Pub Date : 2025-07-28DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2025.105242
Shannon L. O’Brien, Addie Diaz, Katherine A. Cronin
Within zoos, it is common for animals that are considered solitary to be housed with conspecifics. This may be due to a variety of factors such as spatial constraints within zoos, difficulties associated with transferring animals, breeding goals, and/or other management challenges. However, the welfare implications of housing solitary animals with conspecifics are not well understood. This opportunistic study examined the impact of different housing densities (two versus four individuals) on red-footed tortoise social dynamics and behavior. Agonistic behaviors, primarily mounting, were significantly higher when four tortoises were present. Additionally, the tortoises utilized more of their enclosure when four tortoises were present. Social network analyses revealed that the tortoises had a dominance hierarchy, with high asymmetry and unidirectionality between tortoise dyads. Further, social inactivity decreased when only two tortoises were present. Collectively, the results of this study provide valuable information about the relationship between housing density and behavior in these tortoises, which can inform future study design and management strategies at other institutions that house reptiles socially.
{"title":"Social dynamics and behavior of zoo-housed red-footed tortoises at different housing densities","authors":"Shannon L. O’Brien, Addie Diaz, Katherine A. Cronin","doi":"10.1016/j.beproc.2025.105242","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.beproc.2025.105242","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Within zoos, it is common for animals that are considered solitary to be housed with conspecifics. This may be due to a variety of factors such as spatial constraints within zoos, difficulties associated with transferring animals, breeding goals, and/or other management challenges. However, the welfare implications of housing solitary animals with conspecifics are not well understood. This opportunistic study examined the impact of different housing densities (two versus four individuals) on red-footed tortoise social dynamics and behavior. Agonistic behaviors, primarily mounting, were significantly higher when four tortoises were present. Additionally, the tortoises utilized more of their enclosure when four tortoises were present. Social network analyses revealed that the tortoises had a dominance hierarchy, with high asymmetry and unidirectionality between tortoise dyads. Further, social inactivity decreased when only two tortoises were present. Collectively, the results of this study provide valuable information about the relationship between housing density and behavior in these tortoises, which can inform future study design and management strategies at other institutions that house reptiles socially.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":8746,"journal":{"name":"Behavioural Processes","volume":"231 ","pages":"Article 105242"},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2025-07-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144738758","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}
Pub Date : 2025-07-25DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2025.105240
Ana Paula Vanderley-Cardoso, Paulo Sergio Dillon Soares-Filho, Diana Milena Cortés-Patiño
Resurgence of a target response is typically induced by worsening the alternative reinforcement conditions by extinction procedures and only a few studies have examined the effects of alternative devaluation procedures, such as timeout. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of punishing an alternative response with a timeout on the resurgence of a target response. Six rats were exposed to four experimental conditions sequentially. In Phase 1 the target response was trained (VI 10 s); In Phase 2, the target response was extinguished while an alternative response was reinforced (VI 10 s); In Phase 3, the alternative response continued to be reinforced but a 50 s timeout could be produced with a probability of .5 and the target response continued in extinction; and in Phase 4, the alternative response was extinguished. Timeout suppressed the alternative response and induced a resurgence for all subjects. To most of the subjects (4 out of 6), extinction produced a greater resurgence than timeout. The present study provides evidence that timeout can induce resurgence and highlights the need for future research to examine how variations in global and local reinforcement rates, as well as stimulus changes independent of reinforcement rate, may influence resurgence.
