Hematology and Plasma Biochemistry Value Differences Between Acclimated and Recently Captive Female Southern Stingrays, Dasyatis americana
Southern stingrays are used for interaction and education in captive and wild settings therefore it is important to monitor their health conditions. Diagnostic tools that are useful for assessing health in other animals include hematology and plasma biochemistry profiles. Certain reference intervals have been established in this species; however, interpretation of intervals in stingrays under […]
Anthropogenic noise pollution reverses grouping behaviour in hermit crabs
Noise is a form of human-induced rapid environmental change, and mounting evidence suggests that it can affect the sensory environment and consequently the decision-making ability of animals. However, while the effects of anthropogenic noise on individual organisms in the context of movement patterns, foraging and predation risk have been reported, relatively little is known about […]
Ghosts in Our Midst: Coming to Terms with Amphibian Extinctions
A global mass extinction of amphibians is well under way, driven both by habitat loss and by environmental changes. As amphibian communities in Central America are being decimated by chytrid disease, scientists are working to fashion an emergency response. They are also sending out an urgent warning about what the loss of these environmentally sensitive […]
Effects of rearing and housing environment on behaviour and performance of pigs with different coping characteristics
The availability of a rooting substrate may profoundly affect behaviour and welfare of pigs. Apart from their actual housing environment, also the conditions present in early life and individual characteristics may influence the behaviour of pigs. The present study investigated the relative importance of the housing environment during rearing and the actual housing environment on […]
Smart behaviour in a variable world
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Coping personality type and environmental enrichment affect aggression at weaning in pigs
This study investigated the effects of different environmental treatments and personality types on aggression at mixing of newly weaned domestic piglets. From birth to weaning, 16 litters were housed with their dams in either barren (B) or larger, substrate-enriched (E) environments. At 15 days old, piglets were classified as [`]high’ (HR) or [`]low resistant’ (LR) […]
Big brains, enhanced cognition, and response of birds to novel environments
The widely held hypothesis that enlarged brains have evolved as an adaptation to cope with novel or altered environmental conditions lacks firm empirical support. Here, we test this hypothesis for a major animal group (birds) by examining whether large-brained species show higher survival than small-brained species when introduced to nonnative locations. Using a global database […]
Noise negatively affects foraging and antipredator behaviour in shore crabs
Acoustic noise has the potential to cause stress, to distract and to mask important sounds, and thus to affect behaviour. Human activities have added considerable noise to both terrestrial and aquatic habitats, and there is growing evidence that anthropogenic noise affects communication and movement patterns in a variety of species. However, there has been relatively […]
Acoustic noise reduces foraging success in two sympatric fish species via different mechanisms
Effective foraging behaviour is essential for animals to survive and reproduce, and depends on many intrinsic and environmental factors. There is increasing evidence that man-made (anthropogenic) factors can affect the behaviour of a wide range of taxa. However, few experimental studies have investigated how foraging behaviour is affected by exposure to increased noise levels, an […]