Domesticated species differ from their wild ancestors in a number of traits, generally referred to as the domesticated phenotype. Reduced fear of humans is assumed to have been an early prerequisite for the successful domestication of virtually all species. We hypothesized that fear of humans is linked to other domestication related traits. For three generations, we selected Red Junglefowl (ancestors of domestic chickens) solely on the reaction in a standardized Fear of Human-test. In this, the birds were exposed for a gradually approaching human, and their behaviour was continuously scored. This generated three groups of animals, high (H), low (L) and intermediate (I) fearful birds. The birds in each generation were additionally tested in a battery of behaviour tests, measuring aspects of fearfulness, exploration, and sociality. The results demonstrate that the variation in fear response of Red Junglefowl towards humans has a significant genetic component and is genetically correlated to behavioural responses in other contexts, of which some are associated with fearfulness and others with exploration. Hence, selection of Red Junglefowl on low fear for humans can be expected to lead to a correlated change of other behavioural traits over generations. It is therefore likely that domestication may have caused an initial suite of behavioural modifications, even without selection on anything besides tameness.

Domestication has led to similar changes in morphology and behavior in several animal species, raising the questionwhether similarities between different domestication events also exist at the molecular level. We used mRNA sequencing toanalyze genome-wide gene expression patterns in brain frontal cortex in three pairs of domesticated and wild species (dogsand wolves, pigs and wild boars, and domesticated and wild rabbits). We compared the expression differences with thosebetween domesticated guinea pigs and a distant wild relative (Cavia aperea) as well as between two lines of rats selectedfor tameness or aggression towards humans. There were few gene expression differences between domesticated and wilddogs, pigs, and rabbits (30–75 genes (less than 1%) of expressed genes were differentially expressed), while guinea pigs andC. aperea differed more strongly. Almost no overlap was found between the genes with differential expression in thedifferent domestication events. In addition, joint analyses of all domesticated and wild samples provided only suggestiveevidence for the existence of a small group of genes that changed their expression in a similar fashion in differentdomesticated species. The most extreme of these shared expression changes include up-regulation in domesticates of SOX6and PROM1, two modulators of brain development. There was almost no overlap between gene expression in domesticatedanimals and the tame and aggressive rats. However, two of the genes with the strongest expression differences betweenthe rats (DLL3 and DHDH) were located in a genomic region associated with tameness and aggression, suggesting a role ininfluencing tameness. In summary, the majority of brain gene expression changes in domesticated animals are specific tothe given domestication event, suggesting that the causative variants of behavioral domestication traits may likewise bedifferent.

In trout and salmon, the metabolic costs of exercise and feeding are additive, which would suggest that gastrointestinal blood flow during exercise is maintained to preserve digestive and absorptive processes related to the specific dynamic action (SDA) of food. However, in most published studies, gastrointestinal blood flow drops during swimming, hypoxia, and general stress. To test whether gastrointestinal blood flow is spared during exercise after feeding, sea bass were instrumented with flow probes to measure cardiac output and celiacomesenteric blood flow while swimming in a respirometer before and after feeding. Swimming at 2 body lengths per second (bl s-1) increased metabolic rate considerably more than did feeding (208% vs. 32% increase, respectively, relative to resting), and a similar pattern was observed for cardiac output. In unfed fish, resting gastrointestinal blood flow was mL 13.8 ± 0.5 min-1 kg-1. After feeding, resting gastrointestinal blood flow increased by 82% but then decreased progressively with increasing swimming speeds. At 2 bl s-1, gastrointestinal blood flow in fed fish was not significantly different compared with that in unfed swimming fish, and, therefore, the data do not support the gastrointestinal sparing hypothesis. The magnitude of the SDA was maintained despite the decrease in gastrointestinal blood flow and the consequent reduction in oxygen supply to the gut. An estimate of maximal oxygen flow to the gastrointestinal tract after feeding yielded 2.6 mmol O2 h-1 kg-1, but this amount is not able to cover the oxygen demand of 3.16 mmol O2 h -1 kg-1. Therefore, the SDA must reflect metabolic processes in tissues other than those directly perfused by the celiacomesenteric artery. © 2008 by The University of Chicago. All rights reserved.

The focus of this book is the evolution of cardiovascular and respiratory control in vertebrates. Life originated in water, which has constantly changing temperatures and O2 levels. Fish gills can extract up to 80% of their inspired O2, because they have a countercurrent bloodstream. Oxygen sensors have been found within the gill arches of ray-finned fish such as carp and trout, and these O2 sensors screen the inspired water and the capillary blood. Very likely, land vertebrates and the lungfish arose as a sister group, and both possess real lungs. Lungfish include 6 species, inhabiting shallow lakes or rivers, whereas the second ramification includes all the land vertebrates. A possible ancestor to the lungfish and land vertebrates has been discovered in China, and this fossil (Styloichthys) bridges a gap. Living 417 million years ago, it could represent one of the last ramifications before the common ancestor to the lungfish and land vertebrates. In addition, rather constant atmospheric O2 levels permit a joint acid-base regulation by the lung and the kidney. Likewise, lungfish and land vertebrates share a central control of pulmonary ventilation, while the peripheral receptor contribution to acid-base regulation is minor

The present study describes the development and testing of a tool for dolphin research. This tool was able to visualize the dolphin echolocation signals as well as function as an acoustically operated "touch screen." The system consisted of a matrix of hydrophones attached to a semitransparent screen, which was lowered in front of an underwater acrylic panel in a dolphin pool. When a dolphin aimed its sonar beam at the screen, the hydrophones measured the received sound pressure levels. These hydrophone signals were then transferred to a computer where they were translated into a video image that corresponds to the dynamic sound pressure variations in the sonar beam and the location of the beam axis. There was a continuous projection of the image back onto the hydrophone matrix screen, giving the dolphin an immediate visual feedback to its sonar output. The system offers a whole new experimental methodology in dolphin research and since it is software-based, many different kinds of scientific questions can be addressed. The results were promising and motivate further development of the system and studies of sonar and cognitive abilities of dolphins. © 2008 Acoustical Society of America.

The benefits to captive animals of environmental enrichment (EE) are widely recognized. Few studies have, however, studied how to maximise the effect of EE. One issue with EE programs seems to be habituation to the enrichment device. To study the effect of habituation to EE, 14 captive sloth bears (Melursus ursinus) were subjected to two different EE treatments. Treatment one presented EE (logs with honey containing holes) for five consecutive days, whereas treatment two presented EE on intermittent days for five days. Intermittent presentations tended to reduce habituation toward the EE. Both consecutive and intermittent presentations significantly reduced stereotypies; however, the consecutive presentations had a longer-lasting effect. Explorative behaviors increased in both treatments, consistent with earlier findings that EE increase levels of natural behaviors. Other behaviors were unaffected by the EE presentations. The results show that intermittent presentation of EE objects may secure the interest of the animals, but continuous access to enrichment may be more efficient in reducing stereotypies in the long run.