{"title":"Effect of timeout punishment of an alternative response on the target response resurgence","authors":"Ana Paula Vanderley-Cardoso, Paulo Sergio Dillon Soares-Filho, Diana Milena Cortés-Patiño","doi":"10.1016/j.beproc.2025.105240","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.beproc.2025.105240","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Resurgence of a target response is typically induced by worsening the alternative reinforcement conditions by extinction procedures and only a few studies have examined the effects of alternative devaluation procedures, such as timeout. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of punishing an alternative response with a timeout on the resurgence of a target response. Six rats were exposed to four experimental conditions sequentially. In Phase 1 the target response was trained (VI 10 s); In Phase 2, the target response was extinguished while an alternative response was reinforced (VI 10 s); In Phase 3, the alternative response continued to be reinforced but a 50 s timeout could be produced with a probability of .5 and the target response continued in extinction; and in Phase 4, the alternative response was extinguished. Timeout suppressed the alternative response and induced a resurgence for all subjects. To most of the subjects (4 out of 6), extinction produced a greater resurgence than timeout. The present study provides evidence that timeout can induce resurgence and highlights the need for future research to examine how variations in global and local reinforcement rates, as well as stimulus changes independent of reinforcement rate, may influence resurgence.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":8746,"journal":{"name":"Behavioural Processes","volume":"231 ","pages":"Article 105240"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2025-07-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144711232","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}
Pub Date : 2025-07-25DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2025.105241
Maria Cecília de Souza , Gabriel Quaresma Bastos , Crystian Moraes Silva Gomes , Rosana Suemi Tokumaru
Canine anxiety is related to genetic and environmental factors and can significantly impact the wellbeing of both dogs and their guardians. This survey-based study investigated the characteristics of dogs, their environments and routines, as well as the sociodemographic profiles of guardians, alongside the situations that elicit anxiety and the associated behaviors in Brazilian dogs. Data were collected from 795 dogs based on guardian responses to a demographic questionnaire and a culturally and linguistically adapted version of the Lincoln Canine Anxiety Scale for use in Brazil, designed to assess anxious behaviors across various contexts. Results showed that Hearing fireworks and Being left alone were the most frequently reported anxiety-inducing situations, identified by 27.5 % and 20.2 % of participants, respectively. The most frequently reported behaviors were "Alertness" and "Barking, whining, or howling," whereas "Self-harm" and "Chasing tail" were the least reported. Respondents indicated higher anxiety scores for neutered dogs and those adopted from shelters. In contrast, more frequent walks were also associated with lower reported anxiety. Lower anxiety levels were reported for dogs owned by older individuals, male respondents, and those who were married or in stable relationships. These findings highlight the importance of considering individual dog characteristics, daily routines, and guardian demographics when developing strategies for managing and addressing canine anxiety.
{"title":"Anxiety in Brazilian dogs: Typical behaviors, anxiety-inducing situations, and sociodemographic factors","authors":"Maria Cecília de Souza , Gabriel Quaresma Bastos , Crystian Moraes Silva Gomes , Rosana Suemi Tokumaru","doi":"10.1016/j.beproc.2025.105241","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.beproc.2025.105241","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Canine anxiety is related to genetic and environmental factors and can significantly impact the wellbeing of both dogs and their guardians. This survey-based study investigated the characteristics of dogs, their environments and routines, as well as the sociodemographic profiles of guardians, alongside the situations that elicit anxiety and the associated behaviors in Brazilian dogs. Data were collected from 795 dogs based on guardian responses to a demographic questionnaire and a culturally and linguistically adapted version of the Lincoln Canine Anxiety Scale for use in Brazil, designed to assess anxious behaviors across various contexts. Results showed that Hearing fireworks and Being left alone were the most frequently reported anxiety-inducing situations, identified by 27.5 % and 20.2 % of participants, respectively. The most frequently reported behaviors were \"Alertness\" and \"Barking, whining, or howling,\" whereas \"Self-harm\" and \"Chasing tail\" were the least reported. Respondents indicated higher anxiety scores for neutered dogs and those adopted from shelters. In contrast, more frequent walks were also associated with lower reported anxiety. Lower anxiety levels were reported for dogs owned by older individuals, male respondents, and those who were married or in stable relationships. These findings highlight the importance of considering individual dog characteristics, daily routines, and guardian demographics when developing strategies for managing and addressing canine anxiety.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":8746,"journal":{"name":"Behavioural Processes","volume":"231 ","pages":"Article 105241"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2025-07-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144711241","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}
Pub Date : 2025-07-22DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2025.105239
Isaac Muñoz-Santos , José Roberto Sosa-López , Alejandro Ariel Ríos-Chelén
Most research on the effects of anthropogenic noise on animal acoustic communication has dealt with masking noise (which frequencies overlap with those of animal vocalizations) and changes in noise-induced vocalizations have been explained as strategies to avoid masking. Still, few studies have addressed the impact of non-masking noise on animal vocal behavior. A previous experiment showed that vermilion flycatchers (Pyrocephalus rubinus) avoid singing during peaks of noise that partially mask their songs, suggesting this is a strategy to improve communication in masking noise. If this were the case, we expect that males should continue to sing when exposed to non-masking noise. Here we tested this idea by exposing 21 free-living males, via a speaker, to edited non-masking traffic noise with maximum frequencies of 2 kHz and 1 kHz. We compared the number of songs the focal male sang in a bout before, during and after noise playback. A low but significant proportion of males immediately stopped singing after the onset of 1 kHz (4/21) and 2 kHz (8/21) filtered noise playbacks. Number of songs between treatments did not differ when males were exposed to the 2 kHz filtered noise playback. However, males sang fewer songs after 1 kHz filtered noise exposure than before exposure. Our study does not discard the possibility that males reduce masking when stopping to sing during noise peaks, but it shows that masking release is not required for males to stop singing. Non-masking noise can disrupt bird song, potentially affecting sexual selection and breeding.
