The effects of allogrooming and social network position on behavioural indicators of stress in female lion-tailed macaques (Macaca silenus)
Allogrooming serves an important social function in primates and confers short term benefits such as parasite removal and stress-relief. There is currently mixed evidence as to the immediate impact of allogrooming on an individual’s stress levels, which may be influenced by their role in the grooming dyad, position in their social network, or their relationship […]
Social licking in dairy cattle—Effects on heart rate in performers and receivers
Using heart rate (HR) measurements we investigated whether potential calming effects of social licking were evident for both active (performers) and passive (receivers) licking partners. A HR decline was assumed to indicate relaxation and thus the experience of positive emotions. Effects of the licking category (spontaneous, solicited), the animals’ basic activity (standing, lying) and the […]
The pig’s nose and its role in dominance relationships and harmful behaviour
Affiliative behaviour may have an essential role in many behavioural processes. Gently nosing between group members occurs in almost all social behavioural processes of pigs (Sus scrofa), but the reasons for its performance are unclear. We examined whether nosing between pigs was related to dominance relationships or harmful behaviours such as manipulation of the tail […]
A pilot study on the effects of a change in behavioural management on the behaviour of captive chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes)
The debate on the use of chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) in biomedical research has been ongoing for several years now. In 2012, the decision was made to retire a large number of laboratory chimpanzees in the United States of America. Relocation of these animals to sanctuaries, rescue centres, and zoos involve several changes in environment and […]
Intranasal oxytocin increases social grooming and food sharing in the common vampire bat Desmodus rotundus
Intranasal oxytocin (OT) delivery has been used to non-invasively manipulate mammalian cooperative behavior. Such manipulations can potentially provide insight into both shared and species-specific mechanisms underlying cooperation. Vampire bats are remarkable for their high rates of allogrooming and the presence of regurgitated food sharing among adults. We administered intranasal OT to highly familiar captive vampire […]
A comparison of activity patterns for captive Propithecus tattersalli and Propithecus coquereli
The activity patterns and social interactions of two species of captive sifaka were observed during a 2-year period. Allogrooming was not observed in golden-crowned sifaka and they spent significantly more time resting than the Coquerel’s sifaka. Females of both species were found to be dominant to males. The golden-crowned sifaka (Propithecus tattersalli) spent significantly less […]
Important role of dominance in allogrooming behaviour in beef cattle
In domestic cattle, the relationship between dominance and allogrooming behaviour has been investigated in several studies. However, the results do not show a consistent pattern. The aim of this study was to investigate this relationship in a stable female beef cattle herd using social network analysis as a novel methodological approach. We tested two adaptive […]