European wild boars (Sus scrofa) are kept in Swedish enclosures for hunting and meat production purposes. The sows are known to undergo behavioural changes in connection with farrowing and their natural behaviours may be compromised by the limited area of the enclosure. The general aim of this thesis was to provide detailed quantitative data on wild boar sows when farrowing in captivity and to report whether possible needs can be compromised by the limitations of an enclosure. Specifically, it was aimed to provide a quantitative and functional account of the occurrence of infanticide, and its possible relations to welfare of confined wild boars.

A field study was carried out in a hunting enclosure, where 1200 hours of behavioural recordings and data from 22 farrowings were collected. The farrowing period could be divided into three phases: pre-farrowing, isolation and sociality phases (in relation to farrowing: day -14 to -1, day 1 to 8, day 9 to 14 respectively). The activity decreased during isolation and increased in the sociality phase. The average distance to other individuals increased during isolation and decreased in the sociality phase. Habitat use changed towards more protective habitats after farrowing (Paper I).

Non-maternal infanticide was documented in 14 out of 22 litters. Infanticide, typically performed by an older and larger sow than the mother, caused the deaths of all neonates in all but one affected litters. We found no effect of relatedness. A questionnaire sent to 112 owners of enclosures in Sweden and Finland resulted in 62 responses. Although the owners were often not able to provide exact figures on reproduction and mortality, nonmaternal infanticide was reported to be the most common cause of piglet mortality. The occurrence of infanticide was unrelated to size of enclosure and to variations in husbandry routines. All together results may suggest that non-maternal infanticide is part of the normal behavioural repertoire in wild boars (Paper II).

The studies of this thesis reveals the farrowing period as the most dynamic and perhaps most challenging for wild boar sows in enclosures. There are serious welfare concerns in the husbandry of wild boars in Swedish enclosures. The most obvious welfare problem is non-maternal infanticide, where both sows and piglets are assumed to suffer, and where the outcome from the action must be considered unacceptable. If wild boar husbandry shall be equated with other animal husbandry in our society, it needs to be regulated to overcome many of the presented potential welfare problems in this thesis.

Infanticidal behaviour is wide-spread among animals of various taxonomic groups, but has not previously been reported in European wild boars, which are commonly kept in enclosures in Sweden and Finland for meat and recreation purposes. We studied the behaviour of wild boars in one enclosure during three reproductive seasons. Non-maternal infanticide was documented in 14 out of 22 litters, causing the deaths of all piglets in all but one affected litters. Infanticide was typically performed during or shortly after parturition by a sow which was older and larger than the victimised sow, and we found no effect of relatedness. A questionnaire sent to 112 owners of enclosures in Sweden and Finland resulted in 62 responses. Although the owners were often not able to provide exact figures on reproduction and mortality, non-maternal infanticide was reported to be the most common cause of piglet mortality, which in total was estimated to 29.1%. The occurrence of infanticide was unrelated to size of enclosure and to variations in husbandry routines, which all together may suggest that the behaviour is part of the normal behavioural repertoire in European wild boars. The observed levels of infanticide constitute a major welfare problem in captive wild boars.

Wild boars (Sus scrofa) are often kept in enclosures for hunting or meat production purposes in Sweden. The sows are known to undergo behavioural changes in connection with farrowing and their natural behaviours may be compromised by the limited area of the enclosure. The aim of this study was to quantitatively describe wild boar sows’ behaviour when farrowing in an enclosure. A field study was carried out in a hunting enclosure, where 1200 hours of behavioural recordings and data from 22 farrowings were collected. According to the results, the farrowing period could be divided into 3 phases: pre-farrowing, isolation and sociality phases (in relation to farrowing: day -14 to -1, day 1 to 8, day 9 to 14 respectively). The activity decreased during isolation and increased in the sociality phase (p<0.05), whereas the average distance to other individuals increased during isolation and decreased in the sociality phase (p<0.05). Nose contacts with other individuals increased in the isolation phase (p<0.05) and habitat use changed towards more protective habitats after farrowing. 68 % of the nests were situated in edges between two habitats of different vegetation density and 73% had some kind of protection to the north. We conclude that farrowing induces a number of changes in the activity, social behaviour and habitat preference in captive European wild boars. This may need attention when enclosures for this species are designed.

The present study demonstrates that Asian elephants, Elephas maximus, can successfully be trained to cooperatein an olfactory discrimination test based on a food-rewarded two-alternative instrumental conditioningprocedure. The animals learned the basic principle of the test within only 60 trials and readily mastered intramodalstimulus transfer tasks. Further, they were capable of distinguishing between structurally related odorstimuli and remembered the reward value of previously learned odor stimuli after 2, 4, 8, and 16 weeks ofrecess without any signs of forgetting. The precision and consistency of the elephants' performance in testsof odor discrimination ability and long-term odor memory demonstrate the suitability of this method forassessing olfactory function in this proboscid species. An across-species comparison of several measuresof olfactory learning capabilities such as speed of initial task acquisition and ability to master intramodalstimulus transfer tasks shows that Asian elephants are at least as good in their performance as mice, rats,and dogs, and clearly superior to nonhuman primates and fur seals. The results support the notion thatAsian elephants may use olfactory cues for social communication and food selection and that the sense ofsmell may play an important role in the control of their behavior.

The adult phenotype of an organism is the result of its genotype, the environment, and the interaction betweenthe two. Assessing the relative contribution of these factors to the final adult phenotype continues tooccupy researchers. Studies have shown clutch effects early in development but few have investigated thepersistence of clutch effects on a longer time scale. Five clutches of American alligators were reared for1 year in a common environment then assessed for the presence of clutch effects as they related to morphologicaland physiological characteristics. After 1 year, significant clutch effects were evident in all size relatedvariables despite open access to food. Additionally, lung and liver masses remained different betweenclutches after animal mass was taken into account. Although clutch had no effect on resting heart rate, itsignificantly contributed to mean arterial pressure. During swimming and exhaustive exercise, the resultingrespiratory and metabolic acidoses were strongly dependent on clutch. Therefore, while the environmentcan have significant influences on the American alligator from hatching to death, the measureable contributionof genetics to the morphology and physiology of the organism remains evident, even after 1 year ofcommon rearing conditions. It behooves researchers to acknowledge and control for clutch effects when designingexperiments.

We developed an acoustic tag, called MOSART (MObile Submersible Acoustic Recorder of Transients), for recording directional social pulses produced by a bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus). The tag was attached to the dorsal fin of two dolphins by means of suction cups. Two adult bottlenose dolphins at the Kolmårdens Djurpark, Sweden, were trained to carry the tag comfortably through a desensitising program. The tag included two envelope click-detectors, each with a narrow bandpass filter, centred at 120 and 70 kHz, respectively. The duration of the original pulses and their relative amplitude within the two filter frequency bands was retained. The amplitude differences between the two filter bands reflected changes in the source frequency spectrum and/or the position of the tag hydrophone in the incoming sound beam. The tag recorded "echolocation click trains," "slow and irregular pulses," and "pulse bursts" with varying amounts of energy in both frequency bands. The peak amplitude and duration of clicks in "echolocation click trains" and in "slow and irregular pulses" were logged correctly; however, the tag recorder had more difficulties in handling the complex pulses in the aggressive "pulse bursts," where the duration of the individual pulses could not be determined. Still, the amplitude and the pulse repetition rate could be measured. The possible impact of the tag was investigated by analysing the dolphin's behaviours (12 categories), sounds (3 categories), preferred location in the pool, and respiration intervals. Only four of the behaviours and one preferred location in the pool showed significant differences among pre-tag baselines, tag periods, and post-tag follow-ups, suggesting that the tag had only a minor impact on the dolphin. We describe and discuss the tag and its capacity to record different pulsed sounds.