{"title":"Non-masking noise suppresses bird song","authors":"Isaac Muñoz-Santos , José Roberto Sosa-López , Alejandro Ariel Ríos-Chelén","doi":"10.1016/j.beproc.2025.105239","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.beproc.2025.105239","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Most research on the effects of anthropogenic noise on animal acoustic communication has dealt with masking noise (which frequencies overlap with those of animal vocalizations) and changes in noise-induced vocalizations have been explained as strategies to avoid masking. Still, few studies have addressed the impact of non-masking noise on animal vocal behavior. A previous experiment showed that vermilion flycatchers (<em>Pyrocephalus rubinus</em>) avoid singing during peaks of noise that partially mask their songs, suggesting this is a strategy to improve communication in masking noise. If this were the case, we expect that males should continue to sing when exposed to non-masking noise. Here we tested this idea by exposing 21 free-living males, via a speaker, to edited non-masking traffic noise with maximum frequencies of 2 kHz and 1 kHz. We compared the number of songs the focal male sang in a bout before, during and after noise playback. A low but significant proportion of males immediately stopped singing after the onset of 1 kHz (4/21) and 2 kHz (8/21) filtered noise playbacks. Number of songs between treatments did not differ when males were exposed to the 2 kHz filtered noise playback. However, males sang fewer songs after 1 kHz filtered noise exposure than before exposure. Our study does not discard the possibility that males reduce masking when stopping to sing during noise peaks, but it shows that masking release is not required for males to stop singing. Non-masking noise can disrupt bird song, potentially affecting sexual selection and breeding.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":8746,"journal":{"name":"Behavioural Processes","volume":"231 ","pages":"Article 105239"},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2025-07-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144706122","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}
Pub Date : 2025-07-22DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2025.105238
Angel M. Villalobos , Diego A. Ávila-Rozo , Carolyn M. Ritchey , Carla N. Martinez-Perez , Matthew S. Lamperski , Toshikazu Kuroda , Christopher A. Podlesnik
Resurgence is the recurrence of a previously extinguished target response under the worsening of alternative conditions. Worsening conditions include extinction, reduction in rate and magnitude of reinforcement, delayed reinforcement, and punishment of alternative responding. Previous studies found resurgence from within-subject increases in intensity of shock as positive punishment of alternative responding in rats. The present study aimed to replicate this effect using a response-cost punishment contingency for alternative responding in human participants. During Phase 1, target-button presses were reinforced with points according to a variable-interval (VI) 2-s schedule. During Phase 2, target responses were extinguished, and clicks on the alternative button were reinforced with the same schedule. During Phase 3, a response-cost contingency was superimposed on the VI schedule. In each successive minute, participants lost 100, 320, or 1000 points for alternative responding. Losing points for alternative responses produced resurgence of target responding, but further increasing response-cost magnitude did not increase resurgence. We found some instances of resurgence without accompanying decreases in reinforcer rates; however, as in previous studies, most target increases were accompanied by decreases in reinforcer rates. Because decreases in reinforcer rates complicate attributing resurgence to punishment alone, future research might evaluate wider ranges of punisher rates and magnitudes when studying resurgence-inducing effects of punishment contingencies.
