Why do Dophins Play?
Play is an important aspect of dolphin life, perhaps even an essential one. Play provides opportunities for dolphin calves to practice and perfect locomotor skills, including those involved in foraging and mating strategies and behaviors. Play also allows dolphin calves to learn important social skills and acquire information about the characteristics and predispositions of members […]
Investigation of social, affective, and locomotor behavior of adolescent Brattleboro rats reveals a link between vasopressin’s actions on arousal and social behavior
Arginine vasopressin (AVP) has recently been implicated in juvenile and adolescent social development. How AVP influences social development, however, is not understood. Adolescent homozygous Brattleboro rats (Hom), which lack AVP due to a mutation in the Avp gene, exhibit fewer active social behaviors (e.g., social play) but more passive social behaviors (e.g., huddling) than their […]
Interaction between isolation rearing and social development on exploratory behavior in male rats
The effect of isolation on exploratorybehavior has been shown to differ depending on the developmental stages of malerats. However, there has been little systematic comparison of the frequencies and the patterns of exploratorybehavior across the developmental stages. The present study assessed the frequencies of exploration using the emergence test and exploratory patterns in the open-field […]
Exploring the early social affiliations and behaviour of a captive Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) calf
Asian elephants ( Elephas maximus ) are an endangered species with complex social behaviour. However, no previous studies have mapped the development of calves before the age of six months. This study seeks to fill this gap in knowledge through characterisation of the earliest stages of development in the behavioural repertoire and social associations of […]