Although bats and dolphins live in very different environments, are vastly different in size, and hunt different kinds of prey, both groups have evolved similar sonar systems, known as echolocation, to locate food and navigate the skies and seas. While much research has been conducted over the past 30 years on echolocation in bats and dolphins, this volume is the first to compare what is known about echolocation in each group, to point out what information is missing and to identity future areas of research. "Echolocation in Bats and Dolphins" consists of six sections: mechanisms of echolocation signal production; the anatomy and physiology of signal reception and interpretation; performance and cognition; ecological and evolutionary aspects of echolocation mammals; theoretical and methodological topics; and possible echolocation capability in other mammals, including shrews, seals and baleen whales. Animal behaviourists, ecologists, physiologists and both scientists and engineers who work in the field of bioacoustics should benefit from this book.

The objectives of this study were to investigate whether burst-pulse sounds emitted in aggressive interactions contain ultrasonic frequencies similar to the sonar sounds and to describe their repetition rate patterns and concurrent visual behavior patterns.

No abstract available.

The tag recorded 549 regular click trains, 1056 slow and irregular pulse trains and 255 pulse bursts in 70 and 120 kHz band-pass filter bands. Pulse bursts occurred in high intensity aggressive situations, with animals face-to-face at close distance. Plotting peak repetition rate (PRR) against sound duration, two clusters were found, with a mean PRR of 642 pulses per second (pps) and 76 pps, respectively, and a mean sound duration of 110 msec and 224 msec, respectively. In 1085 audio band pulse sounds, recorded with a stationary hydrophone during 25 aggressive interactions between two females, also two PRR vs. sound duration clusters were found, with mean values 148 pps/203 msec, and 550 pps/196 msec, respectively. Also > 1 sec long pulse trains with <200 pps repetition rate were found, including "Machine-gun" sounds, which often initiated an aggressive interaction, when one animal aimed its rostrum at another from a distance. If the targeted animal turned towards the aggressor, they approached each other face-to-face, displaying "Open mouth", "Head & pectoral fin jerk" and "Jaw clap" behaviours, concurrent with "Pulse burst" emissions. We propose that these directional pulse sounds are analogous to the facial expressions seen in e.g. aggressive primates and canids, offering the dolphin the possibility to express underlying emotions, and to address aggressive signals to selected con-specifics. The strong, omni-directional audio band component allows others to monitor the progress of the aggressive interaction.

Play-fighting is common in many mammals, especially among juveniles and subadults, providing a safe opportunity to practice behaviours important in adult life. To prevent escalation into a potentially dangerous real fight, play-fighting often is accompanied by acoustic and/or visual appeasement behaviours. We studied aggressive and play-fight behaviours in bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) at the Kolmården Djurpark. The results showed that play-fighting subadult dolphins emitted a characteristic sound, which was never observed in aggressive interactions. This was a short pulse burst followed by an FM-whistle. By plotting pulse repetition rate (PRR) vs. duration of the bursts, two main clusters were found. The bottom cluster had a mean PRR of 59 pulses per second (pps), and a mean duration of 154 msec. The top cluster had a mean PRR of 502 pps and a mean duration of 149 msec. These play-fight clusters were compared separately to corresponding adult aggressive pulse burst clusters. Taking both PRR and duration into consideration, no significant difference was found between the top clusters, or between the bottom clusters, in the two age groups. The trailing whistles were divided into five different frequency contour categories. These did not resemble the signature whistles of any of the play-fighting dolphins. The average start and end frequencies were 13.0 kHz and 10.1 kHz, respectively, and the maximum and minimum frequencies were 13.7 kHz and 7.0 kHz, respectively. The mean duration was 410 msec. Based on the fact that this sound occurred only in play-fights, we propose that it helps prevent a play-fight from escalating into a real fight and, hence, is analogous to the "laugh" and "chuckle" seen in apes.

The perceived quality of a binary mixture will, as a rule of thumb, be dominated by the quality of the stronger unmixed component. On the other hand, there are mechanisms that, in theory, suggest that this will not always be true; one example being receptor antagonism. Undecanal has been indicated as an antagonist for bourgeonal-sensitive receptors in the human olfactory epithelium. Therefore, we investigated mixtures of isointense concentrations of bourgeonal and undecanal and, as a control, mixtures of isointense concentrations of bourgeonal and n-butanol. Both mixture types were investigated at 2 levels of concentration. The particular aim was to see if the bourgeonal-undecanal mixtures would exhibit asymmetric odor quality favoring the perception of the antagonist and the control mixture would not. For the control mixture, indeed odor quality tended to be dominated by the strongest component before mixing as would be suggested from previous studies. In line with the hypothesis, the bourgeonal-undecanal mixture was dominated by the antagonists quality, but only when mixed at higher concentrations, altogether suggesting the effects of a low-affinity receptor antagonism. This is, to our knowledge, the first demonstration of how antagonistic interaction at the level of the receptor can affect the perception of odor mixtures in humans.

Feather pecking (FP) is a welfare and economic problem in the egg production sector. Beak trimming, the current method used to reduce FP, is also criticized. The present study used gene expression to explore the biological mechanisms underlying this behavior, which could lead to a greater understanding of the cause and a tool to mitigate the problem. White Leghorn hens performing and receiving FP, as well as neutral control birds, were identified on a commercial farm. Hypothalamic RNA from 11 peckers, 10 victims, and 10 controls was hybridized onto GeneChip Chicken Genome Arrays (Affymetrix Inc., Santa Clara, CA) to compare gene expression profiles in the different groups. Eleven transcripts corresponding to 10 genes differed significantly between the 3 groups (adjusted P andlt; 0.05). Eight of these transcripts differed in the peckers compared with the controls, 1 was upregulated in the victims compared with the controls, and 6 differed significantly in the peckers compared with the victims. Additionally, 5 transcripts showed a trend (adjusted P andlt; 0.1) to differ in the pecker-victim comparison. Some of the products of the differently expressed genes are involved in disorders, such as intestinal inflammation and insulin resistance, which fit well with the previously proposed hypothesis that FP is an abnormal foraging behavior. Other findings may also support the proposal that FP is linked to immune mechanisms and may serve as an animal model for obsessive compulsive disorder in humans. In conclusion, this study provides a gene list that may be useful in further research on the mechanisms behind FP.

