供了一种新的行为方法。

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引用次数: 0

Multi-scale predictors of farrowing site selection of wild pigs (Sus scrofa) 野猪产仔地点选择的多尺度预测因子

IF 2 2区农林科学 Q1 AGRICULTURE, DAIRY & ANIMAL SCIENCE

Applied Animal Behaviour Science

Pub Date : 2025-11-28 DOI: 10.1016/j.applanim.2025.106874

Travis E. Stoakley , Sarah M. Chinn , David A. Keiter , Linda S. Lee , James C. Beasley

The ability to monitor and anticipate reproductive activity is essential to effectively control invasive wildlife species, especially for globally-distributed vertebrates like wild pigs (Sus scrofa) that incur immense management costs each year. While recent studies have made substantial progress in clarifying the temporal dynamics of wild pig reproductive ecology, several aspects of the spatial dynamics of wild pig reproductive ecology warrant additional attention. Specifically, the factors that influence selection of nesting sites (called farrowing sites for wild pigs) are understudied. While previous studies have characterized nest dimensions, composition, and associated plant species, the multi-scale vegetation community composition and environmental predictors of farrowing site selection are relatively uncharacterized. To better understand the spatial component of wild pig farrowing site resource selection, we assessed the fine- and broad-scale land cover and environmental predictors of farrowing sites for 24 mature female wild pigs at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina, USA, between May 2016 – February 2020. Wild pigs monitored in our study established farrowing sites in areas with diverse understory vegetation and were always near water. Compared to farrowing sites used in autumn-winter, sites used in spring-summer had greater light intensity but not greater canopy cover. Nests were predominantly located in upland pine stands or hardwood-dominated riparian areas, and selection was generally proportional to the land cover composition of the study area. Distance to water was the only statistically predictive broad-scale land cover covariate of farrowing site selection in our study. Fine-scale vegetation analyses outperformed broad-scale analyses for predicting farrowing site selection, which inherently hinder managers’ ability to use publicly-available satellite imagery to readily identify areas where parturition is most likely to occur. Therefore, knowledge of fine-scale vegetation composition of an area can improve managers’ ability to discover active or recently used farrowing sites—signals of reproductive activity that are essential for managers to monitor during intensive management or eradication programs. Overall, understanding the spatial patterns of reproduction is important for managing and eradicating target invasive species, and the ability to monitor and anticipate where reproduction occurs around peak reproductive periods can guide management efforts.

监测和预测繁殖活动的能力对于有效控制入侵野生动物物种至关重要，特别是对于全球分布的脊椎动物，如野猪（Sus scrofa），每年都会产生巨大的管理成本。虽然最近的研究在澄清野猪繁殖生态的时间动态方面取得了实质性进展，但野猪繁殖生态的空间动态的几个方面值得进一步关注。具体来说，影响筑巢地点（野猪的产仔地点）选择的因素尚未得到充分研究。虽然以往的研究已经描述了巢的尺寸、组成和相关的植物种类，但多尺度植被群落组成和产卵地点选择的环境预测因素相对不明确。为了更好地了解野猪产仔地资源选择的空间组成部分，我们于2016年5月至2020年2月在美国南卡罗来纳州萨凡纳河遗址对24只成熟雌性野猪的产仔地进行了精细尺度和宽尺度的土地覆盖和环境预测。在我们的研究中监测的野猪在有多种林下植被的地区建立了产仔地点，并且总是靠近水。与秋冬季产仔地相比，春夏季产仔地光照强度更大，但冠层盖度没有增加。巢主要分布在高地松林或硬木为主的河岸地带，巢的选择与研究区土地覆盖构成成正比。在我们的研究中，离水距离是唯一具有统计学预测性的大尺度土地覆盖协变量。精细尺度的植被分析在预测分娩地点选择方面优于大尺度分析，后者本质上阻碍了管理人员使用公开可用的卫星图像来轻松识别最有可能发生分娩的区域的能力。因此，了解一个地区的精细植被组成可以提高管理者发现活跃的或最近使用过的产卵场的能力——这是繁殖活动的信号，对于管理者在集约化管理或根除计划中进行监测至关重要。总体而言，了解繁殖的空间模式对于管理和根除目标入侵物种非常重要，并且能够监测和预测在繁殖高峰期发生繁殖的地方可以指导管理工作。

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引用次数: 0

Absolute vs. relative morphometric traits as indicators of social rank in common elands 作为公共土地社会等级指标的绝对形态特征与相对形态特征