{"title":"Resurgence of target behavior after negative punishment of alternative behavior","authors":"Angel M. Villalobos , Diego A. Ávila-Rozo , Carolyn M. Ritchey , Carla N. Martinez-Perez , Matthew S. Lamperski , Toshikazu Kuroda , Christopher A. Podlesnik","doi":"10.1016/j.beproc.2025.105238","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.beproc.2025.105238","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Resurgence is the recurrence of a previously extinguished target response under the worsening of alternative conditions. Worsening conditions include extinction, reduction in rate and magnitude of reinforcement, delayed reinforcement, and punishment of alternative responding. Previous studies found resurgence from within-subject increases in intensity of shock as positive punishment of alternative responding in rats. The present study aimed to replicate this effect using a response-cost punishment contingency for alternative responding in human participants. During Phase 1, target-button presses were reinforced with points according to a variable-interval (VI) 2-s schedule. During Phase 2, target responses were extinguished, and clicks on the alternative button were reinforced with the same schedule. During Phase 3, a response-cost contingency was superimposed on the VI schedule. In each successive minute, participants lost 100, 320, or 1000 points for alternative responding. Losing points for alternative responses produced resurgence of target responding, but further increasing response-cost magnitude did not increase resurgence. We found some instances of resurgence without accompanying decreases in reinforcer rates; however, as in previous studies, most target increases were accompanied by decreases in reinforcer rates. Because decreases in reinforcer rates complicate attributing resurgence to punishment alone, future research might evaluate wider ranges of punisher rates and magnitudes when studying resurgence-inducing effects of punishment contingencies.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":8746,"journal":{"name":"Behavioural Processes","volume":"231 ","pages":"Article 105238"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2025-07-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144702562","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}
Pub Date : 2025-07-22DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2025.105237
Paulo S. Amorim , Pedro Diniz
Many territorial animals can distinguish neighbors from strangers when these categories represent different threat levels. This ability may stem from class-based recognition, where individuals are categorized as neighbors based on habituation or familiarity with shared sensory cues, or from true individual recognition, where specific neighbors are recognized by memorizing their unique sensory signatures. We tested whether rufous horneros (Furnarius rufus), a suboscine bird with year-round territorial pairs that produce distinctive vocal signatures, could associate acoustic and spatial information from neighbors and perceive them as less threatening than strangers, potentially indicating acoustic recognition of neighbors. We simulated territorial interactions by broadcasting neighbor and stranger duets at the neighbor boundary, inhabited by the neighbor, and at an unoccupied boundary, which lacked a neighbor or territory. Birds were more likely to fly toward the speaker in response to stranger (unfamiliar) duets than to neighbor duets at both boundaries. However, owners became more vigilant when hearing a neighbor’s duet from the unoccupied boundary than from the neighbor boundary, while their responses to stranger duets were similar at both boundaries. Although birds detected mismatches between spatial and acoustic cues, their physical (flight toward the speaker) and vocal (likelihood of duetting) aggressive responses were similar toward neighbors regardless of territorial boundary, indicating no immediate retaliation for minor boundary violations. These results suggest that rufous horneros may acoustically recognize specific neighbors and provide insights into the evolution of collective signals in mediating social interactions among non-vocal learners.
{"title":"Increased vigilance to neighbor duets broadcast from unexpected territorial boundaries in rufous horneros","authors":"Paulo S. Amorim , Pedro Diniz","doi":"10.1016/j.beproc.2025.105237","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.beproc.2025.105237","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Many territorial animals can distinguish neighbors from strangers when these categories represent different threat levels. This ability may stem from class-based recognition, where individuals are categorized as neighbors based on habituation or familiarity with shared sensory cues, or from true individual recognition, where specific neighbors are recognized by memorizing their unique sensory signatures. We tested whether rufous horneros (<em>Furnarius rufus</em>), a suboscine bird with year-round territorial pairs that produce distinctive vocal signatures, could associate acoustic and spatial information from neighbors and perceive them as less threatening than strangers, potentially indicating acoustic recognition of neighbors. We simulated territorial interactions by broadcasting neighbor and stranger duets at the neighbor boundary, inhabited by the neighbor, and at an unoccupied boundary, which lacked a neighbor or territory. Birds were more likely to fly toward the speaker in response to stranger (unfamiliar) duets than to neighbor duets at both boundaries. However, owners became more vigilant when hearing a neighbor’s duet from the unoccupied boundary than from the neighbor boundary, while their responses to stranger duets were similar at both boundaries. Although birds detected mismatches between spatial and acoustic cues, their physical (flight toward the speaker) and vocal (likelihood of duetting) aggressive responses were similar toward neighbors regardless of territorial boundary, indicating no immediate retaliation for minor boundary violations. These results suggest that rufous horneros may acoustically recognize specific neighbors and provide insights into the evolution of collective signals in mediating social interactions among non-vocal learners.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":8746,"journal":{"name":"Behavioural Processes","volume":"231 ","pages":"Article 105237"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2025-07-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144706121","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}