Knowledge about gene expression in animals involved inabnormal behaviors can contribute to the understandingof underlying biological mechanisms. This study aimedto explore the motivational background to tail biting,an abnormal injurious behavior and severe welfareproblem in pig production. Affymetrix microarrayswere used to investigate gene expression differencesin the hypothalamus and prefrontal cortex of pigsperforming tail biting, pigs receiving bites to the tailand neutral pigs who were not involved in the behavior.In the hypothalamus, 32 transcripts were differentiallyexpressed (P <0.05) when tail biters were comparedwith neutral pigs, 130 when comparing receiver pigswith neutrals, and two when tail biters were comparedwith receivers. In the prefrontal cortex, seven transcriptswere differently expressed in tail biters when comparedwith neutrals, seven in receivers vs. neutrals and nonein the tail biters vs. receivers. In total, 19 genesshowed a different expression pattern in neutral pigswhen compared with both performers and receivers.This implies that the functions of these may provideknowledge about why the neutral pigs are not involvedin tail biting behavior as performers or receivers.Among these 19 transcripts were genes associated withproduction traits in pigs (PDK4), sociality in humansand mice (GTF2I ) and novelty seeking in humans (EGF ).These are in line with hypotheses linking tail biting withreduced back fat thickness and explorative behavior.

It may be hypothesised that reduced fearfulness has been a major target of selection during domestication. We tested 20 domesticated White Leghorn (WL) chickens and their ancestors, red junglefowl (RJF), in four different fear tests (Open Field, Novel Object. Aerial Predator, and Fear for Humans). The tests were designed to measure reactions to different types of potentially fearful stimuli. The correlations between durations of the same four variables from each of the tests (Stand/sit alert, Locomotion, Fly/jump, and Vocalisation) were analysed with principal components analysis (PCA). In the PCA, 33.5% of the variation in responses was explained by a single factor, interpreted as a general fear factor. Higher scores on this were related to stronger fear reactions. Red jungle fowl scored significantly higher than White Leghorns wet on this factor, and also had a longer latency to feed in the Fear of Humans-test, used as an independent measure of fear in the same tests. The results suggest that selection for low fearfulness has been an important element of domestication.

Global concern over the possible deleterious effects of noise on marine organisms was catalyzed when toothed whales stranded and died in the presence of high intensity sound. The lack of knowledge about mechanisms of hearing in toothed whales prompted our group to study the anatomy and build a finite element model to simulate sound reception in odontocetes. The primary auditory pathway in toothed whales is an evolutionary novelty, compensating for the impedance mismatch experienced by whale ancestors as they moved from hearing in air to hearing in water. The mechanism by which high-frequency vibrations pass from the low density fats of the lower jaw into the dense bones of the auditory apparatus is a key to understanding odontocete hearing. Here we identify a new acoustic portal into the ear complex, the tympanoperiotic complex (TPC) and a plausible mechanism by which sound is transduced into the bony components. We reveal the intact anatomic geometry using CT scanning, and test functional preconceptions using finite element modeling and vibrational analysis. We show that the mandibular fat bodies bifurcate posteriorly, attaching to the TPC in two distinct locations. The smaller branch is an inconspicuous, previously undescribed channel, a cone-shaped fat body that fits into a thin-walled bony funnel just anterior to the sigmoid process of the TPC. The TPC also contains regions of thin translucent bone that define zones of differential flexibility, enabling the TPC to bend in response to sound pressure, thus providing a mechanism for vibrations to pass through the ossicular chain. The techniques used to discover the new acoustic portal in toothed whales, provide a means to decipher auditory filtering, beam formation, impedance matching, and transduction. These tools can also be used to address concerns about the potential deleterious effects of high-intensity sound in a broad spectrum of marine organisms, from whales to fish.

Domesticated animal breeds have experienced profound anatomical and physiological changes as a result of human-driven genetic selection. In poultry, this selection process has resulted in many distinct phenotypes from the ancestral bird, the Red Jungle-fowl. Growth rate and egg-laying capacity are 2 traits that have been commercially prioritized, and this has resulted in a fast-growth breed, the broiler, and a prolific egg layer, the White Leghorn. In this study, we investigated basic cardiovascular physiology in these 3 breeds at 90% of incubation. We aimed to identify breed-specific features of arterial blood pressure and heart rate as well as the physiological mechanisms regulating them. Specifically, we investigated mechanisms mediated by the autonomic nervous system by means of cholinergic and adrenergic receptors. Our overriding hypothesis was that selection for rapid growth would require an acceleration of heart rate and arterial pressure development in broilers compared with White Leghorns and the ancestral breed. The embryonic broiler is characterized by resting relative hypertensive bradycardia, whereas the White Leghorn is hypotensive. All 3 breeds maintained resting arterial pressure and heart rate via a similar beta- arid alpha-adrenergic receptor tone; however, cholinergic tone on heart rate was absent in the embryonic White Leghorn. Each breed responded differently to incubation in chronic hypoxic conditions (14% O-2). White Leghorn relied on augmenting cholinergic heart rate tone, and broilers relied on reducing beta-adrenergic tone on pressure. We concluded that selection for rapid growth shifts cardiovascular regulatory plasticity to emphasize mechanisms that modulate pressure, and that selection for egg-laying capacity emphasizes mechanisms that modulate heart rate.

Renewed interest in the use of the embryonic chicken as a model of perinatal cardiovascular regulation has inspired new questions about the control mechanisms that respond to acute perturbations, such as hypoxia. The objectives of this study were to determine the cardiovascular responses, the regulatory mechanisms involved in those cardiovascular responses, and whether those mechanisms involved the central nervous system (CNS) of embryonic chickens. Heart rate (f(H)) and blood pressure were measured in chicken embryos of different incubation ages during exposure to different levels of hypoxia (15, 10, and 5% O-2). At all levels of hypoxia and at all developmental ages, a depression of fH and arterial pressure was observed, with the exception of day 20 embryos in 15 and 10% O2. The intensity of the embryonic fH and blood pressure responses were directly related to the level of hypoxia used. Muscarinic and alpha-adrenergic receptor stimulation limited the hypoxic hypotension on days 15-19 and 15-21, respectively, as indicated after blockade with atropine and phentolamine. During the final 3 days of incubation, the intensity of the hypoxic hypotension was magnified due to alpha-vasodilation caused by beta-adrenergic and muscarinic receptor stimulation. In 19- to 21-day-old embryos, the fH response to hypoxia was limited by alpha-adrenergic receptor stimulation as indicated by the accentuated bradycardia after blockade with phentolamine. Furthermore, on day 21, atropine limited the hypoxic bradycardia, indicating that muscarinic receptors also play a role in the fH response at this age. In addition, the muscarinic actions on the heart and the adrenergic effects on the vasculature appeared to occur through a hypoxic-induced direct release from chromaffin tissue and autonomic nerve terminals. Thus, in embryonic chickens, the only cardiovascular response to hypoxia that involves the CNS was the cholinergic regulation of arterial pressure after day 15 of incubation. Therefore, although embryonic chickens and fetal sheep, the standard models of perinatal cardiovascular physiology, respond to hypoxia with a similar redistribution of cardiac output, the underlying mechanisms differ between these species.