IF 2 2区农林科学 Q1 AGRICULTURE, DAIRY & ANIMAL SCIENCE

Applied Animal Behaviour Science

Pub Date : 2025-11-28 DOI: 10.1016/j.applanim.2025.106875

Francisco Ceacero , Maxime Bruneau , Martina Komárková , Radim Kotrba

Understanding the mechanisms underlying social hierarchy formation in ungulates is crucial for elucidating the dynamics of group living and intraspecific interactions. While absolute cues are used in every study, relative ones are frequently neglected. We investigated the role of absolute and relative morphometric traits as cues for assessing social rank in common elands (Tragelaphus oryx), a gregarious ungulate species with complex fission-fusion social structures. Through detailed observations and image analysis of 17 adult females and 22 males in two captive herds, we examined the relationships between absolute and relative morphometric traits (horn, body, and dewlap size) and social rank. Initial analyses showed that most absolute variables correlate with social rank in females, while just a few relative ones weakly correlated with rank. On the contrary, only dewlap-related variables, both absolute and relative, correlated with rank in males. This result is probably connected to the different functions of horns and dewlap for each gender. After deeper modelling, age emerged as a significant predictor of social rank, with older individuals occupying higher positions within the social hierarchy, being the main determinant of rank in females (no absolute or relative influence of body, horns or dewlap morphometrics), while the relative size of the dewlap was confirmed as a main determinant of rank in males. These results suggest that individuals may rely more on cues related to dewlap size, which may offer more easily discernible signals of dominance compared to absolute morphometric traits such as horn length or body size. Our study provides valuable insights into the factors influencing social hierarchy formation in social ungulates and highlights the importance of considering both absolute and relative morphometric traits in understanding dominance signalling mechanisms.

了解有蹄类动物社会等级形成的机制对于阐明群体生活和种内相互作用的动力学至关重要。虽然绝对线索在每项研究中都被使用，但相对线索往往被忽视。我们研究了绝对形态特征和相对形态特征在公地羚羊（Tragelaphus oryx）中作为社会等级评估线索的作用，公地羚羊是一种具有复杂分裂融合社会结构的群居有蹄类物种。通过对两个圈养象群中17只成年雌性和22只雄性的详细观察和图像分析，研究了绝对和相对形态特征（角、身体和乳头大小）与社会等级之间的关系。最初的分析表明，大多数绝对变量与女性的社会地位相关，而只有少数相对变量与地位弱相关。相反，只有与毛发相关的变量，无论是绝对的还是相对的，与男性的等级相关。这一结果可能与不同性别的角和赘肉的不同功能有关。在深入建模之后，年龄成为社会等级的重要预测因素，年龄较大的个体在社会等级中占据较高的位置，是女性等级的主要决定因素（身体、角或赘肉形态计量学没有绝对或相对影响），而赘肉的相对大小被证实是男性等级的主要决定因素。这些结果表明，与角长或体型等绝对形态特征相比，个体可能更依赖与蜕皮大小有关的线索，这可能提供更容易识别的优势信号。我们的研究为影响社会有蹄类动物社会等级形成的因素提供了有价值的见解，并强调了在理解优势信号机制时考虑绝对和相对形态特征的重要性。

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引用次数: 0

Invasive catfish detection with scent detection dogs 用嗅探犬进行入侵式鲶鱼探测

IF 2 2区农林科学 Q1 AGRICULTURE, DAIRY & ANIMAL SCIENCE

Applied Animal Behaviour Science

Pub Date : 2025-11-27 DOI: 10.1016/j.applanim.2025.106872

Renee Denby , Lauren Hopkins , Lauren Little , Grant W. Tempero , Clare Browne , Melissa Collins , Nicholas Ling , Timothy L. Edwards

Dogs have been demonstrated to be capable detectors of some aquatic species. However, taking dogs into the field for aquatic species detection is not always practical. A recently developed system that involves bringing water samples from the field into a laboratory environment to be evaluated by dogs has shown promise for koi carp (Cyprinus rubrofuscus) detection. In the present study, we replicated these methods to evaluate dogs’ ability to detect brown bullhead catfish (Ameiurus nebulosus). In Experiment 1, we evaluated the dogs’ detection thresholds for catfish detection and determined that they can detect the presence of catfish at operationally useful biomass concentrations in dechlorinated municipal water. To be operationally feasible, samples taken from field sites would need to be preserved between collection and evaluation. Therefore, in Experiment 2, we examined the influence of two water preservation methods, refrigeration and freezing, and found no evidence of any deleterious effect of either method on dogs’ catfish-detection performance. In Experiment 3, we evaluated the dogs’ performance when working with water from natural water sources and, therefore, containing other volatile organic compounds. Under these conditions, dogs were capable of accurately classifying samples at low biomass concentrations, similar to their performance in Experiment 1. These findings strengthen the evidence for the utility of this system for monitoring waterbodies for incursions of a variety of invasive aquatic species.

狗已被证明有探测某些水生物种的能力。然而，带狗进入现场进行水生物种检测并不总是可行的。最近开发的一种系统，包括将现场的水样带到实验室环境中由狗进行评估，已显示出检测锦鲤（Cyprinus rubrofuscus）的希望。在本研究中，我们重复了这些方法来评估狗检测棕色牛头鲶鱼（Ameiurus nebulosus）的能力。在实验1中，我们评估了狗对鲶鱼检测的检测阈值，并确定它们可以在脱氯市政水中检测到有用生物量浓度的鲶鱼。为了在操作上可行，需要在收集和评价之间保存从实地地点采集的样本。因此，在实验2中，我们考察了冷藏和冷冻两种保水方法的影响，并没有发现任何证据表明这两种方法对狗的鲶鱼检测性能有任何有害影响。在实验3中，我们评估了狗在使用天然水源的水（因此含有其他挥发性有机化合物）时的表现。在这些条件下，狗能够准确地对低生物量浓度的样本进行分类，与实验1中的表现相似。这些发现加强了该系统用于监测水体中各种入侵水生物种入侵的证据。

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引用次数: 0