Pub Date : 2025-07-08DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2025.105236
Rajeev Lochan , Dinesh Kumar Sharma , Anand Kumar
Anthropogenic noise, an unexpected consequence of human activities, is disrupting the natural habitat of the Himalayan Monal and affecting its vocal communication. This study examines the impact of noise on the vocal frequency characteristics of this species across two distinct habitats, one exposed to anthropogenic noise and the other relatively undisturbed. Call parameters and noise variables were analyzed through quantile regression to understand how vocal behavior is influenced in different acoustic environments. The analysis considered multiple quantiles, including the 10th, 25th, 50th, 75th, and 95th percentiles, to capture the full range of variation in vocalization patterns. Our study is based on two hypotheses, the first hypothesis proposes that noise influences call frequency, resulting in an increase in call frequency as a response to noise. The second hypothesis suggests that call duration, particularly at the upper 90 % quantiles, exhibits varying responses to noise across different habitats, with longer calls occurring in noisier environments at higher quantiles. The results indicate that at the 10th, 50th, 75th, and 95th quantiles of call peak frequency, the pseudo-R squared values increased to 0.231, 0.215, 0.454, and 0.734, respectively, suggesting an improvement in model fit at higher quantiles. At the 95th quantile, the model accounted for approximately 73.4 % of the variation in peak frequency, whereas lower quantiles, such as the 10th and 50th percentiles, exhibited lower explanatory power. The Mean Absolute Error increased with rising quantiles, from 142.14 at q= 0.1–185.49 at q= 0.95, indicating greater variability in peak frequency at higher quantiles. This trend suggests that noise and vocal characteristics exert a more pronounced influence on the upper range of the vocal distribution, particularly at higher call frequencies, compared to lower frequencies. Additionally, a slight difference in call length was observed.
{"title":"Noise-induced vocal shifts in the Himalayan Monal (Lophophorus impejanus) vocal distribution in two different habitats","authors":"Rajeev Lochan , Dinesh Kumar Sharma , Anand Kumar","doi":"10.1016/j.beproc.2025.105236","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.beproc.2025.105236","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Anthropogenic noise, an unexpected consequence of human activities, is disrupting the natural habitat of the Himalayan Monal and affecting its vocal communication. This study examines the impact of noise on the vocal frequency characteristics of this species across two distinct habitats, one exposed to anthropogenic noise and the other relatively undisturbed. Call parameters and noise variables were analyzed through quantile regression to understand how vocal behavior is influenced in different acoustic environments. The analysis considered multiple quantiles, including the 10th, 25th, 50th, 75th, and 95th percentiles, to capture the full range of variation in vocalization patterns. Our study is based on two hypotheses, the first hypothesis proposes that noise influences call frequency, resulting in an increase in call frequency as a response to noise. The second hypothesis suggests that call duration, particularly at the upper 90 % quantiles, exhibits varying responses to noise across different habitats, with longer calls occurring in noisier environments at higher quantiles. The results indicate that at the 10th, 50th, 75th, and 95th quantiles of call peak frequency, the pseudo-R squared values increased to 0.231, 0.215, 0.454, and 0.734, respectively, suggesting an improvement in model fit at higher quantiles. At the 95th quantile, the model accounted for approximately 73.4 % of the variation in peak frequency, whereas lower quantiles, such as the 10th and 50th percentiles, exhibited lower explanatory power. The Mean Absolute Error increased with rising quantiles, from 142.14 at q= 0.1–185.49 at q= 0.95, indicating greater variability in peak frequency at higher quantiles. This trend suggests that noise and vocal characteristics exert a more pronounced influence on the upper range of the vocal distribution, particularly at higher call frequencies, compared to lower frequencies. Additionally, a slight difference in call length was observed.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":8746,"journal":{"name":"Behavioural Processes","volume":"230 ","pages":"Article 105236"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2025-07-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144580048","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}
Prey species may assess the risk of being preyed upon and consequently decide adequate antipredator behaviours that increase their probability of survival. Predation risk is expected to increase with predation pressure, and conversely, to decrease with habitat complexity. Additionally, the colour pattern of the prey may also influence predation risk and conspicuous animals may experience higher risk than cryptic ones. Here we studied escape behaviour of Liolaemus kolengh and L. zullyae, two Patagonian lizard species occurring in habitats with different complexity and abundance of predators. Additionally, they exhibit sexual dichromatism with colourful males and cryptic females. We predicted that both species would show similar escape behaviour, with males showing more intense responses than females. In the field, we simulated predation events and registered flight initiation distance (FID) and refuge distance (RD), two escape behaviour variables related to predation risk in lizards. As expected, both species showed similar FID and RD, which may be explained by the combination of high abundance of predators-high complexity at the habitat of L. zullyae, and low abundance of predators-low complexity at the site of L. kolengh, but also by similar availability and use of rocks as refuges by the species. Intra-specifically, sex influenced FID of L. kolengh lizards only when perching on bare ground, with females allowing closer approaches than males, probably related to a lower detectability against this background. We suggest that environmental variables, microhabitat use and intrinsic characteristics, such as coloration and sex may interact to influence predation risk and escape behaviour.