Chronic hypoxic incubation is a common tool used to address the plasticity of morphological and physiological characteristics during vertebrate development. In this study chronic hypoxic incubation of embryonic American alligators resulted in both morphological (mass) and physiological changes. During normoxic incubation embryonic mass, liver mass and heart mass increased throughout the period of study, while yolk mass fell. Chronic hypoxia (10%O₂) resulted in a reduced embryonic mass at 80% and 90% of incubation. This reduction in embryonic mass was accompanied by a relative enlargement of the heart at 80% and 90% of incubation, while relative embryonic liver mass was similar to the normoxic group. Normoxic incubated alligators maintained a constant heart rate during the period of study, while mean arterial pressure rose continuously. Both levels of hypoxic incubation (15% and 10%O₂) resulted in a lower mean arterial pressure at 90% of incubation, while heart rate was lower in the 10%O₂ group only. Acute (5 min) exposure to 10%O₂ in the normoxic group resulted in a biphasic response, with a normotensive bradycardia occurring during the period of exposure and a hypertensive tachycardic response occurring during recovery. The embryos incubated under hypoxia also showed a blunted response to acute hypoxic stress. In conclusion, the main responses elicited by chronic hypoxic incubation, namely, cardiac enlargement, blunted hypoxic response and systemic vasodilation, may provide chronically hypoxic embryos with a new physiological repertoire for responding to hypoxia.

 Baroreflex regulation appears in different species at different points in embryonic development. This study was designed to understand the development of the baroreflex in embryos of the American alligator at four different points of embryonic development (60%, 70%, 80% and 90% of a total incubation period of 72 days) and in 1-week-old hatchlings. Data from a separate study on 1-year-old alligators were included for comparison. The gain of the cardiac limb of the baroreflex was calculated from heart rate changes triggered by pharmacological manipulation of arterial pressure with sodium nitroprusside and phenylephrine. The results demonstrated that a vagally mediated hypertensive baroreflex was present during the final 30% of alligator development. A hypotensive baroreflex was not present in embryos but appeared in hatchlings, mediated by a combined effect of vagal and sympathetic efferents. Absolute baroreflex gain was maximal at 80% of incubation (41.22 beats kPa^–1 min^–1) and dropped thereafter, reaching a minimum in 1-year-old alligators (9.69 beats kPa^–1 min^–1). When the baroreflex gain was normalized to resting arterial pressure and heart rate, the maximum gain was observed in 1-year-old alligators (normalized index of 2.12 versus 0.75 in hatchlings and 0.69 as the highest gain in embryos). In conclusion, baroreflex regulation appeared during embryonic development with a substantial gain. These findings indicate that embryonic development is a period of preparation for cardiovascular regulatory mechanisms that will be necessary in adult life and that the baroreflex control mechanism is required for cardiovascular control during ontogeny.   

Boken presenterar och beskriver de rika möjligheter till lärande som finns i den ömsesidiga relationen mellan oss människor och de miljöer och landskap vi lever i. Författarna är samtliga besjälade av tron på att ett rikt och harmoniskt förhållande till landskapet starkt bidrar till vårt fysiska och psykiska välbefinnande. Bokens centrala teman, som bygger på estetik och känsla, är kopplingen mellan bl.a.- rumslig tillhörighet och ekologisk medvetenhet- sinnlig erfarenhet och boklig bildning- barns lekytor och motorisk utveckling- språk och landskap. I boken pläderar författarna för att det finns betydande vinster för lärande, både inom och utanför utbildningssystemet, om barn och unga tillbringar mer tid ute i landskapet. Slutsatsen är att den samhörighet med landskapet som utgör grunden för ett medvetet ekologiskt handlande, skapas genom en djup förtrogenhet med vår omgivning.

Behavioural synchrony (allelomimetic behaviour), and inter-individual distances are aspects of social and anti-predator strategies which may have been affected by domestication. Chickens are known to adjust synchronization and inter-individual distances depending on behaviour. We hypothesized that White Leghorn (WL) chickens would show less synchronized behaviour than the ancestor, the red jungle fowl (RJF). Sixty birds, 15 female and 15 male WL and the same number of RJF (28 weeks old) were studied in groups of three in furnished pens (1 m × 2 m) for 24 consecutive hours per group, following 24 h of habituation. Video tapes covering 4 h per group (dawn, 9–10 am, 1–2 pm and dusk) were analysed. Red junglefowl perched significantly more, but there were no breed effects on the frequency or daily rhythm of any other activities, or on average inter-individual distances. Red junglefowl were more synchronized during perching and a tendency for the same was found for social behaviour. After performance of the two most synchronized behaviours, perching and comfort behaviour, individual distance increased more for RJF than WL. According to this study domestication of chickens appears not to have significantly altered the relative frequencies of different activities or average inter-individual distances, but have caused some changes in behavioural synchronization and maintenance of activity-specific inter-individual distances in chickens. The changes may indicate an adaptive response to captivity and domestication.

The baroreflex is the main short term compensatory mechanism to buffer blood pressure changes and maintain circulatory homeostasis. Its ontogeny and importance during prenatal life is not fully understood so we used broiler chickens to investigate the maturation of the baroreflex in late incubation using a novel method that measured changes in heart rate during spontaneous fluctuations in blood pressure. Our results suggest that a baroreflex is already functional at d17 with no indication of further maturation in terms of sensitivity (gain at 17 d was 52.9 ± 8.3 and at 20 d 69.5 ± 16.2 ms kPa⁻¹). The physiological relevance of these values is shown using data surrogation methods. Although the results contrast with the progressive baroreflex maturation indicated by the pharmacological method, we sustain that both methods provide information on baroreflex regulation. While the spontaneous method evaluates truly physiological (but small) pressure changes, the pharmacological method provides a more consistent and repetitive challenge for the reflex that requires a different recruitment of baroreflex effectors.

Primates have traditionally been considered having a poor sense of smell compared to other orders of mammals, like carnivores, due to reduced olfactory structures of the primate brain. This thought, however, is slowly changing. There are now a range of studies showing that primates do use their sense of smell, for example in chemical communication. However, few studies have been carried out on olfactory-related behaviors in Great Apes. The aim of this study was to assess the occurrence of olfactory-related behaviors in captive chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes). The results do not only show that chimpanzees use their sense of smell, but also a behavioral difference between male and female chimpanzees. There was a significant difference between male to female smelling of the anogenitals and male to male smelling of the anogenitals (p = 0.0001) and also a difference between the occurrences of males and females touching an object with the hand and then smelling at the hand (p = 0. 0007). There was a significant difference between male and female frequency of smelling at an object (p = 0.001) and a significant difference between the occurrences of male and female smelling at foods and liquids (p = 0.003). There were no observations of chimpanzees performing a scent-marking behavior. These results suggest that chimpanzees use their sense of smell, from investigating new objects to the inspection of food and other chimpanzees. It would be interesting in future studies to study the difference between male and female frequency of olfactory-related behaviors.

Hypoxia is a naturally occurring environmental challenge for embryonic reptiles, and this is the first study to investigate the impact of chronic hypoxia on the in ovo development of autonomic cardiovascular regulation and circulating catecholamine levels in a reptile. We measured heart rate (f_H) and chorioallantoic arterial blood pressure (MAP) in normoxic (‘N21’) and hypoxic-incubated (‘H10’; 10% O₂) American alligator embryos (Alligator mississippiensis) at 70, 80 and 90% of development. Embryonic alligator responses to adrenergic blockade with propranolol and phentolamine were very similar to previously reported responses of embryonic chicken, and demonstrated that embryonic alligator has α and β-adrenergic tone over the final third of development. However, adrenergic tone originates entirely from circulating catecholamines and is not altered by chronic hypoxic incubation, as neither cholinergic blockade with atropine nor ganglionic blockade with hexamethonium altered baseline cardiovascular variables in N21 or H10 embryos. In addition, both atropine and hexamethonium injection did not alter the generally depressive effects of acute hypoxia — bradycardia and hypotension. However, H10 embryos showed significantly higher levels of noradrenaline and adrenaline at 70% of development, as well as higher noradrenaline at 80% of development, suggesting that circulating catecholamines reach maximal levels earlier in incubation for H10 embryos, compared to N21 embryos. Chronically elevated levels of catecholamines may alter the normal balance between α and β-adrenoreceptors in H10 alligator embryos, causing chronic bradycardia and hypotension of H10 embryos measured in normoxia.

Comparative studies have shown that alterations in physiology, morphology and behaviour have arisen due tothe domestication. A driving factor behind many of the changes could be a shift in stress responses,withmodifiedendocrine and behavioural profiles. In the present study we compared two breeds of chicken (Gallus gallus), thedomesticWhite Leghorn (WL) egg laying breed and its ancestor, the Red Junglefowl (RJF). Birds were exposed toan acute stress event, invoked by 3 or 10 min of physical restraint. Theywere then continuouslymonitored for theeffects on a wide range of behaviours during a 60 min recovery phase. Blood samples were collected from thechicken at baseline, and after 10 and 60 min following a similar restraint stress, and the samples wereanalyzed for nine endogenous steroids of the HPA and HPG axes. Concentration of the steroids was determinedusing validated liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry methods. In RJF, an immediate behaviouralresponse was observed after release from restraint in several behaviours, with a relatively fast return to baselinewithin 1 h. In WL, somebehaviourswere affected for a longer period of time, and others not at all. Concentrationsof corticosterone increasedmore in RJF, but returned faster to baseline compared toWL. A range of baseline levelsfor HPG-related steroids differed between the breeds, and they were generally more affected by the stress in WLthan in RJF. In conclusion, RJF reacted stronger both behaviourally and physiologically to the restraint stress, butalso recovered faster. This would appear to be adaptive under natural conditions, whereas the stress recovery ofdomesticated birds has been altered by domestication and breeding for increased reproductive output.

Yellow skin is an abundant phenotype among domestic chickens and is caused by a recessive allele (W*Y) that allows deposition of yellow carotenoids in the skin. Here we show that yellow skin is caused by one or more cis-acting and tissue-specific regulatory mutation(s) that inhibit expression of BCDO2 (beta-carotene dioxygenase 2) in skin. Our data imply that carotenoids are taken up from the circulation in both genotypes but are degraded by BCDO2 in skin from animals carrying the white skin allele (W*W). Surprisingly, our results demonstrate that yellow skin does not originate from the red junglefowl (Gallus gallus), the presumed sole wild ancestor of the domestic chicken, but most likely from the closely related grey junglefowl (Gallus sonneratii). This is the first conclusive evidence for a hybrid origin of the domestic chicken, and it has important implications for our views of the domestication process.

The endangered red panda (Ailurus fulgens) is held in zoos worldwide. The aim of this study was to examine how red pandas are kept and managed in captivity and to compare it with the management guidelines. Sixty-nine zoos, mainly from Europe but also from North America and Australia/New Zealand, responded to our survey. The results revealed that in general zoos follow the management guidelines for most of the investigated issues. The average enclosure is almost four times larger than the minimum size recommended by the management guidelines, although seven zoos have smaller enclosures. About half the zoos do not follow the guidelines concerning visitor access and number of nest boxes. Other issues that may compromise animal welfare include proximity of neighboring carnivore species and placement of nest boxes. Zoo Biol 29: 732-740, 2010. (C) 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Cardiovascular adaptations that permit successful exploitation of polar marine waters by fish requires a capacity tonegate or compensate for the depressive effects of low temperatures on physiological processes. Here, we examined the effectsof acute and chronic temperature change on the maximum cardiac performance of shorthorn sculpin (Myoxocephalusscorpius (L., 1758)) captured above the Arctic Circle. Our aim was to establish if the sculpin’s success at low temperatures wasachieved through thermal independence of cardiac function or via thermal compensation as a result of acclimation. Maximumcardiac performance was assessed at both 1 and 6 °C with a working perfused heart preparation that was obtained after fish hadbeen acclimated to either 1 or 6 °C. Thus, tests were performed at the fish’s acclimation temperature and with an acutetemperature change. Maximum cardiac output, which was relatively large (>50 mL·min−1·kg−1 body mass) for a benthic fish at afrigid temperature, was found to be independent of both acclimation temperature and test temperature. While maximum-adrenergic stimulation produced positive chronotropy at both acclimation temperatures, inotropic effects were weak orabsent. We conclude that thermal independence of cardiac performance at low temperature likely facilitated the exploitation ofpolar waters by the shorthorn sculpin.

We examined maximum cardiac performance of sea bass Dicentrarchus labrax acclimated to 18°C and 22°C, temperatures near the optimum for growth of this species. Our aim was to study whether cardiac performance, especially the effect of adrenergic stimulation, differed when compared to salmonids. Sea bass and salmonids are both athletic swimmers but their cardiac anatomy differs markedly. The sea bass ventricle does not receive any oxygenated blood via a coronary circulation while salmonids have a well-developed arterial supply of oxygen to the compact layer of the ventricle. Using in situ perfused heart preparations, maximum cardiac performance of 18°C-acclimated sea bass (i.e. cardiac output=90.8± 6.6 ml min^–1 kg^–1 and power output=11.41±0.83 mW g^–1) was found to be comparable to that previously reported for rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss and brown trout Salmo trutta at similar temperatures and with tonic adrenergic (5 nmol l^–1 adrenaline) stimulation. For 22°C-acclimated sea bass, heart rate was significantly higher, but maximum stroke volume was reduced by 22% (1.05±0.05 ml kg^–1) compared with 18°C (1.38± 0.11 ml kg^–1). As a result, maximum cardiac output (99.4±3.9 ml min^–1 kg^–1) was not significantly different at 22°C. Instead, maximum power output was 27% higher at 22°C (14.95±0.96 mW g^–1) compared with 18°C, primarily because of the smaller relative ventricular mass in 22°C-acclimated sea bass. Compared with tonic adrenergic stimulation with 5 nmol l^–1 adrenaline, maximum adrenergic stimulation of the sea bass heart produced only modest stimulatory effects at both temperatures (12–13% and 14–15% increases in maximum cardiac output and power output, respectively, with no chronotropic effect). Adrenergic stimulation also increased the cardiac sensitivity to filling pressure, with the maximum left-shift in the Starling curve being produced by 50–100 nmol l^–1 adrenaline at 18°C and 10–50 nmol l^–1 adrenaline at 22°C. We show that the sea bass, which lacks a coronary arterial oxygen supply to the ventricle, has a powerful heart. Its maximum performance is comparable to a salmonid heart, as is the modest stimulatory effect of adrenaline at high temperature.