{"title":"Predation risk in two Patagonian Liolaemus lizards: Similar escape behaviour in different environmental contexts","authors":"Martín Cristian Castillo , Félix Benjamín Cruz , Oscar Aníbal Stellatelli , Candela Victorel , Mauro Iván Bonavita , Gabriela Perotti , Débora Lina Moreno Azócar","doi":"10.1016/j.beproc.2025.105235","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.beproc.2025.105235","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Prey species may assess the risk of being preyed upon and consequently decide adequate antipredator behaviours that increase their probability of survival. Predation risk is expected to increase with predation pressure, and conversely, to decrease with habitat complexity. Additionally, the colour pattern of the prey may also influence predation risk and conspicuous animals may experience higher risk than cryptic ones. Here we studied escape behaviour of <em>Liolaemus kolengh</em> and <em>L. zullyae</em>, two Patagonian lizard species occurring in habitats with different complexity and abundance of predators. Additionally, they exhibit sexual dichromatism with colourful males and cryptic females. We predicted that both species would show similar escape behaviour, with males showing more intense responses than females. In the field, we simulated predation events and registered flight initiation distance (FID) and refuge distance (RD), two escape behaviour variables related to predation risk in lizards. As expected, both species showed similar FID and RD, which may be explained by the combination of high abundance of predators-high complexity at the habitat of L. <em>zullyae</em>, and low abundance of predators-low complexity at the site of <em>L. kolengh</em>, but also by similar availability and use of rocks as refuges by the species. Intra-specifically, sex influenced FID of <em>L. kolengh</em> lizards only when perching on bare ground, with females allowing closer approaches than males, probably related to a lower detectability against this background. We suggest that environmental variables, microhabitat use and intrinsic characteristics, such as coloration and sex may interact to influence predation risk and escape behaviour.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":8746,"journal":{"name":"Behavioural Processes","volume":"230 ","pages":"Article 105235"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2025-07-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144567020","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}
Pub Date : 2025-07-04DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2025.105234
Ioanna Gavriilidi , Cristina Aanei , Clara Vinyeta-Cortada , Panayiotis Pafilis , Raoul Van Damme
Conspecifics often constitute a valuable source of information. For instance, animals are often attracted to a foraging site by the presence of conspecifics, a phenomenon known as ‘local enhancement’. Theory predicts that animals should engage in local enhancement only when associated benefits (efficient resource detection) outweigh the costs (increased interference competition), a trade off that depends on environmental context. Insular and mainland habitats differ in key ecological factors, such as predation pressure, competition, and food availability, which likely affect how animals use social cues while foraging. Here, we compared the local enhancement behaviour of Aegean wall lizards from three small islets, two larger islands, and two mainland sites in Greece. In the wild, lizards were offered food near a transparent container that either held a conspecific (social trials) or was empty (control). We then compared whether and how fast individuals would (1) emerge near, (2) approach, and (3) start eating the food, between social and control situations, and among habitats (mainland, island, or islet). We also looked at whether the presence of conspecifics – confined, or free-roaming when multiple lizards were attracted – provoked interference competition. Conspecific cues influenced foraging decisions in a complex manner. The presence of confined conspecifics had only minor effects, but other free roaming conspecifics accelerated or inhibited foraging activities, depending on their type (emerging, approaching, eating). Insular lizards also engaged in more aggressive interactions than mainland ones. Our results indicate that the costs and benefits of local enhancement may vary geographically, but they are inconclusive due to methodological limitations. Further research is needed to identify the environmental conditions favouring the evolution of local enhancement and social cognition.