There is a problematic interaction going on between grey seals and the small scale coastal fisheries in the Baltic. A large number of seals are by-caught and drowned each year, and the viability of the fishery is threatened by catch losses caused by the seals. Traditional mitigation methods are not sufficient, or have in some cases not been properly evaluated. Available methods of quantifying and analysing the catch losses are also insufficient. This thesis consists of three parts, each studying a different angle of this conflict.

In the first part, new models for estimating catch losses are presented. In addition to the commonly used method of counting the number of damaged fish in the nets, the new models also allow for an estimation of the hidden losses. Hidden losses may be fish that are completely removed from nets without leaving any traces, fish that escape through holes in the net torn by the seals, or even fish that are scared away from the fishing gear. Such losses were found to be significant, and hence it is now clear that the traditional models seriously underestimate the total losses. The new models also allow for a deeper analysis of the interaction process. The first presented model compares catches between adjacent days (day-pairs), the second uses nets that are pre-baited before deployment, and the third relies on a detailed inspection and repair of all seal-induced damage to the net meshes.

In the second part, some traditional methods of mitigating the conflict are evaluated. A commercially available Acoustic Harassment Device was tested in a field trial. AHDs were deployed at several set-traps for salmonids for three consecutive years. The damage reducing effect was persistent throughout a season, as well as over the full three-year test period, and no “dinner bell” effect was observed. When seal attacks became frequent in the 1980´s, several of the traditional salmon traps were reinforced with newly developed extra strong net materials. These materials dramatically reduced the damage to the nets, and to some degree also the catch losses. However, the losses were still substantial, and the traditional gear was gradually phased out when better solutions emerged.

In the third part, new methods of mitigating the conflict are evaluated. A salmon trap was built, using net meshes which were large enough to allow seal-chased fish to escape through, but which would still guide and confine non-stressed fish. The trap was fitted with a fish chamber with a double wall of very taut netting, separating the catch from the surroundings by a fixed distance. Interference by seals was significantly reduced with this construction. Field experiments revealed that seals used their above-water vision to locate and search out buoys of the type that are used in the fisheries. Larger buoys were more readily found than smaller. A set of trials was initiated where certain geographical areas were made unattractive for seals prior to their seasonal arrival to the region, by deploying stationary AHDs. Finally, aquarium experiments demonstrated that underwater vision and hearing were equally important in seals’ detection of fish in a test box. It was also found that there was a “near zone”, within which seals stayed focused on a fish and attempted to catch it by a quick thrust of the head. These studies strongly suggest that new seal-safe fishing gear and mitigation methods should be based on, and would benefit from, an in-depth understanding and analysis of natural seal behaviour.

A database has been constructed using detailed information on catches and seal-disturbance from contracted commercial fishers in the northern Baltic Sea. A model was developed for the calculation of seal-induced losses in set traps for salmon. The model compared catches on consecutive days or day-pairs. It was found that the total losses in set traps were high: 61% of the potential catch in a trend-adjusted sample of paired data. A significant part of these losses, such as fish wholly removed from gear was hidden. The traditional method of assessing losses by counting the remains of fish underestimated losses by 46%. The scaring effect of seal visits was not included. The model was also used for an analysis of the damage process. There were significant negative after-effects of seal visits on catch levels. It was also found that seal visits co-occur with salmon runs. It seems that seals prefer smaller to larger salmon when raiding traps. It is suggested that the traditional method of estimating losses by counting fish remains should be calibrated when used and that the new model with day-pairs should be tried in analyses of seal interference in other fishing operations.

Fishing gear in the Baltic is often raided by grey seals (Halichoerus grypus). The seals remove the fish and damage the nets, or entangle themselves and drown. In order to develop ways of mitigating the seals-fisheries conflict, it is important to know exactly how the seals locate the fishing gear. A field experiment was conducted in order to clarify whether seals use their vision above water to do this. Bait (herring; Clupea harengus) was attached to the anchor lines of buoys of the type that is commonly used to mark the position of fishing gear. In all, 643 buoys were set. Some of the buoys (210) were also fitted with camera traps. Weather data were collected from official weather stations nearby. Bait loss (mean 18%) was significantly correlated with buoy size (P = 0.002) and wind speed (P = 0.04). There was a significant association between bait loss and seal observations near the buoys (P = 0.05). Five photos of grey seals were obtained from the camera traps. No fish-eating birds, such as cormorants or mergansers, were ever observed near the buoys or caught on camera. It was concluded that a main cause of missing bait was scavenging by grey seals, and that they did use above-water vision to locate the buoys. It was also concluded that wind strength (i.e. wave action) contributed to the bait loss. The camera trap buoys had a somewhat lower bait loss than the other buoys (P = 0.054), which was attributed to a scaring effect. Neither the number of seal observations nor the bait loss differed significantly between the 2 study areas in the experiment (P = 0.43 and P = 0.83, respectively). Bait loss was not affected by the buoy colour (red, white, or grey; P = 0.87). We suggest that the findings of this experiment could be put into practice in a seal-disturbed area by deploying a number of decoy buoys, or by hiding live buoys below the surface of the water. This would increase the cost of foraging for the seals, and hence discourage them from exploiting fishing gear as a feeding place.

Acoustic harassment devices (AHDs) were deployed at salmon-trap nets in the Baltic Sea to reduce gear and catch damage by grey seals (Halichoerus grypus). The AHDs emitted pulses of 250-500-ms duration, worked at a frequency of 15 kHz, and a source level of 179 dB re 1 μPa rms at 1 m. AHDs were deployed during three consecutive fishing seasons. Catches were significantly higher in traps with AHDs (25.5 kg d^-1) than in controls (12.0 kg d^-1), and catch damage was less (3.5 vs. 6.7 kg d^-1). These results persisted over and between fishing seasons, but late in the season damage to the catches was common also in traps with AHDs. This study shows that the AHD may be a complementary mitigation tool in the seal-fishery conflict in certain types of fisheries, even though it is technically demanding, and for environmental reasons should be used with great care.

Early experiences may alter later behavioural expressions in animals and these differences can be consistent through adulthood. In dogs, this may have a profound impact on welfare and working ability and, it is therefore interesting to evaluate how experiences during the first weeks of life contribute to shaping the long-term behaviour. We analysed data from 503 dogs from 105 litters, bred at the Swedish Armed Forces Dog Kennel. For each dog, the data comprised information on dam and sire, sex, litter size, sex ratio of litter, date of birth, and weight at birth, and at 10 days of age. Between the ages of 377 and 593 days, the dogs were tested in a temperament test, assessing their suitability as working dogs. The behaviour test comprised 12 different sub-tests, and was scored on a behavioural rating scale. A principal component analysis showed that the test performance could largely be attributed to four principal components (explaining 55.7% of variation), labelled Confidence, Physical Engagement, Social Engagement and Aggression. We analysed the effects of the different early life variables and sex on the principal component scores (PC scores) using linear modelling. PC scores on Confidence were affected by parity, sex and litter size, and Physical Engagement was affected by parity, growth rate, litter size and season of birth. Social Engagement was affected by growth rate and sex, and Aggression was affected by sex. Some of these effects disappeared when they were combined into a single linear model, but most of them remained significant also when controlling for collinearity. The results suggest that the early environment of dogs have long-lasting effects on their behaviour and coping styles in a stressful test situation and this knowledge can be used in the work with breeding of future military or police working dogs.