{"title":"Conspecific presence affects foraging decisions of insular and mainland Aegean wall lizards (Podarcis erhardii)","authors":"Ioanna Gavriilidi , Cristina Aanei , Clara Vinyeta-Cortada , Panayiotis Pafilis , Raoul Van Damme","doi":"10.1016/j.beproc.2025.105234","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.beproc.2025.105234","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Conspecifics often constitute a valuable source of information. For instance, animals are often attracted to a foraging site by the presence of conspecifics, a phenomenon known as ‘local enhancement’. Theory predicts that animals should engage in local enhancement only when associated benefits (efficient resource detection) outweigh the costs (increased interference competition), a trade off that depends on environmental context. Insular and mainland habitats differ in key ecological factors, such as predation pressure, competition, and food availability, which likely affect how animals use social cues while foraging. Here, we compared the local enhancement behaviour of Aegean wall lizards from three small islets, two larger islands, and two mainland sites in Greece. In the wild, lizards were offered food near a transparent container that either held a conspecific (social trials) or was empty (control). We then compared whether and how fast individuals would (1) emerge near, (2) approach, and (3) start eating the food, between social and control situations, and among habitats (mainland, island, or islet). We also looked at whether the presence of conspecifics – confined, or free-roaming when multiple lizards were attracted – provoked interference competition. Conspecific cues influenced foraging decisions in a complex manner. The presence of confined conspecifics had only minor effects, but other free roaming conspecifics accelerated or inhibited foraging activities, depending on their type (emerging, approaching, eating). Insular lizards also engaged in more aggressive interactions than mainland ones. Our results indicate that the costs and benefits of local enhancement may vary geographically, but they are inconclusive due to methodological limitations. Further research is needed to identify the environmental conditions favouring the evolution of local enhancement and social cognition.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":8746,"journal":{"name":"Behavioural Processes","volume":"230 ","pages":"Article 105234"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2025-07-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144567019","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}
Interval timing behavior is traditionally investigated in operant chambers based on the very focal responses of the subjects (e.g., head entry to the magazine, lever press). These measures are blind to the movement trajectory of the animals and capture only a tiny segment and sometimes an idiosyncratic component of the animal's behavior. In other words, the state of the temporal expectancy is not observable at every time point in the trial. On the other hand, in nature, temporal expectancies guide actions in a much more complex fashion. For instance, an animal might approach a food patch at different degrees as a function of the expected time of food availability (e.g., nectar collection behavior). The current study aimed to investigate interval timing in a more naturalistic fashion by analyzing the movement trajectory of rats in fixed time (FT-30s) vs. variable time (VT-30s) schedules in modified open field equipment. We observed a temporally patterned movement in FT but not a VT schedule. In the FT schedule, rats moved away from the reward grid after consuming the presented water and were farthest from it at around 15 s, after which they started to approach the reward grid again. There was no such temporal patterning of movement trajectory in the VT schedule. Temporal control in the FT schedule was stronger when water was delivered close to the wall compared to when it was delivered close to the center of the open field. Our results show that movement trajectory may reflect instantaneous temporal expectancy.
{"title":"Movement path as an ethological lens into interval timing","authors":"Fuat Balcı , Varsovia Hernandez , Ahmet Hoşer , Alejandro León","doi":"10.1016/j.beproc.2025.105233","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.beproc.2025.105233","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Interval timing behavior is traditionally investigated in operant chambers based on the very focal responses of the subjects (e.g., head entry to the magazine, lever press). These measures are blind to the movement trajectory of the animals and capture only a tiny segment and sometimes an idiosyncratic component of the animal's behavior. In other words, the state of the temporal expectancy is not observable at every time point in the trial. On the other hand, in nature, temporal expectancies guide actions in a much more complex fashion. For instance, an animal might approach a food patch at different degrees as a function of the expected time of food availability (e.g., nectar collection behavior). The current study aimed to investigate interval timing in a more naturalistic fashion by analyzing the movement trajectory of rats in fixed time (FT-30s) vs. variable time (VT-30s) schedules in modified open field equipment. We observed a temporally patterned movement in FT but not a VT schedule. In the FT schedule, rats moved away from the reward grid after consuming the presented water and were farthest from it at around 15 s, after which they started to approach the reward grid again. There was no such temporal patterning of movement trajectory in the VT schedule. Temporal control in the FT schedule was stronger when water was delivered close to the wall compared to when it was delivered close to the center of the open field. Our results show that movement trajectory may reflect instantaneous temporal expectancy.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":8746,"journal":{"name":"Behavioural Processes","volume":"230 ","pages":"Article 105233"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2025-06-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144491549","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}
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