Studying the reintroduction of hand-raised wolves may embrace several interests such as deepening knowledge on wolf biology and allowing a controlled release in isolated populations in need of genetic influx. Studies on hand-raised wild animals, showing successful reintroduction, suggested that young released wolves might be able to survive in the wild without previous fastidious training. Most of their survival behaviours would be instinctive. In this study, nine young wolves were reintroduced in Tver region (Russia) and followed in order to evaluate their fear of humans, their movement patterns, thanks to GPS-Argos collars fitted to three of the animals, and assess their diet via four methods of scats analysis. We analyzed 46 wolf scats collected from August 2010 to January 2011. We determined the frequency of occurrences of items per scats and per items, and used the Relative Estimated Bulk to estimate the biomass of prey species consumed. Statistics were conducted to test for significance of method comparisons. The results showed that half of the wolves remained near the enclosure weeks to months after release, occasionally leaving the vicinity. The individual wolves behaved differently, they adopted various movement patterns and had diverse home ranges (from 15 km2 to 40 km2). Released wolves preyed more on ungulates, especially moose and on other wild mammals such as mountain hare. They also sporadically hunted domestic animals and regularly consumed vegetal matter along with smaller animals as alternative prey. Finally, all scat-analysis methods significantly assessed (p < 0.01) the relative importance of the main food types.

With the Arctic experiencing one of the greatest and most rapid increases in sea temperatures in modern time, predicting how Arctic marine organisms will respond to elevated temperatures has become crucial for conservation biology. Here, we examined the thermal sensitivity of cardiorespiratory performance for three closely related species of sculpins that inhabit the Arctic waters, two of which, Gymnocanthus tricuspis and Myoxocephalus scorpioides, have adapted to a restricted range within the Arctic, whereas the third species, Myoxocephalus scorpius, has a wider distribution. We tested the hypothesis that the fish restricted to Arctic cold waters would show reduced cardiorespiratory scope in response to an increase in temperature, as compared with the more eurythermal M. scorpius. As expected from their biogeography, M. scorpioides and G. tricuspis maximised cardiorespiratory performance at temperatures between 1 and 4 degrees C, whereas M. scorpius maximised performance over a wider range of temperatures (1-10 degrees C). Furthermore, factorial scope for cardiac output collapsed at elevated temperature for the two high-latitude species, negatively impacting their ability to support aerobically driven metabolic processes. Consequently, these results concurred with our hypothesis, suggesting that the sculpin species restricted to the Arctic are likely to be negatively impacted by increases in ocean temperatures.

Stress during early life can profoundly influence an individual’s phenotype. Effects can manifest in the short-term as well as later in life and even in subsequent generations. Transgenerational effects of stress are potentially mediated via modulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA) as well as epigenetic mechanisms causing heritable changes in gene expression. To investigate these pathways we subjected domestic chicks (Gallus gallus) to intermittent social isolation, food restriction, and temperature stress for the first three weeks of life. The early life stress resulted in a dampened corticosterone response to restraint stress in the parents and male offspring. Stress-specific genes, such as early growth response 1 (EGR1) and corticotropin releasing hormone receptor 1 (CRHR1), were upregulated when chicks were tested in the context of restraint stress, but not under baseline conditions. Treatment differences in gene expression were also correlated across generations which indicate transgenerational epigenetic inheritance, possibly mediated by differences in maternal yolk estradiol and testosterone. In an associative learning test early stressed birds made more correct choices suggesting a higher coping ability in stressful situations. This study is the first to show transgenerational effects of early life stress in a precocial species by combining behavioural, endocrinological, and transcriptomic measurements.

Using a conditioning paradigm, the olfactory sensitivity of CD-1 mice for a homologous series of aliphatic n-carboxylic acids(ethanoic acid to n-octanoic acid) and several of their isomeric forms was investigated. With all 14 odorants, the animalssignificantly discriminated concentrations as low as 0.03 ppm (parts per million) from the solvent, and with four odorantsthe best-scoring animals even detected concentrations as low as 3 ppt (parts per trillion). Analysis of odor structure-activityrelationships showed that the correlation between olfactory detection thresholds of the mice for the unbranched carboxylicacids and carbon chain length can best be described as a U-shaped function with the lowest threshold values at n-butanoicacid. A significant positive correlation between olfactory detection thresholds and carbon chain length of the carboxylicacids with their branching next to the functional carboxyl group was found. In contrast, no such correlation was found forcarboxylic acids with their branching at the distal end of the carbon chain relative to the functional carboxyl group. Finally, asignificant correlation was found between olfactory detection thresholds and the position of the branching of the carboxylicacids. Across-species comparisons suggest that mice are more sensitive for short-chained (C2 to C4) aliphatic n-carboxylicacids than other mammalian species, but not for longer-chained ones (C5 to C8). Further comparisons suggest that odorstructure-activity relationships are both substance class- and species-specific.

In the mammalian heart the metabolic costs of pressure loading exceed those of volume loading. As evidence suggests that the opposite may be true in fish, we evaluated the metabolic costs of volume and pressure loading in the isolated trout heart and compared the results with the mammalian heart based on the biomechanical properties of cardiac muscle. The highest power output (2.33 ± 0.32 mW g-1, n = 5) appeared at the highest preload pressure tested (0.3 kPa) and at an afterload of 5 kPa. At a higher afterload, power did not increase because stroke volume fell. The highest mechanical efficiency (20.7 ± 2.0%, n = 5) was obtained at a preload of 0.15 kPa and an afterload of 5 kPa. Further increases in preload or afterload did not increase mechanical efficiency, probably because of increases in ventricular wall stress which increased the oxygen consumed disproportionately more than the stroke work. Under pressure unloading (25% decrease in power output), mechanical efficiency was significantly higher in comparison with volume unloading. Given that stiffness of the ventricular tissue is larger in trout than in rat papillary muscles, it is suggested that the increased strain during volume loading is energetically disadvantageous for stiff muscles like those of trout, but it is advantageous when muscle stiffness is lower as it occurs in the rat papillary muscle.

Variation in animal personality, in other words, behavioural responses consistent within individuals over time and/or across contexts, is predicted to be related to life-history traits, such as growth rate and investment in reproduction. How this translates into relationships between personality and milk production in dairy cows is however scarcely investigated and previous studies are showing contradicting results. To further investigate this relationship, individual consistencies in behaviour were related to milk production in two breeds of dairy cows (Swedish red and white cattle, SRB, and Holstein). Variation was found among the breeds in consistency of behaviours and both SRB and Holstein cows were highly consistent over time in stepping behaviour during milking and frequency of performed abnormal behaviours in home pen. Overall were Holstein cows consistent in more observed behaviours than SRB. Variation in neophobia and responses to social separation were more flexible, both among breeds and over time. Nevertheless, behaviour showed limited relationship with milk production. To conclude, the tests here carried out are useful in describing personality in cows; however, personality showed no relationship with milk production, encouraging future studies to explore this expected relationship further in other breeds and species.